Teks -- Ecclesiastes 5:1-20 (NET)

Rash Vows

5:1 Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong. 5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few. 5:3 Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words. 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For God takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow! 5:5 It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it. 5:6 Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the priest, “It was a mistake!” Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands?” 5:7 Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God!

Government Corruption

5:8 If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them! 5:9 The produce of the land is seized by all of them, even the king is served by the fields.

Covetousness

5:10 The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money, he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. This also is futile. 5:11 When someone’s prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes? 5:12 The sleep of the laborer is pleasant– whether he eats little or much– but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

Materialism Thwarts Enjoyment of Life

5:13 Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery. 5:14 Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. 5:15 Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil. 5:16 This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind? 5:17 Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger.

Enjoy the Fruit of Your Labor

5:18 I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. 5:19 To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God. 5:20 For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Ecc 5:1 - Thy foot

Thy thoughts and affections, by which men go to God and walk with him.

Wesley: Ecc 5:1 - To hear

To hearken to and obey God's word.

Wesley: Ecc 5:1 - Of fools

Such as wicked men use to offer, who vainly think to please God with their sacrifices without obedience.

Wesley: Ecc 5:1 - For

They are not sensible of the great sinfulness of such thoughts.

Wesley: Ecc 5:2 - Rash

Speak not without due consideration.

Wesley: Ecc 5:2 - To utter

Either in prayer, or vows.

Wesley: Ecc 5:2 - For God

Is a God of infinite majesty, holiness, and knowledge.

Wesley: Ecc 5:2 - Thy words

Either in prayer or in vowing.

Wesley: Ecc 5:3 - A dream

When men are oppressed with business in the day, they dream of it in the night.

Wesley: Ecc 5:3 - Is known

It discovers the man to be a foolish, and rash, and inconsiderate man.

Wesley: Ecc 5:3 - Of words

Either in prayer, or in vowing, by making many rash vows, of which he speaks Ecc 5:4-6, and then returns to the mention of multitude of dreams and many words, Ecc 5:7, which verse may be a comment upon this, and which makes it probable that both that and this verse are to be understood of vows rather than of prayers.

Wesley: Ecc 5:4 - In fools

In perfidious persons, who, when they are in distress, make liberal vows, and when the danger is past, break them.

Wesley: Ecc 5:6 - Thy mouth

By any rash vow.

Wesley: Ecc 5:6 - Thy flesh

Thyself, the word flesh being often put for the whole man.

Wesley: Ecc 5:6 - The angel

The priest or ministers of holy things. Such persons are often called angels, or, as this Hebrew word is commonly rendered, messengers. And this title seems to be given to the priest here, because the vow made to God, was paid to the priest as one standing and acting in God's name and stead, and it belonged to him, as God's angel or ambassador, to discharge persons from their vows when there was just occasion.

Wesley: Ecc 5:6 - It was

I did unadvisedly in making such a vow.

Wesley: Ecc 5:6 - Angry

Why wilt thou provoke God to anger at these frivolous excuses? Destroy - Blast all thy labours, and particularly that work or enterprize for the success whereof thou didst make these vows.

Wesley: Ecc 5:7 - For

There is a great deal of folly, as in multitude of dreams, which for the most part are vain and insignificant, so also in many words, in making many vows whereby a man is exposed to many snares and temptations.

Wesley: Ecc 5:7 - But

Fear the wrath of God, and therefore be sparing in making vows, and just in performing them.

Wesley: Ecc 5:8 - If

Here is an account of another vanity, and a sovereign antidote against it.

Wesley: Ecc 5:8 - Marvel not

As if it were inconsistent with God's wisdom, and justice, to suffer such disorders.

Wesley: Ecc 5:8 - For

The most high God who is infinitely above the greatest of men.

Wesley: Ecc 5:8 - Regardeth

Not like an idle spectator, but a judge, who diligently observes, and will effectually punish them.

Wesley: Ecc 5:8 - Higher

God: it is an emphatical repetition of the same thing.

Wesley: Ecc 5:9 - Profit

The fruits of the earth.

Wesley: Ecc 5:9 - For all

Necessary and beneficial to all men. The wise man, after some interruption, returns to his former subject, the vanity of riches, one evidence whereof he mentions in this verse, that the poor labourer enjoys the fruits of the earth as well as the greatest monarch.

Wesley: Ecc 5:9 - Is served

Is supported by the fruits of the field.

Wesley: Ecc 5:13 - To their hurt

Because they frequently are the occasions both of their present and eternal destruction.

Wesley: Ecc 5:14 - Perish

By some wicked practices, either his own, or of other men.

Wesley: Ecc 5:14 - Nothing

In the son's possession after his father's death.

Wesley: Ecc 5:15 - To go

Into the womb of the earth, the common mother of all mankind.

Wesley: Ecc 5:15 - Take nothing

This is another vanity. If his estate be neither lost, nor kept to his hurt, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one handful of it into another world.

Wesley: Ecc 5:16 - The wind

For riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, which no man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the wind.

Wesley: Ecc 5:17 - He eateth

He hath no comfort in his estate, but even when he eats, he doth it with anxiety and discontent.

Wesley: Ecc 5:17 - And wrath

When he falls sick, and presages his death, he is filled with rage, because he is cut off before he hath accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that wealth and world in which all his hopes and happiness lie.

Wesley: Ecc 5:18 - Good

Good or comfortable to a man's self, and comely or amiable in the eye of other men.

Wesley: Ecc 5:18 - His portion

Of worldly goods; he hath a better portion in heaven. This liberty is given him by God, and this is the best advantage, as to this life, which he can make of them.

Wesley: Ecc 5:19 - To take

To use what God hath given him.

Wesley: Ecc 5:20 - Remember

So as to disquiet himself.

Wesley: Ecc 5:20 - The days

The troubles; days being put here for evil, or, sad days.

Wesley: Ecc 5:20 - Answereth

His desires, in giving him solid joy and comfort.

JFB: Ecc 5:1

(Ecc. 5:1-20)

From vanity connected with kings, he passes to vanities (Ecc 5:7) which may be fallen into in serving the King of kings, even by those who, convinced of the vanity of the creature, wish to worship the Creator.

JFB: Ecc 5:1 - Keep thy foot

In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in entering a temple (Exo 3:5; Jos 5:15, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom). WEISS needlessly reads, "Keep thy feast days" (Exo 23:14, Exo 23:17; the three great feasts).

JFB: Ecc 5:1 - hear

Rather, "To be ready (to draw nigh with the desire) to hear (obey) is a better sacrifice than the offering of fools" [HOLDEN]. (Vulgate; Syriac). (Psa 51:16-17; Pro 21:3; Jer 6:20; Jer 7:21-23; Jer 14:12; Amo 5:21-24). The warning is against mere ceremonial self-righteousness, as in Ecc 7:12. Obedience is the spirit of the law's requirements (Deu 10:12). Solomon sorrowfully looks back on his own neglect of this (compare 1Ki 8:63 with Ecc 11:4, Ecc 11:6). Positive precepts of God must be kept, but will not stand instead of obedience to His moral precepts. The last provided no sacrifice for wilful sin (Num 15:30-31; Heb 10:26-29).

JFB: Ecc 5:2 - rash

Opposed to the considerate reverence ("keep thy foot," Ecc 5:1). This verse illustrates Ecc 5:1, as to prayer in the house of God ("before God," Isa 1:12); so Ecc 5:4-6 as to vows. The remedy to such vanities is stated (Ecc 5:6). "Fear thou God."

JFB: Ecc 5:2 - God is in heaven

Therefore He ought to be approached with carefully weighed words, by thee, a frail creature of earth.

JFB: Ecc 5:3

As much "business," engrossing the mind, gives birth to incoherent "dreams," so many words, uttered inconsiderately in prayer, give birth to and betray "a fool's speech" (Ecc 10:14), [HOLDEN and WEISS]. But Ecc 5:7 implies that the "dream" is not a comparison, but the vain thoughts of the fool (sinner, Psa 73:20), arising from multiplicity of (worldly) "business." His "dream" is that God hears him for his much speaking (Mat 6:7), independently of the frame of mind [English Version and MAURER].

JFB: Ecc 5:3 - fool's voice

Answers to "dream" in the parallel; it comes by the many "words" flowing from the fool's "dream."

JFB: Ecc 5:4 - When thou vowest a vow unto God

Hasty words in prayer (Ecc 5:2-3) suggest the subject of hasty vows. A vow should not be hastily made (Jdg 11:35; 1Sa 14:24). When made, it must be kept (Psa 76:11), even as God keeps His word to us (Exo 12:41, Exo 12:51; Jos 21:45).

JFB: Ecc 5:5

(Deu 23:21, Deu 23:23).

JFB: Ecc 5:6 - thy flesh

Vow not with "thy mouth" a vow (for example, fasting), which the lusts of the flesh ("body," Ecc 2:3, Margin) may tempt thee to break (Pro 20:25).

JFB: Ecc 5:6 - angel

The "messenger" of God (Job 33:23); minister (Rev 1:20); that is, the priest (Mal 2:7) "before" whom a breach of a vow was to be confessed (Lev 5:4-5). We, Christians, in our vows (for example, at baptism, the Lord's Supper, &c.) vow in the presence of Jesus Christ, "the angel of the covenant" (Mal 3:1), and of ministering angels as witnesses (1Co 11:10; 1Ti 5:21). Extenuate not any breach of them as a slight error.

JFB: Ecc 5:7

(See on Ecc 5:3). God's service, which ought to be our chief good, becomes by "dreams" (foolish fancies as of God's requirements of us in worship), and random "words," positive "vanity." The remedy is, whatever fools may do, "Fear thou God" (Ecc 12:13).

JFB: Ecc 5:8

As in Ecc 3:16, so here the difficulty suggests itself. If God is so exact in even punishing hasty words (Ecc 5:1-6), why does He allow gross injustice? In the remote "provinces," the "poor" often had to put themselves for protection from the inroads of Philistines, &c., under chieftains, who oppressed them even in Solomon's reign (1Ki 12:4).

JFB: Ecc 5:8 - the matter

Literally, "the pleasure," or purpose (Isa 53:10). Marvel not at this dispensation of God's will, as if He had abandoned the world. Nay, there is coming a capital judgment at last, and an earnest of it in partial punishments of sinners meanwhile.

JFB: Ecc 5:8 - higher than the highest

(Dan 7:18).

JFB: Ecc 5:8 - regardeth

(2Ch 16:9).

JFB: Ecc 5:8 - there be higher

Plural, that is, the three persons of the Godhead, or else, "regardeth not only the 'highest' kings, than whom He 'is higher,' but even the petty tyrants of the provinces, namely, the high ones who are above them" (the poor) [WEISS].

JFB: Ecc 5:9

"The profit (produce) of the earth is (ordained) for (the common good of) all: even the king himself is served by (the fruits of) the field" (2Ch 26:10). Therefore the common Lord of all, high and low, will punish at last those who rob the "poor" of their share in it (Pro 22:22-23; Amo 8:4-7).

JFB: Ecc 5:10

Not only will God punish at last, but meanwhile the oppressive gainers of "silver" find no solid "satisfaction" in it.

JFB: Ecc 5:10 - shall not be satisfied

So the oppressor "eateth his own flesh" (see on Ecc 4:1 and Ecc 4:5).

JFB: Ecc 5:10 - with increase

Is not satisfied with the gain that he makes.

JFB: Ecc 5:11 - they . . . that eat them

The rich man's dependents (Psa 23:5).

JFB: Ecc 5:12

Another argument against anxiety to gain riches. "Sleep . . . sweet" answers to "quietness" (Ecc 4:6); "not suffer . . . sleep," to "vexation of spirit." Fears for his wealth, and an overloaded stomach without "laboring" (compare Ecc 4:5), will not suffer the rich oppressor to sleep.

JFB: Ecc 5:13-14

Proofs of God's judgments even in this world (Pro 11:31). The rich oppressor's wealth provokes enemies, robbers, &c. Then, after having kept it for an expected son, he loses it beforehand by misfortune ("by evil travail"), and the son is born to be heir of poverty. Ecc 2:19, Ecc 2:23 gives another aspect of the same subject.

JFB: Ecc 5:16

Even supposing that he loses not his wealth before death, then at least he must go stripped of it all (Psa 49:17).

JFB: Ecc 5:16 - laboured for the wind

(Hos 12:1; 1Co 9:26).

JFB: Ecc 5:17 - eateth

Appropriately put for "liveth" in general, as connected with Ecc 5:11-12, Ecc 5:18.

JFB: Ecc 5:17 - darkness

Opposed to "light (joy) of countenance" (Ecc 8:1; Pro 16:15).

JFB: Ecc 5:17 - wrath

Fretfulness, literally, "His sorrow is much, and his infirmity (of body) and wrath."

JFB: Ecc 5:18

Returns to the sentiment (Ecc 3:12-13, Ecc 3:22); translate: "Behold the good which I have seen, and which is becoming" (in a man).

JFB: Ecc 5:18 - which God giveth

Namely, both the good of his labor and his life.

JFB: Ecc 5:18 - his portion

Legitimately. It is God's gift that makes it so when regarded as such. Such a one will use, not abuse, earthly things (1Co 7:31). Opposed to the anxious life of the covetous (Ecc 5:10, Ecc 5:17).

JFB: Ecc 5:19

As Ecc 5:18 refers to the "laboring" man (Ecc 5:12), so Ecc 5:19 to the "rich" man, who gets wealth not by "oppression" (Ecc 5:8), but by "God's gift." He is distinguished also from the "rich" man (Ecc 6:2) in having received by God's gift not only "wealth," but also "power to eat thereof," which that one has not.

JFB: Ecc 5:19 - to take his portion

Limits him to the lawful use of wealth, not keeping back from God His portion while enjoying his own.

JFB: Ecc 5:20

He will not remember much, looking back with disappointment, as the ungodly do (Ecc 2:11), on the days of his life.

JFB: Ecc 5:20 - answereth . . . in the joy

God answers his prayers in giving him "power" to enjoy his blessings. GESENIUS and Vulgate translate, "For God (so) occupies him with joy," &c., that he thinks not much of the shortness and sorrows of life. HOLDEN, "Though God gives not much (as to real enjoyment), yet he remembers (with thankfulness) the days; for (he knows) God exercises him by the joy," &c. (tries him by prosperity), so Margin, but English Version is simplest.

Clarke: Ecc 5:1 - Keep thy foot

Keep thy foot - This verse the Hebrew and all the versions join to the preceding chapter

Solomon, having before intimated, though very briefly, that the only cure against human vanity is a due sense of religion, now enters more largely on this important subject, and gives some excellent directions with regard to the right performance of Divine service, the nature of vocal and mental prayer, the danger of rash vows, etc. - C

The whole verse might be more literally translated thus: -

"Guard thy steps as thou art going to the house of God; and approach to hearken, and not to give the sacrifice of fools, for none of them have knowledge about doing evil.""They offer gifts for their sins, and do not turn from their evil works; for they know not (they distinguish not) between good and evil."See the Chaldee.

Clarke: Ecc 5:2 - Be not rash with thy mouth

Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy words, feel deeply, think much, speak little

"When ye approach his altar, on your lip

Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure

Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared

Send up the silent breathings of your souls

Submissive to his will.

C.

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Clarke: Ecc 5:3 - For a dream cometh

For a dream cometh - That is, as dreams are generally the effect of the business in which we have been engaged during the day; so a multitude of words evidence the feeble workings of the foolish heart.

Clarke: Ecc 5:4 - When thou vowest a vow

When thou vowest a vow - When in distress and difficulty, men are apt to promise much to God if he will relieve them; but generally forget the vow when the distress or trouble is gone by.

Clarke: Ecc 5:5 - Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, etc.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, etc. - We are under constant obligations to live to God; no vow can make it more so. Yet, there may be cases in which we should bind ourselves to take up some particular cross, to perform some particular duty, to forego some particular attachment that does not tend to bring our souls nearer to God. Then, if fully determined, and strong in faith relative to the point, bind and hold fast; but if not fully, rationally, and conscientiously determined, "do not suffer thy mouth to cause thy soul to sin."

Clarke: Ecc 5:6 - Neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error

Neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error - Nor think of saying "before the cruel angel, who shall exercise authority over thee in the judgment of the great day, that thou didst it through ignorance."- Chaldee. I believe by the angel nothing else is intended than the priest, whose business it was to take cognizance of vows and offerings. See Lev 5:4, Lev 5:5. In Mal 2:7, the priest is called the "angel of the Lord of hosts."

Clarke: Ecc 5:7 - In - dreams - are - divers vanities; but fear thou God

In - dreams - are - divers vanities; but fear thou God - If, by the disturbed state of thy mind during the day, or by Satanic influence, thou dream of evil, do not give way to any unreasonable fears, or gloomy forebodings, of any coming mischief: - Fear God. Fear neither the dream nor its interpretation; God, will take care of and protect thee. Most certainly, he that fears God need fear nothing else. Well may an upright soul say to Satan himself, I fear God; and because I fear him, I do not fear thee.

Clarke: Ecc 5:8 - If thou seest the oppression of the poor

If thou seest the oppression of the poor - For this was a frequent case under all governments; and especially in the provinces or colonies which being far from the seat of government, were generally oppressed by the sovereign’ s deputies

Clarke: Ecc 5:8 - Marvel not at the matter

Marvel not at the matter - החפץ hachephets , the will, i.e., of God; which permits such evils to take place; for all things shall work together for good to them that love him

"Marvel no

Ye righteous, if his dispensations her

Unequal seem. What, though disorders reign

He still presides, and with unerring han

Directs the vast machine. His wisdom ca

From discord harmony produce; and mak

Even vice itself subservient to his ends."

Clarke: Ecc 5:9 - The profit of the earth is for all

The profit of the earth is for all - The earth, if properly cultivated, is capable of producing food for every living creature; and without cultivation none has a right to expect bread

Clarke: Ecc 5:9 - The king himself is served by the field

The king himself is served by the field - Without the field he cannot have supplies for his own house; and, unless agriculture flourish, the necessary expenses of the state cannot be defrayed. Thus, God joins the head and feet together; for while the peasant is protected by the king as executor of the laws, the king himself is dependent on the peasant; as the wealth of the nation is the fruit of the laborer’ s toil.

Clarke: Ecc 5:10 - He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver - The more he gets, the more he would get; for the saying is true: -

Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit

"The love of money increases, in proportion as money itself increases."

Clarke: Ecc 5:11 - When goods increase

When goods increase - An increase of property always brings an increase of expense, by a multitude of servants; and the owner really possesses no more, and probably enjoys much less, than he did, when every day provided its own bread, and could lay up no store for the next. But if he have more enjoyment, his cares are multiplied; and he has no kind of profit. "This also is vanity."

Clarke: Ecc 5:12 - The sleep of a laboring man is sweet

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet - His labor is healthy exercise. He is without possessions, and without cares; his sleep, being undisturbed, is sound and refreshing.

Clarke: Ecc 5:13 - Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt

Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt - This may be the case through various causes

1.    He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them

2.    He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all

3.    His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life

4.    Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.

Clarke: Ecc 5:14 - And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand

And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand - He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children.

Clarke: Ecc 5:15 - As he came forth

As he came forth - However it may be, he himself shall carry nothing with him into the eternal world. If he die worth millions, those millions are dead to him for ever; so he has had no real profit from all his labors, cares, anxieties, and vast property!

Clarke: Ecc 5:17 - All his days also he eateth in darkness

All his days also he eateth in darkness - Even his enjoyments are embittered by uncertainty. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of יאכל yochel , "he shall eat," ילך yelech , "he shall walk,"is the reading of several MSS. He walks in darkness - he has no evidence of salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is darkness impenetrable

Clarke: Ecc 5:17 - And wrath with his sickness

And wrath with his sickness - His last hours are awful; for

"Counting on long years of pleasure here

He’ s quite unfurnish’ d for the world to come.

Blair

He is full of anguish at the thought of death; but the fear of it is horrible. But if he have a sense of God’ s wrath in his guilty conscience, what horror can be compared with his horror!

Clarke: Ecc 5:18 - Behold that which I have seen

Behold that which I have seen - This is the result of my observations and experience. God gives every man, in the course of his providence, the necessaries of life; and it is his will that he should thankfully use them

Clarke: Ecc 5:18 - For it is his portion

For it is his portion - What is requisite for him in the lower world; without them his life cannot subsist, and earthly blessings are as truly the portion of his body and animal life, as the salvation of God is the portion of his soul.

Clarke: Ecc 5:20 - For he shall not much remember

For he shall not much remember - The person who acts in this way, extracts all the good requisite from life. He passes through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal: -

"Calm and serene, the road of life to him

Or long or short, rugged or smooth, with thorn

O’ erspread, or gay with flowers, is but a road

Such fare as offers grateful he accepts

And smiling to his native home proceeds.

C.

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Defender: Ecc 5:19 - gift of God

This phrase, "the gift of God," occurs only twice in the Old Testament, here and in Ecc 3:13. In both instances, the "gift" has to do with material blessings. Its six occurrences in the New Testament, on the other hand, all refer to spiritual blessings - especially "eternal life" (Rom 6:23; Act 8:20; 1Co 7:7; Eph 2:8; 2Ti 1:6)."

TSK: Ecc 5:1 - thy foot // ready // give

thy foot : Gen 28:16, Gen 28:17; Exo 3:5; Lev 10:3; Jos 5:15; 2Ch 26:16; Psa 89:7; Isa 1:12-20; 1Co 11:22; Heb 12:28, Heb 12:29

ready : Act 10:33, Act 17:11; Jam 1:19; 1Pe 2:1, 1Pe 2:2

give : Gen 4:3-5; 1Sa 13:12, 1Sa 13:13, 1Sa 15:21, 1Sa 15:22; Psa 50:8-18; Pro 15:8, Pro 21:27; Isa 1:12-15, Isa 66:3; Jer 7:21-23; Hos 6:6, Hos 6:7; Mal 1:10, Mal 1:11; Heb 10:26

TSK: Ecc 5:2 - not rash // thing // for

not rash : Gen 18:27, Gen 18:30, Gen 18:32, Gen 28:20, Gen 28:22; Num 30:2-5; Jdg 11:30; 1Sam. 14:24-45; Mar 6:23

thing : or, word

for : Psa 115:3; Isa 55:9; Mat 6:9, let thy , Ecc 5:3, Ecc 5:7; Pro 10:19; Mat 6:7; Jam 3:2

TSK: Ecc 5:3 - a fool’ s

a fool’ s : Ecc 10:12-14; Pro 10:19, Pro 15:2

TSK: Ecc 5:4 - vowest // for // pay

vowest : Gen 28:20, Gen 35:1, Gen 35:3; Num 30:2; Deu 23:21-23; Psa 50:14, Psa 76:11, Psa 119:106; Isa 19:21; Mat 5:33

for : Psa 147:10, Psa 147:11; Mal 1:10; Heb 10:6

pay : Psa 66:13, Psa 66:14, Psa 116:14, Psa 116:16-18; Jon 2:9

TSK: Ecc 5:5

Deu 23:22; Pro 20:25; Act 5:4

TSK: Ecc 5:6 - thy mouth // before // it was // destroy

thy mouth : Ecc 5:1, Ecc 5:2; Jam 1:26, Jam 3:2

before : Or, ""before the messenger,""hammalach , the priest whose business it was to take cognizance of vows and offerings. Lev 5:4, Lev 5:5; Gen 48:16; Hos 12:4, Hos 12:5; Mal 2:7, Mal 3:1; Act 7:30-35; 1Co 11:10; 1Ti 5:21; Heb 1:14

it was : Lev 5:4-6, Lev 27:9, Lev 27:10

destroy : Hag 1:9-11, Hag 2:14-17; 1Co 3:13-15; 2Jo 1:8

TSK: Ecc 5:7 - in the // but

in the : Ecc 5:3; Mat 12:36

but : Ecc 7:18, Ecc 8:12, Ecc 12:13; Pro 23:17; Isa 50:10, Isa 50:11

TSK: Ecc 5:8 - thou seest // marvel // matter // for // regardeth // higher than they

thou seest : Ecc 3:16, Ecc 4:1; Psa 12:5, Psa 55:9, Psa 58:11; Pro 8:17; Hab 1:2, Hab 1:3, Hab 1:13

marvel : Zec 8:6; 1Jo 3:13; Rev 17:6, Rev 17:7

matter : Heb. will, or purpose, Isa 10:5-7, Isa 10:12, Isa 46:10, Isa 46:11; Hab 1:12; Act 4:27, Act 4:28; Rom 11:33

for : Isa 57:15; Luk 1:32, Luk 1:35, Luk 1:76

regardeth : 1Ki 21:19, 1Ki 21:20; Job 20:19-29, 27:8-23; Psa 10:17, Psa 10:18, Psa 12:5, Psa 58:10, Psa 58:11; Psa 82:1, Psa 83:18, Psa 140:11, Psa 140:12; Isa 3:15, Isa 5:7, Isa 59:13-16; Jer 22:17-19; Eze 22:6-14; Amo 5:12, Amo 6:2-6, Amo 6:12, Amo 8:4-7; Mic 2:1-3, Mic 2:9, Mic 3:1-4, Mic 3:9-12; Mic 6:10-13; Zec 7:9-13; Mal 3:5; Jam 2:13, Jam 5:2-7

higher than they : 1Ch 21:15, 1Ch 21:16; Psa 95:3; Isa 37:36; Mat 13:41, Mat 13:42; Act 12:7-10, Act 12:23

TSK: Ecc 5:9 - the profit // the king

the profit : Gen 1:29, Gen 1:30, Gen 3:17-19; Psa 104:14, Psa 104:15, Psa 115:16; Pro 13:23, Pro 27:23-27; Pro 28:19; Jer 40:10-12

the king : 1Sa 8:12-17; 1Kings 4:7-23; 1Ch 27:26-31

TSK: Ecc 5:10 - He that // this

He that : The more he gets, the more he would get; for Crescit amor nummi , quantum ipsa pecunia crescit , ""The love of money increases, in proportion as money itself increases.""Ecc 4:8, Ecc 6:7; Psa 52:1, Psa 52:7, Psa 62:10; Pro 30:15, Pro 30:16; Hab 2:5-7; Mat 6:19, Mat 6:24; Luk 12:15; 1Ti 6:10

this : Ecc 1:17, Ecc 2:11, Ecc 2:17, Ecc 2:18, Ecc 2:26, Ecc 3:19, Ecc 4:4, Ecc 4:8, Ecc 4:16

TSK: Ecc 5:11 - they // what

they : Gen 12:16, Gen 13:2, Gen 13:5-7; 1Ki 4:22, 1Ki 4:23, 1Ki 5:13-16; Neh 5:17, Neh 5:18; Psa 119:36, Psa 119:37

what : Ecc 6:9, Ecc 11:9; Jos 7:21-25; Pro 23:5; Jer 17:11; Hab 2:13; 1Jo 2:16

TSK: Ecc 5:12

Psa 4:8, Psa 127:2; Pro 3:24; Jer 31:26

TSK: Ecc 5:13 - a sore // riches

a sore : Ecc 4:8, Ecc 6:1, Ecc 6:2

riches : Ecc 8:9; Gen 13:5-11, Gen 14:16, Gen 19:14, Gen 19:26, Gen 19:31-38; Pro 1:11-13, Pro 1:19, Pro 1:32; Pro 11:4, Pro 11:24, Pro 11:25; Isa 2:20, Isa 32:6-8; Zep 1:18; Luk 12:16-21; Luk 16:1-13, Luk 16:19, Luk 16:22, Luk 16:23, Luk 18:22, Luk 18:23, Luk 19:8; 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10; Jam 2:5-7, Jam 5:1-4

TSK: Ecc 5:14 - those // and he

those : Ecc 2:26; Job 5:5, Job 20:15-29, Job 27:16, Job 27:17; Psa 39:6; Pro 23:5; Hag 1:9; Hag 2:16, Hag 2:17; Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20

and he : 1Sa 2:6-8, 1Sa 2:36; 1Ki 14:26; Psa 109:9-12

TSK: Ecc 5:15

Job 1:21; Psa 49:17; Luk 12:20; 1Ti 6:7

TSK: Ecc 5:16 - a sore // what // for

a sore : Ecc 5:13, Ecc 2:22, Ecc 2:23

what : 1Sa 12:21; Jer 2:8; Mar 8:36

for : Ecc 1:3; Pro 11:29; Isa 26:18; Hos 8:7; Joh 6:27

TSK: Ecc 5:17 - he eateth // much

he eateth : Gen 3:17; 1Ki 17:12; Job 21:25; Psa 78:33, Psa 102:9, Psa 127:2; Eze 4:16, Eze 4:17

much : 2Ki 1:2, 2Ki 1:6, 2Ki 5:27; 2Ch 16:10-12, 2Ch 24:24, 2Ch 24:25; Psa 90:7-11; Pro 1:27-29; Act 12:23; 1Co 11:30-32

TSK: Ecc 5:18 - it is good and comely // the days // it is his

it is good and comely : Heb. there is a good which is comely, etc. Ecc 2:24, Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 3:22, Ecc 8:15, Ecc 9:7, Ecc 11:9; 1Ti 6:17

the days : Heb. the number of the days

it is his : Ecc 2:10, Ecc 3:22; Jer 52:34

TSK: Ecc 5:19 - to whom // this is

to whom : Ecc 2:24, Ecc 3:13, Ecc 6:2; Deu 8:18; 1Ki 3:13

this is : Ecc 2:24-26

TSK: Ecc 5:20 - For he shall not much remember // because

For he shall not much remember : or, Though he give not much, yet he rembemereth, etc. Psa 37:16

because : Deu 28:8-12, Deu 28:47; Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7; Isa 64:5, Isa 65:13, Isa 65:14, Isa 65:21-24; Rom 5:1, Rom 5:5-11

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Ecc 5:1 - Keep thy foot // The house of God // Be more ready // To hear // The sacrifice of fools // They consider not that they do evil

Keep thy foot the feet of thy soul, which are the thoughts and affections, by which men go to God, and walk or converse with him. Make straight steps. See that your hearts be purged from sin, and prepared and furnished with all graces or necessary qualifications, as good intention, reverence, humility, &c. It is a metaphor from one that walketh in a very slippery path, in which there needs more than ordinary care to keep him from falling.

The house of God the place of God’ s solemn and public worship, whether the temple or synagogue.

Be more ready Heb. more near , more forward and inclinable. Prefer this duty before the following.

To hear to hearken to and obey God’ s word, there read and preached by the priests or prophets; for hearing is very frequently put in Scripture for obeying.

The sacrifice of fools such as foolish and wicked men use to offer, who vainly think to please God with the multitude and costliness of their sacrifices without true piety or obedience.

They consider not that they do evil they are not sensible of the great sinfulness of such thoughts and practices, but, like fools, think they do God good service; which is implied, as is usual in such expressions.

Poole: Ecc 5:2 - Be not rash with thy mouth // Let not thine heart be hasty // To utter any thing before God // God is in heaven // Thou upon earth // Let thy words be few

Be not rash with thy mouth speak not without good understanding and due consideration.

Let not thine heart be hasty do not give way to every sudden motion of thine heart, nor suffer it to break out of thy lips till thou hast well weighed it.

To utter any thing before God either,

1. In prayers directed to him. Or,

2. In solemn vows and promises made in God’ s presence; which were very much in use in those times, and of which he speaks in the following verses, where he presseth us to pay our vows when we have made them, as here he seems to caution us in making them.

God is in heaven is a God of infinite majesty, not to be despised or abused; of infinite holiness, not to be polluted or offended; of infinite knowledge. observing all our words and carriages, not to be deceived.

Thou upon earth thou art a poor earth-worm, infinitely below him, and therefore shouldst stand in awe of him, and fear to offend him.

Let thy words be few either

1. In prayer. Use not vain repetitions nor multitude of words in prayer, as if they were necessary to inform God of thy state, or to prevail with God to grant thy requests, or as if thou shouldst certainly be heard upon that very account, as Christ also cautions us, Mat 6:7 . For otherwise it is not unlawful, nay, sometimes it is a duty, to use long prayers, and consequently many words, and to repeat the same words in prayer, as is manifest from Neh 9:3 Dan 9:18,19 Mt 26:44 Luk 6:12 , and many other places. Or,

2. In vowing. Be not too prodigal in making more vows and promises than thou art either able or willing and resolved to perform, remembering that God looks down from heaven, and heareth all thy vows, and expects a punctual accomplishment of them. See Poole "Ecc 5:3" .

Poole: Ecc 5:3 - A fool’ s voice is known // By multitude of words

When men’ s minds are distracted and oppressed with too much business in the day, they dream of it in the night.

A fool’ s voice is known it discovers the man to be a foolish, and rash, and inconsiderate man.

By multitude of words either,

1. In prayer. Or,

2. In vowing, i.e. by making many rash vows, of which he speaks in Ecc 5:4-6 , and then returns to the mention of multitude of dreams and many words , Ecc 5:7 , which verse may be a comment upon this, and which makes it probable that both that and this verse are to be understood of vows rather than of prayers.

Poole: Ecc 5:4 - A vow // Defer not to pay it // In fools

A vow which is a solemn promise, whereby a man binds himself to do something which is in his power to do.

Defer not to pay it perform it whilst the sense of thine obligation is fresh and strong upon thee, lest either thou seem to repent of thy promises, or lest delays end in denials and resolutions of non-performance. See Num 30:2 Deu 23:21 Psa 66:13,14 66:11 .

In fools in hypocritical and perfidious persons, who, when they are in distress, make liberal vows, and when the danger is past, neglect and break them; whom he calls fools , partly because it is the highest folly to despise and provoke, to think to mock and deceive, the all-seeing and almighty God; and partly in opposition to the contrary opinion of such persons, who think they deal wisely and cunningly in serving themselves of God, by getting the advantage or deliverance which they desire by making such vows, and yet avoiding the inconvenience and charge of payment when once the work is done, whereas nothing is more impious or ridiculous than such an imagination.

Poole: Ecc 5:5 - That thou shouldest not vow

That thou shouldest not vow for this was no sin, because men are free to make such vows, or not to make them, as they think fit. See Num 30:3 , &c.; Deu 23:22 Act 5:4 . But having vowed we cannot forbear payment of them without sin.

Poole: Ecc 5:6 - Suffer not thy mouth // Thy flesh // The angel // That it was an error // Wherefore should God be angry // Destroy the work of thine hands

Suffer not thy mouth by uttering any rash or foolish vow.

Thy flesh i. e. thyself, the word flesh being oft put for the whole man, as Gen 6:12 Isa 40:5 Rom 3:20 , &c. And it seems to have some emphasis here, and to intimate either,

1. That such vows were made upon fleshly or carnal, and not upon spiritual and religious motives. Or rather,

2. That the flesh or corrupt nature of man, which is oft called flesh , was exceeding prone to set itself at ease and liberty from such bonds, and to neglect the chargeable duties of religion.

The angel either,

1. The blessed angels, the singular number being put for the plural, who are present in the public assemblies in which these vows were generally paid, Psa 66:13 , where they observe both the matter and manner of men’ s religious performances, as appears from 1Co 11:10 , who as they rejoice in the conversion of a sinner, Luk 15:10 , so are displeased with the sins of men, and especially such as are committed in or against the worship of God. Or,

2. Christ, who in the Old Testament is frequently called an angel , as hath been oft noted before, and the Angel of the covenant , Mal 3:1 because even then he acted as God’ s messenger, appearing and speaking to the patriarchs and prophets in his Father’ s name, as a prosignification of his future incarnation, and who is and was in a special manner present in all religious assemblies; and being omniscient and omnipresent, exactly knew and observed all the vows which men made, and whether they did perform or violate them. Or rather,

3. The priest or minister of holy things, who was to require of the people the payment of their vows, to whom all sacrifices for sins of ignorance or errors about vows or other things were to be brought, Lev 5:4,5 . For such persons are oft called angels , or, as this Hebrew word is commonly rendered, messengers , as Job 33:23 Mal 2:7 Rev 1:20 . And this title seems to be given to the priest here, not without some emphasis, because the vow made to God was paid to the priest as one standing and acting in God’ s name and stead, and it belonged to the priest, as God’ s angel or ambassador, to discharge persons from their vows when there was just occasion so to do.

That it was an error I did foolishly and unadvisedly in making such a vow, and therefore I hope God will excuse me, and instead of that which I had vowed, accept of a sacrifice for my ignorance, according to the law for sins of ignorance, Lev 4:2 5:15 Num 15:26 .

Wherefore should God be angry why wilt thou provoke God to anger, at thy voice? either,

1. At the vows which thou hast hastily uttered with thy mouth, as he said above. Or rather,

2. At these frivolous excuses, wherewith thou deludest thy own conscience, and vainly imaginest that thou canst deceive God himself.

Destroy the work of thine hands blast all thy contrivances, and labours, and estate gotten by thy labours, and particularly that work or enterprise for the success whereof thou didst make these vows, which being, as thou thinkest, finished, thou refusest to pay thy vows; but know that God can quickly undo that which thou hast done, and plentifully repay thine indignities and injuries offered to him into thine own bosom.

Poole: Ecc 5:7 - multitude of dreams // Fear thou God

There is a great deal of vanity and folly, as in

multitude of dreams which for the most part are vain and insignificant, so also in many words , i.e. in making many vows, whereby a man is exposed to many snares and temptations.

Fear thou God fear the offence and wrath of God, and therefore be sparing in making vows, and just in performing them; whereby he implies that this rashness in vowing, and slackness in performing vows, proceed from the want of a just reverence and dread of the Divine Majesty, who is immediately concerned in these matters.

Poole: Ecc 5:8 - Marvel not // He that is higher than the highest // There be higher than they

Here is an account of another vanity, and a sovereign antidote against it.

Marvel not as if it were inconsistent with God’ s wisdom, and justice, and truth to suffer such disorders, or a just cause for any man to throw off that fear and service of God which I have now commended to thee.

He that is higher than the highest the most high God, who is infinitely above the greatest of men, and therefore, if he saw meet, could crush them in an instant,

regardeth not like an idle spectator, but like a judge, who diligently observes and records all these miscarriages, and will so effectually punish them, that neither they shall have any cause of triumph in their former successes, nor good men to be grieved at the remembrance of them.

There be higher than they either,

1. The high and holy angels, who are employed by God in the government of kings and kingdoms, as we read in the Book of Daniel, and elsewhere, and for the defence of God’ s people, Psa 34:7 91:11 Heb 1:14 . Or,

2. God; and so it is an emphatical repetition of the same thing, which is frequent in Scripture; there is a higher than they . Or, as the words are by others fitly rendered, the Most High (for plural words are oft understood of God singularly) is above them , and therefore can control them, and will certainly call them to an account.

Poole: Ecc 5:9 - The profit of the earth // Is served by the field

The profit of the earth the fruits procured from the earth by the skill and labour of the husbandman, is for all; are necessary and beneficial to all men whatsoever. The wise man, after some interruption, returns to his former subject, to discourse of the vanity of great riches, one argument or evidence whereof he seems to mention in this verse, to wit, that the poor labourer enjoyeth the fruits of the earth as well as the greatest monarch, and that the richest man in the world depends as much upon them as the poorest.

Is served by the field is supported by the fruits of the field; or, as many others render it, serves or is a servant to the field , depends upon it, is obliged to see that his fields be tilled and dressed, that he may have subsistence for himself, and for his servants and subjects.

Poole: Ecc 5:10 - That loveth abundance

The greatest treasures of silver do not satisfy the covetous possessor of it; partly because his mind is insatiable, and his desires are increased by and with gains; partly because silver of itself cannot satisfy his natural desires and necessities as the fruits of the field can do, and the miserable wretch grudgeth to part with his silver, though it be to purchase things needful and convenient for him.

That loveth abundance or, that loveth it (to wit, silver) in abundance; that desires and lays up great treasures.

Poole: Ecc 5:11 - They are increased that eat them // What good is there to the owners thereof? // The beholding of them with their eyes

They are increased that eat them they require and are more commonly attended with a numerous company of servants, and friends, and retinues to consume them; which is a great torment to a covetous man, of whom he here speaks.

What good is there to the owners thereof? what benefit hath he above others, who feed upon his provisions, and enjoy the same comforts which he doth, without his fears, and cares, and troubles about them?

The beholding of them with their eyes either,

1. With a reflection upon his propriety.in them. Or,

2. With unlimited freedom. He can go and look upon his bags or chests of silver as long and as oft as he pleaseth, whereas other men are seldom admitted to that prospect, and see only some few of the fruits or purchases of it.

Poole: Ecc 5:12 - Is sweet // Whether he eat little // The abundance

Is sweet because he is free from those cares and fears, wherewith the minds of rich men are oft distracted, and their sleep disturbed.

Whether he eat little then his weariness disposeth him to sleep, or much, in which case his healthful constitution and laborious course of life prevents those crudities and indigestions which ofttimes break the sleep of rich men.

The abundance Heb. the fulness , either,

1. Of his diet, which commonly discomposeth their stomachs, and hinders their rest; or,

2. Of wealth, which is commonly attended with many perplexing cares, which disquiet men both by day and by night. The Hebrew word is used in Scripture both ways, and possibly it is thus generally expressed to include both significations.

Poole: Ecc 5:13

Because they frequently are the instruments and occasions both of their present and eternal destruction, as they feed their pride or luxury, or other hurtful lusts, which waste the body, and shorten the life, and damn the soul; and as they are great temptations to tyrants or thieves, yea, sometimes to relations, or servants, or others, to take away their lives, that they may get their riches.

Poole: Ecc 5:14 - But // Those riches perish // By evil travail // There is nothing in his hand

But or for , or or , or moreover ; for this particle is so rendered by divers others, both here and in other places of Scripture.

Those riches perish: if they be kept, it is to the owner’ s hurt; and if not, they are lost to his grief.

By evil travail by some wicked practices, either his own, or of other men; or by some secret hand of God cursing all his enterprises.

There is nothing in his hand either,

1. In the father’ s power to leave to his son, for whose sake he underwent all those hard labours; which is a great aggravation of his grief and misery. Or,

2. In the son’ s possession after his father’ s death.

Poole: Ecc 5:15 - Return to go

Return to go into the womb or belly of the earth, the common mother of all mankind. See Poole "Job 1:21" , See Poole "Ecc 12:7 ". And return to go , is put for return and go ; and going is here put for dying , as Job 16:22 Psa 39:13 . This is another vanity: if his estate be neither lost, nor kept to his hurt, but enjoyed by him with safety and comfort all his days, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one handful of it with him into another world.

Poole: Ecc 5:16 - This also

This also which I have last mentioned and shall now repeat. For the wind ; for riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, fleeing away swiftly and strongly, Pro 23:5 , which no man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the wind. Compare Pro 11:29 Hos 12:1 .

Poole: Ecc 5:17 - All his days // also he eateth in darkness // He hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness

All his days to wit, of his life,

also he eateth in darkness he hath no comfort in his estate, but even when he eats, when other men relax their minds, and use freedom and cheerfulness, he doth it with anxiety and discontent, as grudging even at his own necessary expenses, and tormenting himself with cares about getting, and disposing, and keeping his estate.

He hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness when he falls sick, and presageth or feareth his death, he is filled with rage, because he is cut off before he hath accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that wealth and world in which all his hopes and happiness lie, and must go to give up a doleful account to his Judge of all his actions and acquisitions.

Poole: Ecc 5:18 - That which I have seen // Good and comely // His portion

That which I have seen i.e. learned by study and experience.

Good and comely good or comfortable to man’ s self, and comely or amiable in the eyes of other men, as penuriousness is base and dishonourable.

His portion to wit, of worldly goods; for he hath another and a better portion in heaven. This liberty is given to him by God, and this is the best advantage, as to this life, which he can make of them.

Poole: Ecc 5:19 - Hath given him power

Hath given him power Heb. hath given him the dominion ; who is the lord and master of his estate, not a slave to it. Of this and the former verse, See Poole "Ecc 2:24" ; See Poole "Ecc 3:12" , See Poole "Ecc 3:13" . To take his portion to his own use , to use what God hath given him.

Poole: Ecc 5:20 - He shall not much remember // The days // Answereth him

He shall not much remember so as to disquiet or vex himself therewith.

The days either,

1. The troubles; days being here put for evil or sad days, by a usual synecdoche, as Job 18:20 Psa 137:7 Ob 12 Mic 7:4 . Or,

2. The time in general; which is irksome and tedious to men oppressed with discontent or misery, who usually reckon every hour or minute that passeth, and have their minds and thoughts constantly fixed upon the vanity and uncertainty of this life, upon the afflictions which they have already endured and may further expect; whereas to men of contented and cheerful minds the time is short and sweet, and passeth over them before they are aware of it, and they enjoy their present comforts without perplexing themselves about former or future events.

Answereth him answereth, either,

1. His labours with success, as money is said to answer all things , Ecc 10:19 , because it is equivalent to all, and able to purchase all things. Or,

2. His desires. In the joy of his heart; in giving him that solid joy and comfort of his labours which his heart expected and desired.

Haydock: Ecc 5:1 - Few // De Deo etiam vera loqui periculosum

Few. As none can arrive at the perfect knowledge of God, they should be reserved in speaking of Him. (Worthington) ---

De Deo etiam vera loqui periculosum. (Cicero, de Nat.) ---

In prayer, (Calmet) we must not pretend to give him any information, like the heathens, Matthew vi. 7. (Haydock)

Haydock: Ecc 5:2 - Folly

Folly. Under anxiety a person is naturally disturbed with dreams, in which some true ideas may present themselves; in like manner, as a great talker will say some things respecting God, which may not be reprehensible, though the greatest part of his discourse will be nothing to the purpose. This is another abuse. All must speak of God and religion, though few are able to do it, with propriety! (Calmet)

Haydock: Ecc 5:3 - Pay it

Pay it. Deuteronomy xxiii. Vows must be fulfilled. (Worthington) ---

God requires that we should keep the commandments; (Luke x. 28.) and if we engage ourselves to perform some work of supererogation, he expects that we should be faithful. To vow is of counsel; but to comply with it is of precept. An abuse too common among the Jews is here condemned. (Calmet)

Haydock: Ecc 5:5 - Sin // Angel // Providence

Sin by making a vow, above thy strength, (Chaldean; Pineda) or by speaking what may excite the passions. (Thaumat.; Bossuet) ---

Angel guardian assigned to each one, (Worthington) or the priest, who took cognizance of vows. (Calmet) ---

Providence, or "foresight" in me to avoid the evil. Hebrew and Septuagint, "it is an error," (Haydock) or sin of ignorance, for which certain victims were specified, Leviticus v. 4. The neglect of vows could not be thus expiated. (Calmet) ---

Use no allurements to lust. (Menochius)

Haydock: Ecc 5:6 - Number

Number. Those who observe dreams, are filled with apprehension. The Jews were very subject to this superstition. (Calmet) ---

As dreams are vain, so are many words or excuses to evade a vow. (Junius; Grotius) ---

Such pretences must not be made. (St. Jerome) (Menochius)

Haydock: Ecc 5:7 - These

These. God will bring the wicked to judgment, (Calmet) and shew for what design he left them in power. (Haydock)

Haydock: Ecc 5:8 - Him

Him. An appeal may be made to the king or to God. Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis. (Horace, iii. ode 1.) ---

Hebrew, "the king serves, (Montanus) or is served by the field." (Protestants) (Haydock) ---

All have a mutual dependence on each other, and thus the vanity of men and the order of Providence appear. (Calmet)

Haydock: Ecc 5:9 - Money // Nescis quo valeat nummus, quem prזbeat usum

Money. Avarice is like a dropsy, (Calmet) or poison, infecting all the person. (Sallust.) ---

The miser is the slave, and not the possessor, of his riches, (St. Chrysostom) like Tantalus, who could not drink, though in the midst of waters. (Horace, i. Sat. 1.) ---

Nescis quo valeat nummus, quem prזbeat usum.

Haydock: Ecc 5:10 - Them

Them. He shews the vanity of the great.

Haydock: Ecc 5:11 - Sleep

Sleep. Is not the health and content of the poor to be preferred?

Haydock: Ecc 5:12 - Owner

Owner. When they are taken away, they bring greater sorrow, (Calmet) and even when present, they fill the mind with anxiety. (Haydock)

Haydock: Ecc 5:13 - Affliction // Who

Affliction. Hebrew, "by an evil affair," or accident. (Calmet) ---

Who. Hebrew, "and there is nothing in his hand." (Haydock) ---

As temporal riches prove detrimental to their owners, so do false philosophy and heresy to those who follow them. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)

Haydock: Ecc 5:14 - Labour

Labour. All must die in this manner. But it is most afflicting that he was formerly rich, and must leave his son indigent. (Calmet)

Haydock: Ecc 5:16 - Sorrow

Sorrow. The person whose riches have been taken away, had made a bad use of them, (Calmet) living like a miser. It would be more rational to indulge in the pleasures which they afford, though this is also vain, chap. iii. 14.

Haydock: Ecc 5:19 - Delight

Delight, while he observes due moderation. His life passes away sweetly. (Calmet)

Gill: Ecc 5:1 - 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

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,.... The house of the sanctuary of the Lord, the temple built by Solomon; and so any place of divine worship, where the word of God is preached, and his ordinances administered. The wise man, having observed many vanities under the sun, directs men to the house of God, where they might learn the nature of them, and how to avoid them; though if care was not taken, they would find or introduce vanity there; which, of all vanities, is the worst, and ought to be guarded against. Wherefore, when men go to any place of divine worship, which to do is their duty and interest, and for their honour, pleasure, and profit, they should take care to "keep their feet", for the singular is here put for the plural, not from going into it; nor does it signify a slow motion towards it, which should be quick, in haste, showing earnestness, fervency, and zeal; but they should keep their feet in proper case, in a suitable condition. The allusion is either to the pulling off of the shoes off the feet, ordered to Moses and Joshua, when on holy ground, Exo 3:5; and which the Jews observed, when they entered the temple on their festivals and sabbaths, even their kings, as Juvenal ^k jeers them: not that such a rite should be literally used now, or what is analogous to it; putting off of the hat, in a superstitious veneration of a place; but what was signified by it, as the putting off of the old man, with his deeds, laying aside depraved affections and sordid lusts; two apostles, James and Peter, have taught us this, when we come to the house of God to hear his word, Jam 1:21; or the allusion is to the custom of persons in those eastern countries dressing or washing their feet when they visited, especially those of any note; and entered into their houses on any business, as Mephibosheth, when he waited on David, 2Sa 19:24; or to the practice of the priests, who washed their feet when they went into the tabernacle of the Lord, Exo 30:19. Schindler ^l says that hence (because of this text) the Jews had before their synagogues an iron fixed in the wall (which we call a "scraper"), on which they cleaned their shoes before they went into the synagogue. All which may denote the purity and cleanness of the conversation of the true worshippers of God; for, as the feet are the instruments of the action of walking, they may intend the conduct and behaviour of the saints in the house of God, where they should take care to do all things according to his word, which is a lamp to the feet, and a light unto the path: moreover, what the feet are to the body, that the affections are to the soul; and these, when a man enters into the house of God for worship, should be set on divine and spiritual things, and not on the world, and the things of it, which will choke the word heard, and make it unprofitable; the thoughts should be composed, sedate, and quiet, and the mind attentive to what is spoken or done; or otherwise, if diverted by other objects, the service will be useless;

and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; there are sacrifices to be offered unto God in his house, which are acceptable to him; the sacrifices of beneficence and alms deeds to the poor, with which he is well pleased; and the presentation of the bodies of men, as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice unto him; and especially their hearts, and those as broken and contrite, which are the sacrifices of God; as also the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, which are acceptable to him through Jesus Christ: and under the former dispensation, while sacrifices were in use by divine appointment, when they were offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ, they were well pleasing to God; but when they were not done in faith, and were without repentance for sin and reformation of life; when men retained their sins with them, and made these a cover for them, and thought by them to make atonement for their crimes, they were no other than the sacrifices of fools, and abominable unto God; see Isa 1:11; when these sacrifices were performed in the best manner, moral duties, as hearing and obeying the word of the Lord, and showing mercy to men, and offering up the spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, were preferred unto them, 1Sa 15:22; and much more to the sacrifices of fools. To be ready, or near ^m, is to hear the word of the Lord, as Jarchi interprets it; though Aben Ezra understands it of God being near to hear his people, when they call upon him in truth. The word of the Lord was not only read publicly in the temple and synagogues, but was explained by the priests and prophets, the ecclesiastical rulers of the people; see Mal 2:7; so the Targum,

"draw near thine ear to receive the doctrine of the law, from the priests and wise men:''

and so the people of God should draw near to hear the word; be swift to hear it, attentive to it, and receive it with all reverence, humility, love, and affection; and should not take up with mere outward forms, which is but the sacrifice of fools;

for they consider not that they do evil; or "know not" ⁿ; they think they are doing well, and doing God good service, when they are doing ill; they know not truly the object of worship, nor the spiritual nature of it, nor the right end and true use of it: or, "they know not, only to do evil", so Aben Ezra supplies it: to do good they have no knowledge: or, "they know not to do the will", or "good pleasure" ^o; that is, of God; this sense of the word Aben Ezra mentions.

Gill: Ecc 5:2 - 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, by words be few

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God,.... In private conversation care should be taken that no rash and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as were by Moses and David; and that no evil, nor even any idle word he uttered, since from, the abundance of the heart the mouth is apt to speak, and all is before, the Lord; not a word in the tongue but is altogether known by him, and must be accounted for to him, Psa 106:33. Jerom interprets this of words spoken concerning God; and careful men should be of what they say of him, of his nature and perfections, of his persons, and of his works; and it may be applied to a public profession of his name, and of faith in him; though this should be done with the heart, yet the heart and tongue should not be rash and hasty in making it; men should consider what they profess and confess, and upon what foot they take up and make a profession of religion; whether they have the true grace of God or no: and it will hold true of the public ministry of the word, in which everything that comes uppermost in the mind, or what is crude and undigested, should not be, uttered; but what ministers have thought of, meditated on, well weighed in their minds, and properly digested. Some understand this of rash vows, such as Jephthah's, is supposed to be, which are later repented of; but rather speaking unto God in prayer is intended. So the Targum,

"thy, heart shall not hasten to bring out speech at the time thou prayest before the Lord;''

anything and everything that comes up into the mind should not be, uttered before God; not anything rashly and hastily; men should consider before they speak to the King of kings; for though set precomposed forms of prayer are not to be used, yet the matter of prayer should be thought of beforehand; what our wants are, and what we should ask for; whether for ourselves or others; this rule I fear we often offend against: the reasons follow;

for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; his throne is in the heavens, he dwells in the highest heavens, though they cannot contain him; this is expressive of his majesty, sovereignty, and supremacy, and of his omniscience and omnipotence; he is the high and lofty One, that dwells in the high and holy place; he is above all, and sees and knows all persons and things; and he sits in the heavens, and does whatever he pleases; and therefore all should stand in awe of him, and consider what they say unto him. Our Lord seems to have respect to this passage when he directed his disciples to pray, saying, "Our Father, which art in heaven", Mat 6:9; and when we pray to him we should think what we ourselves are, that we are on the earth, the footstool of God; that we are of the earth, earthly; dwell in houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; crawling worms on earth, unworthy of his notice; are but dust and ashes, who take upon us to speak unto him;

therefore let, by words be few; of which prayer consists; such was the prayer of the publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner", Luk 18:13; and such the prayer which Christ has given as a pattern and directory to his people; who has forbid vain repetitions and much speaking in prayer, Mat 6:7; not that all lengthy prayers are to be condemned, or all repetitions in them; our Lord was all night in prayer himself; and Nehemiah, Daniel, and others, have used repetitions in prayer, which may be done with fresh affection, zeal, and fervency; but such are forbidden as are done for the sake of being heard for much speaking, as the Heathens; and who thought they were not understood unless they said a thing a hundred times over ^p; or when done to gain a character of being more holy and religious than others, as the Pharisees.

Gill: Ecc 5:3 - For a dream cometh through the multitude of business // and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words

For a dream cometh through the multitude of business,.... Or, "for as a dream" ^q, so Aben Ezra; as that comes through a multiplicity of business in the daytime, in which the mind has been busied, and the body employed; and this brings on dreams in the night season, which are confused and incoherent; sometimes the fancy is employed about one thing, and sometimes another, and all unprofitable and useless, as well as vain and foolish;

and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words; either his voice in conversation, for a fool is full of words, and pours out his foolishness in a large profusion of them; or his voice in prayer, being like a man's dream, confused, incoherent, and rambling. The supplement, "is known", may be left out.

Gill: Ecc 5:4 - When thou vowest a vow unto God // defer not to pay it // for he hath no pleasure in fools // pay that which thou hast vowed

When thou vowest a vow unto God,.... Or "if thou vowest" ^r, as the Vulgate Latin version; for vows are free and indifferent things, which persons may make or not; there is no precept for them in the word of God; instances and examples there are, and they may be lawfully made, when they are in the power of man to perform, and are not inconsistent with the will and word of God; they have been made by good men, and were frequent in former times; but they seem not so agreeable to the Gospel dispensation, having a tendency to ensnare the mind, to entangle men, and bring on them a spirit of bondage, contrary to that liberty wherewith Christ has made them free; and therefore it is better to abstain from them: holy resolutions to do the will and work of God should be taken up in the strength of divine grace; but to vow this, or that, or the other thing, which a man previous to his vow is not obliged unto, had better be let alone: but however, when a vow is made that is lawful to be done,

defer not to pay it; that is, to God, to whom it is made, who expects it, and that speedily, as Hannah paid hers; no excuses nor delays should be made;

for he hath no pleasure in fools; that is, the Lord hath no pleasure in them, he will not be mocked by them; he will resent such treatment of him, as to vow and not pay, or defer payment and daily, with him. So the Targum,

"for the Lord hath no pleasure in fools, because, they defer their vows, and do not pay;''

pay that which thou hast vowed; precisely and punctually; both as to the matter, manner, and time of it.

Gill: Ecc 5:5 - Better is it that thou shouldest not vow // than that thou shouldest vow and not pay

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow,.... For a vow is an arbitrary thing; a man is not bound to make it, and while he vows not, it is in his own power, and at his option, whether he will do this or that, or not; but when he has once vowed, he is then brought under an obligation, and must perform; see Act 5:4; and therefore it is better not to vow; it is more acceptable to God, and, it is better for a man;

than that thou shouldest vow and not pay; for this shows great weakness and folly, levity and inconstancy, and is resented by the Lord.

Gill: Ecc 5:6 - Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin // neither say thou before the angel that it was an error // wherefore should God be angry at thy voice // and destroy the work of thine hands

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,.... That is, himself, who is corrupt and depraved; either by making a rash vow, which it is not in his power to keep; or such is the corruption of his nature, and the weakness of the flesh, that he cannot keep it; or by making sinful excuses after he has made the vow, and so is guilty of lying, or false swearing, or other sins of the flesh. Jarchi by "flesh" understands his children, on whom his iniquity may be visited and punished; and the Targum interprets this punishment of the judgment or condemnation of hell; see Pro 20:25;

neither say thou before the angel that it was an error; that it was done ignorantly and through mistake: that it was not intended, and that this was not the meaning of the vow; and therefore desires to be excused performing it, or to offer a sacrifice in lieu of it. Interpreters are divided about the angel before whom such an excuse should not be made. Some think angel is put for angels in general, in whose presence, and before whom, as witnesses, vows are made; and who were signified by the cherubim in the sanctuary, where they were to be performed, and who are present in the worshipping assemblies of saints, where these things are done, 1Ti 5:21; others think the guardian angel is meant, which they suppose every man has; and others that Christ, the Angel of the covenant, is designed, who is in the midst of his people, sees and knows all that is done by them, and will not admit of their excuses; but it is most probable the priest is intended, called the angel, or messenger, of the Lord of hosts, Mal 2:7; to whom such who had made vows applied to be loosed from them, acknowledging their error in making them; or to offer sacrifice for their sin of ignorance, Lev 5:4;

wherefore should God be angry at thy voice; either in making a rash and sinful vow, or in excusing that which was made;

and destroy the work of thine hands? wrought with success, for which the vow was made; and so, instead of its succeeding, is destroyed, and comes to nothing. Vows made by the Jews were chiefly about their houses, or fields, or cattle; see Lev 27:28; and so the destruction suggested may signify the curse that God would bring upon any of these, for excusing or not performing the vow made.

Gill: Ecc 5:7 - For in the multitude of dreams, and many words, there are also divers vanities // but fear thou God

For in the multitude of dreams, and many words, there are also divers vanities,.... Or as, "in a multitude of dreams, there are many vanities, so also in a multitude of words" ^s; as dreams are vain things, or there are abundance of vain things that come into the mind in dreams; so vain and idle are the many excuses which are made for the non-performance of vows; or there are many vain things which are uttered in making of them, or in long prayers to God; or in discourses concerning him; to all which is opposed the fear of God;

but fear thou God; give no heed to dreams, nor to the many words of men, which are vain and foolish; but keep close to the word of God, and worship him internally and externally, in spirit and in truth; for herein lies the sum and substance of religion; see Ecc 12:13; The Targum is,

"for in the multitude of the dreams of the false prophets believe not, nor in the vanities of the authors of enchantments, and the many speeches of ungodly men; but serve the wise and just, and of them seek doctrine, and fear before the Lord;''

see Jer 23:28;

Gill: Ecc 5:8 - If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of justice in a province // marvel not at the matter // for he that is higher than the highest regardeth // and there be higher than they

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of justice in a province,.... Which is a very disagreeable sight, but often seen; the poor are oppressed, and judgment and justice perverted, and that in a very violent and flagrant manner, in open courts of judicature, in the several provinces and kingdoms of the world;

marvel not at the matter; as though it was some strange and uncommon thing, when nothing is more common: or "marvel not at the will" or "pleasure" ^t; that is, of God, who suffers such things to be. So the Targum, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, interpret it; stumble not at it, nor arraign the wisdom and justice of God; let not that temptation prevail in thee as it has done in some good men, who have been tempted from hence to think there was nothing in religion, nor no providence attending the affairs of this world; do not be frightened and astonished, and hurried into such a thought; nor be distressed at the calamities and oppressions of poor and innocent men;

for he that is higher than the highest regardeth: that is, God, who is the most high in all the earth; higher, than the kings of the earth, and all high and haughty oppressors; higher indeed than the heavens, and the angels there: he "regards" all his people, his eyes are on them, and he never withdraws them from them; he regards their cries, and hears and answers them; he regards their oppressors, and their oppressions; and will, in his own time, deliver them; or he "keeps" ^u his people as the apple of his eye, in the hollow of his hand, night and day, lest any hurt them; he keeps them by his power through faith unto salvation. It may be rendered, "the high One from on high observes" ^w; God, who is the high and lofty One, looks down from the high heavens where he dwells, and takes notice of all the sons of men, and considers all their works; see Psa 33:13;

and there be higher than they; either the holy angels, who are higher than tyrannical oppressors, higher in nature, and excel in strength and power; and these are on the side of the oppressed, have the charge of saints, and encamp about them; and, whenever they have an order, can destroy their enemies in a moment: or rather the three divine Persons are meant, by the plural expression used, Father, Son, and Spirit; Jehovah the Father is above men, the greatest of men, in the things in which they deal proudly; be is greater than all, and none can pluck his sheep out of his hands, and worry them: Christ, the Son of the Highest, is higher than the kings, of the earth; he is King of kings, and Lord of lords, and able to deliver and save his people; and the Holy Spirit is the power of the Highest, and is greater than he or they that are in the world, the avowed enemies of the saints. Aben Ezra interprets it of the secret of the name of God, which he says is inexplicable. So the Midrash understands it of the holy blessed God; and in another tract it is said, on mention of this passage, there are three superiors above them in the way of emanation, and of them it is said ^x, "there be higher than they."

Gill: Ecc 5:9 - Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all // the king himself is served by the field

Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all,.... Or, "the excellency of the earth in" or "above all things is this" ^y; that God most high rules over all the earth, and is higher than the kings of it, and all oppressors in it; or in all respects there is a preference, a superior excellency in the country as opposed to the city, especially in this, that there are not so many tumults, riots, and oppressions there; though this is mostly understood of the preference and superior excellency of agriculture, or tillage of the earth. So the Targum,

"the excellency of the praise of tilling the earth is above all things:''

and to the same purpose Jarchi and Aben Ezra; and the profit arising from it is enjoyed by all; it is for all, even the beasts of the field have grass from hence, as well as man has bread corn, and all other necessaries;

the king himself is served by the field; his table is served with bread corn, and flesh, and wine, and fruits of various sorts, the produce of the earth, which spring from it, or are nourished by it; were it not for husbandry the king himself and his family could not subsist; and therefore it becomes kings to encourage it, and not oppress those who are employed in it: or "the king is a servant to the field" ^z; some kings have addicted themselves to husbandry, and been great lovers of it, as Uzziah was, 2Ch 26:10; and some of the Chinese emperors, as their histories ^a show; and the kings of Persia ^b: Vulcan, in the shield of Achilles, represented the reapers, gatherers, and binders of sheaves at work in the field, and a king standing among the sheaves with a sceptre in his hand, looking on with great pleasure, while a dinner is prepared by his orders for the workmen ^c; many of the Roman generals, and high officers, were called from the plough, particularly Cincinnatus ^d; and these encouraged husbandry in their subjects, as well as took care of their own farms. There is another sense of the words given, besides many more;

"and the most excellent Lord of the earth (that is, the most high God) is the King of every field that is tilled; (that is, the King of the whole habitable world;) or the King Messiah, Lord of his field, the church, and who is the most eminent in all the earth ^e.''

The Midrash interprets it of the holy blessed God.

Gill: Ecc 5:10 - He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver // nor he that loveth abundance with increase // this is also vanity

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,.... The tillage of the earth is necessary, a very laudable and useful employment, and men do well to busy themselves in it; without this, neither the common people nor the greatest personages can be supplied with the necessaries of life; but then an immoderate love of money is criminal, which is here meant by loving silver, one kind of money, which when loved beyond measure is the root of all evil; and besides, when a man has got ever so much of it, he is not satisfied, he still wants more, like the horse leech at the vein cries Give, give; or he cannot eat silver, so Jarchi; or be "fed with money", as Mr. Broughton renders it; and herein the fruits of the earth, for which the husbandman labours, have the preference to silver; for these he can eat, and be filled and satisfied with them, but he cannot eat his bags of gold and silver;

nor he that loveth abundance with increase; that is, he that coveteth a great deal of this world's things shall not be satisfied with the increase of them, let that be what it will; or, he shall have "no increase" ^f, be ever the better for his abundance, or enjoy the comfort and benefit of it: or, "he that loveth abundance from whence there is no increase" ^g; that loves to have a multitude of people about him, as manservants and maidservants; a large equipage, as Aben Ezra suggests, which are of very little use and service, or none at all;

this is also vanity: the immoderate love of money, coveting large estates and possessions, and to have a train of servants. Jarchi allegorically interprets silver and abundance, of the commands, and the multitude of them.

Gill: Ecc 5:11 - When goods increase, they are increased that eat them // and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them,.... When a man's substance increases by trade, or otherwise, very often so it is that his family increases, and he has more mouths to feed, and backs to clothe; or his estate growing larger, if he lives suitably to it, he must keep more servants; and these, as they have but little work to do, are described by their eating, rather than by their working; and besides, such a growing man in the world has more friends and visitors that come about him, and eat with him, as well as the poor, which wait upon him to receive his alms: and if his farms, and his fields, and his flocks, are enlarged, he must have more husbandmen, and labourers, and shepherds to look after them, who all must be maintained. So Pheraulas in Xenophon ^h observes,

"that now he was possessed of much, that he neither ate, nor drank, nor slept the sweeter for it; what he got by his plenty was, that he had more committed to his keeping, and more to distribute to others; he had more care and more business, with trouble; for now, says he, many servants require food of me, many drink, many clothing, some need physicians, &c. it must needs be, adds he, that they that possess much must spend much on the gods, on friends, and on guests;''

and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? he can go into his grounds, his fields, and his meadows to behold his flocks and his herds, and can say, all these are mine; he can go into his chambers and open his treasures, and feed his eyes with looking upon his bags of gold and silver, his jewels, and other riches; he can behold a multitude of people at his table, eating at his expense, and more maintained at his cost: and, if a liberal man, it may be a pleasure to him; if otherwise, it will give him pain: and, excepting these, he enjoys no more than food and raiment; and often so it is, that even his very servants have in some things the advantage of him, as follows. The Targum is,

"what profit is there to the owner thereof who gathers it, unless he does good with it, that he may see the gift of the reward with his eyes in the world to come?''

Jarchi interprets it after this manner,

"when men bring many freewill offerings, the priests are increased that eat them; and what good is to the owner of them, the Lord, but the sight of his eyes, who says, and his will is done?''

Gill: Ecc 5:12 - The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much // but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much,.... Or "of a servant" ⁱ, who enjoys sleep equally as a king; a tiller of the ground, as Jarchi; who also interprets it of one that serves the Lord, as likewise the Targum; a beloved one of his, to whom he gives sleep, Psa 127:2. A refreshing sleep is always reckoned a great mercy and blessing, and which labouring men enjoy with sweetness ^k; for if they have but little to eat at supper, yet coming weary from their work, sleep is easily brought on when they lie down, and sound sleep they have, and rise in the morning lively and active, and fit for business; or, if they eat more plentifully, yet through their labour they have a good digestion, and their sleep is not hindered: so that should it be answered to the above question, what has the master more than the servant, though he eats and drinks more freely, and of the best, and lives voluptuously? yet it may be replied, that, in the business of sleep, the labouring man has the preference to him; which must be owned to be a great blessing of life, and is often interrupted by excessive eating and drinking;

but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep; either the abundance of food which he eats, which loads his stomach, and fills his head with vapours, and makes him restless, so that he can get no sleep, or what he does get is very uncomfortable: or the abundance of his riches fills him with cares, what he shall do with them, and how to keep and increase them; and with fears, lest thieves should break in and take them away from him, so that he cannot sleep quietly ^l. The Targum is,

"sweet is the sleep of a man that serves the Lord of the world with a perfect heart; and he shall have rest in the house of his grave, whether he lives a few years or more, &c;''

and much to the same purpose Jarchi; and who says, it is thus interpreted in an ancient book of theirs, called Tanchuma.

Gill: Ecc 5:13 - There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun // namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,.... Or "an evil sickness" ^m. A sinful disease in the person with whom it is found, and very disagreeable to others to behold; it is enough to make one sick to see it; and what he is about to relate he himself was an eyewitness of:

namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; laid up in barns and granaries, as the fruits of the earth; or in chests and coffers, as gold and silver, for the use and service of the owners of them; and which yet have been to their real injury; being either used by them in a luxurious and intemperate way, so have brought diseases on their bodies, and damnation to their souls; or not used at all for their own good, or the good of others, which brings the curse of God upon them, to their ruin and destruction, both here and hereafter: and oftentimes so it is, and which no doubt had fallen under the observation of Solomon, that some who have been great misers, and have hoarded up their substance, without using them themselves, or sharing them with others, have not only been plundered of them, but, for the sake of them, their lives have been taken away in a most barbarous manner, by cutthroats and villains; sometimes by their own servants, nay, even by their own children. Riches ill gotten and ill used are very prejudicial to the owners; and if they are well got, but ill used, or not used at all, greatly hurt the spiritual and eternal state of men; it is a difficult thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and a covetous man cannot; if a professor, the word he hears is choked and made unprofitable; he errs from the faith, and pierces himself through with many sorrows now, and is liable to eternal damnation hereafter. The Targum interprets it of a man that gathers riches, and does no good with them; but keeps them to himself, to do himself evil in the world to come.

Gill: Ecc 5:14 - But those riches perish by evil travail // and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand

But those riches perish by evil travail,.... Or, "by an evil business or affair" ⁿ. That is, such riches as are not well got, or are not used as they should be, these waste away and come to nothing; either by the owner's bad management, and misconduct in trade and business; or by fire, tempest, thieves, and robbers, and many other ways and means: these are very certain things; and there are various ways by which they make themselves wings and flee away, under the direction of a divine providence;

and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand; the riches he had hoarded up, he designed for his son; but being stripped of them by one means or another, when he comes to die, has nothing to leave his son: or if his riches do not perish in his own lifetime, yet they are quickly consumed by his son, who, in a short time, has nothing to live upon; and so being brought up a gentleman, and in no business, is in a worse condition than such who have been brought up to work for their living, and in no expectation of an estate after the decease of their friends. The Targum understands it in this latter sense, paraphrasing the words thus,

"and those riches, which he shall leave his son after his death, shall perish, because he hath gotten them in an evil way; and they shall not remain in the hand of the son whom he hath begotten; neither shall anything remain in his hand.''

Gill: Ecc 5:15 - As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came // and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand

As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came,.... This may be understood either of the covetous rich man, or of his son; and that supposing what is before said should not be the case of either of them, but they should possess their substance as long as they live; yet, when they come to die, they will be stripped of them all; of their gold and silver, their plate and jewels, and rich household furniture; of their cattle and possessions, farms and estates, which are no longer theirs; and even of their very clothes, and be as naked as they were when they came into the world; and which is indeed the case of every man, Job 1:21; and is used as an argument, and a very forcible one, against covetousness;

and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand; nothing of his substance, which he has got by his labour, and hoarded up with great care; not the least portion of it can he carry away with him when he dies; not any of his jewels, nor bags of gold and silver; and if any of these should be put into his grave, which has been sometimes done at the interment of great personages, these are of no manner of use and service to him, either to comfort and refresh his body, or to save his soul from hell, and procure it an entrance into the heavenly glory; see 1Ti 6:7. The Targum allegorizes this in a very orthodox way, not very usual, in favour of original sin, and against the doctrine of merit;

"as he goes out of his mother's womb naked, without a covering, and without any good; so he shall return to go to the house of his grave, indigent of merit, as he came into this world; and no good reward shall he receive by his labour, to take with him into the world to which he goes, that it may be for merit in his hand.''

Gill: Ecc 5:16 - And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came // so shall he go // and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind

And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came,

so shall he go,.... This seems not to be an evil or vanity, distinct from the former; but the same repeated and confirmed, and expressed, if possible, in stronger terms, that a man is in all respects alike, when he goes out of the world, as when he came in. A man's birth is signified by "coming", that is, out of his mother's womb, and into the world; and which is a description of every man born into it, Joh 1:9; he is of the earth, earthly; comes forth like a flower, and springs up as grass; he comes not of himself, nor casually, but by means of his parents; and according to the determinate will of God, and to answer some end or other: and his death is signified by "going": a going the way of all flesh; a going out of the world; a going to the grave, the house of all living, a man's long home; it is like going from one house to another; for death is not an annihilation of man, but a remove of him from hence elsewhere; and a man's birth and death are in all points alike. This is to be understood of natural and civil things; of riches and honours, which men cannot carry with them; and with respect to them, they are as they were born, naked and stripped of them; and with respect to the body, the parts of it then are the same, though more grown; it is as naked as it was born; and a man is as much beholden to his friends for his grave as for his swaddling clothes; it becomes what it was at first, earth and dust; and as a man comes not into the world at his own will and pleasure, so neither does he go out of it at his will, but the Lord's. The Midrash interprets it thus,

"as a man comes into the world, with crying, weeping, and sighing, and without knowledge, so he goes out.''

Likewise this is only true of natural and unregenerate men as to moral things; as they are born in sin, they die in sin; with only this difference, an addition of more sin; as they come into the world without the image of God, without a righteousness, without holiness, and without the grace of God, so they go out of it without these things: but this is not true of saints and truly gracious persons; they come into the world with sin, but go out of it without it; being washed in the blood of Christ, justified by his righteousness, and all their sins expiated and pardoned through his sacrifice: they are born without a righteousness, but do not die without one; Christ has wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them; this is imputed to them; is received by faith; given them; they are found in it, living and dying; and this introduces them into heaven and happiness: they are born without holiness, but do not live and die without it; they are regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and at the moment of death made perfectly holy. This only therefore is true of men, as natural, and with respect to natural and civil things: the Targum interprets it,

"as he comes into this world void of merit, so he shall go into that;''

and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? for riches, which are as unsatisfying as the wind; which are as shifting, and as swift to flee away, as that; and can no more be held, when it is the will of God they should go, and especially at death, than the wind is to be held in the fist of men; and which are as unprofitable as that in the hour of death. Particularly, what profit has a man of all his riches, which he has got by labour, when he neither makes use of them in life for his own good, nor the good of others; and when he comes to die, they leave him and stand him in no stead; and especially having been unconcerned about his immortal soul; and having been wholly taken up in the pursuit of such vain and transitory things? see Mat 16:26.

Gill: Ecc 5:17 - All his days also he eateth in darkness // and he hath, much sorrow and wrath with his sickness

All his days also he eateth in darkness,.... To all that has been said is added another evil, that attends such whose hearts are inordinately set on riches; that all their days, throughout the whole of their lives, they live a most uncomfortable life; for eating is here put for their whole manner of living: such not only eat coarse bread, and very mean food of any sort, but wear sordid apparel, and live in a poor cottage, in a very obscure and miserable manner. Aben Ezra understands it literally of the night, to which time such a man defers eating, that he might lose no time in his labour; and that it might not be seen what sort of food he eats, and how sparingly, and that others might not eat with him; and what he does eat is not eaten freely, but grudgingly, and with anguish and distress of mind, without any real pleasure and joy; and much less with the light of God's countenance, the discoveries of his love, and communion with him: the Targum is,

"all his days he dwelleth in darkness, that he may taste his bread alone;''

and he hath, much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; either the sickness of his mind, his covetousness; or the sickness of his body, emaciated by withholding from himself the necessaries of life: or when he comes upon a sick bed, he is filled with sorrow and indignation, that he must live no longer, to accumulate more wealth, and accomplish his projects and designs; and that he must leave his wealth, he has been at so much pains to gather together. Or, "and he is much angry" ^o; when things do not answer in trade according to his wishes; when his substance diminishes, or, however, does not increase as he desires; when he is cheated by fraudulent men, or robbed by thieves: "and he hath sickness" ^p; either of body or mind, or both, because matters do not succeed as he would have them; and through fretfulness at losses and crosses, and disappointments; and through cares in getting and keeping what he has: "and wrath"; at all about him, whom he is ready to charge with slothfulness or unfaithfulness to him; and even at the providence of God, that does not give him the desired success; so that he has no manner of pleasure and comfort in life.

Gill: Ecc 5:18 - Behold that which I have seen // it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink // and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him // for it is his portion

Behold that which I have seen,.... Observed, considered and approved of, and which he recommended and excited attention to, and is as follows;

it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink; to make use of the creatures God has given for service in a free and liberal manner, without excess, and with moderation; and not deprive a man's self of those things he may lawfully partake of, and are necessary for him: to do this is good for himself, and for the health of his body; and is right in the sight of God, and is comely before men; it is not only lawful, but laudable. There is another version and sense of the words, "it is good to eat and drink him that is fair" ^q, or comely; Christ, who is fairer than the children of men; to live by faith on him, to eat his flesh, and drink his blood; but this, however true, spiritual, and evangelical, it seems foreign to the text. It follows,

and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him; this last clause, "which God giveth him", is not to be connected with "the good of all his labour"; though it is true, that whatever good is got by labour is the gift of God; but with "all the days of his life"; for the life of man, and all the days of it, be they more or fewer, are the gift of God, and according to his determinate will and pleasure; and throughout this time a man should enjoy, in a comfortable way, with thankfulness to God, the good things he has gotten by his labour and industry, through the blessing of God along with them. This Solomon frequently inculcates; Aben Ezra says, this is the third time, but it seems to be the fourth; see Ecc 2:24;

for it is his portion; that is, in this life; for otherwise, if a good man, he has a better portion in another: this is the part which God has allotted to him here; and it is his duty, and for his good and comfort, to make use of it.

Gill: Ecc 5:19 - Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth // and hath given him power // to eat thereof // and to take his portion // and to rejoice in his labour // this is the gift of God

Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,.... Which include the whole of a man's substance; all his estate, personal and real; and all his goods and possessions, movable and immovable, as gold, silver, cattle, fields, and farms; which are all the gift of God, by whatsoever means they may be acquired or possessed;

and hath given him power; or, "caused him to have dominion" ^r, over his wealth and riches, and not be a slave to them, as many are: but to have so much command of them and of himself, as

to eat thereof; comfortably enjoy them; and dispose of them to his own good, the good of others, and the glory of God. It follows,

and to take his portion; which God hath allotted him; to take it thankfully, and use it freely and comfortably;

and to rejoice in his labour; in the things he has been labouring for, in a cheerful use of them; blessing God for them, and taking the comfort of them;

this is the gift of God; to have such power over his substance, and not be a slave to it, and to enjoy the fruits of his labour, in a cheerful and comfortable manner; this is as much the gift of God as riches themselves ^s.

Gill: Ecc 5:20 - For he shall not much remember the days of his life // because God answereth him in the joy of his heart

For he shall not much remember the days of his life,.... Be they more or fewer, as Jarchi: he will not think life long and tedious; nor dwell upon, and distress himself with, the troubles he has met with, or is likely to meet with; but, being content with the good things God has given him, and freely and cheerfully enjoying them, he passes away his time delightfully and pleasantly. Some, as Aben Ezra observes, and which he approves of, and is agreeably to the accents, render the words, "if he has not much, he remembers the days of his life" ^t; if he has but little of the good things of this life, he remembers how few his days are he has to live; and doubts not he shall have enough to carry him to the end of his days, and therefore is quite easy and content; he calls to mind how he has been supplied all his days hitherto, and is persuaded that that God, who has provided for him, will continue his goodness to him, and that he shall not want any good thing; and therefore does not distress himself with what is to come;

because God answereth him in the joy of his heart; he calls upon God for a blessing on his labours, asks of him his daily food, and desires what may be proper and sufficient for him, or what he judges is necessary and convenient; and God answers his prayers and petitions, and good wishes, by filling his heart with food and gladness; and giving him that cheerfulness of spirit, and thankfulness of heart, in the enjoyment of every blessing; and especially if along with it he lifts up the light of his countenance, and grants him joy in the Holy Ghost; he will go on so pleasantly and comfortably as to forget all his former troubles; and it will dissipate his doubts and fears about how he shall live for the future.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki

NET Notes: Ecc 5:1

¹ sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:20 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:17 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, etc., through 5:20 ET = 5:19 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

² tn Heb “Guard your feet.” The Kethib is the plural רַגְלֶיךָ (raglekha, “your feet”), while the Qere is the singular רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”), which is preserved in several medieval Hebrew mss and is reflected in the versions (LXX, Aramaic Targum, Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta). For example, the LXX reads πόδα σου (poda sou, “your foot”) which reflects רַגְלְךָ.

sn The exhortation, “Guard your feet” is an idiom for “Watch your steps,” i.e., “Be careful what you do.” This is a compound figure: “foot” is a metonymy for “step,” and “step” is a metonymy for “action” (e.g., Job 12:5; 23:11; 31:5; Pss 119:59, 101, 105; Prov 1:16; 3:23; 4:26-27; 6:18; 19:2; Isa 58:13; 59:7; Jer 14:10). For example, “I have refrained my feet from every evil way” (Ps 119:101); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.

³ tn Heb “the house of God.” The term “house” (בַּיִת, bayit) is a synecdoche of general (i.e., house) for specific (i.e., temple), e.g., 1 Kgs 6:3; 7:12; 1 Chr 9:11; 2 Chr 3:8; 28:11. See E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 620.

⁴ tn Alternately, “to obey.” The term לִשְׁמֹעַ (lishmoa’, preposition + Qal infinitive construct from שָׁמַע, shama’, “to hear”) may be taken in one of two ways: (1) literal: “to listen” in contrast to speak or (2) figurative (metonymy of cause for effect) “to obey” in contrast to sacrifice (HALOT 1572 s.v. שׁמע 4; BDB 1033–34 s.v. שָׁמַע). The LXX took the term in the literal sense: τοῦ ἀκούειν (tou akouein, “to listen”). The English versions reflect both literal and figurative options: “obedience” (NJPS, Douay, NAB, NEB) versus “to hear [or listen]” (KJV, ASV, YLT, MLB, RSV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). The section warns against rash vows therefore, the nuance “to listen” is more appropriate: the wise man will be slow to speak and quick to listen in the presence of God; however, the fool is unrestrained and speaks rashly.

⁵ tn The term “sacrifice” (זֶבַח, zevakh) is the general term that refers to the thank offering and free will offering (Lev 7:12, 16). This section focuses on making vows in prayer and fulfilling them, such as the vow offering. The term “sacrifice” functions as a synecdoche of general (i.e., sacrifice) for specific (i.e., vow offering).

⁶ tn Heb “the fools, a sacrifice.” The term “fools” (הַכְּסִילִים, hakkÿsilim) is an adverbial accusative of comparison (e.g., GKC 375 §118.r): “rather than giving a sacrifice like fools” (מִתֵּת הַכְּסִילִים זָבַח, mittet hakkÿsilim zavakh). Contextually, the “sacrifice” is a rash vow made to God that is not fulfilled. The rash vow is referred to in 5:2 as the “voice of a fool.” Qoheleth admonishes the fool against making a rash vow that is not paid: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow! It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it” (vv. 4-5 [3-4 HT]).

NET Notes: Ecc 5:3

¹ tn The term עִנְיַן (’inyan) means “business; affair; task; occupation” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן; BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). HALOT nuances עִנְיַן בְּרֹב (bÿrov ‘inyan) as “excessive activity” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן). Here, it is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., tasks) for effect (i.e., cares). The term is nuanced variously: (1) literal sense: “business” (KJV, ASV, YLT, NEB, RSV) and “effort” (NASB), and (2) metonymical: “cares” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), “concerns” (MLB, Douay), “worries” (Moffatt) and “brooding” (NJPS). The LXX mistakenly related עִנְיַן to the root II עָנַה (’anah) “to afflict,” and rendered it as πειρασμοῦ (peirasmou, “trial”).

² tn The juxtaposition of the two lines joined by vav (“just as…so…”) suggests a comparison (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j); see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §437.

³ tn Heb “voice.” The Hebrew term קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., voice) for the contents (i.e., the thing said), e.g., Gen 3:17; 4:23; Exod 3:18; 4:1, 9; Deut 1:45; 21:18, 20; 1 Sam 2:25; 8:7, 9; 2 Sam 12:18); see HALOT 1084 s.v. קוֹל 4.b; BDB 877 s.v. קוֹל 3.a; also E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 545–46. Contextually, this refers to a rash vow made by a fool who made a mistake in making it because he is unable to fulfill it.

⁴ tn The word “occurs” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:4

¹ tn Heb “vow a vow.” The phrase תִּדֹּר נֶדֶר (tiddor neder, “to vow a vow”) is a Hebrew idiom in which the root נדר is repeated for emphasis. The construction is a cognate accusative (see IBHS 166-67 §10.2.1f). The verb נָדַר (nadar, “to vow”) refers to the action of making a solemn promise to the Lord to perform an action or offer a sacrifice, e.g., Lev 27:8; Num 6:21; 30:11; Deut 23:23-24; Jonah 2:10; Mal 1:14; Pss 76:12; 132:2; see HALOT 674 s.v. נדר. The noun נֶדֶר (“vow”) was a gift or offering promised to be given to the Lord (Num 30:3; Deut 12:11; 23:19; Isa 19:12; Nah 2:1 [ET 1:15]; Ps 61:6, 9); see HALOT 674–75 s.v. נֵדֶר. It usually was a sacrifice or free-will offering (Deut 12:6; Ps 66:13) that was often promised during times of pressure (Judg 11:30; 1 Sam 1:11; 2 Sam 15:7-8; Pss 22:25; 66:13; 116:14, 18; Jonah 2:9).

² tn The term לְשַׁלְּמוֹ (lÿshallÿmo, preposition + Piel infinitive construct from שָׁלַם, shalam + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) is derived from the root שׁלם which is used in a general sense of paying a debt (2 Kgs 4:7; Ps 37:21; Prov 22:27; Job 41:3), and more specifically of fulfilling a vow to the Lord (Deut 23:22; 2 Sam 15:7; Pss 22:26; 50:14; 61:9; 66:13; 76:12; 116:14, 18; Prov 7:14; Job 22:27; Isa 19:21; Jonah 2:10; Nah 2:1); see HALOT 1535 s.v. שׁלם 3a; BDB 1022 s.v. שָׁלֵם 4. An Israelite was never required to make a vow, but once made, it had to be paid (Lev 22:18-25; 27:1-13; Num 15:2-10; Nah 1:15 [2:1 HT]).

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (“God”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:5

¹ tn The word “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:6

¹ tn Heb “your flesh.” The term בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., flesh) for the whole (i.e., whole person), e.g., Gen 2:21; 6:12; Ps 56:4[5]; 65:2[3]; 145:21; Isa 40:5, 6; see HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר; E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 642.

² tc The MT reads הַמַּלְאָךְ (hammal’akh, “messenger”), while the LXX reads τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “God”) which reflects an alternate textual tradition of הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim, “God”). The textual problem was caused by orthographic confusion between similarly spelled words. The LXX might have been trying to make sense of a difficult expression. The MT is preferred as the original. All the major translations follow the MT except for Moffatt (“God”).

tn Heb “the messenger.” The term מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger”) refers to a temple priest (e.g., Mal 2:7; cf. HALOT 585 s.v. מַלְאָךְ 2.b; BDB 521 s.v. מַלְאָךְ 1.c). The priests recorded what Israelite worshipers vowed (Lev 27:14-15). When an Israelite delayed in fulfilling a vow, a priest would remind him to pay what he had vowed. Although the traditional rabbinic view is that Qoheleth refers to an angelic superintendent over the temple, Rashi suggested that it is a temple-official. Translations reflect both views: “his representative” (NAB), “the temple messenger” (NIV), “the messenger” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NJPS), “the angel” (KJV, ASV, Douay) and “the angel of God” (NEB).

³ tn The Hebrew noun שְׁגָגָה (shÿgagah) denotes “error; mistake” and refers to a sin of inadvertence or unintentional sin (e.g., Lev 4:2, 22, 27; 5:18; 22:14; Num 15:24-29; 35:11, 15; Josh 20:3, 9; Eccl 5:5; 10:5); see HALOT 1412 s.v. שְׁגָגָה; BDB 993 s.v. שְׁגָגָה. In this case, it refers to a rash vow thoughtlessly made, which the foolish worshiper claims was a mistake (e.g., Prov 20:25).

⁴ tn Heb “at your voice.” This is an example of metonymy (i.e., your voice) of association (i.e., you).

NET Notes: Ecc 5:7

¹ tn The syntax of this verse is difficult. Perhaps the best approach is to classify the vav on וַהֲבָלִים (vahavalim, “futilities”) as introducing the predicate (e.g., Gen 40:9; 2 Sam 23:3; Prov 10:25; Isa 34:12; Job 4:6; 36:26); BDB 255 s.v. ו 5.c.γ: “There is futility….” The phrase בְרֹב הֲלֹמוֹת (vÿrob halomot) is an adverbial modifier (“in many dreams”), as is דְבָרִים הַרְבֵּה (dÿvarim harbeh, “many words”). The vav prefixed to וּדְבָרִים (udÿvarim) and the juxtaposition of the two lines suggests a comparison: “just as…so also…” (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j). The English versions reflect a variety of approaches: “In the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities” (KJV); “In the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words” (ASV); “When dreams increase, empty words grow many” (RSV); “In many dreams and follies and many words” (MLB); “In the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound” (YLT); “Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number” (Douay); “Many dreams and words mean many a vain folly” (Moffatt); “Much dreaming leads to futility and to superfluous talk” (NJPS); “In many dreams and in many words there is emptiness” (NASB); “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless” (NIV); “With many dreams comes vanities and a multitude of words” (NRSV).

NET Notes: Ecc 5:8

¹ tn Alternately, “oppression.” The term עֹשֶׁק (’osheq) has a basic two-fold range of meaning: (1) “oppression; brutality” (e.g., Isa 54:14); and (2) “extortion” (e.g., Ps 62:11); see HALOT 897 s.v. עֹשֶׁק; BDB 799 s.v. עֹשֶׁק. The LXX understands the term as “oppression,” as the translation συκοφαντίαν (sukofantian, “oppression”) indicates. Likewise, HALOT 897 s.v. עֹשֶׁק 1 classifies this usage as “oppression” against the poor. However, the context of 5:8-9 [7-8 HT] focuses on corrupt government officials robbing people of the fruit of their labor through extortion and the perversion of justice.

² tn Heb “robbery.” The noun גֵזֶל (gezel, “robbery”) refers to the wrestling away of righteousness or the perversion of justice (HALOT 186 s.v. גֵּזֶל). The related forms of the root גזל mean “to rob; to loot” (HALOT 186 s.v. גֵּזֶל). The term “robbery” is used as a figure for the perversion of justice (hypocatastasis): just as a thief robs his victims through physical violence, so corrupt government officials “rob” the poor through the perversion of justice.

³ tn Heb “in the province.”

⁴ tn The word “official” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn And there are higher ones over them! This may describe a corrupt system of government in which each level of hierarchy exploits its subordinates, all the way down to the peasants: “Set in authority over the people is an official who enriches himself at their expense; he is watched by a more authoritative governor who also has his share of the spoils; and above them are other officers of the State who likewise have to be satisfied”; see A. Cohen, The Five Megilloth (SoBB), 141.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:9

¹ tn The phrase “is seized” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn The function of the term נֶעֱבָד (ne’evar, Niphal participle ms from עָבַד, ’avar, “to serve”) has been understood in four ways: (1) adjectival use of the participle, modifying the noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”): “cultivated field” (RSV, NRSV, NJPS, NAB); (2) adjectival use of the participle, modifying מֶלֶךְ (melekh, “king”): “the king who cultivates” (NASB); (3) verbal use of the participle, taking שָׂדֶה (“field”) as the subject: “field is cultivated” (NEB); and (4) verbal use of the participle, taking מֶלֶךְ (“king”) as the subject: “the king is served” (KJV, NASB); also “the king profits” (NIV). BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 2 lists both the adjectival and verbal options: “a king for [i.e., devoted to] the cultivated field” and “a king that makes himself servant to the field [i.e., devoted to agriculture].” HALOT 774 s.v. עבד suggests the line be rendered as “a king who serves the land.” In the Qal stem the verb עָבַד (’avar) is sometimes used in reference to tribute imposed upon a king’s subjects (e.g., Jer 25:14; 27:7; 30:8; Ezek 34:27) and in reference to subjects serving a king (e.g., Judg 9:28, 38; 1 Sam 11:1; 1 Kgs 5:1; 2 Sam 22:44; Jer 27:7; 28:14; 2 Kgs 25:24); cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3; HALOT 773 s.v. עבד 3. Likewise, it is also used in reference to tilling the ground (e.g., Gen 2:5; 4:2, 12; 2 Sam 9:10; Isa 30:24; Jer 27:11; Zech 13:5; Prov 12:11; 28:19) and a vineyard or garden (Gen 2:15; Deut 28:39); cf. HALOT 773 s.v. עבד 3; BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

³ tn The syntax and exegesis of the line is difficult. There are three basic interpretive options: (1) the king takes care of the security of the cultivated land: “in any case, the advantage of a country is that there is a king for the cultivated land”; (2) the king is in favor of a prosperous agricultural policy: “in any case, the advantage of a country is that there is a king who is obeyed for the sake of the agriculture”; and (3) the king exploits the poor farmers: “the produce of the land is [seized] by all, even the king is served by the fields.” Perhaps the best option in the light of the context is to take the referent of כֹּל (kol, “all”) to the government officials of 5:8 rather than to the people as a whole. The verse depicts the exploitation of the poor farmers by corrupt government officials. This is reflected in two English versions: “the increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields” (NIV); “the profit of the land is among all of them; a cultivated field has a king” (RSV margin). On the other hand, the LXX treated the syntax so the king is viewed in a neutral sense: και περισσεια γης ἐπι παντι ἐστι, βασιλευς του αργου εἰργασμενου (“The abundance of the earth is for everyone; the king is dependent on the tilled field”). Most English versions deal with the syntax so that the king is viewed in a neutral or positive sense: “the profit of the earth is for all; the king himself is served by the field” (KJV); “a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land” (NASB); “this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field” (NRSV); “the greatest advantage in all the land is his: he controls a field that is cultivated” (NJPS); “a country prospers with a king who has control” (Moffatt); “a king devoted to the field is an advantage to the land” (MLB); “a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields” (RSV); “the best thing for a country is a king whose own lands are well tilled” (NEB); and “an advantage for a country in every respect is a king for the arable land” (NAB). See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 3:576–77.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:10

¹ tn Heb “silver.” The Hebrew term כֶּסֶף (kesef, “silver”) refers to “money” (HALOT 490–91 s.v. כֶּסֶף 3). It is a synecdoche of specific (i.e., silver) for the general (i.e., money); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 625-29.

² sn The Hebrew term “silver” (translated “money”) is repeated twice in this line for rhetorical emphasis.

³ tn The term הָמוֹן (hamon, “abundance; wealth”) has a wide range of meanings: (1) agitation; (2) turmoil; (3) noise; (4) pomp; (5) multitude; crowd = noisy crowd; and (6) abundance; wealth (HALOT 250 s.v. הָמוֹן 1–6). Here, it refers to abundant wealth (related to “pomp”); cf. HALOT 250 s.v. הָמוֹן 6, that is, lavish abundant wealth (Ezek 29:19; 30:4; 1 Chr 29:16).

⁴ tn The phrase “will never be satisfied” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Note the previous line.

⁵ tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:11

¹ tn The word “someone’s” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn The term טוֹבָה (tovah, “good”) connotes “prosperity” (Deut 23:7; Job 9:25; 21:25; Ps 106:5; Lam 3:17; Eccl 4:8; 5:10, 17; 6:3, 6; 7:14; 9:18; Neh 2:10; Sir 6:11; 41:13); cf. HALOT 372 s.v. טוֹבָה 2. The related term טוֹב (tov, “good”) connotes “prosperity” as well (Prov 11:10; Job 20:21; 21:16); cf. HALOT 372 s.v. טוֹבָה 1.b. Here, it refers to the possessions and wealth a person acquires as the fruit of his labors. This nuance is well reflected in several English versions: “The more a man gains, the more there are to spend it” (Moffatt); “When riches multiply, so do those who live off them” (NEB); “As his substance increase, so do those who consume it” (NJPS); and “Where there are great riches, there are also many to devour them” (NAB). The line does not describe the economic law of “supply and demand,” as some versions seem to imply, e.g., “As goods increase, so do those who consume them” (NIV); “When goods increase, those who eat them increase” (NRSV); cf. also KJV, ASV, RSV, MLB, NASB.

³ tn The form is plural in the Hebrew text, but the plural is one of intensification; it is used here to emphasize the owner’s authority over his wealth. See GKC 399 §124.i. See v 13 as well.

⁴ tn The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “There is no ultimate advantage!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 947-48).

NET Notes: Ecc 5:13

¹ tn Heb “there is.” The term יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) is often used in aphorisms to assert the existence of a particular situation that occurs sometimes. It may indicate that the situation is not the rule but that it does occur on occasion, and may be nuanced “sometimes” (e.g., Prov 11:24; 13:7, 23; 14:12; 16:25; 18:24; 20:15; Eccl 2:21; 4:8; 5:12; 6:1; 7:15 [2x]; 8:14 [3x]).

² tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice, wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5).

³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

NET Notes: Ecc 5:14

¹ tn Or “through a bad business deal.” The basic meaning of עִנְיַן (’inyan) is “business; affair” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן) or “occupation; task” (BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). The term is used in a specific sense in reference to business activity (Eccl 8:16), as well as in a more general sense in reference to events that occur on earth (Eccl 1:13; 4:8). BDB suggests that the phrase עִנְיַן רָע (’inyan ra’) in 5:13 refers to a bad business deal (BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן); however, HALOT suggests that it means “bad luck” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן). The English versions reflect the same two approaches: (1) bad luck: “some misfortune” (NAB, NIV) and (2) a bad business deal: “a bad investment” (NASB), “a bad venture” (RSV, NRSV, MLB), “some unlucky venture” (Moffatt, NJPS), “an unlucky venture” (NEB), “an evil adventure” (ASV).

² tn Heb “there is nothing in his hand.”

NET Notes: Ecc 5:16

¹ tn See the note on the phrase “depressing misfortune” in v. 13.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:17

¹ tn Heb “all his days.” The phrase “of his life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:18

¹ tn Heb “Behold, that which I have seen, I, good which is beautiful.” The phrase “for people” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² sn The phrase “to eat and to drink” is a common idiom in Ecclesiastes for a person enjoying the fruit of his labor (e.g., 2:24; 3:13).

³ tn Heb “his,” and three times later in the verse.

⁴ tn Heb “the toil which one toils.”

⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁶ tn The term חֵלֶק (kheleq, “lot”) has a wide range of meanings: (1) “share of spoils” (Gen 14:24; Num 31:36; 1 Sam 30:24), (2) “portion of food” (Lev 6:10; Deut 18:8; Hab 1:16), (3) “portion [or tract] of land” (Deut 10:9; 12:12; Josh 19:9), (4) “portion” or “possession” (Num 18:20; Deut 32:9), (5) “inheritance” (2 Kgs 9:10; Amos 7:4), (6) “portion” or “award” (Job 20:29; 27:13; 31:2; Isa 17:14) or “profit; reward” (Eccl 2:10, 21; 3:22; 5:17-18; 9:6, 9); see HALOT 323 s.v. II חֵלֶק; BDB 324 s.v. חֵלֶק. Throughout Ecclesiastes, the term is used in reference to man’s temporal profit from his labor and his reward from God (e.g., Eccl 3:22; 9:9).

NET Notes: Ecc 5:19

¹ tn The syntax of this verse is difficult. The best approach is to view הִשְׁלִיטוֹ (hishlito, “he has given him the ability”) as governing the three following infinitives: לֶאֱכֹל (le’ekhol, “to eat”), וְלָשֵׂאת (vÿlase’t, “and to lift” = “to accept [or receive]”), and וְלִשְׂמֹחַ (vÿlismoakh, “and to rejoice”). This statement parallels 2:24-26 which states that no one can find enjoyment in life unless God gives him the ability to do so.

² tn Heb “this.” The feminine singular demonstrative pronoun זֹה (zoh, “this”) refers back to all that preceded it in the verse (e.g., GKC 440-41 §135.p), that is, the ability to enjoy the fruit of one’s labor is the gift of God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26). The phrase “these things” is used in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Ecc 5:20

¹ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) may be nuanced “to call to mind; to think about,” that is, “to reflect upon” (e.g., Isa 47:7; Lam 1:9; Job 21:6; 36:24; 40:32; Eccl 11:8); cf. BDB 270 s.v. זָכַר 5; HALOT 270 s.v. I זכר 2.

² tn The word “fleeting” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The term מַעֲנֵה (ma’aneh, Hiphil participle ms from II עָנָה, ’anah, “to be occupied”) refers to activity that keeps a person physically busy and mentally preoccupied, e.g., Eccl 1:13; 3:10; 5:19 (HALOT 854; BDB 775 s.v. עָנָה II). The related noun עִנְיַן (’inyan,“business; occupation; task”) refers to activity that keeps man busy and occupies his time, e.g., Eccl 1:13; 2:26; 3:10 (HALOT 857; BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). The participle form is used to emphasize durative, uninterrupted, continual action.

⁴ tn Heb “with the joy of his heart.” The words “he derives from his activity” do not appear in the Hebrew, but they are added to clarify the Teacher’s point in light of what he says right before this.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:1

Keep thy ^{( m )} foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of ^{( n )} fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

^{( m )} That is, with what affection you come to hear the word of God.

^{( n )} Meaning, of the wicked, who think to please God with common uses, and have neither faith nor repentance.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:2

Be not ^{( a )} rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be ^{( b )} few.

^{( a )} Either in vowing or in praying, meaning, that we should use all reverence toward God.

^{( b )} He hears you not for the sake of your many words or often repetitions, but considers your faith and servant's mind.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:4

When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast ^{( c )} vowed.

^{( c )} He speaks of vows which are approved by God's word and serve to his glory.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:6

Allow not thy mouth to cause thy ^{( d )} flesh to sin; neither say thou before the ^{( e )} angel, that it [was] an error: why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

^{( d )} Do not cause yourself to sin by vowing rashly as they do who make a vow to live unmarried and such like.

^{( e )} That is, before God's messenger when he will examine your doing, as though your ignorance should be a just excuse.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:8

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, wonder not at the matter: for [he that is] ^{( f )} higher than the highest regardeth; and [there are] higher than they.

^{( f )} Meaning, that God will address these things, and therefore we must depend on him.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:9

Moreover the ^{( g )} profit of the earth is for all: the king ^{( h )} [himself] is served by the field.

^{( g )} The earth is to be preferred above all things which belong to this life.

^{( h )} Kings and princes cannot maintain their estate without tillage, which commends the excellency of tillage.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:12

The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eateth little or much: but the ^{( i )} abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

^{( i )} That is, his great abundance of riches, or the surfeiting, which comes by his great feeding.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:13

There is a grievous evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches ^{( k )} kept for the owners of them to their hurt.

^{( k )} When covetous men heap up riches, which turn to their destruction.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:14

But those riches perish by evil labour: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his ^{( l )} hand.

^{( l )} He does not enjoy his father's riches.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:16

And this also [is] a grievous evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the ^{( m )} wind?

^{( m )} Meaning, in vain and without profit.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:17

All his days also he eateth in ^{( n )} darkness, and [he hath] much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

^{( n )} In affliction and grief of mind.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:18

Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and proper [for one] to ^{( o )} eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.

^{( o )} See Ecc 3:22

Geneva Bible: Ecc 5:20

For he shall not much remember the days of his ^{( p )} life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.

^{( p )} He will take no great thought for the pains that he has endured in times past.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Rentang Ayat

Maclaren: Ecc 5:2-13 - A Libation To Jehovah

Lessons For Worship And For Work

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. 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. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7. For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities : but fear thou God. 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter : for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. 9. Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This is also vanity. 11. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them : and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much : but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.'--Eccles. 5:1-12.

THIS passage is composed of two or perhaps three apparently disconnected sections. The faults in worship referred to in Eccles. 5:1-7 have nothing to do with the legalised robbery of Eccles. 5:8, nor has the demonstration of the folly of covetousness in Eccles. 5:10-12 any connection with either of the preceding subjects. But they are brought into unity, if they are taken as applications in different directions of the bitter truth which the writer sets himself to prove runs through all life. All is vanity.' That principle may even be exemplified in worship, and the obscure Eccles. 5:7 which closes the section about the faults of worship seems to be equivalent to the more familiar close which rings the knell of so many of men's pursuits in this book, This also is vanity.' It stands in the usual form in Eccles. 5:10.

We have in Eccles. 5:1-7 a warning against the faults in worship which make even it to be vanity,' unreal and empty and fruitless. These are of three sorts, arranged, as it were, chronologically. The worshipper is first regarded as going to the house of God, then as presenting his prayers in it, and then as having left it and returned to his ordinary life. The writer has cautions to give concerning conduct before, during, and after public .worship.

Note that, in all three parts of his warnings, his favourite word of condemnation appears as describing the vain worship to which he opposes the right manner. They who fall into the faults condemned are fools.' If that class includes all who mar their worship by such errors, the church which holds them had need to be of huge dimensions; for the faults held up in these ancient words flourish in full luxuriance to-day, and seem to haunt long-established Christianity quite as mischievously as they did long-established Judaism. If we could banish them from our religious assemblies, there would be fewer complaints of the poor results of so much apparently Christian prayer and preaching.

Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins. So our passage commences with the demeanour of the worshipper on his way to the house of God. He is to keep his foot; that is, to go deliberately, thoughtfully, with realisation of what he is about to do. He is to draw near to hear' and to bethink himself, while drawing near, of what his purpose should be.

Our forefathers' Sunday began on Saturday night, and partly for that reason the hallowing influence of it ran over into Monday, at all events. What likelihood is there that much good will come of worship to people who talk politics or scandal right up to the church door? Is reading newspapers in the pews, which they tell us in England is not unknown in America, a good preparation for worshipping God? The heaviest rain runs off parched ground, unless it has been first softened by a gentle fall of moisture. Hearts that have no dew of previous meditation to make them receptive are not likely to drink in much of the showers of blessing which may be falling round them. The formal worshipper who goes to the house of God because it is the hour when he has always gone; the curious worshipper (?) who draws near to hear indeed, but to hear a man, not God; and all the other sorts of mere outward worshippers who make so large a proportion of every Christian congregation--get the lesson they need, to begin with, in this precept.

Note, that right preparation for worship is better than worship itself, if it is that of fools.' Drawing near with the true purpose is better than being near with the wrong one. Note, too, the reason for the vanity of the' sacrifice of fools' is that' they know not'; and why do they not know, but because they did not draw near with the purpose of hearing? Therefore, as the last clause of the verse says, rightly rendered,' they do evil.' All hangs together. No matter how much we frequent the house of God, if we go with unprepared minds and hearts we shall remain ignorant, and because we are so, our sacrifices will be evil.' If the winnowing fan of this principle were applied to our decorous congregations, who dress their bodies for church much more carefully than they do their souls, what a cloud of chaff would fly off!

Then comes the direction for conduct in the act of worship. The same thoughtfulness which kept the foot in coming to, should keep the heart when in, the house of God. His exaltation and our lowliness should check hasty words, blurting out uppermost wishes, or in any way outrunning the sentiments and emotions of prepared hearts. Not that the lesson would .check the fervid flow of real desire. There is a type of calm worship which keeps itself calm because it is cold. Propriety and sobriety are its watchwords--both admirable things, and both dear to tepid Christians. Other people besides the crowds on Pentecost think that men whose lips are fired by the Spirit of God are drunken,' if not with wine, at all events with unwholesome enthusiasm. But the outpourings of a soul filled, not only with the sense that God is in heaven and we on earth, but also with the assurance that He is near to it, and it to Him, are not rash and hasty, however fervid. What is condemned is words which travel faster than thoughts or feelings, or which proceed from hearts that have not been brought into patient submission, or from such as lack reverent realisation of God's majesty; and such faults may attach to the most calm worship, and need not infect the most fervent. Those prayers are not hasty which keep step with the suppliant's desires, when these take the time from God's promises. That mouth is not rash which waits to speak until the ear has heard.

Let thy words be few.' The heathen think that they shall be heard for much speaking.' It needs not to tell our wants in many words to One who knows them altogether, any more than a child needs many when speaking to a father or mother. But few' must be measured by the number of needs and desires. The shortest prayer, which is not animated by a consciousness of need and a throb of desire, is too long; the longest, which is vitalised by these, is short enough. What becomes of the enormous percentage of public and private prayers, which are mere repetitions, said because they are the right thing to say, because everybody always has said them, and not because the man praying really wants the things he asks for, or expects to get them any the more for asking?

Eccles. 5:3 gives a reason for the exhortation, A dream comes through a multitude of business'--when a man is much occupied with any matter, it is apt to haunt his sleeping as well as his waking thoughts. A fool's voice comes through a multitude of words.' The dream is the consequence of the pressure of business, but the fool's voice is the cause, not the consequence, of the gush of words. What, then, is the meaning? Probably that such a gush of words turns, as it were, the voice of the utterer, for the time being, into that of a fool. Voluble prayers, more abundant than devout sentiments or emotions, make the offerer as a fool' and his prayer unacceptable.

The third direction refers to conduct after worship. It lays down the general principle that vows should be paid, and that swiftly. A keen insight into human nature suggests the importance of prompt fulfilment of the vows; for in carrying out resolutions formed under the impulse of the sanctuary, even more than in other departments, delays are dangerous. Many a young heart touched by the truth has resolved to live a Christian life, and has gone out from the house of God and put off and put off till days have thickened into months and years, and the intention has remained unfulfilled for ever. Nothing hardens hearts, stiffens wills, and sears consciences so much as to be brought to the point of melting, and then to cool down into the old shape. All good resolutions and spiritual convictions may be included under the name of vows; and of all it is true that it is better not to have formed them, than to have formed and not performed them,

Eccles. 5:6-7 are obscure. The former seems to refer to the case of a man who vows and then asks that he may be absolved from his vow by the priest or other ecclesiastical authority. His mouth--that is, his spoken promise--leads him into sin, if he does not fulfil it (comp. Deut. 23:21-22). He asks release from his promise on the ground that it is a sin of weakness. The' angel' is best understood as the priest (messenger), as in Malachi 2:7. Such a wriggling out of a vow will bring God's anger; for the voice' which promised what the hand will not perform, sins.

Eccles. 5:7 is variously rendered. The Revised Version supplies at the beginning, This comes to pass,' and goes on through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many words.' But this scarcely bears upon the context, which requires here a reason against rash speech and vows. The meaning seems better given, either by the rearranged text which Delitzsch suggests, In many dreams and many words there are also many vanities' (so, substantially, the Auth. Ver.), or as Wright, following Hitzig, etc., has it, In the multitude of dreams are also vanities, and [in] many words [as well].' The simile of Eccles. 5:3 is recurred to, and the whirling visions of unsubstantial dreams are likened to the rash words of voluble prayers in that both are vanity. Thus the writer reaches his favourite thought, and shows how vanity infects even devotion. The closing injunction to fear God' sets in sharp contrast with faulty outward worship the inner surrender and devotion, which will protect against such empty hypocrisy. If the heart is right, the lips will not be far wrong.

Eccles. 5:8-9 have no direct connection with the preceding, and their connection with the following (Eccles. 5:10-12) is slight. Their meaning is dubious. According to the prevailing view now, the abuses of government in Eccles. 5:8 are those of the period of the writer; and the last clauses do not, as might appear at first reading, console sufferers by the thought that God is above rapacious dignitaries, but bids the readers not be surprised if small officials plunder, since the same corruption goes upwards through all grades of functionaries. With such rotten condition of things is contrasted, in Eccles. 5:9, the happy state of a people living under a patriarchal government, where the king draws his revenues, not from oppression, but from agriculture. The Revised Version gives in its margin this rendering. The connection of these verses with the following may be that they teach the vanity of riches under such a state of society as they describe. What is the use of scraping wealth together when hungry officials are watching' to pounce on it? How much better to be contented with the modest prosperity of a quiet country life! If the translation of Eccles. 5:9 in the Authorised Version and the Revised Version is retained, there is a striking contrast between the rapine of the city, where men live by preying on each other (as they do still to a large extent, for commerce' is often nothing better), and the wholesome natural life of the country, where the kindly earth yields fruit, and one man's gain is not another's loss.

Thus the verses may be connected with the wise depreciation of money which follows. That low estimate is based on three grounds, which great trading nations like England and the United States need to have dinned into their ears. First, no man ever gets enough of worldly wealth. The appetite grows faster than the balance at the banker's. That is so because the desire that is turned to outward wealth really needs something else, and has mistaken its object. God, not money or money's worth, is the satisfying possession. It is so because all appetites, fed on earthly things, increase by gratification, and demand ever larger draughts. The jaded palate needs stronger stimulants. The seasoned opium-eater has to increase his doses to produce the same effects. Second, the race after riches is a race after a phantom, because the more one has of them the more people there spring up to share them. The poor man does with one servant; the rich man has fifty; and his own portion of his wealth is a very small item. His own meal is but a small slice off the immense provisions for which he has the trouble of paying. It is so, thirdly, because in the chase he deranges his physical nature; and when he has got his wealth, it only keeps him awake at night thinking how he shall guard it and keep it safe.

That which costs so much to get, which has so little power to satisfy, which must always be less than the wish of the covetous man, which costs so much to keep, which stuffs pillows with thorns, is surely vanity. Honest work is rewarded by sweet sleep. The old legend told of unslumbering guards who kept the treasure of the golden fruit. The millionaire has to live in a barred house, and to be always on the lookout lest some combination of speculators should pull down his stocks, or some change in the current of population should make his city lots worthless. Black care rides behind the successful man of business. Better to have done a day's work which has earned a night's repose than to be the slave of one's wealth, as all men are who make it their aim and their supreme good. Would that these lessons were printed deep on the hearts of young Englishmen and Americans!

Maclaren: Ecc 5:16 - A Libation To Jehovah

Naked Or Clothed?

As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.'--Eccles. 5:15.

Their works do follow them.'--Rev. 14:13.

IT is to be observed that these two sharply contrasted texts do not refer to the same persons. The former is spoken of a rich worldling, the latter of the dead who die in the Lord.' The unrelieved gloom of the one is as a dark background against which the triumphant assurance of the other shines out the more brightly, and deepens the gloom which heightens it. The end of the man who has to go away from earth naked and empty-handed acquires new tragic force when set against the lot of those whose works do follow them.' Well-worn and commonplace as both sets of thought may be, they may perhaps be flashed up into new vividness by juxtaposition; and if in this sermon we have nothing new to say, old truth is not out of place till it has been wrought into and influenced our daily practice. We shall best gather the lessons of our text if we consider what we must leave, what we must take, and what we may take.

I. What We Must Leave.

The Preacher in the context presses home a formidable array of the limitations and insufficiencies of wealth. Possessed, it cannot satisfy, for the appetite grows with indulgence. Its increase barely keeps pace with the increase of its consumers. It contributes nothing to the advantage of its so-called owner except the beholding of it with his eyes,' and the need of watching it keeps them open when he would fain sleep. It is often kept to the owner's hurt, it often disappears in unfortunate speculation, and the possessor's heirs are paupers. But, even if all these possibilities are safely weathered, the man has to die and leave it all behind. He shall take nothing of his labour which he can carry away in his hand'; that is to say, death separates from all with whom the life of the body brings us into connection. The things which are no parts of our true selves are ours in a very modified sense even whilst we seem to possess them, and the term of possession has a definite close. Shrouds have no pockets,' as the stern old proverb says. How many men have lived in the houses which we call ours, sat on our seats, walked over our lands, carried in their purses the money that is in ours i Is the game worth the candle' when we give our labour for so imperfect and brief a possession as at the fullest and the longest we enjoy of all earthly good? Surely a wise man will set little store by possessions of all which a cold, irresistible hand will come to strip him. Surely the life is wasted which spends its energy in robing itself in garments which will all be stripped from it when the naked self returns to go as he came.'

But there are other things than these earthly possessions from which death separates us. It carries us far away from the sound of human voices and isolates us from living men. Honour and reputation cease to be audible. When a prominent man dies, what a clatter of conflicting judgments contends over his grave! and how utterly he is beyond them all! Praise or blame, blessing or banning are equally powerless to reach the unhearing ear or to agitate the unbeating heart. And when one of our small selves passes out of life, we hear no more the voice of censure or of praise, of love or of hate. Is it worth while to toil for the hollow wraith of dying fame,' or even for the clasp of loving hands which have to be loosened so surely and so soon?

Then again, there are other things which must be left behind as belonging only to the present order, and connected with bodily life. There will be no scope for material work, and much of all our knowledge will be antiquated when the light beyond shines in.. As we shall have occasion to see presently, there is a permanent element in the most material work, and if in handling the transient we have been living for the eternal, such work will abide; but if we think of the spirit in which a sad majority do their daily tasks, whether of a more material or of a more intellectual sort, we must recognise that a very large proportion of all the business of life must come to an end here. There is nothing in it that will stand the voyage across the great deep, or that can survive in the order of things to which we go. What is a man to do in another world, supposing there is another world, where ledgers and mills are out of. date? Or what has a scholar or scientist to do in a state of things where there is no place for dictionaries and grammars, for acute criticism, or for a careful scientific research Physical science, linguistic knowledge, political wisdom, will be antiquated. The poetry which glorifies afresh and interprets the present will have lost its meaning. Half the problems that torture us here will cease to have existence, and most of the other half will have been solved by simple change of position. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away'; and it becomes us all to bethink ourselves whether there is anything in our lives that we can carry away when all that is of the earth earthy' has sunk into nothingness.

II. What We Must Take.

We must take ourselves. It is the same he' who goes naked as he came'; it is the same he' who came from his mother's womb,' and is born again' as it were into a new life, only he' has by his earthly life been developed and revealed. The plant has flowered and fruited. What was mere potentiality has become fact. There is now fixed character. The transient possessions, relationships, and occupations of the earthly life are gone, but the man that they have made is there. And in the character there are pro-dominant habits which insist upon having their sway, and a memory of which, as we may believe, there is written indelibly all the past. Whatever death may strip from us, there is no reason to suppose that it touches the consciousness and personal identity, or the prevailing set and inclination of our characters. And if we do indeed pass into another life not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness,' but carrying a perfected memory and clothed in a garment woven of all our past actions, there needs no more to bring about a solemn and continuous act of judgment.

III. What We May Take.

Their works do follow them.' These are the words of the Spirit concerning the dead who die in the Lord.' We need not fear marring the great truth that not by works of righteousness but by His mercy He saved us,' if we firmly grasp the large assurance which this text blessedly contains. A Christian man's works are perpetual in the measure in which they harmonise with the divine will, in the measure they have eternal consequences in himself whatever they may have on others. If we live opening our minds and hearts to the influx of the divine power that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure,' then we may be humbly sure that these works' are eternal; and though they will never constitute the ground of our acceptance, they will never fail to secure a great recompence of reward.' To many a humble saint there will be a moment of wondering thankfulness when he sees these his children whom God hath given him' clustered round him, and has to say, Lord, when saw I Thee naked, or in prison, and visited Thee?' There will be many an apocalypse of grateful surprise in the revelations of the heavens. We remember Milton's noble explanation of these great words which may well silence our feeble attempts to enforce them--

Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavourStood not behind, nor in the grave were trod,But as faith pointed with her golden rod,Followed them up to joy and bliss for ever.'

So then, life here and yonder will for the Christian soul be one continuous whole, only that there, while their works do follow them,' they rest from their labours.'

MHCC: Ecc 5:1-3

Address thyself to the worship of God, and take time to compose thyself for it. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering: keep thy affections from running out toward wrong objects. We should avoid vain repetitions; copious prayers are not here condemned, but those that are unmeaning. How often our wandering thoughts render attendance on Divine ordinances little better than the sacrifice of fools! Many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, show folly in the heart, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own souls.

MHCC: Ecc 5:4-8

When a person made engagements rashly, he suffered his mouth to cause his flesh to sin. The case supposes a man coming to the priest, and pretending that his vow was made rashly, and that it would be wrong to fulfil it. Such mockery of God would bring the Divine displeasure, which might blast what was thus unduly kept. We are to keep down the fear of man. Set God before thee; then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not find fault with Divine Providence; nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted; nor of religion, when thou seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong. But though oppressors may be secure, God will reckon for all.

MHCC: Ecc 5:9-17

The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the labourer is sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance breaks their rest. Riches do hurt, and draw away the heart from God and duty. Men do hurt with their riches, not only gratifying their own lusts, but oppressing others, and dealing hardly with them. They will see that they have laboured for the wind, when, at death, they find the profit of their labour is all gone like the wind, they know not whither. How ill the covetous worldling bears the calamities of human life! He does not sorrow to repentance, but is angry at the providence of God, angry at all about him; which doubles his affliction.

MHCC: Ecc 5:18-20

Life is God's gift. We must not view our calling as a drudgery, but take pleasure in the calling where God puts us. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes employments easy, and afflictions light. Having made a proper use of riches, a man will remember the days of his past life with pleasure. The manner in which Solomon refers to God as the Giver, both of life and its enjoyments, shows they ought to be received and to be used, consistently with his will, and to his glory. Let this passage recommend to all the kind words of the merciful Redeemer, " Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." Christ is the Bread of life, the only food of the soul. All are invited to partake of this heavenly provision.

Matthew Henry: Ecc 5:1-3

Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by showing us its vanity, is to drive us to God and to our duty, that we may not walk in the way of the world, but by religious rules, nor depend upon the wealth of the world, but on religious advantages; and therefore,

I. He here sends us to the house of God, to the place of public worship, to the temple, which he himself had built at a vast expense. When he reflected with regret on all his other works (Ecc 2:4), he did not repent of that, but reflected on it with pleasure, yet mentions it not, lest he should seem to reflect on it with pride; but he here sends those to it that would know more of the vanity of the world and would find that happiness which is in vain sought for in the creature. David, when he was perplexed, went into the sanctuary of God, Psa 73:17. Let our disappointments in the creature turn our eyes to the Creator; let us have recourse to the word of God's grace and consult that, to the throne of his grace and solicit that. In the word and prayer there is a balm for every wound.

II. He charges us to behave ourselves well there, that we may not miss of our end in coming thither. Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they become vain to us. And therefore,

1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and care: " Keep thy foot, not keep it back from the house of God (as Pro 25:17), nor go slowly thither, as one unwilling to draw nigh to God, but look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet, lest thou take a false step. Address thyself to the worship of God with a solemn pause, and take time to compose thyself for it, not going about it with precipitation, which is called hasting with the feet, Pro 19:2. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering from the work; keep thy affections from running out towards wrong objects, for in the business of God's house there is work enough for the whole man, and all too little to be employed."Some think it alludes to the charge given to Moses and Joshua to put off their shoes (Exo 3:5, Jos 5:15,) in token of subjection and reverence. Keep thy feet clean, Exo 30:19.

2. We must take heed that the sacrifice we bring be not the sacrifice of fools (of wicked men), for they are fools and their sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord, Pro 15:8), that we bring not the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice, for we are plainly told that it will not be accepted, and therefore it is folly to bring it, - that we rest not in the sign and ceremony, and the outside of the performance, without regarding the sense and meaning of it, for that is the sacrifice of fools. Bodily exercise, if that be all, is a jest; none but fools will think thus to please him who is a Spirit and requires the heart, and they will see their folly when they find what a great deal of pains they have taken to no purpose for want of sincerity. They are fools, for they consider not that they do evil; they think they are doing God and themselves good service when really they are putting a great affront upon God and a great cheat upon their own souls by their hypocritical devotions. Men may be doing evil even when they profess to be doing good, and even when they do not know it, when they do not consider it. They know not but to do evil, so some read it. Wicked minds cannot choose but sin, even in the acts of devotion. Or, They consider not that they do evil; they act at a venture, right or wrong, pleasing to God or not, it is all one to them.

3. That we may not bring the sacrifice of fools, we must come to God's house with hearts disposed to know and do our duty. We must be ready to hear, that is, (1.) We must diligently attend to the word of God read and preached. " Be swift to hear the exposition which the priests give of the sacrifices, declaring the intent and meaning of them, and do not think it enough to gaze upon what they do, for it must be a reasonable service, otherwise it is the sacrifice of fools. "(2.) We must resolve to comply with the will of God as it is made known to us. Hearing is often put for obeying, and that is it that is better than sacrifice, 1Sa 15:22; Isa 1:15, Isa 1:16. We come in a right frame to holy duties when we come with this upon our heart, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. Let the word of the Lord come (said a good man), and if I had 600 necks I would bow them all to the authority of it.

4. We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and addresses to God (Ecc 5:2): Be not rash with thy mouth, in making prayers, or protestations, or promises; let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. Note, (1.) When we are in the house of God, in solemn assemblies for religious worship, we are in a special manner before God and in his presence, there where he has promised to meet his people, where his eye is upon us and ours ought to be unto him. (2.) We have something to say, something to utter before God, when we draw nigh to him in holy duties; he is one with whom we have to do, with whom we have business of vast importance. If we come without an errand, we shall go away without any advantage. (3.) What we utter before God must come from the heart, and therefore we must not be rash with our mouth, never let our tongue outrun our thoughts in our devotions; the words of our mouth, must always be the product of the meditation of our hearts. Thoughts are words to God, and words are but wind if they be not copied from the thoughts. Lip-labour, though ever so well laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour in religion, Mat 15:8, Mat 15:9. (4.) It is not enough that what we say comes from the heart, but it must come from a composed heart, and not from a sudden heat or passion. As the mouth must not be rash, so the heart must not be hasty; we must not only think, but think twice, before we speak, when we are to speak either from God in preaching or to God in prayer, and not utter any thing indecent and undigested, 1Co 14:15.

5. We must be sparing of our words in the presence of God, that is, we must be reverent and deliberate, not talk to God as boldly and carelessly as we do to one another, not speak what comes uppermost, not repeat things over and over, as we do to one another, that what we say may be understood and remembered and may make impression; no, when we speak to God we must consider, (1.) That between him and us there is an infinite distance: God is in heaven, where he reigns in glory over us and all the children of men, where he is attended with an innumerable company of holy angels and is far exalted above all our blessing and praise. We are on earth, the footstool of his throne; we are mean and vile, unlike God, and utterly unworthy to receive any favour from him or to have any communion with him. Therefore we must be very grave, humble, and serious, and be reverent in speaking to him, as we are when we speak to a great man that is much our superior; and, in token of this, let our words be few, that they may be well chosen, Job 9:14. This does not condemn all long prayers; were they not good, the Pharisees would not have used them for a pretence; Christ prayed all night; and we are directed to continue in prayer. But it condemns careless heartless praying, vain repetitions (Mat 6:7), repeating Pater-nosters by tale. Let us speak to God, and of him, in his own words, words which the scripture teaches; and let our words, words of our own invention, be few, lest, not speaking by rule, we speak amiss. (2.) That the multiplying of words in our devotions will make them the sacrifices of fools, Ecc 5:3. As confused dreams, frightful and perplexed, and such as disturb the sleep, are an evidence of a hurry of business which fills our head, so many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, are an evidence of folly reigning in the heart, ignorance of and unacquaintedness with both God and ourselves, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own souls. Even in common conversation a fool is known by the multitude of words; those that know least talk most (Ecc 10:11), particularly in devotion; there, no doubt, a prating fool shall fall (Pro 10:8, Pro 10:10), shall fall short of acceptance. Those are fools indeed who think they shall be heard, in prayer, for their much speaking.

Matthew Henry: Ecc 5:4-8

Four things we are exhorted to in these verses: -

I. To be conscientious in paying our vows.

1. A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num 30:2), by which we solemnly oblige ourselves, not only, in general, to do that which we are already bound to do, but, in some particular instances, to do that to do which we were not under any antecedent obligation, whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his kingdom among men. When, under the sense of some affliction (Psa 66:14), or in the pursuit of some mercy (1Sa 1:11), thou hast vowed such a vow as this unto God, know that thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back; therefore, (1.) Pay it; perform what thou hast promised; bring to God what thou hast dedicated and devoted to him: Pay that which thou hast vowed; pay it in full and keep not back any part of the price; pay it in kind, do not alter it or change it, so the law was, Lev 27:10. Have we vowed to give our own selves unto the Lord? Let us then be as good as our word, act in his service, to his glory, and not sacrilegiously alienate ourselves. (2.) Defer not to pay it. If it be in the power of thy hands to pay it today, leave it not till tomorrow; do not beg a day, nor put it off to a more convenient season. By delay the sense of the obligation slackens and cools, and is in danger of wearing off; we thereby discover a loathness and backwardness to perform our vow; and qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit - he who is not inclined today will be averse tomorrow. The longer it is put off the more difficult it will be to bring ourselves to it; death may not only prevent the payment, but fetch thee to judgment, under the guilt of a broken vow, Psa 76:11.

2. Two reasons are here given why we should speedily and cheerfully pay our vows: - (1.) Because otherwise we affront God; we play the fool with him, as if we designed to put a trick upon him; and God has no pleasure in fools. More is implied than is expressed; the meaning is, He greatly abhors such fools and such foolish dealings. Has he need of fools? No; Be not deceived, God is not mocked, but will surely and severely reckon with those that thus play fast and loose with him. (2.) Because otherwise we wrong ourselves, we lose the benefit of the making of the vow, nay, we incur the penalty for the breach of it; so that it would have been better a great deal not to have vowed, more safe and more to our advantage, than to vow and not to pay. Not to have vowed would have been but an omission, but to vow and not pay incurs the guilt of treachery and perjury; it is lying to God, Act 5:4.

II. To be cautious in making our vows. This is necessary in order to our being conscientious in performing them, Ecc 5:6. 1. We must take heed that we never vow anything that is sinful, or that may be an occasion of sin, for such a vow is ill-made and must be broken. Suffer not thy mouth, by such a vow, to cause thy flesh to sin, as Herod's rash promise caused him to cut off the head of John the Baptist. 2. We must not vow that which, through the frailty of the flesh, we have reason to fear we shall not be able to perform, as those that vow a single life and yet know not how to keep their vow. Hereby, (1.) They shame themselves; for they are forced to say before the angel, It was an error, that either they did not mean or did not consider what they said; and, take it which way you will, it is bad enough. "When thou hast made a vow, do not seek to evade it, nor find excuses to get clear of the obligation of it; say not before the priest, who is called the angel or messenger of the Lord of hosts, that, upon second thoughts, thou hast changed thy mind, and desirest to be absolved from the obligation of thy vow; but stick to it, and do not seek a hole to creep out at."Some by the angel understand the guardian angel which they suppose to attend every man and to inspect what he does. Others understand it of Christ, the Angel of the covenant, who is present with his people in their assemblies, who searches the heart, and cannot be imposed upon; provoke him not, for God's name is in him, and he is represented as strict and jealous, Exo 23:20, Exo 23:21. (2.) They expose themselves to the wrath of God, for he is angry at the voice of those that thus lie unto him with their mouth and flatter him with their tongue, and is displeased at their dissimulation, and destroys the works of their hands, that is, blasts their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they made these vows, they were seeking to God for the success of. If we treacherously cancel the words of our mouths, and revoke our vows, God will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary, and at all adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures with him. It is a snare to a man, after vows, to make enquiry.

III. To keep up the fear of God, Ecc 5:7. Many, of old, pretended to know the mind of God by dreams, and were so full of them that they almost made God's people forget his name by their dreams (Jer 23:25, Jer 23:26); and many now perplex themselves with their frightful or odd dreams, or with other people's dreams, as if they foreboded this or the other disaster. Those that heed dreams shall have a multitude of them to fill their heads with; but in them all there are divers vanities, as there are in many words, and the more if we regard them. "They are but like the idle impertinent chat of children and fools, and therefore never heed them; forget them; instead of repeating them lay no stress upon them, draw no disquieting conclusions from them, but fear thou God; have an eye to his sovereign dominion, set him before thee, keep thyself in his love, and be afraid of offending him, and then thou wilt not disturb thyself with foolish dreams."The way not to be dismayed at the signs of heaven, nor afraid of the idols of the heathen, is to fear God as King of nations, Jer 10:2, Jer 10:5, Jer 10:7.

IV. With that to keep down the fear of man, Ecc 5:8. "Set God before thee, and then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not marvel at the matter, nor find fault with divine Providence, nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted, nor of religion, when thou seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong."Observe here, 1. A melancholy sight on earth, and such as cannot but trouble every good man that has a sense of justice and a concern for mankind, to see the oppression of the poor because they are poor and cannot defend themselves, and the violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, oppression under colour of law and backed with power. The kingdom in general may have a good government, and yet it may so happen that a particular province may be committed to a bad man, by whose mal-administration justice may be perverted; so hard it is for the wisest of kings, in giving preferments, to be sure of their men; they can but redress the grievance when it appears. 2. A comfortable sight in heaven. When things look thus dismal we may satisfy ourselves with this, (1.) That, though oppressors be high, God is above them, and in that very thing wherein they deal proudly, Exo 18:11. God is higher than the highest of creatures, than the highest of princes, than the king that is higher than Agag (Num 24:7), than the highest angels, the thrones and dominions of the upper world. God is the Most High over all the earth, and his glory is above the heavens; before him princes are worms, the brightest but glow-worms. (2.) That, though oppressors be secure, God has his eye upon them, takes notice of, and will reckon for, all their violent perverting of judgment; he regards, not only sees it but observes it, and keeps it on record, to be called over again; his eyes are upon their ways. See Job 24:23. (3.) That there is a world of angels, for there are higher than they, who are employed by the divine justice for protecting the injured and punishing the injurious. Sennacherib valued himself highly upon his potent army, but one angel proved too hard for him and all his forces. Some, by those that are higher than they understand the great council of the nation, the presidents to whom the princes of the provinces are accountable (Dan 6:2), the senate that receive complaints against the proconsuls, the courts above to which appeals are made from the inferior courts, which are necessary to the good government of a kingdom. Let it be a check to oppressors that perhaps their superiors on earth may call them to an account; however, God the Supreme in heaven will.

Matthew Henry: Ecc 5:9-17

Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of honour, power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous worldling that will agree with him, and speak as slightly as he does of these things; but money, he thinks, is a substantial thing, and if he can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake which Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows that there is as much vanity in great riches, and the lust of the eye about them, as there is in the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, and a man can make himself no more happy by hoarding an estate than by spending it.

I. He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and comfort of human life, are valuable things (Ecc 5:9): The profit of the earth is for all. Man's body, being made of the earth, thence has its maintenance (Job 28:5); and that it has so, and that a barren land is not made his dwelling (as he has deserved for being rebellious, Psa 68:6), is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is profit to be got out of the earth, and it is for all; all need it; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all. It is not only for all men, but for all the inferior creatures; the same ground brings grass for the cattle that brings herbs for the service of men. Israel had bread from heaven, angels' food, but (which is a humbling consideration) the earth is our storehouse and the beasts are fellow-commoners with us. The king himself is served of the field, and would be ill served, would be quite starved, without its products. This puts a great honour upon the husbandman's calling, that it is the most necessary of all to the support of man's life. The many have the benefit of it; the mighty cannot live without it; it is for all; it is for the king himself. Those that have an abundance of the fruits of the earth must remember they are for all, and therefore must look upon themselves but as stewards of their abundance, out of which they must give to those that need. Dainty meats and soft clothing are only for some, but the fruit of the earth is for all. And even those that suck the abundance of the seas (Deu 33:19) cannot be without the fruit of the earth, while those that have a competency of the fruit of the earth may despise the abundance of the seas.

II. He maintains that the riches that are more than these, that are for hoarding, not for use, are vain things, and will not make a man easy or happy. That which our Saviour has said (Luk 12:15), that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses, is what Solomon here undertakes to prove by various arguments.

1. The more men have the more they would have, Ecc 5:10. A man may have but a little silver and be satisfied with it, may know when he has enough and covet no more. Godliness, with contentment, is great gain. I have enough, says Jacob; I have all, and abound, says St. Paul: but, (1.) He that loves silver, and sets his heart upon it, will never think he has enough, but enlarges his desire as hell (Hab 2:5), lays house to house and field to field (Isa 5:8), and, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries, Give, give. Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing. (2.) He that has silver in abundance, and has it increasing ever so fast upon him, yet does not find that it yields any solid satisfaction to his soul. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy; if a man be hungry, ingots of silver will do no more to satisfy his hunger than clods of clay. Much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires; he that has ever so much silver covets more, not only of that, but of something else, something of another nature. Those that make themselves drudges to the world are spending their labour for that which satisfies not (Isa 55:2), which fills the belly, but will never fill the soul, Eze 7:19.

2. The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more they have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them, Ecc 5:11. The more meat the more mouths. Does the estate thrive? And does not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, the more they must give to the poor, and the more they will have hanging on them, for where the carcase is the eagles will be. What we have more than food and raiment we have for others; and then what good is there to the owners themselves, but the pleasure of beholding it with their eyes? And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference between the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own which those about him enjoy as much of the real benefit of as he; only he has the satisfaction of doing good to others, which indeed is a satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive; but to a covetous man, who thinks all lost that goes beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see others eat of his increase.

3. The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes them and disturbs their repose, Ecc 5:12. Refreshing sleep is as much the support and comfort of this life as food is. Now, (1.) Those commonly sleep best that work hard and have but what they work for: The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, not only because he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the more welcome to him and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has little to fill his head with care about and so break his sleep. His sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to eat, for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can sleep well, for his labour gets him a good digestion. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, is sweet; for, having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully return to God and repose in him as his rest. (2.) Those that have every thing else often fail to secure a good night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their sleeps are unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks their sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the rich man's who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, thought within himself, What shall I do? Luk 12:17) and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the heart, makes them sick, and so hinders their repose. Ahasuerus, after a banquet of wine, could not sleep; and perhaps consciousness of guilt, both in getting and using what they have, breaks their sleep as much as any thing. But God gives his beloved sleep.

4. The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief and of having mischief done them (Ecc 5:13): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe - riches left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them. (1.) Their riches do them hurt, make them proud, secure, and in love with the world, draw away their hearts from God and duty, and make it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven, nay, help to shut them out of it. (2.) They do hurt with their riches, which not only put them into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously, but give them an opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly with them. (3.) Often they sustain hurt by their riches. They would not be envied, would not be robbed, if they were not rich. It is the fat beast that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes) has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life and estate, merely on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so riches often take away the life of the owners thereof, Pro 1:19.

5. The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may lose it all, Ecc 5:14. Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and kept with a great deal of care, perish by evil travail, by the very pains and care which they take to secure and increase them. Many a one has ruined his estate by being over-solicitous to advance it and make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are perishing things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they make themselves wings and fly away. He that thought he should have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.

6. How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all behind them (Ecc 5:15, Ecc 5:16): As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he return; only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him, helped him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him with grave-clothes, and that is all. See Job 1:21; Psa 49:17. This is urged as a reason why we should be content with such things as we have, 1Ti 6:7. In respect of the body we must go as we came; the dust shall return to the earth as it was. But sad is our case if the soul return as it came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there. If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has laboured for the wind? Note, Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind, Hos 12:1. Men will see that they have laboured for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.

7. Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not only uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too, Ecc 5:17. This covetous worldling, that is so bent upon raising an estate, all his days eats in darkness and much sorrow, and it is his sickness and wrath; he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any enjoyment of it himself, for he eats the bread of sorrow (Psa 127:2), but a great deal of vexation to see others eat of it. His necessary expenses make him sick, make him fret, and he seems as if he were angry that himself and those about him cannot live without meat. As we read the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear the common and unavoidable calamities of human life. When he is in health he eats in darkness, always dull with care and fear about what he has; but, if he be sick, he has much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; he is vexed that his sickness takes him off from his business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all his wealth will not give him any ease or relief, but especially terrified with the apprehensions of death (which his diseases are the harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it behind him, which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has made no preparation for. He has not any sorrow after a godly sort, does not sorrow to repentance, but he has sorrow and wrath, is angry at the providence of God, angry at his sickness, angry at all about him, fretful and peevish, which doubles his affliction, which a good man lessens and lightens by patience and joy in his sickness.

Matthew Henry: Ecc 5:18-20

Solomon, from the vanity of riches hoarded up, here infers that the best course we can take is to use well what we have, to serve God with it, to do good with it, and take the comfort of it to ourselves and our families; this he had pressed before, Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:22. Observe, 1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits for our portion, but soberly and moderately to make use of what Providence has allotted for our comfortable passage through this world. We must not starve ourselves through covetousness, because we cannot afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our worldly pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but eat and drink what is fit for us to keep our bodies in good plight for the serving of our souls in God's service. We must not kill ourselves with labour, and then leave others to enjoy the good of it, but take the comfort of that which our hands have laboured for, and that not now and then, but all the days of our life which God gives us. Life is God's gift, and he has appointed us the number of the days of our life (Job 14:5); let us therefore spend those days in serving the Lord our God with joyfulness and gladness of heart. We must not do the business of our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must rejoice in our labour, not grasp at more business than we can go through without perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the calling wherein God has put us, and go on in the business of it with cheerfulness. This it to rejoice in our labour, whatever it is, as Zebulun in his going out and Issachar in his tents. 2. What is urged to recommend it to us. (1.) That it is good and comely to do this. It is well, and it looks well. Those that cheerfully use what God has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and comely; there is duty and decency in it. (2.) That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession. God must have his part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them. (3.) That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns all the gifts of his providence. If God has given a man riches and wealth, he completes the favour, and makes that a blessing indeed, if withal he gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is God's gift, we must covet it earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world. (4.) That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve ourselves against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth are incident to (Ecc 5:20): He shall not much remember the days of his life, the days of his sorrow and sore travail, his working days, his weeping days. He shall either forget them or remember them as waters that pass away; he shall not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the bitter relish of them, because God answers him in the joy of his heart, balances all the grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him for it by giving him to eat the labour of his hands. If he does not answer all his desires and expectations, in the letter of them, yet he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, in the joy of his heart. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the yoke of our employments easy and the burden of our afflictions light.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:1

"Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and to go to hear is better than that fools give a sacrifice; for the want of knowledge leads them to do evil."The "house of God"is like the "house of Jahve,"2Sa 12:20; Isa 37:1, the temple; אל , altogether like אל־מ־אל , Psa 73:17. The Chethı̂b רגליך is admissible, for elsewhere also this plur. ("thy feet") occurs in a moral connection and with a spiritual reference, e.g. , Psa 119:59; but more frequently, however, the comprehensive sing. occurs. Psa 119:105; Pro 1:15; Pro 4:26., and the Kerı̂ thus follows the right note. The correct understanding of what follows depends on רע ... כּי־ . Interpreters have here adopted all manner of impossible views. Hitzig's translation: "for they know not how to be sorrowful,"has even found in Stuart at least one imitator; but עשׂות רע would, as the contrast of 'asoth tov , Ecc 3:12, mean nothing else than, "to do that which is unpleasant, disagreeable, bad,"like 'asah ra'ah , 2Sa 12:18. Gesen., Ewald (§336 b ), Elster, Heiligst., Burger, Zöckl., Dale, and Bullock translate: "they know not that they do evil;"but for such a rendering the words ought to have been עשׂותם רע (cf. Jer 15:15); the only example for the translation of לעשׂות after the manner of the acc. c. inf . = se facere malum - viz. at 1Ki 19:4 - is incongruous, for למות does not here mean se mori , but ut moreretur . Yet more incorrect is the translation of Jerome, which is followed by Luther: nesciunt quid faciant mali . It lies near, as at Ecc 2:24 so also here, to suppose an injury done to the text. Aben Ezra introduced רק before לעשׂ , but Koheleth never uses this limiting particle; we would have to write כי אם־לעשׂות , after Ezr 3:12; Ezr 8:15. Anything thus attained, however, is not worth the violent means thus used; for the ratifying clause is not ratifying, and also in itself, affirmed of the כסילים , who, however, are not the same as the resha'im and the hattaim , is inappropriate. Rather it might be said: they know not to do good (thus the Syr.); or: they know not whether it be good or bad to do, i.e. , they have no moral feeling, and act not from moral motives (so the Targ.). Not less violent than this remodelling of the text is the expedient of Herzberg, Philippson, and Ginsburg, who from לשׁמע derive the subject-conception of the obedient ( השּׂמעים ): "For those understand not at all to do evil;"the subj. ought to have been expressed if it must be something different from the immediately preceding כסילים . We may thus render enam yod'im , after Psa 82:5; Isa 56:10, as complete in itself: they (the fools) are devoid of knowledge to do evil = so that they do evil; i.e. , want of knowledge brings them to this, that they do evil. Similarly also Knobel: they concern themselves not, - are unconcerned (viz., about the right mode of worshipping God), - so that they do evil, with the correct remark that the consequence of their perverse conduct is here represented as their intention. But ידע לא , absol ., does not mean to be unconcerned (wanton), but to be without knowledge. Rashbam, in substance correctly: they are predisposed by their ignorance to do evil; and thus also Hahn; Mendelssohn translates directly: "they sin because they are ignorant."If this interpretation is correct, then for לשׁמע it follows that it does not mean "to obey"(thus e.g. , Zöckler), which in general it never means without some words being added to it (cf. on the contrary, 1Sa 15:22), but "to hear,"- viz. the word of God, which is to be heard in the house of God, - whereby, it is true, a hearing is meant which leads to obedience.

In the word הורות , priests are not perhaps thought of, although the comparison of Ecc 5:5 ( המלאך ) with Mal 2:7 makes it certainly natural; priestly instruction limited itself to information regarding the performance of the law already given in Scripture, Lev 10:11; Deu 33:9., and to deciding on questions arising in the region of legal praxis, Deu 24:8; Hag 2:11. The priesthood did not belong to the teaching class in the sense of preaching. Preaching was never a part of the temple cultus, but, for the first time, after the exile became a part of the synagogue worship. The preachers under the O.T. were the prophets, - preachers by a supernatural divine call, and by the immediate impulse of the Spirit; we know from the Book of Jeremiah that they sometimes went into the temple, or there caused their books of prophecy to be read; yet the author, by the word לשׁמע of the foregoing proverb, scarcely thinks of them. But apart from the teaching of the priests, which referred to the realization of the letter of the law, and the teaching of the prophets to the realization of the spirit of the law, the word formed an essential part of the sacred worship of the temple: the Tefilla , the Beracha , the singing of psalms, and certainly, at the time of Koheleth, the reading of certain sections of the Bible. When thou goest to the house of God, says Koheleth, take heed to thy step, well reflecting whither thou goest and how thou hast there to appear; and (with this ו he connects with this first nota bene a second) drawing near to hear exceeds the sacrifice-offering of fools, for they are ignorant (just because they hear not), which leads to this result, that they do evil. מן , prae , expresses also, without an adj., precedence in number, Isa 10:10, or activity, Isa 9:17, or worth, Eze 15:2. קרוב is inf . absol . Böttcher seeks to subordinate it as such to שׁמר : take heed to thy foot ... and to the coming near to hear more than to ... . But these obj. to שמר would be incongruous, and מתת וגו clumsy and even distorted in expression; it ought rather to be מתּתּך כּכסי־לים זבח . As the inf . absol . can take the place of the obj., Isa 7:15; Isa 42:24; Lam 3:45, so also the place of the subj. (Ewald, §240 a ), although Pro 25:27 is a doubtful example of this. That the use of the inf . absol . has a wide application with the author of this book, we have already seen under Ecc 4:2. Regarding the sequence of ideas in זבח ... מתּת (first the subj., then the obj.), vid ., Gesen. §133. 3, and cf. above at Ecc 3:18. זבח ( זבחים ), along with its general signification comprehending all animal sacrifices, according to which the altar bears the name מזבּח , early acquired also a more special signification: it denotes, in contradistinction to עולה , such sacrifices as are only partly laid on the altar, and for the most part are devoted to a sacrificial festival, Exo 18:12 (cf. Exo 12:27), the so-called shelamim , or also zivhhe shelamim , Pro 7:14. The expression זבח נתן makes it probable that here, particularly, is intended the festival (1Ki 1:41) connected with this kind of sacrifice, and easily degenerating to worldly merriment ( vid ., under Pro 7:14); for the more common word for תּת would have been הקריב or שׁחוט ; in תּת it seems to be indicated that it means not only to present something to God, but also to give at the same time something to man. The most recent canonical Chokma-book agrees with Pro 21:3 in this depreciation of sacrifice. But the Chokma does not in this stand alone. The great word of Samuel, 1Sa 15:22., that self-denying obedience to God is better than all sacrifices, echoes through the whole of the Psalms. And the prophets go to the utmost in depreciating the sacrificial cultus.

The second rule relates to prayer.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:2-3

"Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thy heart hasten to speak a word before God: for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For by much business cometh dreaming, and by much talk the noise of fools."As we say in German: steplang7 auf Flügeln fliegen [to flee on wings], steplang7 auf Einem Auge nicht sehen [not to see with one eye], steplang7 auf der Flöte blasen [to blow on the flute], so in Heb. we say that one slandereth with (steplang7 auf ) his tongue (Psa 15:3), or, as here, that he hasteth with his mouth, i.e. , is forward with his mouth, inasmuch as the word goes before the thought. It is the same usage as when the post-bibl. Heb., in contradistinction to התורה שׁבּכתב , the law given in the Scripture, calls the oral law הת שׁבּעל־פּה , i.e. , the law mediated על־פה , oraliter = oralis traditio (Shabbath 31 a ; cf. Gittin 60 b ). The instrument and means is here regarded as the substratum of the action - as that which this lays as a foundation. The phrase: "to take on the lips,"Psa 16:4, which needs no explanation, is different. Regarding בּהל , festinare , which is, like מהר , the intens. of Kal , vid ., once it occurs quite like our "steplang7 sich beeilen "to hasten, with reflex. accus. suff., 2Ch 35:21. Man, when he prays, should not give the reins to his tongue, and multiply words as one begins and repeats over a form which he has learnt, knowing certainly that it is God of whom and to whom he speaks, but without being conscious that God is an infinitely exalted Being, to whom one may not carelessly approach without collecting his thoughts, and irreverently, without lifting up his soul. As the heavens, God's throne, are exalted above the earth, the dwelling-place of man, so exalted is the heavenly God above earthly man, standing far beneath him; therefore ought the words of a man before God to be few, - few, well-chosen reverential words, in which one expresses his whole soul. The older language forms no plur. from the subst. מעט (fewness) used as an adv.; but the more recent treats it as an adj., and forms from it the plur. מעטּים (here and in Psa 109:8, which bears the superscription le-david , but has the marks of Jeremiah's style); the post-bibl. places in the room of the apparent adj. the particip. adj. מועט with the plur. מוּעטים ( מוּעטין ), e.g. , Berachoth 61 a : "always let the words of a man before the Holy One (blessed be His name!) be few"( מוע ). Few ought the words to be; for where they are many, it is not without folly. This is what is to be understood, Ecc 5:2, by the comparison; the two parts of the verse stand here in closer mutual relation than Ecc 7:1, - the proverb is not merely synthetical, but, like Job 5:7, parabolical. The ב is both times that of the cause. The dream happens, or, as we say, dreams happen ענין בּרב ; not: by much labour; for labour in itself, as the expenditure of strength making one weary, has as its consequence, Ecc 5:11, sweet sleep undisturbed by dreams; but: by much self-vexation in a man's striving after high and remote ends beyond what is possible (Targ., in manifold project-making); the care of such a man transplants itself from the waking to the sleeping life, it if does not wholly deprive him of sleep, Ecc 5:11 , Ecc 8:16, - all kinds of images of the labours of the day, and fleeting phantoms and terrifying pictures hover before his mind. And as dreams of such a nature appear when a man wearies himself inwardly as well as outwardly by the labours of the day, so, with the same inward necessity, where many words are spoken folly makes its appearance. Hitzig renders כסיל , in the connection קול כּ , as adj.; but, like אויל (which forms an adj. ěvīlī ), כסיל is always a subst., or, more correctly, it is a name occurring always only of a living being, never of a thing. There is sound without any solid content, mere blustering bawling without sense and intelligence. The talking of a fool is in itself of this kind (Ecc 10:14); but if one who is not just a fool falls into much talk, it is scarcely possible but that in this flow of words empty bombast should appear.

Another rule regarding the worship of God refers to vowing.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:4-7

"When thou hast made a vow to God, delay not to fulfil it; for there is no pleasure in fools: that which thou hast vowed fulfil. Better that thou vowest not, than that thou vowest and fulfillest not. Let not thy mouth bring thy body into punishment; and say not before the messenger of God that it was precipitation: why shall God be angry at thy talk, and destroy the work of thy hands? For in many dreams and words there are also many vanities: much rather fear God!"If they abstained, after Shabbath 30 b , from treating the Book of Koheleth as apocryphal, because it begins with תורה דברי (cf. at Ecc 1:3) and closes in the same way, and hence warrants the conclusion that that which lies between will also be תורה דברי , this is in a special manner true of the passage before us regarding the vow which, in thought and expression, is the echo of Deu 23:22-24. Instead of kaashěr tiddor , we find there the words ki tiddor ; instead of lelohim (= lěělohim , always only of the one true God), there we have lahovah ělohěcha ; and instead of al -teahher , there lo teahher . There the reason is: "for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee;"here: for there is no pleasure in fools, i.e. , it is not possible that any one, not to speak of God, could have a particular inclination toward fools, who speak in vain, and make promises in which their heart is not, and which they do not keep. Whatever thou vowest, continues Koheleth, fulfil it; it is better (Ewald, §336 a ) that thou vowest not, than to vow and not to pay; for which the Tôra says: "If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee"(Deu 23:22). נדר , which, according to the stem-word, denotes first the vow of consecration of setting apart (cogn. Arab. nadar , to separate, נזר , whence נזיר ), the so-called אסר [ vid . Num 30:3], is here a vow in its widest sense; the author, however, may have had, as there, the law (cf. Ecc 5:2-4), especially shalme něděr , in view, i.e. , such peace-offerings as the law does not enjoin, but which the offerer promises (cogn. with the shalme nedavah , i.e. , such as rest on free-will, but not on any obligation arising from a previous promise) from his own inclination, for the event that God may do this or that for him. The verb שׁלּם is not, however, related to this name for sacrifices, as חטּא is to חטּאת , but denotes the fulfilling or discharge as a performance fully accordant with duty. To the expression חטא ... היה (twice occurring in the passage of Deut. referred to above) there is added the warning: let not thy mouth bring thy body into sin. The verb nathan , with Lamed and the inf . following, signifies to allow, to permit, Gen 20:6; Jdg 1:34; Job 31:30. The inf . is with equal right translated: not to bring into punishment; for חטא - the syncop. Hiph . of which, according to an old, and, in the Pentateuch, favourite form, is לחטיא - signifies to sin, and also ( e.g. , Gen 39:9; cf. the play on the word, Hos 8:11) to expiate sin; sin-burdened and guilty, or liable to punishment, mean the same thing. Incorrectly, Ginsburg, Zöck., and others: "Do not suffer thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin;"for (1) the formula: "the flesh sins,"is not in accordance with the formation of O.T. ideas; the N.T., it is true, uses the expression σὰρξ ἁμαρτίας , Rom 8:3, but not ἁμαρτάνουσα , that which sins is not the flesh, but the will determined by the flesh, or by fleshly lust; (2) the mouth here is not merely that which leads to sin, but the person who sins through thoughtless haste, - who, by his haste, brings sin upon his flesh, for this suffers, for the breach of vow, by penalties inflicted by God; the mouth is, like the eye and the hand, a member of the ὃλον τὸ σῶμα (Mat 5:24.), which is here called בשׂר ; the whole man in its sensitive nature (opp. לב , Ecc 2:3; Ecc 11:10; Pro 14:30) has to suffer chastisement on account of that which the mouth hath spoken. Gesen. compares this passage, correctly, with Deu 24:4, for the meaning peccati reum facere ; Isa 29:21 is also similar.

The further warning refers to the lessening of the sin of a rash vow unfulfilled as an unintentional, easily expiable offence: "and say not before the messenger of God that it was a שׁגגה , a sin of weakness."Without doubt hammǎlāch is an official byname of a priest, and that such as was in common use at the time of the author. But as for the rest, it is not easy to make the matter of the warning clear. That it is not easy, may be concluded from this, that with Jewish interpreters it lies remote to think of a priest in the word hammǎlāch . By this word the Targ. understands the angel to whom the execution of the sentence of punishment shall be committed on the day of judgment; Aben Ezra: the angel who writes down all the words of a man; similarly Jerome, after his Jewish teacher. Under this passage Ginsburg has an entire excursus regarding the angels. The lxx and Syr. translate "before God,"as if the words of the text were אל נגד , Psa 138:1, or as if hammalach could of itself mean God, as presenting Himself in history. Supposing that hammalach is the official name of a man, and that of a priest, we appear to be under the necessity of imagining that he who is charged with the obligation of a vow turns to the priest with the desire that he would release him from it, and thus dissolve (bibl. הפיר , Mishnic התּיר ) the vow. But there is no evidence that the priests had the power of releasing from vows. Individual cases in which a husband can dissolve the vow of his wife, and a father the vow of his daughter, are enumerated in Num 30; besides, in the traditional law, we find the sentence: "A vow, which one who makes it repents of, can be dissolved by a learned man ( חכם ), or, where none is present, by three laymen," Bechoroth 36 b ; the matter cannot be settled by any middle person ( שׁליח ), but he who has taken the vow ( הנודר ) must appear personally, Jore deah c . 228, §16. Of the priest as such nothing is said here. Therefore the passage cannot at all be traditionally understood of an official dissolution of an oath. Where the Talm. applies it juristically, Shabbath 32 b , etc., Rashi explains hammalach by gizbar shěl -haqdesh , i.e. , treasurer of the revenues of the sanctuary; and in the Comm . to Koheleth he supposes that some one has publicly resolved on an act of charity ( צדקה ), i.e. , has determined it with himself, and that now the representative of the congregation ( שׁליח ) comes to demand it. But that is altogether fanciful. If we proceed on the idea that liphne hammalach is of the same meaning as liphne hakkohen , Lev 27:8, Lev 27:11; Num 9:6; Num 27:2, etc., we have then to derive the figure from such passages relating to the law of sacrifice as Num 15:22-26, from which the words ki shegagah hi (Num 15:25) originate. We have to suppose that he who has made a vow, and has not kept it, comes to terms with God with an easier and less costly offering, since in the confession ( ודּוּי ) which he makes before the priest he explains that the vow was a shegagah , a declaration that inconsiderately escaped him. The author, in giving it to be understood that under these circumstances the offering of the sacrifice is just the direct contrary of a good work, calls to the conscience of the inconsiderate נודר : why should God be angry on account of thy voice with which thou dost excuse thy sins of omission, and destroy ( vid ., regarding חבּל under Isa 10:27) the work of thy hands ( vid ., under Psa 90:17), for He destroys what thou hast done, and causes to fail what thou purposest? The question with lammah resembles those in Ezr 4:22; Ezr 7:23, and is of the same kind as at Ecc 7:16.; it leads us to consider what a mad self-destruction that would be (Jer 44:7, cf. under Isa 1:5).

The reason for the foregoing admonition now following places the inconsiderate vow under the general rubric of inconsiderate words. We cannot succeed in interpreting Ecc 5:6 [7] (in so far as we do not supply, after the lxx and Syr. with the Targ.: ne credas ; or better, with Ginsburg, היא = it is) without taking one of the vavs in the sense of "also."That the Heb. vav , like the Greek καί , the Lat. et , may have this comparative or intensifying sense rising above that which is purely copulative, is seen from e.g. , Num 9:14, cf. also Jos 14:11. In many cases, it is true, we are not under the necessity of translating vav by "also;"but since the "and"here does not merely externally connect, but expresses correlation of things homogeneous, an "also"or a similar particle involuntarily substitutes itself for the "and," e.g. , Gen 17:20 (Jerome): super Ismael quoque ; Exo 29:8 : filios quoque ; Deu 1:32 : et nec sic quidem credidistis ; Deu 9:8 : nam et in Horeb ; cf. Jos 15:19; 1Sa 25:43; 2Sa 19:25; 1Ki 2:22; 1Ki 11:26; Isa 49:6, "I have also given to thee."But there are also passages in which it cannot be otherwise translated than by "also."We do not reckon among these Psa 31:12, where we do not translate "also my neighbours,"and Amo 4:10, where the words are to be translated, "and that in your nostrils."On the contrary, Isa 32:7 is scarcely otherwise to be translated than "also when the poor maketh good his right,"like 2Sa 1:23, "also in their death they are not divided."In 2Ch 27:5, in like manner, the two vavs are scarcely correlative, but we have, with Keil, to translate, "also in the second and third year."And in Hos 8:6, והוּא , at least according to the punctuation, signifies "also it,"as Jerome translates: ex Israele et ipse est . According to the interpunction of the passage before us, וּד הר is the pred., and thus, with the Venet., is to be translated: "For in many dreams and vanities there are also many words."We could at all events render the vav , as also at Ecc 10:11; Exo 16:6, as vav apod .; but וגו בּרב has not the character of a virtual antecedent, - the meaning of the expression remains as for the rest the same; but Hitzig's objection is of force against it (as also against Ewald's disposition of the words, like the of Symmachus, Jerome, and Luther: "for where there are many dreams, there are also vanities, and many words"), that it does not accord with the connection, which certainly in the first place requires a reason referable to inconsiderate talk, and that the second half is, in fact, erroneous, for between dreams and many words there exists no necessary inward mutual relation. Hitzig, as Knobel before him, seeks to help this, for he explains: "for in many dreams are also vanities, i.e. , things from which nothing comes, and (the like) in many words."But not only is this assumed carrying forward of the ב doubtful, but the principal thing would be made a secondary matter, and would drag heavily. The relation in _Ecc 5:2 is different where vav is that of comparison, and that which is compared follows the comparison. Apparently the text (although the lxx had it before them, as it is before us) has undergone dislocation, and is thus to be arranged: כי ברב חלמת ודברים הרבה והבלים : for in many dreams and many words there are also vanities, i.e. , illusions by which one deceives himself and others. Thus also Bullock renders, but without assigning a reason for it. That dreams are named first, arises from a reference back to Ecc 5:2, according to which they are the images of what a man is externally and mentally busied and engaged with. But the principal stress lies on ודברים הרבה , to which also the too rash, inconsiderate vows belong. The pred. והבלים , however, connects itself with "vanity of vanities,"which is Koheleth's final judgment regarding all that is earthly. The כי following connects itself with the thought lying in 6 a , that much talk, like being much given to dreams, ought to be avoided: it ought not to be; much rather ( imo , Symm. ἀλλά ) fear God, Him before whom one should say nothing, but that which contains in it the whole heart.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:8

"If thou seest the oppression of the poor and the robbery of right and of justice in the state, marvel not at the matter: for one higher watches over him who is high; and others are high above both."Like rash , mishpat vatsěděq are also the gen. of the obj.; "robbery of the right and of justice"is an expression not found elsewhere, but not on that account, as Grätz supposes, impossible: mishpat is right, rectitude, and conformity to law; and ÷]@£]ñú , judicial administration, or also social deportment according to these norms; גּזל , a wicked, shameless depriving of a just claim, and withholding of the showing of right which is due. If one gets a sight of such things as these in a medinah , i.e. , in a territorial district under a common government, he ought not to wonder at the matter.

תּמהּ means to be startled, astonished, and, in the sense of "to wonder,"is the word commonly used in modern Heb. But חפץ has here the colourless general signification of res , according to which the Syr. translates it ( vid ., under Ecc 3:1); every attempt in passages such as this to retain the unweakened primary meaning of the word runs out into groundless and fruitless subtlety. Cf. Berachoth 5 a , חפץ לח ... אדם , "a man who buys a thing from another."On the other hand, there is doubt about the meaning of the clause assigning the reason. It seems to be intended, that over him who is high, who oppresses those under him, there stands one who is higher, who in turn oppresses him, and thereby becomes the executor of punishment upon him; and that these, the high and the higher, have over them a Most High, viz., God, who will bring them to an account (Knobel, Ew., Elst., Vaih., Hengst., Zöckl.). None of the old translators and expositors rises, it is true, to the knowledge that גּבהים may be pl. majestatis ,

(Note: That is surprising, since the Talm. interpretation, Menachoth 110 a , even brings it about that לב , Ecc 5:10, is to be understood of God.)

but the first גּבהּ the Targ. renders by אל אדּיר . This was natural to the Jewish usus loq ., for gbwh in the post-bibl. Heb. is a favourite name for God, e.g. , Beza 20 b , Jebamoth 87 a , Kamma 13 a : "from the table of God"( משלחן גבוה ), i.e. , the altar (cf. Heb 13:10; 1Co 10:21).

(Note: חלק גבוה is also a common Rabbin. name for the tithes and offerings (cf. e.g. , Nachmani under Gen 14:20). Along with חלק הגבוה , the sacrifices are also called (in Hurwitz' work on the Heb. rites, known by the abbreviated title ש '' לה ) לגבוה ; vid ., 85 b of the ed. 1764, and 23 b of the Amsterdam ed. 1707 of the abridgment.)

The interpretation of גב , however, as the pl. majest., has in the Book of Koheleth itself a support in בּוראיך , Ecc 12:1; and the thought in which Ecc 5:7 climactically terminates accords essentially with Ecc 3:17. This explanation, however, of Ecc 5:7 does not stand the test. For if an unrighteous administration of justice, if violence is in vogue instead of right, that is an actual proof that over him who is high no human higher one watches who may put a check upon him, and to whom he feels that he is responsible. And that above them both one who is Most High stands, who will punish injustice and avenge it, is a consolatory argument against vexation, but is no explanatory reason of the phenomenon, such as we expect after the noli mirari ; for אל־תתמה does not signify "be not offended"(Joh 16:1), or, "think it not strange"(1Pe 4:12), which would be otherwise expressed (cf. under Psa 37:1), but μή θαυμάσης (lxx). Also the contrast, Ecc 5:8, warrants the conclusion that in Ecc 5:7 the author seeks to explain the want of legal order from the constitution of a despotic state as distinguished from patriarchal government. For this reason שׁמר will not be meant of over-watching, which has its aim in the execution of legal justice and official duty, but of egoistic watching, - not, however, as Hitzig understands it: "they mutually protect each other's advantage; one crow does not peck out the eyes of another,"- but, on the contrary, in the sense of hostile watching, as at 1Sa 19:11; 2Sa 11:16, as B. Bardach understands it: "he watches for the time when he may gain the advantage over him who is high, who is yet lower than himself, and may strengthen and enrich himself with his flesh or his goods."Over the one who is high, who oppresses the poor and is a robber in respect of right and justice, there stands a higher, who on his part watches how he can plunder him to his own aggrandisement; and over both there are again other high ones, who in their own interest oppress these, as these do such as are under them. This was the state of matters in the Persian Empire in the time of the author. The satrap stood at the head of state officers. In many cases he fleeced the province to fatten himself. But over the satrap stood inspectors, who often enough built up their own fortunes by fatal denunciations; and over all stood the king, or rather the court, with its rivalry of intrigues among courtiers and royal women. The cruel death-punishments to which disagreeable officials were subjected were fearful. There was a gradation of bad government and arbitrary domination from high to low and from low to high, and no word is more fitting for this state of things in Persia than שׁמר ; for watching, artfully lurking as spies for an opportunity to accomplish the downfall of each other, was prevalent in the Persian Empire, especially when falling into decay.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:9

The author, on the other hand, now praises the patriarchal form of government based on agriculture, whose king takes pride, not in bloody conquests and tyrannical caprice, but in the peaceful promotion of the welfare of his people: "But the advantage of a country consists always in a king given to the arable land."What impossibilities have been found here, even by the most recent expositors! Ewald, Heiligst., Elster, Zöckl. translate: rex agro factus = terrae praefectus ; but, in the language of this book, not עבד but מלך עשׁה is the expression used for "to make a king."Gesen., Win., de Wette, Knobel, Vaih. translate: rex qui colitur a terra ( civibus ). But could a country, in the sense of its population in subjection to the king, be more inappropriately designated than by שׂדה ? Besides, עבד certainly gains the meaning of colere where God is the object; but with a human ruler as the object it means servire and nothing more, and נעבּד

(Note: Thus pointed rightly in J., with Sheva quiesc. and Dagesh in Beth; vid ., Kimchi in Michlol 63 a , and under עבד .)

can mean nothing else than "steplang7 dienstbar gemacht "made subject to, not "honoured."Along with this signification, related denom. to עבד , נעבד , referred from its primary signification to שׂדה , the open fields (from שׂדה , to go out in length and breadth), may also, after the phrase עבד האדמה , signify cultivated, wrought, tilled; and while the phrase "made subject to"must be certainly held as possible (Rashi, Aben Ezra, and others assume it without hesitation), but is without example, the Niph . occurs, e.g. , at Eze 36:9, in the latter signification, of the mountains of Israel: "ye shall be tilled."Under Ecc 5:8 , Hitzig, and with him Stuart and Zöckler, makes the misleading remark that the Chethı̂b is בּכל־היא , and that it is = בּכל־זאת , according to which the explanation is then given: the protection and security which an earthly ruler secures is, notwithstanding this, not to be disparaged. But היא is Chethı̂b , for which the Kerı̂ substitutes הוּא ; בּכּל is Chethı̂b without Kerı̂ ; and that בּכל is thus a modification of the text, and that, too, an objectionable one, since בכל־היא , in the sense of "in all this,"is unheard of. The Kerı̂ seeks, without any necessity, to make the pred. and subj. like one another in gender; without necessity, for היא may also be neut.: the advantage of a land is this, viz., what follows. And how בּכּל is to be understood is seen from Ezr 10:17, where it is to be explained: And they prepared

(Note: That כלה ב may mean "to be ready with anything,"Keil erroneously points to Gen 44:12; and Philippi, St. Const. p. 49, thinks that vǎkol ǎnāshim can be taken together in the sense of vakol haanashim .)

the sum of the men, i.e. , the list of the men, of such as had married strange wives; cf. 1Ch 7:5. Accordingly בכל here means, as the author generally uses הכל mostly in the impersonal sense of omnia : in omnibus , in all things = by all means; or: in universum , in general. Were the words accentuated מלך לשדה נעבד , the adject. connection of לשׂ נע would thereby be shown; according to which the lxx and Theod. translate τοῦ αγροῦ εἰργασμένου ; Symm., with the Syr., τῇ χώρα εἰργασμένη : "a king for the cultivated land," i.e. , one who regards this as a chief object. Luzz. thus indeed accentuates; but the best established accentuation is מלך לשדה נעבד . This separation of נעבד from לש can only be intended to denote that נעבד is to be referred not to it, but to מלך , according to which the Targ. paraphrases. The meaning remains the same: a king subject (who has become a servus ) to the cultivated land, rex agro addictus , as Dathe, Rosenm., and others translate, is a still more distinct expression of that which "a king for the well-cultivated field"would denote: an agriculture-king, - one who is addicted, not to wars, lawsuits, and sovereign stubbornness in his opinions, but who delights in the peaceful advancement of the prosperity of his country, and especially takes a lively interest in husbandry and the cultivation of the land. The order of the words in Ecc 5:8 is like that at Ecc 9:2; cf. Isa 8:22; Isa 22:2. The author thus praises, in contrast to a despotic state, a patriarchal kingdom based on agriculture.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:10

"He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver; and he whose love cleaveth to abundance, hath nothing of it: also this is vain."The transition in this series of proverbs is not unmediated; for the injustice which, according to Ecc 5:7, prevails in the state as it now is becomes subservient to covetousness, in the very nature of which there lies insatiableness: semper avarus eget, hunc nulla pecunia replet . That the author speaks of the " sacra fames argenti "(not auri ) arises from this, that not זהב , but כסף , is the specific word for coin.

(Note: A Jewish fancy supposes that כסף is chosen because it consists of letters rising in value (20, 60, 80); while, on the contrary, זהב consists of letters decreasing in value (7, 5, 2).)

Mendelssohn-Friedländer also explains: "He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver," i.e. , it does not make him full; that might perhaps be linguistically possible (cf. e.g. , Pro 12:11), although the author would in that case probably have written the words מן־הכּסף , after Ecc 6:3; but "to be not full of money"is, after Ecc 1:8, and especially Ecc 4:8, Hab 2:5, cf. Pro 27:20 = never to have enough of money, but always to desire more.

That which follows, Ecc 5:9 , is, according to Hitz., a question: And who hath joy in abundance, which bringeth nothing in? But such questions, with the answer to be supplied, are not in Koheleth's style; and what would then be understood by capital without interest? Others, as Zöckler, supply ישׂבּע : and he that loveth abundance of possessions (is) not (full) of income; but that which is gained by these hard ellipses is only a tautology. With right, the Targ., Syr., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther take lo tevuah as the answer or conclusion; and who clings to abundance of possessions with his love? - he has no fruit thereof; or, with a weakening of the interrog. pronoun into the relative (as at Ecc 1:9; cf. under Psa 34:13): he who ... clings has nothing of it. Hamon signifies a tumult, a noisy multitude, particularly of earthly goods, as at Psa 37:16; 1Ch 29:16; Isa 60:5. The connection of אהב with ב , occurring only here, follows the analogy of חפץ בּ and the like. The conclusion is synon. with levilti ho'il ; e.g. , Isa 44:10; Jer 7:8. All the Codd. read לא ; לו in this sense would be meaningless.

(Note: In Maccoth 10 a , לו is read three times in succession; the Midrash Wajikra , c. 22, reads לא , and thus it is always found without Kerı̂ and without variation.)

The designation of advantage by tevuah , the farmer enjoys the fruit of his labour; but he who hangs his heart on the continual tumult, noise, pomp of more numerous and greater possessions is possible, to him all real profit - i.e. , all pleasant, peaceful enjoyment - is lost. With the increase of the possessions there is an increase also of unrest, and the possessor has in reality nothing but the sight of them.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:11

"When property and goods increase, they become many who consume them; and what advantage hath the owner thereof but the sight of them with his eyes?"The verb רבה signifies to increase, the רבב , to be many; but also (which Böttch. denies) inchoatively: to become many, Gen 6:1; rightly, the lxx, ἐπληθύνθησαν . The author has not a miser in view, who shuts up his money in chests, and only feeds himself in looking at it with closed doors; but a covetous man, of the sort spoken of in Psa 49:12; Isa 5:8. If the hattovah , the possession of such an one, increases, in like manner the number of people whom he must maintain increases also, and thus the number of those who eat of it along with him, and at the same time also his disquiet and care, increase; and what advantage, what useful result ( vid ., regarding Kishron , above, p. 638, and under Ecc 2:21) has the owner of these good things from them but the beholding of them (reith ; Kerı̂ , reuth ; cf. the reverse case, Psa 126:4)? - the possession does not in itself bring happiness, for it is never great enough to satisfy him, but is yet great enough to fill him with great care as to whether he may be able to support the demands of so great a household: the fortune which it brings to him consists finally only in this, that he can look on all he has accumulated with proud self-complacency.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:12

He can also eat that which is good, and can eat much; but he does not on that account sleep more quietly than the labourer who lives from hand to mouth: "Sweet is the sleep of the labourer, whether he eats little or much; but, on the contrary, the abundance of the rich does not permit him to sleep."The lxx, instead of "labourer,"uses the word "slave"( δούλου ), as if the original were העבד . But, as a rule, sound sleep is the reward of earnest labour; and since there are idle servants as well as active masters, there is no privilege to servants. The Venet. renders rightly by "of the husbandman"( ἐργάτου ), the האדמה עבד ; the "labourer"in general is called עמל , Ecc 4:8 and Jdg 5:26, post-bibl. פּעל . The labourer enjoys sweet, i.e. , refreshing, sound sleep, whether his fare be abundant of scanty - the labour rewards him by sweet sleep, notwithstanding his poverty; while, on the contrary, the sleep of the rich is hindered and disturbed by his abundance, not: by his satiety, viz., repletion, as Jerome remarks: incocto cibo in stomachi angustiis aestuante ; for the labourer also, if he eats much, eats his fill; and why should sufficiency have a different result in the one from what is has in the other? As שׂבע means satiety, not over-satiety; so, on the other hand, it means, objectively, sufficient and plentifully existing fulness to meet the wants of man, Pro 3:10, and the word is meant thus objectively here: the fulness of possession which the rich has at his disposal does not permit him to sleep, for all kinds of projects, cares, anxieties regarding it rise within him, which follow him into the night, and do not suffer his mind to be at rest, which is a condition of sleep. The expression השּׂ לע is the circumlocutio of the genit. relation, like לב ... חל , Rth 2:3; נע ... אם (lxx Αμνὼν τῆσ ̓Αχινόαμ ), 2Sa 3:2. Heiligstedt remarks that it stands for שׂבע העשׁיר ; but the nouns צמא , רעב ,צמא snuon , שׂבע form no const ., for which reason the circumloc . was necessary; שׂבע is the constr . of שׂבע . Falsely, Ginsburg: "steplang7 aber der Ueberfluss den Reichen - er lässt ihn nicht schlafen "but superabundance the rich - it doth not suffer him to sleep; but this construction is neither in accordance with the genius of the German nor of the Heb. language. Only the subject is resumed in איננּוּ (as in Ecc 1:7); the construction of הניח is as at 1Ch 16:21; cf. Psa 105:14. Of the two Hiphil forms, the properly Heb. הניח and the Aramaizing הנּיח , the latter is used in the weakened meaning of ἐᾶν , sinere .

After showing that riches bring to their possessor no real gain, but, instead of that, dispeace, care, and unrest, the author records as a great evil the loss, sometimes suddenly, of wealth carefully amassed.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:13-14

"There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, riches kept by their possessor to his hurt: the same riches perish by an evil event; and he hath begotten a son, thus this one hath nothing in his hand."There is a gradation of evils. חולה רעה (cf. רע חלי ר , Ecc 6:2) is not an ordinary, but a morbid evil, i.e. , a deep hurtful evil; as a wound, not a common one, but one particularly severe and scarcely curable, is called נחלה , e.g. , Nah 3:19. השׁ ... רא is, as at Ecc 10:5, an ellipt. relat. clause; cf. on the other hand, Ecc 6:1; the author elsewhere uses the scheme of the relat. clause without relat. pron. ( vid ., under Ecc 1:13; Ecc 3:16); the old language would use ראיתיה , instead of ראיתי , with the reflex. pron. The great evil consists in this, that riches are not seldom kept by their owner to his own hurt. Certainly שׁמוּר ל can also mean that which is kept for another, 1Sa 9:24; but how involved and constrained is Ginsburg's explanation: "hoarded up (by the rich man) for their (future) owner,"viz., the heir to whom he intends to leave them! That ל can be used with the passive as a designation of the subj., vid ., Ewald, §295 c ; certainly it corresponds as little as מן , with the Greek ὑπό , but in Greek we say also πλοῦτος φυλαχθεὶς τῷ κεκτημένῳ , vid ., Rost's Syntax , §112. 4. The suff. of lera'atho refers to be'alav , the plur. form of which can so far remain out of view, that we even say adonim qosheh , Isa 19:4, etc. "To his hurt," i.e. , at the last suddenly to lose that which has been carefully guarded. The narrative explanation of this, "to his hurt,"begins with vav explic . Regarding 'inyan ra' . It is a casus adversus that is meant, such a stroke upon stroke as destroyed Job's possessions. The perf. והו supposes the case that the man thus suddenly made poor is the father of a son; the clause is logically related to that which follows as hypothet. antecedent, after the scheme. Gen 33:13 . The loss of riches would of itself make one who is alone unhappy, for the misfortune to be poor is less than the misfortunes to be rich and then to become poor; but still more unfortunate is the father who thought that by well-guarded wealth he had secured the future of his son, and who now leaves him with an empty hand.

What now follows is true of this rich man, but is generalized into a reference to every rich man, and then is recorded as a second great evil. As a man comes naked into the world, so also he departs from it again without being able to take with him any of the earthly wealth he has acquired.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:15

"As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he again depart as he came, and not the least will he carry away for his labour, which he could take with him in his hand."In 13 a the author has the case of Job in his mind; this verse before us is a reminiscence from Job 1:21, with the setting aside of the difficult word שׁמּה found there, which Sirach 40:1 exhibits. With "naked"begins emphatically the main subject; כּשׁבּא = בא כּאשׁר is the intensifying resumption of the comparison; the contrast of לכת f , going away, excedere vitâ , is בּיא of the entrance on life, coming into the world. מאוּמה (according to the root meaning and use, corresponding to the French point , Olsh. §205 a ) emphatically precedes the negation, as at Jdg 14:6 (cf. the emphasis reached in a different way, Psa 49:18). נשׂא signifies here, as at Ecc 5:18, Psa 24:5, to take hence, to take forth, to carry away. The ב of בּע is not partitive (Aben Ezra compares Lev 8:32), according to which Jerome and Luther translate de labore suo , but is the Beth pretii , as e.g. , at 1Ki 16:34, as the Chald. understands it; Nolde cites for this Beth pretii passages such as Ecc 2:24, but incorrectly. Regarding the subjunctive שׁיּלך , quod auferat . We might also with the lxx and Symm. punctuate שׁיּלך : which might accompany him in his hand, but which could by no means denote, as Hitzig thinks: (for his trouble), which goes through his hand. Such an expression is not used; and Hitzig's supposition, that here the rich man who has lost his wealth is the subject, does not approve itself.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:16

A transition is now made to rich men as such, and the registering formula which should go before Ecc 5:14 here follows: "And this also is a sore evil: altogether exactly as he came, thus shall he depart: and what gain hath he that laboureth in the wind?"Regarding זה ; and regarding כּל־ע שׁ ,

(Note: I n H. written as one word: כּלעמת . Parchon ( Lex . under עמת ) had this form before him. In his Lex . Kimchi bears evidence in favour of the correct writing as two words.)

The writing of these first two as one word [ vid . note below] accords with Ibn-Giat's view, accidentally quoted by Kimchi, that the word is compounded of כ of comparison, and the frequently occurring לעמּת always retaining its ל , and ought properly to be pointed כּלע (cf. מלּ , 1Ki 7:20). עמּה signifies combination, society, one thing along with or parallel to another; and thus לעמת bears no כ , since it is itself a word of comparison, כּל־עמּת "altogether parallel,""altogether the same."The question: what kind of advantage ( vid ., Ecc 1:3) is to him (has he) of this that ... , carries its answer in itself. Labouring for the wind or in the wind, his labour is רוּח ( רעיון ) רעוּת , and thus fruitless. And, moreover, how miserable an existence is this life of labour leading to nothing!

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:17

"Also all his life long he eateth in darkness and grieveth himself much, and oh for his sorrow and hatred!"We might place Ecc 5:16 under the regimen of the שׁ of שׁיע of Ecc 5:15; but the Heb. style prefers the self-dependent form of sentences to that which is governed. The expression Ecc 5:16 has something strange. This strangeness disappears if, with Ewald and Heiligst., after the lxx and Jerome, for יאכל we read ואכל : καὶ ἐν πένθει ; Böttch. prefers ואפל , "and in darkness."Or also, if we read ילך for יאכל ; thus the Midrash here, and several codd. by Kennicott; but the Targ., Syr., and Masora read יאכל . Hitzig gets rid of that which is strange in this passage by taking כּל־ימיו as accus. of the obj., not of the time: all his days, his whole life he consumes in darkness; but in Heb. as in Lat. we say: consumere dies vitae , Job 21:13; Job 36:11, but not comedere ; and why should the expression, "to eat in darkness,"not be a figurative expression for a faithless, gloomy life, as elsewhere "to sit in darkness"(Mic 7:8), and "to walk in darkness"? It is meant that all his life long he ate אונים לחם , the bread of sorrow, or לחץ לחם , prison fare; he did not allow himself pleasant table comforts in a room comfortably or splendidly lighted, for it is unnecessary to understand חשׁך subjectively and figuratively (Hitz., Zöck.).

In 16 b the traditional punctuation is וכעס .

(Note: Thus in correct texts, in H. with the note: כ מלרע , viz., here and at Psa 112:10, only there ע has, according to tradition, the Kametz . Cf. Mas. fin . 52 b , and Baer's Ed. of Psalter, under Psa 112:10.)

The perf . ruled by the preceding fut . is syntactically correct, and the verb כּעס is common with the author, Ecc 7:9. Hitzig regards the text as corrupt, and reads כּחליו and כּעס , and explains: and (he consumes or swallows) much grief in his, etc.; the phrase, "to eat sorrow,"may be allowed (cf. Pro 26:6, cf. Job 15:16); but יאכל , as the representative of two so bold and essentially different metaphors, would be in point of style in bad taste. If the text is corrupt, it may be more easily rectified by reading וק לו וחלי הרבה וכּעס : and grief in abundance, and sorrow has he, and wrath. We merely suggest this. Ewald, Burger, and Böttch. read only וכעס הרבה וחלי ; but לו is not to be dispensed with, and can easily be reduced to a mere vav . Elster retains וכעס , and reads, like Hitzig, בחליו : he grieves himself much in his sorrow and wrath; but in that case the word וקצפו was to be expected; also in this way the ideas do not psychologically accord with each other. However the text is taken, we must interpret וחליו וקצף as an exclamation, like הף , Isa 29:16; תּף , Jer 49:16; Ewald, §328 a , as we have done above. That וח of itself is a subst. clause = וחלי לו is untenable; the rendering of the noun as forming a clause, spoken of under Ecc 2:21, is of a different character.

(Note: Rashi regards וחליו as a form like חיתו . This o everywhere appears only in a gen. connection.)

He who by his labour and care aims at becoming rich, will not only lay upon himself unnecessary privations, but also have many sorrows; for many of his plans fail, and the greater success of others awakens his envy, and neither he himself nor others satisfy him; he is morbidly disposed, and as he is diseased in mind, so also in body, and his constantly increasing dissatisfaction becomes at last קצף , he grumbles at himself, at God, and all the world. From observing such persons, Paul says of them (1Ti 6:6.): "They have pierced themselves through ( transfoderunt ) with many sorrows."

In view of these great evils, with which the possession of riches also is connected: of their deceitful instability, and their merely belonging to this present life, Koheleth returns to his ceterum censeo .

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:18

"Behold then what I have seen as good, what as beautiful (is this): that one eat and drink and see good in all his labour with which he wearieth himself, under the sun, throughout the number of the days of his life which God hath given him; for that is his portion."Toward this seeing, i.e. , knowing from his own experience, his effort went forth, according to Ecc 2:3; and what he here, Ecc 5:17, Ecc 5:18, expresses as his resultat, he has already acknowledged at Ecc 2:24 and Ecc 3:12. With "behold"he here returns to it; for he says, that from the observations just spoken of, as from others, no other resultat befell him. Instead of ר טובה (here and at Ecc 6:6), he as often uses the words טוב ראה , Ecc 3:13; Ecc 2:24, or בּטוב , Ecc 2:1. In רא , the seeing is meant of that of mental apperception; in לרא , of immediate perception, experience. Our translation above does not correspond with the accentuation of the verse, which belongs to the class of disproportionably long verses without Athnach ; cf. Gen 21:9; Num 9:1; Isa 36:1; Jer 13:13; Jer 51:37; Eze 42:10; Amo 5:1; 1Ch 26:26; 1Ch 28:1; 2Ch 23:1. The sentence אני ... הנה (with pausal āni with Rebîa ) constitutes the beginning of the verse, in the form, as it were, of a superscription; and then its second part, the main proposition, is divided by the disjunctives following each other: Telisha Gedhola , Geresh , Legarmeh , Rebîa , Tebir , Tifcha , Silluk (cf. Jer 8:1, where Pazer instead of Telisha Bedhola ; but as for the rest, the sequence of the accents is the same). Among the moderns, Hengst. holds to the accents, for he translates in strict accordance therewith, as Tremmelius does: "Behold what I have seen: that it is fine and good (Trem. bonum pulchrum ) to eat ... ."The asher in the phrase, tov asher -yapheh , then connects it together: good which is at the same time beautiful; Grätz sees here the Greek καλὸν κάγαθόν . But the only passage to which, since Kimchi, reference is made for this use of asher , viz., Hos 12:8, does not prove it; for we are not, with Drusius, to translate there by: iniquitas quae sit peccatum , but by quae poenam mereat . The accentuation here is not correct. The second asher is without doubt the resumption of the first; and the translation - as already Dachselt in his Biblia Accentuata indicated: ecce itaque quod vidi bonum, quod pulchrum ( hoc est ut quis edat ) - presents the true relation of the component parts of the sentence. The suffix of עמלו refers to the general subj. contained in the inf .; cf. Ecc 8:15. The period of time denoted by מספּר is as at Ecc 2:3; Ecc 6:12. Also we read חל ... כּי־ , Ecc 3:22, in the same connection.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:19

This verse, expressing the same, is constructed anakolouthistically, altogether like Ecc 3:13 : "Also for every man to whom God hath given riches and treasures, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; just this is a gift of God."The anakolouthon can be rendered into English here as little as it can at Ecc 3:13; for if we allow the phrase, "also every man,"the "also"remains fixed to the nearest conception, while in the Heb it governs the whole long sentence, and, at the nearest, belongs to זה . Cheerful enjoyment is in this life that which is most advisable; but also it is not made possible in itself by the possession of earthly treasures, - it is yet a special gift of God added thereto. Nechasim , besides here, occurs also in Jos 22:8; 2Ch 1:11.; and in the Chald. of the Book of Ezra; Ezr 6:8; Ezr 7:26. Also hishlit , to empower, to make possible, is Aram., Dan 2:38, Dan 2:48, as well as Heb., Psa 119:133; the prevalence of the verbal stem שלט is characteristic of the Book of Koheleth. Helqo , "his portion,"is just the cheerful enjoyment as that which man has here below of life, if he has any of it at all.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 5:20

Over this enjoyment he forgets the frailty and the darkened side of this life. It proves itself to be a gift of God, a gift from above: "For he doth not (then) think much of the days of his life; because God answereth the joy of his heart."Such an one, permitted by God to enjoy this happiness of life, is thereby prevented from tormenting himself by reflections regarding its transitoriness. Incorrectly, Hengst.: Remembrance and enjoyment of this life do not indeed last long, according to Ewald, who now, however, rightly explains: He will not, by constant reflection on the brevity of his life, too much embitter this enjoyment; because God, indeed, grants to him true heart-joy as the fairest gift. The meaning of Ecc 5:19 is also, in general, hit upon. The lxx translates: "because God occupies him with the joy of his heart;"but for that we ought to have had the word מענהוּ ; Jerome helps it, for he reads בשמהה instead of בשמחת : eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor ejus . But also, in this form, this explanation of מענה is untenable; for ב ענה , the causat. of which would be מענה , signifies, in the style of Koheleth, not in general to busy oneself with something, but to weary oneself with something; hence ענה בשׂ cannot mean: to be occupied with joy, and thereby to be drawn away from some other thing. And since the explanation: "he makes him sing,"needs to argument to dispose of it, מענה thus remains only as the Hiph . of אנה , to meet, to respond to, grant a request. Accordingly, Hitz., like Aben Ezra and Kimchi, comparing Hos 2:23.: God makes to answer, i.e. , so works that all things which have in or of themselves that which can make him glad, must respond to his wish. But the omission of the obj. - of which Hitz. remarks, that because indefinite it is left indefinite - is insufferably hard, and the explanation thus ambiguous. Most interpreters translate: for God answers (Gesen. He. Wört. B ., incorrectly: answered) him with joy of his heart, i.e. , grants this to him in the way of answer. Ewald compares Psa 65:6; but that affords no voucher for the expression: to answer one with something = to grant it to him; for ענה is there connected with a double accus., and בּצדק is the adv. statement of the way and manner. But above all, against this interpretation is the fact of the want of the personal obj. The author behoved to have written מענהוּ or אתו מענה . We take the Hiph . as in the sense of the Kal , but give it its nearest signification: to answer, and explain, as in a similar manner Seb. Schmid, Rambam, and others have already done: God answers to the joy of his heart, i.e. , He assents to it, or (using an expression which is an exact equivalent), He corresponds to it. This makes the joy a heart-joy, i.e. , a joy which a man feels not merely externally, but in the deepest recess of his heart, for the joy penetrates his heart and satisfies it (Son 3:11; Isa 30:29; Jer 15:16). A similar expression, elsewhere not found, we had at Ecc 5:9 in אהב בּ . Why should not ענה ב ( הענה ) be possible with ענהוּ , just as ἀμείβεσθαι πρός τι is with ἀμείβεσθαί τινα ? For the rest, בש לב is not needed as obj.; we can take it also as an expression of the state or condition: God gives answer in the heart-joy of such an one. In ענה , to answer, to hear the answer, is thought of as granting a request; here, as giving assent to. Job 35:9 affords a twofold suitable example, that the Hiph . can have an enlarged Kal signification.

After the author has taken the opportunity of once more expressing his ultimatum , he continues to register the sad evils that cling to wealth.

Constable: Ecc 2:18--6:10

B. General Observations 2:18-6:9

Thus far Solomon had reflected on the futility of all human endeavor generally (1:3-11) and the futility of human achievement (1:12-15) and his own achievements in particular (2:1-17). Next he turned to an evaluation of labor, his own (2:18-20) as well as that of all other people (2:21-6:9).

Constable: Ecc 5:1--6:10

4. The perishable fruits of labor 5:1-6:9

This section emphasizes the folly of trying to find ultimate satisfaction in one's work. Solomon focused on a variety of situations that involve the fruits of labor: money and what it can buy, fame, and pleasure.

Constable: Ecc 5:2-8

The effect of rash vows 5:1-7

"The sacrifice of fools" in view (v. 1) is a rash vow, as is clear from what follows. Verse 3 seems to compare the verbosity of a fool in making a rash vow to God and the endless dreams one often experiences after a very busy day. Much work generates many dreams, and a fool utters too many words.⁴⁷ If a person makes a rash promise to God and then does not keep it, God may destroy the work of his hands (v. 6). Pleading with the priest ("the messenger of God," v. 6) that the vow was a mistake would not excuse the vow-maker (cf. Deut. 23:21-23).

"Our promise may involve giving to some special work of God or pledging prayer and other support for a missionary. When the representative of the work looks for the fulfillment of our promise, we must not draw back and make an excuse about not having understood what we were required to do."⁴⁸

Verse 7 uses dreams to illustrate emptiness. "Fear God" (v. 7) also occurs in 3:14; 7:18; 8:12, 13; and 12:13.

". . . we should try to put ourselves in a position to discover God's way to use what he has given us in our daily life."⁴⁹

Constable: Ecc 5:9-10

The effect of political officials 5:8-9

The point of these verses seems to be that the fruits of one's work can also disappear as a result of taxes and unfair oppression by political rulers. A hierarchy of officials is in view. By legal and illegal means rulers squeeze money out of the populace. Even so, it is better to have government than not to have it. One translation of verse 9 is, "But an advantage to a land for everyone is: a king over cultivated land."⁵⁰

Constable: Ecc 5:11-13

The effect of personal covetousness 5:10-12

If a rich man is covetous, all that his increasing wealth will bring him will be the necessity of greater vigilance and more anxiety (cf. 1 Tim. 6:9-10). For example, more wealth in the home may lead to burglar alarm systems and the hassle they bring. "To look on" (v. 11) means having to keep an eye on them.

"How often have we read of an athlete--say, a boxer--whose golden moments found him surrounded by an entourage that gladly shared his wealth, but whose twilight days saw him both broke and abandoned. Wealth can carry its own frustration--that was the Preacher's apt observation."⁵¹

Constable: Ecc 5:14-18

The effect of misfortune 5:13-17

The Hebrew expression translated "bad investment" (v. 14) refers to any misfortune that results in the loss of wealth. Striving to hoard the fruits of labor is futile because any misfortune can overtake one and reduce him or her to poverty if God permits. Death itself is such a misfortune that overtakes everyone eventually and robs him of his wealth. No one can take the fruits of his labor with him when he dies. Therefore Solomon concluded that we really gain nothing of lasting value from our labor. Verse 17 pictures the miserly workaholic.

Constable: Ecc 5:18--6:10

The way to enjoy the fruits of one's labor 5:18-6:9

Again Solomon urged the enjoyment of life (v. 18; cf. 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22), but he warned of some obstacles to that enjoyment. Solomon was not advocating hedonism but the simple enjoyment of life day by day (v. 18). In other words, he recommended that we take some time to enjoy the beautiful experiences of life as we travel down its path.

However not everyone can enjoy life for one reason or another even though one may be wealthy (6:1-2). This problem "weighs heavily on men" (NIV, v. 1; better than NASB "is prevalent among men"). Only in heaven will we find the solution to why this has been the earthly portion of various individuals. A miscarried baby (v. 3) is better off in that it has not experienced as much sorrow as the rich man who could not enjoy his wealth. The "one place" (v. 6) is the grave.

Solomon's final word of counsel was to be content with what you have (vv. 8-9; cf. Heb. 13:5). This is the last of nine times the phrase "striving after wind" occurs (cf. 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16). It opened and closes the section of the book dealing with the futility of human achievement (1:12-6:9).

Pendahuluan / Garis Besar

JFB: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The Hebrew title is Koheleth, which the speaker in it applies to himself (Ecc 1:12), "I, Koheleth, was king over Israel." It means an Assembler or Convener of a meeting and a Preacher to such a meeting. The feminine form of the Hebrew noun, and its construction once (Ecc 7:27) with a feminine verb, show that it not only signifies Solomon, the Preacher to assemblies (in which case it is construed with the verb or noun masculine), but also Divine Wisdom (feminine in Hebrew) speaking by the mouth of the inspired king. In six cases out of seven it is construed with the masculine. Solomon was endowed with inspired wisdom (1Ki 3:5-14; 1Ki 6:11-12; 1Ki 9:1-9; 1Ki 11:9-11), specially fitting him for the task. The Orientals delight in such meetings for grave discourse. Thus the Arabs formerly had an assembly yearly, at Ocadh, for hearing and reciting poems. Compare "Masters of assemblies" (see on Ecc 12:11, also Ecc 12:9). "The Preacher taught the people knowledge," probably viva voce ("orally"); 1Ki 4:34; 1Ki 10:2, 1Ki 10:8, 1Ki 10:24; 2Ch 9:1, 2Ch 9:7, 2Ch 9:23, plainly refer to a somewhat public divan met for literary discussion. So "spake," thrice repeated (1Ki 4:32-33), refers not to written compositions, but to addresses spoken in assemblies convened for the purpose. The Holy Ghost, no doubt, signifies also by the term that Solomon's doctrine is intended for the "great congregation," the Church of all places and ages (Psa 22:25; Psa 49:2-4).

Solomon was plainly the author (Ecc 1:12, Ecc 1:16; Ecc 2:15; Ecc 12:9). That the Rabbins attribute it to Isaiah or Hezekiah is explicable by supposing that one or the other inserted it in the canon. The difference of its style, as compared with Proverbs and Song of Solomon, is due to the difference of subjects, and the different period of his life in which each was written; the Song, in the fervor of his first love to God; Proverbs, about the same time, or somewhat later; but Ecclesiastes in late old age, as the seal and testimony of repentance of his apostasy in the intervening period: Psa 89:30, Psa 89:33 proves his penitence. The substitution of the title Koheleth for Solomon (that is, peace), may imply that, having troubled Israel, meantime he forfeited his name of peace (1Ki 11:14, 1Ki 11:23); but now, having repented, he wishes to be henceforth a Preacher of righteousness. The alleged foreign expressions in the Hebrew may have been easily imported, through the great intercourse there was with other nations during his long reign. Moreover, supposed Chaldaisms may be fragments preserved from the common tongue of which Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic were offshoots.

THE SCOPE of Ecclesiastes is to show the vanity of all mere human pursuits, when made the chief end, as contrasted with the real blessedness of true wisdom, that is, religion. The immortality of the soul is dwelt on incidentally, as subsidiary to the main scope. Moses' law took this truth for granted but drew its sanctions of rewards and punishments in accordance with the theocracy, which was under a special providence of God as the temporal King of Israel, from the present life, rather than the future. But after Israel chose an earthly king, God withdrew, in part, His extraordinary providence, so that under Solomon, temporal rewards did not invariably follow virtue, and punishments vice (compare Ecc 2:16; Ecc 3:19; Ecc 4:1; Ecc 5:8; Ecc 7:15; Ecc 8:14; Ecc 9:2, Ecc 9:11). Hence the need arises to show that these anomalies will be rectified hereafter, and this is the grand "conclusion," therefore, of the "whole" book, that, seeing there is a coming judgment, and seeing that present goods do not satisfy the soul, "man's whole duty is to fear God and keep his commandments" (Ecc 12:13-14), and meanwhile, to use, in joyful and serene sobriety, and not abuse, the present life (Ecc 3:12-13).

It is objected that sensual epicurism seems to be inculcated (Ecc 3:12-13, Ecc 3:22, &c.); but it is a contented, thankful enjoyment of God's present gifts that is taught, as opposed to a murmuring, anxious, avaricious spirit, as is proved by Ecc 5:18, compare with Ecc 5:11-15, not making them the chief end of life; not the joy of levity and folly; a misunderstanding which he guards against in Ecc 7:2-6; Ecc 11:9; Ecc 12:1. Again, Ecc 7:16; Ecc 9:2-10, might seem to teach fatalism and skepticism. But these are words put in the mouth of an objector; or rather, they were the language of Solomon himself during his apostasy, finding an echo in the heart of every sensualist, who wishes to be an unbeliever, and, who, therefore, sees difficulties enough in the world around wherewith to prop up his wilful unbelief. The answer is given (Ecc 7:17-18; Ecc 9:11-12; Ecc 11:1, Ecc 11:6; Ecc 12:13). Even if these passages be taken as words of Solomon, they are to be understood as forbidding a self-made "righteousness," which tries to constrain God to grant salvation to imaginary good works and external strictness with which it wearies itself; also, that speculation which tries to fathom all God's inscrutable counsels (Ecc 8:17), and that carefulness about the future forbidden in Mat 6:25.

THE CHIEF GOOD is that the possession of that which makes us happy, is to be sought as the end, for its own sake; whereas, all other things are but means towards it. Philosophers, who made it the great subject of inquiry, restricted it to the present life, treating the eternal as unreal, and only useful to awe the multitude with. But Solomon shows the vanity of all human things (so-called philosophy included) to satisfy the soul, and that heavenly wisdom alone is the chief good. He had taught so when young (Pro 1:20; Pro 8:1); so also; in Song of Solomon, he had spiritualized the subject in an allegory; and now, after having long personally tried the manifold ways in which the worldly seek to reach happiness, he gives the fruit of his experience in old age.

It is divided into two parts-- Ecc. 1:1-6:10 showing the vanity of earthly things; Ecc. 6:10-12:14, the excellence of heavenly wisdom. Deviations from strict logical methods occur in these divisions, but in the main they are observed. The deviations make it the less stiff and artificial, and the more suited to all capacities. It is in poetry; the hemistichal division is mostly observed, but occasionally not so. The choice of epithets, imagery, inverted order of words, ellipses, parallelism, or, in its absence, similarity of diction, mark versification.

JFB: Ecclesiastes (Garis Besar)

• INTRODUCTION. (Ecc. 1:1-18)

TSK: Ecclesiastes 5 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Overview

Ecc 5:1, Vanities in divine service; Ecc 5:8, in murmuring against oppression; Ecc 5:9, and in riches; Ecc 5:18, Joy in riches is the gift of God.

Poole: Ecclesiastes 5 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

CHAPTER 5

Vanities in divine matters, Ecc 5:1-7 . In murmuring and repining, Ecc 5:8 . In riches and covetousness. Ecc 5:9,10 ; for riches rob men of ease, Ecc 5:11,12 , procure their death, Ecc 5:13 , fly away, Ecc 5:14 , cannot be carried with them into the grave, Ecc 5:15-17 . A contented life best: this is the gift of God, Ecc 5:18-20 .

The seven first verses of this chapter are inserted partly as the only effectual remedy against all the foregoing vanities, and partly as a caution to take heed of bringing vanity into the service of God, or of worshipping God vainly and foolishly.

MHCC: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The name of this book signifies " The Preacher." The wisdom of God here preaches to us, speaking by Solomon, who it is evident was the author. At the close of his life, being made sensible of his sin and folly, he recorded here his experience for the benefit of others, as the book of his repentance; and he pronounced all earthly good to be " vanity and vexation of spirit." It convinces us of the vanity of the world, and that it cannot make us happy; of the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make us miserable. It shows that no created good can satisfy the soul, and that happiness is to be found in God alone; and this doctrine must, under the blessed Spirit's teaching, lead the heart to Christ Jesus.

MHCC: Ecclesiastes 5 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

(Ecc 5:1-3) What renders devotion vain.

(Ecc 5:4-8) Of vows, and oppression.

(Ecc 5:9-17) The vanity of riches shown.

(Ecc 5:18-20) The right use of riches.

Matthew Henry: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Ecclesiastes

We are still among Solomon's happy men, his happy servants, that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom; and they are the choicest of all the dictates of his wisdom, such as were more immediately given by divine inspiration, that are here transmitted to us, not to be heard, as by them, but once, and then liable to be mistaken or forgotten, and by repetition to lose their beauty, but to be read, reviewed, revolved, and had in everlasting remembrance. The account we have of Solomon's apostasy from God, in the latter end of his reign (1Ki 11:1), is the tragical part of his story; we may suppose that he spoke his Proverbs in the prime of his time, while he kept his integrity, but delivered his Ecclesiastes when he had grown old (for of the burdens and decays of age he speaks feelingly Ecc 12:1-14), and was, by the grace of God, recovered from his backslidings. There he dictated his observations; here he wrote his own experiences; this is what days speak, and wisdom which the multitude of years teaches. The title of the book and the penman we shall meet with in the first verse, and therefore shall here only observe,

I. That it is a sermon, a sermon in print; the text is (Ecc 1:2), Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; that is the doctrine too; it is proved at large by many arguments and an induction of particulars, and divers objections are answered, and in the close we have the use and application of all, by way of exhortation, to remember our Creator, to fear him, and to keep his commandments. There are indeed many things in this book which are dark and hard to be understood, and some things which men of corrupt minds wrest to their own destruction, for want of distinguishing between Solomon's arguments and the objections of atheists and epicures; but there is enough easy and plain to convince us (if we will admit the conviction) of the vanity of the world, and its utter insufficiency to make us happy, the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make us miserable, and of the wisdom of being religious, and the solid comfort and satisfaction that are to be had in doing our duty both to God and man. This should be intended in every sermon, and that is a good sermon by which these points are in any measure gained. II. That it is a penitential sermon, as some of David's psalms are penitential psalms; it is a recantation-sermon, in which the preacher sadly laments his own folly and mistake, in promising himself satisfaction in the things of this world, and even in the forbidden pleasures of sense, which now he finds more bitter than death. His fall is a proof of the weakness of man's nature: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor say, " I shall never be such a fool as to do so and so," when Solomon himself, the wisest of men, played the fool so egregiously; nor let the rich man glory in his riches, since Solomon's wealth was so great a snare to him, and did him a great deal more hurt than Job's poverty did him. His recovery is a proof of the power of God's grace, in bringing one back to God that has gone so far from him; it is a proof too of the riches of God's mercy in accepting him notwithstanding the many aggravations of his sin, pursuant to the promise made to David, that if his children should commit iniquity they should be corrected, but not abandoned and disinherited, 2Sa 7:14, 2Sa 7:15. Let him therefore that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall; and let him that has fallen make haste to get up again, and not despair either of assistance or acceptance therein. III. That it is a practical profitable sermon. Solomon, being brought to repentance, resolves, like his father, to teach transgressors God's way (Psa 51:13) and to give warning to all to take heed of splitting upon those rocks which had been fatal to him; and these were fruits meet for repentance. The fundamental error of the children of men, and that which is at the bottom of all their departures from God, is the same with that of our first parents, hoping to be as gods by entertaining themselves with that which seems good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. Now the scope of this book is to show that this is a great mistake, that our happiness consists not in being as gods to ourselves, to have what we will and do what we will, but in having him that made us to be a God to us. The moral philosophers disputed much about man's felicity, or chief good. Various opinions they had about it; but Solomon, in this book, determines the question, and assures us that to fear God and to keep his commandments is the whole of man. He tried what satisfaction might be found in the wealth of the world and the pleasures of sense, and at last pronounced all vanity and vexation; yet multitudes will not take his word, but will make the same dangerous experiment, and it proves fatal to them. He, 1. Shows the vanity of those things in which men commonly look for happiness, as human learning and policy, sensual delight, honour and power, riches and great possessions. And then, 2. He prescribes remedies against the vexation of spirit that attends them. Though we cannot cure them of their vanity, we may prevent the trouble they give us, by sitting loose to them, enjoying them comfortable, but laying our expectations low from them, and acquiescing in the will of God concerning us in every event, especially by remembering God in the days of our youth, and continuing in his fear and service all our days, with an eye to the judgment to come.

Matthew Henry: Ecclesiastes 5 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Solomon, in this chapter, discourses, I. Concerning the worship of God, prescribing that as a remedy against all those vanities which he had already observed to be in wisdom, learning, pleasure, honour, power, and business. That we may not be deceived by those things, nor have our spirits vexed with the disappointments we meet with in them, let us make conscience of our duty to God and keep up our communion with him; but, withal, he gives a necessary caution against the vanities which are to often found in religious exercises, which deprive them of their excellency and render them unable to help against other vanities. If our religion be a vain religion, how great is that vanity! Let us therefore take heed of vanity, 1. In hearing the word, and offering sacrifice (Ecc 5:1). 2. In prayer (Ecc 5:2, Ecc 5:3). 3. In making vows (Ecc 5:4-6). 4. In pretending to divine dreams (Ecc 5:7). Now, (1.) For a remedy against those vanities, he prescribes the fear of God (Ecc 5:7). (2.) To prevent the offence that might arise from the present sufferings of good people, he directs us to look up to God (Ecc 5:8). II. Concerning the wealth of this world and the vanity and vexation that attend it. The fruits of the earth indeed are necessary to the support of life (Ecc 5:9), but as for silver, and gold, and riches, 1. They are unsatisfying (Ecc 5:10). 2. They are unprofitable (Ecc 5:11). 3. They are disquieting (Ecc 5:12). 4. They often prove hurtful and destroying (Ecc 5:13). 5. They are perishing (Ecc 5:14). 6. They must be left behind when we die (Ecc 5:15, Ecc 5:16). 7. If we have not a heart to make use of them, they occasion a great deal of uneasiness (Ecc 5:17). And therefore he recommends to us the comfortable use of that which God has given us, with an eye to him that is the giver, as the best way both to answer the end of our having it and to obviate the mischiefs that commonly attend great estates (Ecc 5:18-20). So that if we can but learn out of this chapter how to manage the business of religion, and the business of this world (which two take up most of our time), so that both may turn to a good account, and neither our sabbath days nor our week-days may be lost, we shall have reason to say, We have learned two good lessons.

Constable: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew text is all of verse 1. The Septuagint translation (third century B.C.) gave it the name "Ekklesiastes" from which the English title is a transliteration. This word is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word qohelet that the NASB translated "Preacher" in verse 1. The Hebrew word designates a leader who speaks before an assembly of people. The NIV translation "Teacher" is also a good one.

Writer and Date

The commentators sometimes treat the Hebrew word qohelet ("Preacher"; 1:1-2, 12; 7:27; 12:8-10) as a proper name.¹ However the fact that the article is present on the Hebrew word in 12:8, and perhaps in 7:27, seems to indicate that qohelet is a title: "the preacher" or "the teacher."

Internal references point to Solomon as this preacher (cf. 1:1, 12-2:26; 2:4-9; 12:9). Both Jewish and Christian interpreters believed Solomon was the writer until the eighteenth century. With the rise of literary and historical Bible criticism a widespread rejection of Solomonic authorship set in. Rejection of Solomonic authorship rests mainly on linguistic factors (vocabulary and syntax) that some scholars feel were more characteristic of a time much later than Solomon's, namely, about 450-250 B.C.² Conservative scholars have refuted this linguistic argument.³ Several more or less conservative scholars have rejected Solomonic authorship.⁴ Yet there is no information in the Bible that would eliminate Solomon as the writer.

Assuming that Solomon wrote the book in its entirety, he must have done so during his lifetime and probably during his reign (971-931 B.C.). It has seemed probable to some expositors that he may have written Song of Solomon in his youth, Proverbs in his middle life, and Ecclesiastes in his old age (cf. 2:1-11; 11:9; 12:1). This theory rests on the contents of the three inspired Bible books that he evidently wrote, specifically clues in these books about the age of their writer.

"Ecclesiastes is best placed after his apostasy, when both his recent turmoil and repentance were still fresh in his mind."⁵

Purpose

This book helps the reader develop a God-centered worldview and recognize the dangers of a self-centered worldview. It does not describe the life of faith or teach what the responsibilities of faith in God are. It also prescribes the limits of human philosophy (cf. 3:11; 8:16-17). The book teaches that people are accountable to God and that we should avoid self-indulgence that leads to the exploitation of others for selfish gain.

"Christians may ask how the stress on using and enjoying life tallies with the NT command Do not love the world' (1 John 2:15). The answer is that the Teacher (Ecclesiastes) would have agreed fully with John's next statement that everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away' (vv. 16-17). One could hardly find a better statement than this of the whole theme of Ecclesiastes (e.g., 2:1-11; 5:10). Life in the world has significance only when man remembers his Creator (12:1).

"There always have been two kinds of teaching about the way to holiness. One is by withdrawal as far as possible from the natural in order to promote the spiritual. The other is to use and transform the natural into the expression of the spiritual. While each kind of teaching has its place, some people need one emphasis rather than the other. Ecclesiastes definitely teaches the second."⁶

"Ecclesiastes does not pretend to preach the Gospel. Rather, it encourages the reader to a God-centered worldview rather than falling victim to frustrations and unanswered questions. None of its contents has to be rejected in the light of the NT. Although the NT revelation is vastly greater than that in Ecclesiastes, the two are not devoid of similarities (e.g., James 4:13-17). Like the people of God in Solomon's time, believers today are subject to the unexpected changes and chances common to mankind. Yet they know that God works through every vicissitude of life. Respecting the future, which for Solomon was shrouded in a shadow land, Christians have the glorious hope of being in the presence of Christ himself (2 Cor 5:6; Phil 1:23)."⁷

Message⁸

I believe that the message of Ecclesiastes is essentially a positive one. This may seem strange since the vanity of various human endeavors is such a major theme of this book. Nevertheless the total statement that Solomon made was positive.

He was saying, I believe, that even though every human endeavor lacks ultimate value, we should live life in the fear of God (i.e., with the proper recognition of Him). Furthermore we should enjoy life maximally as a gift from God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 is very similar to Proverbs 1:7 and 3:5-6. In both these books, as well as in Job, the fear of God is the prerequisite for successful living here and now.

The difference between Ecclesiastes and Proverbs is that in Ecclesiastes the emphasis is on the inability of every human endeavor to provide ultimate value. In Proverbs the emphasis is on the comparative value of living in the fear of God.

Solomon's attitude is very important for us to grasp to understand this book. He never lost sight of God's existence. He was not an atheist or even an apostate. The fact that Solomon kept God in view throughout the book enabled him to see that all is vanity under the sun. The person who disregards God does not say that. For him what is under the sun is all that is meaningful.

I do not believe Solomon did everything he said he did in rebellion against God. Some things were acts of disobedience, but many other things were experiments in living designed to discover the relative value of various experiences.

The major revelations of the book are three.

First, Ecclesiastes reveals that every human endeavor lacks ultimate value. All is vanity in that sense.

Solomon stated this thesis in 1:2.

Then Solomon supported his thesis with examples he took from nature (1:3-11).

Next Solomon appealed to various human achievements to apply his thesis. He did this first by citing his own personal experiments and observations on this subject (1:12-2:17). Then he referred to facts observable by all people that confirm the same conclusion (2:18-6:9).

Solomon next showed that every human endeavor lacks ultimate value by reminding us of the limits of human wisdom (6:10-11:6). He supported these assertions also with empirical evidence (what people experience generally in life). God's will will indeed happen. However man does not know God's plan fully. Therefore man does not know exactly what will happen.

The second major revelation of this book is that people should live life in the fear of God and enjoy life as much as they can. This is really Solomon's practical conclusion to the truthfulness of the thesis that he proved in 1:3-11:6.

Since death is coming we should enjoy life now, not in disregard for God, but in the fear of God (11:7-8).

We should enjoy life in our youth while at the same time remembering that God will judge our lives (11:9-10). Moreover we should behave responsibly in our youth since old age is coming (12:1-7).

The third major revelation of the book is its statement of what true wisdom is (12:13). God intends people to rejoice, but to remember God and to live with recognition of Him (cf. Prov. 3:5-6). Failing to fear God will result in a life of vanity. To fear God and live in harmony with His will will result in a life of fullness.

Let me point out some implications of the teaching of this book.

Conviction results in conduct that produces character. That is a basic reality of life regardless of what one's convictions may be. When we have a conviction that God exists and we live under His loving authority, our conduct will be obedience to His will. Furthermore responsibility and joy will mark our character. However if we believe that God either does not exist or is not worth consideration, our conduct will be disregard of His will, and vanity will mark our character.

To dethrone God is to lose the key to life. We may pursue many human endeavors, but all we will find is vanity, lack of ultimate fulfillment. On the other hand if we enthrone God we will enter into the fullness of life (John 17:3; Ps. 16:11).

Outline⁹

I. The introductory affirmation 1:1-11

A. Title and theme 1:1-2

1. The title 1:1

2. The theme 1:2

B. The futility of all human endeavor 1:3-11

1. The vanity of work 1:3

2. The illustrations from life 1:4-11

II. The futility of work 1:12-6:9

A. Personal observations 1:12-2:17

1. Solomon's investigation of human achievement 1:12-15

2. Solomon's evaluation of his investigation of human achievement 1:16-18

3. Solomon's investigation of pleasure 2:1-11

4. Solomon's evaluation of his investigation of pleasure 2:12-17

B. General observations 2:18-6:9

1. The outcome of labor 2:18-26

2. Labor and divine providence 3:1-4:3

3. The motivations of labor 4:4-16

4. The perishable fruits of labor 5:1-6:9

III. The limitations of wisdom 6:10-11:6

A. God's sovereign foreordination of all things 6:10-12

B. God's inscrutable plan chs. 7-8

1. Adversity and prosperity 7:1-14

2. Righteousness and wickedness 7:15-27

3. The value and limitations of wisdom ch. 8

C. Man's ignorance of the future 9:1-11:6

1. The future of the righteous on earth 9:1-10

2. The future of the wise on earth 9:11-10:11

3. The folly of criticism in view of the uncertain future 10:12-20

4. Wise behavior in view of the uncertain future 11:1-6

IV. The way of wisdom 11:7-12:14

A. Joyous and responsible living 11:7-12:7

1. Joyful living 11:7-10

2. Responsible living 12:1-7

B. The concluding summary 12:8-14

Constable: Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes

Bibliography

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_____. Old Testament Wisdom. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981.

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_____. "Youth and Old Age in Qoheleth." Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):1-12.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

ECCLESIASTES.

INTRODUCTION.

This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or the preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth ) because in it Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world, to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys. (Challoner) --- Coheleth is a feminine noun, to indicate the elegance of the discourse. It is very difficult to discriminate the objections of free-thinkers from the real sentiments of the author. It is most generally supposed that Solomon wrote this after his repentance; but this is very uncertain. St. Jerome (in chap. xii. 12.) informs us that the collectors of the sacred books had some scruple about admitting this; and Luther speaks of it with great disrespect: (Coll. conviv.) but the Church has always maintained its authority. See Conc. v. Act. 4. Philast. 132. (Calmet) --- It refutes the false notions of worldlings, concerning felicity; and shews that it consists in the service of God and fruition. (Worthington)

Gill: Ecclesiastes (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES

This book has been universally received into the canon of the Scriptures, by Jews and Christians. The former, indeed, had once some controversy ^a about it; and they thought to have hid it, or put it among the apocryphal books; because, at first sight, some things seemed contradictory to each other ^b, and to incline to heresy ^c, atheism, and epicurism, and to assert the eternity of the world ^d: but they better considered of it; and when they observed those passages were capable of a good sense, and that the whole agreed with the law of God, they changed their minds ^e. And so likewise it has been rejected by some heretical persons, of the Christian name, as Theodore and Mopsuest, and others; and by deists, and some deistically inclined. But it carries in it such internal evidences of a divine original, as cannot well be denied; it delivers out and inculcates such divine instructions, concerning the duties of men to God, and one another; concerning the contempt of the world, and the carnal pleasures of it; the fear and worship of God, and a future judgment; as none but the wisdom of God could suggest. There are various things in it which seem to be referred to by Christ and his apostles; at least there is an entire agreement between them: among the many things that might be observed, compare Ecc 11:5 with Joh 3:8; and Ecc 11:9 with 2Co 5:10; and Ecc 7:20 with 1Jo 1:8. As to the author of it, there are evident marks of its being written by Solomon; yet, by some Jewish writers, it is ascribed to Isaiah ^f, which seems exceeding strange; for though he was a great prophet, and an evangelical preacher, yet no king in Jerusalem; whatever may be said for his being of the house of David, and of the royal family, as some have thought: and, besides, there is no agreement in style between this book and the writings of Isaiah. Others of them ascribe it to Hezekiah and his men ^g: Hezekiah was indeed the son of David, and David in expressly called his father; and he was a prince of great character, both with respect to religion, and to wealth and grandeur; see 2Ch 29:2; which might induce them to such a conceit; though it seems to take its rise from Hezekiah's men being the copiers of some of Solomon's proverbs, Pro 25:1; but the proof from thence must be exceeding weak; that because they were the transcribers of some of his proverbs, therefore were the writers of this book; and especially King Hezekiah; for, whatever may be said of his character, it falls greatly short of Solomon's wisdom or riches; and such things are said, with for respect to both, in this book, as cannot agree with him: and, on the other hand, it does not appear that he was addicted to wine and women, and gave himself a loose to carnal pleasures, as the writer of this book had formerly done. Grotius thinks it was written by some persons in the times of Zerubbabel, and published under the name of Solomon, as a penitent; which is quite shocking, that an inspired writing should have a false title put to it, and be imposed upon the church of God under a wrong name: besides, the name of Solomon is never mentioned in it; though this, by the way, betrays a conviction that he is intended in the title of it: nor are many persons concerned in it; it appears throughout the whole to be the work of a single person, who often speaks as such in it. That Zerubbabel should be meant by the one shepherd, Ecc 12:11, is a mere fancy; it is better interpreted, as by many, of Jesus Christ: his chief argument for this conjecture is, because there are three or four Chaldee words in it, as he supposes; which yet does not appear, and are nowhere to be found but in Daniel, Ezra, and the Chaldee interpreter: and so there are in the book of Proverbs, Pro 31:2; but it does not follow, that because these words, or others, are but once used in Scripture, that they are not originally Hebrew; since the language was more extensive and better understood in Solomon's time than now, when we have only the copy of the Old Testament in which it is preserved. In short, what is said of the descent and dignity of the writer of this book, of his wisdom, wealth, riches, and grandeur, of his virtues and of his vices, agrees with none as with Solomon; to which may be added, that there is one passage in it, the same he used in his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Ecc 7:20; compared with 1Ki 8:46. As to the time in which it was written by him, it seems to have been in his old age, as the Jewish writers observe ^h; after his sin and fall, and recovery out of it, and when he was brought to true repentance for it: it was after he had made him great works, and built houses, his own house and the house of God, which were twenty years in building; it was after he had acquired not only vast riches and treasures, which must require time, but had gotten knowledge of all things in nature; and had seen all the works that are done under the sun, and had made trial of all pleasures that were to be enjoyed; see Ecc 1:1; it was after he had been ensnared by women, which he confesses and laments, Ecc 7:26; and his description of old age seems to be made, not merely upon the theory of it, but from a feeling experience of the evils and infirmities of it, Ecc 12:1. The general scope and design of it is to expose the vanity of all worldly enjoyments; to show that a man's happiness does not lie in natural wisdom and knowledge; nor in worldly wealth; nor in civil honour, power, and authority; nor in the mere externals of religion; but in the fear of God, and the worship of him. It encourages men to a free use of the good things of life in a moderate way, with thankfulness to God; to submit with cheerfulness to adverse dispensations of Providence; to fear God and honour the king; to be dutiful to civil magistrates, and kind to the poor; to expect a future state, and an awful judgment; with many other useful things.

Gill: Ecclesiastes 5 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 5

This chapter contains some rules and directions concerning the worship of God; how persons should behave when they go into the house of God; concerning hearing the word, to which there should be a readiness, and which should be preferred to the sacrifices of fools, Ecc 5:1. Concerning prayer to God; which should not be uttered rashly and hastily, and should be expressed in few words; which is urged from the consideration of the majesty of God, and vileness of men; and the folly of much speaking is exposed by the simile of a dream, Ecc 5:2. Concerning vows, which should not be rashly made; when made, should be kept; nor should excuses be afterwards framed for not performing them, since this might bring the anger of God upon men, to the destruction of the works of their hands, Ecc 5:4; and, as an antidote against those vanities, which appear in the prayers and vows of some, and dreams of others, the fear of God is proposed, Ecc 5:7; and, against any surprise at the oppression of the poor, the majesty, power, and providence of God, and his special regard to his people, are observed, Ecc 5:8. And then the wise man enters into a discourse concerning riches; and observes, that the fruits of the earth, and the culture of it, are necessary to all men, and even to the king, Ecc 5:9; but dissuades from covetousness, or an over love of riches; because they are unsatisfying, are attended with much trouble, often injurious to the owners of them; at length perish, and their possessors; who, at death, are stripped quite naked of all, after they have spent their days in darkness and distress, Ecc 5:10; and concludes, therefore, that it is best for a man to enjoy, in a free manner, the good things of this life he is possessed of, and consider them as the gifts of God, and be thankful for them; by which means he will pass through the world more comfortably, and escape the troubles that attend others, Ecc 5:18.