chapter ii. 3, and iii. 1, and is of larger import than under the

sun) =it is= (‘I mean that’ is the equivalent expression in English) =uncertainty= (ענין, this is another technical word, it occurs eight times, chapter i. 13, ii. 23, 26, iii. 10, iv. 8, v. 3 (4), viii. 16, and a careful comparison of places will show that the meaning is ‘uncertainty,’ accompanied with ‘anxiety’ as to what is to happen in the future) =which is an evil= (for it is without the article) =given= of =God= (without the article; because God is here used personally, it is nominative to נתן of course, but as the nominative follows the verb, this is the best way of rendering in this case) =to the sons of the Adam= (the ‘whole human race’ is the meaning of this form), that they may be =made anxious= (LXX. τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι) =therewith= (emphatic).

14 I have seen all the works │ I perceived with respect to that are done under the sun; │ all the actions whatsoever, in and, behold, all _is_ vanity │ so far as they are performed and vexation of spirit. │ within this work-day world, │ that they are certainly all of │ them (1.) evanescent, (2.) a │ vexation of spirit,

(14.) =I have seen= (I have observed, that is) =with respect to all actions= (את is here emphatic as standing first) =which are performed= (niphal and contracted relative, hence having the meaning in so far as they are or may be done) =under the sun= (for without this limitation the above proposition would not be true), =and behold= (asserting a matter of fact patent to all) =the whole= (with the article and in its usual sense, see chapter i. 2) is =a vanity= (_i.e._ an instance of something evanescent) =and a vexation of spirit= (רעות, occurs seven times in this book, viz., chapters i. 14, ii. 11, 17, 26, iv. 4, 6, and vi. 9; רעיון occurs three times, i. 17, ii. 22, iv. 16. These words have usually been regarded as absolutely synonymous, and hitherto the difference of meaning has not been noticed; but there is a slight difference, as a comparison of places will show. The exact sense to be attached to them is a matter of dispute, and ‘a windy notion,’ ‘striving after the wind,’ have been proposed, but the rendering of the LXX., προαίρεσις, ‘distraction,’ represents the meaning best. With regard to רעות we may notice that it is formed quite regularly from רעה, which is ‘evil,’ in the sense of something that ‘hurts’ or ‘offends,’ and is in the nature of a collective plural; so do we account at once for the peculiar pointing and for the rendering of the LXX. On the other hand, רעיון has, as nouns with this termination usually have, a more subjective meaning; the distinction between the two is that between ‘vexations of’ and ‘vexing of’ spirit; thus in verse 17, where the trouble came from his own spirit, caused by his inability to explain the difficulty which confronted him in his argument, Koheleth uses the subjective form).

15 _That which is_ crooked │ (3.) a perplexity which it is cannot be made straight: and │ impossible to set right, (4.) that which is ¹wanting cannot │ a defect which it is equally be numbered. │ impossible to account for. │ ¹ _Hebrew_ defect. │

(15.) =A crookedness= (occurs chapters vii. 13, xii. 3, and Amos viii. 5, whence it appears that the precise meaning is moral obliquity) =not enabled to be set in order= (occurs chapter i. 15, vii. 18, xii. 9, only), =a defect= (occurs here only, but see Deuteronomy xxviii. 48, 57, where the root is used of famine, and 1 Kings xvii. 16, to denote the failure of the oil) =not enabled= (repeated, hence we must render ‘it is _equally_ impossible’) =to be numbered= (infinitive plural niphal). The meaning of this verse has been very much disputed, but if it be considered as the sequel to what went immediately before, the sense will be quite plain. We may discern in it a fourfold description of human life, in respect of its cares and anxieties and uncertainties, the first point being (i.) that this care is for something evanescent; (ii.) that it is vexatious; (iii.) and then this anxiety is useless, because life is so perverted as to be beyond the possibility of being set in order by any care of ours; (iv.) and so defective that no account can be given which would set it right: ‘which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?’

16 I communed with mine own │ I reasoned over the matter heart, saying, Lo, I am come │ with my own heart to this to great estate, and have │ effect. I who have, it appears, gotten more wisdom than all │ become greater and more _they_ that have been before │ advanced in wisdom than any who me in Jerusalem: yea, my │ were before me in Jerusalem, heart ¹had great experience │ and experienced over the widest of wisdom and knowledge. │ extent of wisdom and knowledge, │ ¹ _Hebrew_ had seen much. │

(16.) =Reasoned I myself together with my heart to say= (as reasoned stands first, this is the subject of the whole, and the words ‘to say,’ ‎‏לאמר, are the usual formula of introduction of the thing said; they are equivalent to our ‘to this effect.’ This then is Koheleth’s reasoning, the result of which is to be given), =I behold= (stating it as an admitted and patent fact) =I have been made great, and I have been added= to in =wisdom above all which were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen the much= (with the article expressed; equivalent therefore to very much, or as much as possible of) =wisdom and knowledge.=

17 And I gave my heart │ and have set my heart earnestly to know wisdom, and to know │ to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived │ false successes from real acts that this also is vexation of │ of prudence, know but this: it spirit. │ is simply vexing one’s spirit;

(17.) =And I have given my heart in order to know wisdom= (that is, he made wisdom his special study and object) =and the knowledge of= (‘know’ being repeated rises into special prominence, and hence the meaning is to know wisdom, or to be wise enough to recognise) =false expectations and prudences=. (This passage is one of great difficulty, but the exact sense will become apparent on investigating the meaning of the two words הוללות and שכלות; now הוללות occurs chapter i. 17, ii. 12, vii. 25, ix. 3, and pointed with Shurek at x. 13, and is peculiar to Ecclesiastes. It is a technical word, and is correctly translated ‘folly,’ but it is that kind of folly which displays itself in false joy. The future poel from which this noun is derived occurs Job xii. 17,