CHAPTER I.

THE words of the Preacher, │ THE discourse of the Preacher, the son of David, king of │ the son of David, king of Jerusalem. │ Jerusalem.

I. (1.) =The words of Koheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.= The meaning of the term Koheleth, and the question of authorship of the book, is discussed in the introduction. We have only to remark here on the use of the word דבר as it occurs in this book in the technical sense not only of a ‘word’ or ‘reason,’ but also including the matter or thing which the word represents. Usually it refers to words, reasonings, and matters connected with the mysteries of Providence――the whole treatise itself being argumentative and didactic, discussing the vanity, that is, the transitoriness, of human existence, as its topic.

│ SECTION I.――_The vanity or │ evanescence of all things │ human._ │ 2 Vanity of vanities, │ Utterly evanescent, utterly saith the Preacher, vanity of │ evanescent, saith the Preacher; vanities; all _is_ vanity. │ the whole is evanescent.

(2.) =Vanity of vanities, said Koheleth; vanity of vanities= (very emphatic), =the whole= (הכל, with the article giving a slightly different notion to כל, the ‘whole collectively’ therefore; the word is equivalent to the Greek τὸ πᾶν, with the limitation however to human life in this world, as will become manifest in the course of the book) is =vanity=, (הבל, that which is ‘evanescent’ or ‘transitory,’ but never used in the modern sense of being frivolous or empty.) There is nothing of scoffing epicureanism in this book; the life of man is ever spoken of in the most serious and solemn tones. There is, indeed, much sarcasm, but it never touches upon lightness or indifference; it is always grave and solemn, and even when to superficial observation appearing equivocal or sceptical, proves, on further examination, to hide promises and hopes beneath its bitterness. This first verse may be looked upon as the text or topic of the discourse; Koheleth next proceeds to work out the argument suggested by it in detail.

3 What profit hath a man │ Is there any profitable of all his labour which he │ result to Humanity in all taketh under the sun? │ his cares, over which he ever │ moils, in this hot work-day │ world? [No, for]

(3.) =What is?= (expecting the answer no, and so nearly equivalent to a denial) =the profit= (יתרון, a word peculiar to this book――occurs chapter i. 3; ii. 11, 13 twice; iii. 9; v. 9 (8), 16 (15); vii. 12; x. 10, 11――_i.e._ ten times in all; it is a technical word, and is used to signify that which _remains_ over and above after the act is performed, and apart from its present results. Koheleth uses frequently these nouns ending in ון――thus יתר ‘to extend,’ ‘run over,’ יתרון ‘remainder,’ ‎‏זכר ‘remember,’ זכרון ‘remembrance,’ etc. These nouns are in their nature abstracts, but differ from the ordinary abstracts; see chapter i. 14) =to man= (לאדם, this word occurs in its different combinations forty-eight times in this book, and always with the signification of man as a member of the human race. There is a tone of personification about the word similar to that which occurs in the expression ‘the old _Adam_;’ when this generic character is not to be expressed, then ‎‏איש or אנוש is used instead; see chapters i. 8; ix. 14 and 15), =in all his toil= (עמל, a favourite word of Koheleth, and used as frequently in this book as in all the rest of Scripture put together. The exact meaning to be affixed to it, and which, carefully kept in view, will be found to explain more than one otherwise obscure passage, is that toil, care, or anxiety which labour produces, and answers to the idea contained in our metaphor ‘takes _pains_;’ see chapter ii. 20), =which he toils at= (this is the first instance which occurs of the contracted relative ש־ joined to the word. Koheleth uses also the full relative ‎‏אשר, but with a slight difference of meaning. The contracted relative refers to the word only which it joins, and in case of verbs often gives a subjunctive or optative meaning; the full relative refers back to the whole idea or clause. Hence the meaning of this passage is this, ‘Is there any abiding advantage to humanity of the pains of his labouring in so far as he does take pains, or toils’) =under the sun= (or in this present state of existence). The phrase תחת השמש occurs twenty-five times in this book, and is always expressive of a limitation. It shows that what is affirmed is to be understood as confined to its relation to this sublunary existence only. The idea implied is that of man toiling under the sun in the heat of the day in the sweat of his brow (Genesis iii. 17), and earnestly desiring the shadow (Job vii. 2), which shadow is yet the symbol of decaying life. It is true that Ecclesiastes is never quoted in the New Testament, but there are certainly several allusions to it, more or less direct; one of these apparently occurs Revelation vii. 16: οὐ πεινάσουσιν ἔτι, οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν ἔτι, οὐδ’ οὐ μὴ πέσῃ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ὁ ἥλιος, οὐδὲ πᾶν καῦμα――‘They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them by day, nor any heat.’ The Chaldee Targum expresses this idea quaintly but forcibly: ‘What advantage is there to a man after his death from all his labour which he laboured under the sun in this world, except he studied the word of God, in order to receive a good reward in the world to come from before the Lord of the world?’ In order to remind the reader of this meaning of the words ‘under the sun,’ I have whenever they occur paraphrased them by ‘in this hot work-day world’――not that this paraphrase is quite satisfactory, but it is the best I could find.

To answer the above question, Koheleth cites _eight_ different instances; four from natural, and four from moral experience. Those we might call the eight _un_beatitudes of this sermon.

4 _One_ generation passeth │ I. A generation comes, and away, and _another_ generation │ that generation departs. But cometh: but the earth abideth │ the earth the same abides. for ever. │

(4.) =A generation comes= (_i.e._ proceeds; the word occurs five times in the passage). =A generation sets= (using exactly the same word as for the setting of the sun in the next verse), =but the earth to the age abideth= (_i.e._ remains the same as it was ‘to the age’ לעלם――this word is used in a technical sense, and occurs chapters i. 4, 10; ii. 16; iii. 11, 14; ix. 6; and xii. 5 in this book. The LXX. render by αἰών, which Bengel says is ‘sæculum præsens, mundus in sua indole cursu et censu.’ Hengstenberg observes that it is not an absolutely endless eternity, but only a future of unlimited length. Bengel’s definition, ‘the present period in its quality, course, and account,’ is exactly what the word signifies in this book. It is to be noticed that each instance of change is followed by a sentence which points out that this change is resultless. In the first, the fluctuating and fleeting generations or life-periods of man contrast with the absolute endurance of an unchanged order of things). ‘The great mill-wheel of existence only revolves for the same cogs to come uppermost again and again.’――[Hamilton, _Royal Preacher_.]

5 The sun also ariseth, │ II. Bursts forth the sun, and the sun goeth down, and │ and sets that sun again; and ¹hasteth to his place where │ wearily advancing, bursts he arose. │ forth as he did before. │ ¹ _Hebrew_ panteth. │

(5.) =And rises= (_i.e._ ‘bursts out’ or ‘irradiates’) =the sun, and sets the sun= (as ‘sun’ is repeated, the second is equivalent to that same sun) =and towards his place panting= (this word ‘pant,’ שאף, occurs Job vii. 2; Psalm lvii. 3; Psalm cxix. 131, and denotes earnest desire: the metaphor is a very beautiful one in this context)――=rising= (irradiating) =is he there=.

6 The wind goeth toward the │ III. Going southwards, and south, and turneth about unto │ twisting northwards, twisting, the north; it whirleth about │ twisting goes the blast; and continually, and the wind │ so with all its twistings the returneth again according to │ wind returns. his circuits. │

(6.) =Going= (_i.e._ ‘walking,’ ‘proceeding,’ as in verse 4) =towards the south= (the quarter of warm winds), and =turning round towards the north= (the place of cold), =turning turns, going the wind= (there is in the Hebrew a concourse of sibilant letters imitating the sound of the wind, which is attempted to be rendered in the paraphrase), =and in its turnings returns the wind= (that is, ever goes round in the same circuits, as the Authorized Version translates). Thus we have an allusion to the four cardinal points of the universe, North, South, East, and West.

7 All the rivers run into │ IV. All the torrents are the sea; yet the sea _is_ │ running towards the sea, that not full; unto the place │ sea which never overflows; from whence the rivers come, │ to the place where these thither they ¹return again. │ torrents are hastening, │ thither they are only ¹ _Hebrew_ return to go. │ returning to go back.

(7.) =All the torrents= (נחל, a mountain stream especially) =are going to the sea, and the sea it is not full= (equivalent to ‘that sea which is never filled or any fuller’), =to the place= to =which the rivers= (contract relative, meaning these _same_ rivers) =are going, thence are they returning to go back.= (So the LXX.; others with the Authorized Version translate, ‘Thither they return again.’) It is to be remarked that this fact is scientifically accurate in statement. The Targum has the gloss that the rivers flow into the ocean which _surrounds the world like a ring_, and that they return again through the _subterranean channels_, but Koheleth knows nothing of such false philosophy.

8 All things _are_ full of │ V. All matters are fatiguing; labour; man cannot utter _it_: │ impossible for any one to the eye is not satisfied with │ reason out. Never is the eye seeing, nor the ear filled │ satisfied by seeing, nor ever with hearing. │ the ear filled with sound.

(8.) =All the words= (with the article, and therefore generic; ‘matters’ or ‘things,’ in the technical sense of things reasoned about, see verse 1) =are fatiguing= (so the LXX. and Vulgate; Ginsburg has ‘feeble;’ Preston, ‘in activity;’ and Hengstenberg, ‘all words become weary;’ but the ancient verses make better sense with the context), =not possible is it for a man= (not אדם here, but איש = ‘one,’ or ‘any one’) =to utter= them (לדבר, ‘to speak rationally concerning them,’ and so to account for their existence or explain their nature. The impossibility of exhausting a subject by talking or reasoning about it is here the point, as is evident from the order of the words); =not satisfied= (answering to the ‘not possible’ above) =is the eye with seeing, and not is filled the ear by sound= (or by what it hears). So then, while the consideration of any matter is pretty sure to produce weariness, it is quite certain not to produce satisfaction.

9 The thing that hath been, │ VI. Whatever has been? ’tis it _is that_ which shall be; │ just the same as will be; and and that which is done _is_ │ whatever has been done? ’tis that which shall be done: │ just the same as will be done. and _there is_ no new _thing_ │ So there is nothing altogether under the sun. │ new within this work-day world.

(9.) =What is that which has been?= it =is the same which will be; and what is that which has been done?= it =is the same which will be done= (so the LXX., literally following the Heb. text), =and there is nothing all new under the sun.= The Authorized Version understands by this ‘no new thing;’ but the peculiar position of this word ‘all’ seems to imply that ‘nothing’ must be taken with some slight qualification,――nothing morally new. The next verse admits material novelty.

10 Is there _any_ thing │ VII. [No doubt] there occurs whereof it may be said, See, │ a matter such that people this _is_ new? it hath been │ _say_, See, now this is really already of old time, which was │ new. The present was it once before us. │ in some age before our time.

(10.) =There is= (יש, which is so far different from היה that it assumes the existence as a fact, ‘There really are matters which are called new’) =a matter which= one =says= (contracted relative joined to the verb, and giving an emphasis to it, equivalent therefore to our ‘of which it may be _said_, indeed’) =see this new it is= (emphatic) =the present= (כבר occurs eight times, viz., i. 10, ii. 12, 16, iii. 15 twice, iv. 2, vi. 10, and ix. 6, 7――in Ecclesiastes only; it is a technical word used to denote the present state of things, that part of the עלם or ‘age’ which is now in existence. In the later Hebrew and Syriac it is used as an adverb, ‘already,’ but that is not its use here. This remark is the more important because it is one of those so-called Aramaic words, the occurrence of which is supposed to indicate the late period of this book’s composition. A careful observance of its real import will throw considerable light on several very obscure passages. Generally, it may be taken for granted that if Koheleth uses a new word or form not known in other parts of the Scriptures, it is because he desires to indicate a new idea.) =It was to the ages which= (full relative, referring back, therefore, to the whole sentence) =were from before us= (as we have ages in the plural, followed by a singular verb, ‎‏היה, the meaning is some one of the ages). This thing which is said to be new is really one of those forgotten matters which existed in one or other of the eras which were before our time.

11 _There is_ no remembrance │ VIII. There is no remembrance of former _things_; neither │ of former matters; and so also shall there be _any_ │ with regard to subsequent ones remembrance of _things_ that │ which will be, there will be no are to come with _those_ that │ remembrance with those who will shall come after. │ succeed them.

(11.) =There is nothing= of =remembrance= (or memorial) =to former= events (or persons) =and in addition to succeeding= events =which will be. There will not be to them= (emphatic) =a remembrance= (the repetition of this word shows it to be the prominent word of the sentence) =amongst those which shall be to= (_i.e._ belonging to) the =last= of all (so the LXX.) We have here the feminine form, אחרנה. Koheleth usually expresses the abstracts by this form, and so here. Thus, then, we find that history always repeats itself: not so, however, that its events can be anticipated, but always so that its teachings may be forgotten.

This then forms the first division of the book. By these eight instances Koheleth proves the existence of unceasing toilsome care and resultless progression in all human things. He proceeds in the next place to give his own personal experience, in the form of an autobiography to the same effect. All commentators, even those who deny that Solomon himself was the author of this book, are agreed that he is the hero, and that his life and experience form the groundwork of what is here set before us.

│ SECTION II.――_Containing a │ more formal discussion of the │ problem of human existence, │ drawn from the Preacher’s own │ observation and experience._ │ 12 ¶ I the Preacher was king │ Now, I myself, the Preacher, over Israel in Jerusalem. │ was king over Israel in │ Jerusalem,

(12.) =I= (emphatic) =Koheleth was king over Israel in Jerusalem.= Ginsburg supposes that by this declaration that he _was_ king, he intends to imply that he was so no longer; but not only does the LXX. render by an imperfect, but the same word occurs in precisely the same form at Exodus ii. 22, and clearly at the time there mentioned Moses continued to be a stranger in Midian. The object in stating this fact is rather to show that as a king he possessed peculiar facilities for making the investigation, an account of which follows.

13 And I gave my heart to │ and I took the greatest pains seek and search out by wisdom │ to seek out and to investigate concerning all _things_ that │ by means of wisdom everything are done under heaven: this │ that is done within the limits sore travail hath God given │ of this world; how it is a to the sons of man ¹to be │ painful uncertainty appointed exercised therewith. │ of God to the human race that │ they should be distracted with ¹ _Or_, to afflict them. │ it.

(13.) =And I set my heart= (gave great pains to, or thought much on, see i. 17, vii. 21, viii. 9, 10; Daniel x. 12; 1 Chronicles xxii. 19) =to inquiring= (דרש, being used of something lost or hidden, Genesis xxv. 22, Deuteronomy xxii. 2) =and to investigating= (תור, refers to spying out or searching, Numbers xiii. 15, chapter vii. 25) =in wisdom= (the Authorized Version considers that wisdom was the means by which inquiry was made) =concerning= (על, over) =all which= (equivalent to ‘all that which’) =is done= (but being niphal it has an objective sense, and includes what is suffered) =under the heavens= (this formula occurs