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Having taken (Ecclesiastes 1) this part upon himself, and having stated in the eleven introductory verses the main design of the ensuing chapters, which is, to prove that all the solicitude which mankind give themselves for the acquisition of real earthly good must forever remain unrequited, he proceeds to demonstrate the truth of his position from the events of his own history. He commences his inquiries by a strict self-examination; and before he has cast a glance upon the world without, he comes to the conclusion Note: Ecclesiastes 2. that physical enjoyment is unworthy the pursuit of a rational being. This he was perfectly warranted in affirming; for all the appliances of luxury stood at his command; he had tested them well, and had found them all equally worthless. He doers not, however, stop it this stage of his researches; for he had resolved on ascertaining all for himself, on exploring every path of human activity, to the end that his want of success in the search after real earthly good, might not be ascribed to the imperfect nature of his investigation. Accordingly, he next inquires Note: Ecc_2:12. into the value of intellectual attainments, and also into the nature of the mind itself: but here likewise he meets with nothing satisfactory; for although wisdom is certainly preferable to folly, they are still both subject to the common lot. Proceeding in this manner with his self-examination, he encounters nothing but disappointment, and is already induced Note: Ecc_2:17. to express himself as disgusted with life.
Such is the result of his inquiries as directed towards himself, from which he now passes Note: Ecclesiastes 3. to the external world, and thus he comes to a consideration of time, and of mankind as existing in time. He investigates all that relates to the subject, and finds that indeed God has ordered everything beautifully in time, and that everything is dependent upon God; but he sees that men act unjustly towards each other, and mutually embitter each other’s lives. He perceives that the just are often wrongfully dealt with by human tribunals, Note: Ecc_3:16. while the unjust are permitted to escape with impunity; and thus the pious does not meet with his just reward in this life, nor the wicked with his proper punishment. From this he draws the conclusion, Note: Ecc_3:17. that God will judge them both, and assign to the just his true reward, and to the unjust his deserved doom. In this manner the Preacher shows, that the grand argument for the belief in a system of rewards and punishments after death, lies in the unjust treatment which men experience at one another’s hands. Having thus arrived at the idea of God, the Preacher next endeavors to ascertain Note: Ecc_3:18. the nature of the relation existing between man and the Deity, with the view of discovering in what the superiority of man over all other creatures consists. He examines life in all its various aspects, but cannot perceive that man enjoys any essential superiority in either his birth, his life, or his death, in all of which the lot of every created being is in all important respects the same. He therefore concludes Note: Ecc_3:21. that this is to be sought for in the future after death, when the spirit of man rises to abide with God, while that of the brute sinks into annihilation. In this consists the Preacher’s second argument for the existence of a future state; so that he has already twice surmounted those formidable barriers which oppose the progress of the adventurous inquirer, and threaten to hurl him from their summits into the dark abyss of infidelity. Having thus rescued his belief in the justice of God from the mazy labyrinths of speculation, he is enabled to guide into the right path all those who venture, in spite of his warnings, to explore by the glimmering light of human reason, the dark and hidden things of God and nature, and are thus drawn into imminent danger of perishing in its tortuous windings.
Again, Note: Ecclesiastes 4. the Preacher enters upon the world’s wide stage, to view the life of man as exhibited in society. And here a sad spectacle presents itself before his eyes. He beholds man weeping disconsolately for the wrongs inflicted by his brother man; and, touched with pity and grief, he exclaims: Note: Ecc_4:2. “Happier are the dead, because they are already dead, than the living, because they are yet alive.” Note: The texts are quoted as translated or paraphrased in Dr. Nordheimer’s Essay. He proceeds still further, and finds that all the labor and turmoil of men owe their origin to a mutual envy; and that this frequently assumes the hateful form of avarice, causing them to hoard up treasures merely to the egad that they may be richer then their neighbors, while themselves totally unable to enjoy any of the fruits of their parsimony. This sad experience suggests to him some reflections, Note: Ecc_4:9. which he delivers in the shape of maxims, till he comes to consider the conduct to be observed in drawing near to God, Note: Ecc_5:1. respecting which he gives this advice: “Be on thy guard when thou enterest the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools.”
Being thus brought to an immediate consideration of the Deity, the Preacher goes on further to set forth the conduct which it behooves man to pursue towards his Creator; his discourse being mainly on sins of the tongue, to which men are so prone, that they often fall into them through sheer inadvertence. He warns Note: Ecc_5:2. against wordiness in prayers, and strongly insists on the due performance of vows. Note: Ecc_5:5.
Having laid down his precepts on the subject of our duty to God in regard to language, the Preacher returns to a consideration of the manifold evils which follow in the train of insatiable avarice, and these he places before the view of the covetous man, Note: Ecc_5:9-17. with the intention of checking his thirst of gain, and advises him to enjoy with moderation the gifts of Providence, instead of striving incessantly to increase his store. The evils of avarice gather upon his mind as he surveys them, and he proceeds Note: Ecclesiastes 6. to describe the wretchedness of inordinate greed; and ends with setting forth the folly of the miser in allowing himself no enjoyment in this life, which he permits to pass from him like a shadow, without knowing what the future is to bring forth.
The Preacher now Note: Ecclesiastes 7. pauses awhile in his career, to lay down a number of additional maxims, the fruit of his preceding investigations. From the censure of folly, he naturally passes to the praise of wisdom, by which he is led back Note: Ecc_7:13. to his main argument, that man cannot penetrate the designs of God. From this he deduces Note: Ecc_7:16. the general principle of a medium in all things, which he seeks to impress upon the minds of men as their safest guide through the intricate paths of life; for he says, Note: Ecc_7:23. “All this have I tried by wisdom. I said, I shall become wise; but it remained far from me.” And again: Note: Ecc_7:25. “I applied with heart and soul to the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom; but I found at last that the fruits of this anxious desire to investigate all things were more bitter than death; and that he alone who trusts steadfastly in God, and to whom God is gracious, can escape with safety from the labyrinth in which such an undertaking must involve him.”
We thus find that it is the design of the sacred writer to warn mankind against every species of ill-regulated desire, by pointing out its evil consequences.
Having now completed his inquiries into the obligations of man to himself, the Preacher proceeds Note: Ecclesiastes 8. to consider those which he owes to his fellow-men. He begins by prescribing the conduct to be observed towards the sovereign, as the highest individual in human societies; fidelity to whom Note: Ecc_8:3. he enjoins as a primary duty, but then immediately proceeds to treat of the punishments that await evil rulers. In this chapter, be it observed, he abandons the skeptical mode of arguing with which he set out, and merely proposes questions to himself, in order to show the manner in which he reaches his doctrine; having done this, he proceeds to lay them down in the manner of a teacher. As already observed, he advises unshaken obedience to the king, even should his reign be tyrannical, on the ground that the tyranny can be of no long duration, and punishment must overtake it in the end. He conducts the reader, in imagination, Note: Ecc_8:10. to the tombs of the tyrannous great ones, and represents them as consigned to eternal oblivion, which is, in the East, accounted the most severe of all inflictions; and then breaks out into the joyous exclamation: Note: Ecc_8:12. “Though the sinner do evil a hundred times, and carry it on long, sure I am that in the end it will be well with them that fear God.” Yet to this pleasing conviction is immediately opposed Note: Ecc_8:14. the sad experience that seems to contradict it, that it frequently goes well with the wicked and ill with the good. This threatens to draw him once more into the vortex of materialism; but, says the Preacher, Note: Ecc_8:16. as I endeavored with the greatest anxiety to find out the reason of all this, I became convinced that it is not in the power of man thoroughly to explore the works of God. And so this reflection again occurs to him as a delivering angel, to guide once more out of the dark labyrinth into which he had wandered.
Being thus led anew to the conviction that it is not possible for man to estimate the doings of God, the Preacher proceeds (Ecclesiastes 9) to exert all his powers in vindicating the ways of the Most High. He asserts that all is under the control of God; that each individual thing is but a portion of the whole to which it belongs; and that nothing exists for itself alone, or can rise independently above the rest of creation. Everything, therefore, to be judged of correctly, must be viewed in the relation it bears to other existences; but as this is frequently beyond the power of man, he should ever guard against suffering himself to be misled by those isolated facts that are above his comprehension. But it is still, he says, Note: Ecc_9:3. the greatest evil under the sun that one and the same lot seems to happen to all; for, through their ignorance on the one hand, and their presumption on the other, this leads men to the commission of crime, by allowing them to entertain the idea, that the condition of a living dog is better than that of a dead lion, since with death everything is at an end. This doctrine would lead to the conclusion, that physical enjoyment is to be followed as the greatest good; for, says the deluded one, if during life there is no distinction made between the righteous and the wicked, how much less is it to be expected after death? The Preacher expresses his pity for mankind in this respect, Note: Ecc_9:12. and then leaves the reader to his own reflections.
The value of that practical wisdom which knows the limits of its own powers, and which had thus far guided him through his difficulties, the Preacher illustrates, by a striking example, Note: Ecc_9:14. from which he draws the conclusion, that wisdom is better than material power. He then, in the tenth chapter, proceeds to lay down the maxims which his conviction of the supreme excellence of wisdom suggests. He had already recommended submission to the powers that be, and he now describes the blessing which a good ruler, and the curse which an evil ruler, may be to a state; concluding with the advice, not to conspire against the latter, however secretly, as it is impossible to tell how soon it may come to his knowledge.
Having thus completed his inquiries into the obligations of man to himself, to his fellow-men, and to God, and having stated the results in the shape of maxims for the conduct of life, the Preacher proceeds, in chapter eleven, in the form of a peroration, to draw his subject to a close. He reverts once more to the duties which man owes to himself, and instructs him in what manner to make use of his possessions, and enjoy the blessings of this life. He counsels him not to strive incessantly after riches, or selfishly to appropriate his advantages to his own exclusive use; neither should he pass his days in apathetic indolence, but with cheerfulness and moderation enjoy the blooming season of his youth. He then pronounces, in chapter twelve, the noble precept which crowns the entire production—“Remember thy Creator even in thy youth; before the evil days come on, or the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” The work closes with a description of man’s latter end, in which is depicted in faithful colors, and with a master hand, the gradual approach of old age, and, finally, of death. On reaching the grave, he suggests Note: Ecc_12:7. the consoling thought of an after-life to be spent in the presence of God—“Then shall the dust of the body return to the earth from which it came; and the spirit shall ascend to dwell with its Giver on high.”