mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Ec.ii" n="ii" next="Ec.iii" prev="Ec.i" progress="88.99%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Ec.ii-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.ii-p1">In this chapter we have, I. The inscription, or
title of the book, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.1" parsed="|Eccl|1|1|0|0" passage="Ec 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>.
II. The general doctrine of the vanity of the creature laid down
(<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.2" parsed="|Eccl|1|2|0|0" passage="Ec 1:2">ver. 2</scripRef>) and explained,
<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.3" parsed="|Eccl|1|3|0|0" passage="Ec 1:3">ver. 3</scripRef>. III. The proof of
this doctrine, taken, 1. From the shortness of human life and the
multitude of births and burials in this life, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.4" parsed="|Eccl|1|4|0|0" passage="Ec 1:4">ver. 4</scripRef>. 2. From the inconstant nature, and
constant revolutions, of all the creatures, and the perpetual flux
and reflux they are in, the sun, wind, and water, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.5-Eccl.1.7" parsed="|Eccl|1|5|1|7" passage="Ec 1:5-7">ver. 5-7</scripRef>. 3. From the abundant toil
man has about them and the little satisfaction he has in them,
<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.8" parsed="|Eccl|1|8|0|0" passage="Ec 1:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. 4. From the return of
the same things again, which shows the end of all perfection, and
that the stock is exhausted, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.9-Eccl.1.10" parsed="|Eccl|1|9|1|10" passage="Ec 1:9,10">ver. 9,
10</scripRef>. 5. From the oblivion to which all things are
condemned, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.11" parsed="|Eccl|1|11|0|0" passage="Ec 1:11">ver. 11</scripRef>. IV. The
first instance of the vanity of man's knowledge, and all the parts
of learning, especially natural philosophy and politics. Observe,
1. The trial Solomon made of these, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.12-Eccl.1.13 Bible:Eccl.1.16 Bible:Eccl.1.17" parsed="|Eccl|1|12|1|13;|Eccl|1|16|0|0;|Eccl|1|17|0|0" passage="Ec 1:12,13,16,17">ver. 12, 13, 16, 17</scripRef>. 2. His judgment
of them, that all is vanity, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.14" parsed="|Eccl|1|14|0|0" passage="Ec 1:14">ver.
14</scripRef>. For, (1.) There is labour in getting knowledge,
<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.13" parsed="|Eccl|1|13|0|0" passage="Ec 1:13">ver. 13</scripRef>. (2.) There is
little good to be done with it, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.15" parsed="|Eccl|1|15|0|0" passage="Ec 1:15">ver.
15</scripRef>. (3.) There is no satisfaction in it, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.18" parsed="|Eccl|1|18|0|0" passage="Ec 1:18">ver. 18</scripRef>. And, if this is vanity and
vexation, all other things in this world, being much inferior to it
in dignity and worth, must needs be so too. A great scholar cannot
be happy unless he be a true saint.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.ii-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1" parsed="|Eccl|1|0|0|0" passage="Ec 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.ii-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.1-Eccl.1.3" parsed="|Eccl|1|1|1|3" passage="Ec 1:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.1.1-Eccl.1.3">
<h4 id="Ec.ii-p1.16">The Vanity of the World.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ii-p2">1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David,
king in Jerusalem.   2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,
vanity of vanities; all <i>is</i> vanity.   3 What profit hath
a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p3">Here is, I. An account of the penman of
this book; it was Solomon, for no other son of David was king of
Jerusalem; but he conceals his name <i>Solomon, peaceable,</i>
because by his sin he had brought trouble upon himself and his
kingdom, had broken his peace with God and lost the peace of his
conscience, and therefore was no more worthy of that name. Call me
not <i>Solomon,</i> call me <i>Marah,</i> for, <i>behold, for peace
I had great bitterness.</i> But he calls himself,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p4">1. <i>The preacher,</i> which intimates his
present character. He is <i>Koheleth,</i> which comes from a word
which signifies <i>to gather;</i> but it is of a feminine
termination, by which perhaps Solomon intends to upbraid himself
with his effeminacy, which contributed more than any thing to his
apostasy; for it was to please his wives that he set up idols,
<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.26" parsed="|Neh|13|26|0|0" passage="Ne 13:26">Neh. xiii. 26</scripRef>. Or the word
<i>soul</i> must be understood, and so <i>Koheleth</i> is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p5">(1.) A <i>penitent soul,</i> or one
<i>gathered,</i> one that had rambled and gone astray like a lost
sheep, but was now reduced, gathered in from his wanderings,
gathered home to his duty, and come at length to himself. The
spirit that was dissipated after a thousand vanities is now
collected and made to centre in God. Divine grace can make great
sinners great converts, and renew even those to repentance who,
<i>after they had known the way of righteousness, turned aside from
it,</i> and <i>heal their backslidings,</i> though it is a
difficult case. It is only the penitent soul that God will accept,
the heart that is broken, not the head that is bowed down like a
bulrush only for a day, David's repentance, not Ahab's. And it is
only the gathered soul that is the penitent soul, that comes back
from its by-paths, that no longer <i>scatters its way to the
strangers</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.13" parsed="|Jer|3|13|0|0" passage="Jer 3:13">Jer. iii.
13</scripRef>), but is <i>united to fear God's name. Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth will speak,</i> and therefore we
have here the words of the penitent, and those published. If
eminent professors of religion fall into gross sin, they are
concerned, for the honour of God and the repairing of the damage
they have done to his kingdom, openly to testify their repentance,
that the antidote may be administered as extensively as the
poison.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p6">(2.) A <i>preaching soul,</i> or one
<i>gathering.</i> Being himself <i>gathered</i> to the congregation
of saints, out of which he had by his sin thrown himself, and being
reconciled to the church, he endeavours to gather others to it that
had gone astray like him, and perhaps were led astray by his
example. He that has done any thing to seduce his brother ought to
do all he can to restore him. Perhaps Solomon called together a
congregation of his people, as he had done at the dedication of the
temple (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.2" parsed="|1Kgs|8|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 8:2">1 Kings viii. 2</scripRef>), so
now at the rededicating of himself. In that assembly he presided as
the people's mouth to God in prayer (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.12" parsed="|Eccl|1|12|0|0" passage="Ec 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); in this as God's mouth to them
in preaching. God by his Spirit made him a preacher, in token of
his being reconciled to him; a commission is a tacit pardon. Christ
sufficiently testifies his forgiving Peter by committing his lambs
and sheep to his trust. Observe, Penitents should be preachers;
those that have taken warning themselves to turn and live should
give warning to others not to go on and die. <i>When thou art
converted strengthen thy brethren.</i> Preachers must be preaching
<i>souls,</i> for that only is likely to reach to the heart that
comes from the heart. Paul served God <i>with his spirit in the
gospel of his Son,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.9" parsed="|Rom|1|9|0|0" passage="Ro 1:9">Rom. i.
9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p7">2. <i>The son of David.</i> His taking this
title intimates, (1.) That he looked upon it as a great honour to
be the son of so good a man, and valued himself very much upon it.
(2.) That he also looked upon it as a great aggravation of his sin
that he had such a father, who had given him a good education and
put up many a good prayer for him; it cuts him to the heart to
think that he should be a blemish and disgrace to the name and
family of such a one as David. It aggravated the sin of Jehoiakim
that he was the son of Josiah, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.22.15-Jer.22.17" parsed="|Jer|22|15|22|17" passage="Jer 22:15-17">Jer. xxii. 15-17</scripRef>. (3.) That his being the
son of David encouraged him to repent and hope for mercy, for David
had fallen into sin, by which he should have been warned not to
sin, but was not; but David repented, and therein he took example
from him and found mercy as he did. Yet this was not all; he was
that son of David concerning whom God had said that though he would
<i>chasten his transgression with the rod,</i> yet he would not
<i>break his covenant</i> with him, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.34" parsed="|Ps|89|34|0|0" passage="Ps 89:34">Ps. lxxxix. 34</scripRef>. Christ, the great preacher,
was the <i>Son of David.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p8">3. <i>King of Jerusalem.</i> This he
mentions, (1.) As that which was a very great aggravation of his
sin. He was a king. God had done much for him, in raising him to
the throne, and yet he had so ill requited him; his dignity made
the bad example and influence of his sin the more dangerous, and
many would follow his pernicious ways; especially as he was king of
Jerusalem, the holy city, where God's temple was, and of his own
building too, where the priests, the Lord's ministers, were, and
his prophets who had taught him better things. (2.) As that which
might give some advantage to what he wrote, for <i>where the word
of a king is there is power.</i> He thought it no disparagement to
him, as a king, to be a preacher; but the people would regard him
the more as a preacher because he was a king. If men of honour
would lay out themselves to do good, what a great deal of good
might they do! Solomon looked as great in the pulpit, preaching the
vanity of the world, as in his throne of ivory, judging.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p9">The Chaldee-paraphrase (which, in this
book, makes very large additions to the text, or comments upon it,
all along) gives this account of Solomon's writing this book, That
by the spirit of prophecy he foresaw the revolt of the ten tribes
from his son, and, in process of time, the destruction of Jerusalem
and the house of the sanctuary, and the captivity of the people, in
the foresight of which he said, <i>Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity;</i> and to that he applies many passages in this book.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p10">II. The general scope and design of the
book. What is it that this royal preacher has to say? That which he
aims at is, for the making of us truly religious, to take down our
esteem of and expectation from the things of this world. In order
to this, he shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p11">1. That they are <i>all vanity,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.2" parsed="|Eccl|1|2|0|0" passage="Ec 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. This is the
proposition he lays down and undertakes to prove: <i>Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity.</i> It was no new text; his father David
had more than once spoken to the same purport. The truth itself
here asserted is, that <i>all is vanity,</i> all besides God and
considered as abstract from him, the <i>all</i> of this world, all
worldly employments and enjoyments, the <i>all</i> that <i>is in
the world</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.16" parsed="|1John|2|16|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:16">1 John ii.
16</scripRef>), all that which is agreeable to our senses and to
our fancies in this present state, which gains pleasure to
ourselves or reputation with others. It is <i>all vanity,</i> not
only in the abuse of it, when it is perverted by the sin of man,
but even in the use of it. Man, considered with reference to these
things, is vanity (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.5-Ps.39.6" parsed="|Ps|39|5|39|6" passage="Ps 39:5,6">Ps. xxxix. 5,
6</scripRef>), and, if there were not another life after this, were
made in vain (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.47" parsed="|Ps|89|47|0|0" passage="Ps 89:47">Ps. lxxxix.
47</scripRef>); and those things, considered in reference to man
(whatever they are in themselves), are <i>vanity.</i> They are
impertinent to the soul, foreign, and add nothing to it; they do
not answer the end, nor yield any true satisfaction; they are
uncertain in their continuance, are fading, and perishing, and
passing away, and will certainly deceive and disappoint those that
put a confidence in them. Let us not therefore <i>love vanity</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.2" parsed="|Ps|4|2|0|0" passage="Ps 4:2">Ps. iv. 2</scripRef>), nor <i>lift up
our souls</i> to it (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.24.4" parsed="|Ps|24|4|0|0" passage="Ps 24:4">Ps. xxiv.
4</scripRef>), for we shall but weary ourselves for it, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.13" parsed="|Heb|2|13|0|0" passage="Heb 2:13">Heb. ii. 13</scripRef>. It is expressed here
very emphatically; not only, <i>All is vain,</i> but in the
abstract, <i>All is vanity;</i> as if vanity were the <i>proprium
quarto modo—property in the fourth mode,</i> of the things of this
world, that which enters into the nature of them. The are not only
<i>vanity,</i> but <i>vanity of vanities,</i> the vainest vanity,
vanity in the highest degree, nothing but vanity, such a vanity as
is the cause of a great deal of vanity. And this is redoubled,
because the thing is certain and past dispute, it is <i>vanity of
vanities.</i> This intimates that the wise man had his own heart
fully convinced of and much affected with this truth, and that he
was very desirous that others should be convinced of it and
affected with it, as he was, but that he found the generality of
men very loth to believe it and consider it (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14">Job xxxiii. 14</scripRef>); it intimates likewise that
we cannot comprehend and express the vanity of this world. But who
is it that speaks thus slightly of the world? Is it one that will
stand to what he says? Yes, he puts his name to it—<i>saith the
preacher.</i> Is it one that was a competent judge? Yes, as much as
ever any man was. Many speak contemptuously of the world because
they are hermits, and know it not, or beggars, and have it not; but
Solomon knew it. He had dived into nature's depths (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.4.33" parsed="|1Kgs|4|33|0|0" passage="1Ki 4:33">1 Kings iv. 33</scripRef>), and he had it, more
of it perhaps than ever any man had, his head filled with its
notions and <i>his belly</i> with its <i>hidden treasures</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p11.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.14" parsed="|Ps|17|14|0|0" passage="Ps 17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</scripRef>), and he
passes this judgment on it. But did he speak as one having
authority? Yes, not only that of a king, but that of a prophet, a
preacher; he spoke in God's name, and was divinely inspired to say
it. But did he not say it in his haste, or in a passion, upon
occasion of some particular disappointment? No; he said it
deliberately, said it and proved it, laid it down as a fundamental
principle, on which he grounded the necessity of being religious.
And, as some think, one main thing he designed was to show that the
everlasting throne and kingdom which God had by Nathan promised to
David and his seed must be of another world; for all things in this
world are subject to vanity, and therefore have not in them
sufficient to answer the extent of that promise. If Solomon find
all to be vanity, then the kingdom of the Messiah must come, in
which we shall inherit substance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p12">2. That they are insufficient to make us
happy. And for this he appeals to men's consciences: <i>What profit
has a man of all the pains he takes?</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.3" parsed="|Eccl|1|3|0|0" passage="Ec 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Observe here, (1.) The business of
this world described. It is <i>labour;</i> the word signifies both
care and toil. It is work that wearies men. There is a constant
fatigue in worldly business. It is <i>labour under the sun;</i>
that is a phrase peculiar to this book, where we meet with it
twenty-eight times. There is a world above the sun, a world which
needs not the sun, for the glory of God is its light, where there
is work without labour and with great profit, the work of angels;
but he speaks of the work <i>under the sun,</i> the pains of which
are great and the gains little. It is <i>under the sun,</i> under
the influence of the sun, by its light and in its heat; as we have
the benefit of the light of the day, so we have sometimes the
burden and heat of the day (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.12" parsed="|Matt|20|12|0|0" passage="Mt 20:12">Matt. xx.
12</scripRef>), and therefore <i>in the sweat of our face we eat
bread.</i> In the dark and cold grave the weary are at rest. (2.)
The benefit of that business enquired into: <i>What profit has a
man of all that labour?</i> Solomon says (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.14.23" parsed="|Prov|14|23|0|0" passage="Pr 14:23">Prov. xiv. 23</scripRef>), <i>In all labour there is
profit;</i> and yet here he denies that there is any profit. As to
our present condition in the world, it is true that by labour we
get that which we call <i>profit;</i> we <i>eat the labour of our
hands;</i> but as the wealth of the world is commonly called
<i>substance,</i> and yet it is <i>that which is not</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.22.5" parsed="|Prov|22|5|0|0" passage="Pr 22:5">Prov. xxii. 5</scripRef>), so it is called
<i>profit,</i> but the question is whether it be really so or no.
And here he determines that it is not, that it is not a real
benefit, that it is not a remaining benefit. In short, the wealth
and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much of them, are not
sufficient to make us happy, nor will they be a portion for us.
[1.] As to the body, and the life that now is, <i>What profit has a
man of all his labour? A man's life consists not in an
abundance,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.15" parsed="|Luke|12|15|0|0" passage="Lu 12:15">Luke xii.
15</scripRef>. As goods are increased care about them is increased,
and <i>those are increased that eat of them,</i> and a little thing
will embitter all the comfort of them; and then <i>what profit has
a man</i> of all his labour? Early up, and never the nearer. [2.]
As to the soul, and the life that is to come, we may much more
truly say, <i>What profit has a man of all his labour?</i> All he
gets by it will not supply the wants of the soul, nor satisfy its
desires, will not atone for the sin of the soul, nor cure its
diseases, nor contervail the loss of it; what profit will they be
of to the soul in death, in judgment, or in the everlasting state?
The fruit of our labour in heavenly things is <i>meat that endures
to eternal life,</i> but the fruit of our labour for the world is
only <i>meat that perishes.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.4-Eccl.1.8" parsed="|Eccl|1|4|1|8" passage="Ec 1:4-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.1.4-Eccl.1.8">
<h4 id="Ec.ii-p12.7">The Vanity of the World.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ii-p13">4 <i>One</i> generation passeth away, and
<i>another</i> generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
  5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth
to his place where he arose.   6 The wind goeth toward the
south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about
continually, and the wind returneth again according to his
circuits.   7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea
<i>is</i> not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come,
thither they return again.   8 All things <i>are</i> full of
labour; man cannot utter <i>it:</i> the eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p14">To prove the vanity of all things under the
sun, and their insufficiency to make us happy, Solomon here shows,
1. That the time of our enjoyment of these things is very short,
and only while we <i>accomplish as a hireling his day.</i> We
continue in the world but for one generation, which is continually
passing away to make room for another, and we are passing with it.
Our worldly possessions we very lately had from others, and must
very shortly leave to others, and therefore to us they are vanity;
they can be no more substantial than that life which is the
<i>substratum</i> of them, and that is but a <i>vapour, which
appears for a little while and then vanishes away.</i> While the
stream of mankind is continually flowing, how little enjoyment has
one drop of that stream of the pleasant banks between which it
glides! We may give God the glory of that constant succession of
generations, in which the world has hitherto had its existence, and
will have to the end of time, admitting his patience in continuing
that sinful species and his power in continuing that dying species.
We may be also quickened to do the work of our generation
diligently, and serve it faithfully, because it will be over
shortly; and, in concern for mankind in general, we should consult
the welfare of succeeding generations; but as to our own happiness,
let us not expect it within such narrow limits, but in an eternal
rest and consistency. 2. That when we leave this world we leave the
earth behind us, that <i>abides for ever</i> where it is, and
therefore the things of the earth can stand us in no stead in the
future state. It is well for mankind in general that the earth
endures to the end of time, when it and all the works in it shall
be burnt up; but what is that to particular persons, when they
remove to the world of spirits? 3. That the condition of man is, in
this respect, worse than that even of the inferior creatures:
<i>The earth abides for ever,</i> but man abides upon the earth but
a little while. The sun sets indeed every night, yet it rises again
in the morning, as bright and fresh as ever; the winds, though they
shift their point, yet in some point or other still they are; the
waters that go to the sea above ground come from it again under
ground. <i>But man lies down and rises not,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.7 Bible:Job.14.12" parsed="|Job|14|7|0|0;|Job|14|12|0|0" passage="Job 14:7,12">Job xiv. 7, 12</scripRef>. 4. That all things in this
world are movable and mutable, and subject to a continual toil and
agitation, constant in nothing but inconstancy, still going, never
resting; it was but once that the sun stood still; when it is risen
it is hastening to set, and, when it is set, hastening to rise
again (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.5" parsed="|Eccl|1|5|0|0" passage="Ec 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); the
winds are ever and anon shifting (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.6" parsed="|Eccl|1|6|0|0" passage="Ec 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), and the waters in a continual
circulation (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.7" parsed="|Eccl|1|7|0|0" passage="Ec 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), it
would be of as bad consequence for them to stagnate as for the
blood in the body to do so. And can we expect rest in a world where
all things are thus full of labour (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.8" parsed="|Eccl|1|8|0|0" passage="Ec 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), on a sea that is always ebbing
and flowing, and her waves continually working and rolling? 5. That
though all things are still in motion, yet they are still where
they were; The sun <i>parts</i> (as it is in the margin), but it is
to the same place; the wind turns till it comes to the same place,
and so the waters return to the place whence they came. Thus man,
after all the pains he takes to find satisfaction and happiness in
the creature, is but where he was, still as far to seek as ever.
Man's mind is as restless in its pursuits as the sun, and wind, and
rivers, but never satisfied, never contented; the more it has of
the world the more it would have; and it would be no sooner filled
with the streams of outward prosperity, the brooks of <i>honey and
butter</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.20.17" parsed="|Job|20|17|0|0" passage="Job 20:17">Job xx. 17</scripRef>),
than the sea is with <i>all the rivers that run into it;</i> it is
still as it was, <i>a troubled sea that cannot rest.</i> 6. That
<i>all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.4" parsed="|2Pet|3|4|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:4">2 Pet. iii. 4</scripRef>.
The earth is where it was; the sun, and winds, and rivers, keep the
same course that ever they did; and therefore, if they have never
yet been sufficient to make a happiness for man, they are never
likely to be so, for they can but yield the same comfort that they
have yielded. We must therefore look above the sun for
satisfaction, and for a new world. 7. That this world is, at the
best, a weary land: <i>All is vanity,</i> for all is <i>full of
labour.</i> The whole creation is made subject to this vanity ever
since man was sentenced to <i>eat bread in the sweat of his
brows.</i> If we survey the whole creation, we shall see all busy;
all have enough to do to mind their own business; none will be a
portion or happiness for man; all labour to serve him, but none
prove a <i>help-meet</i> for him. Man cannot express how full of
labour all things are, can neither number the laborious nor measure
the labours. 8. That our senses are unsatisfied, and the objects of
them unsatisfying. He specifies those senses that perform their
office with least toil, and are most capable of being pleased:
<i>The eye is not satisfied with seeing,</i> but is weary of seeing
always the same sight, and covets novelty and variety. <i>The
ear</i> is fond, at first, of a pleasant song or tune, but soon
nauseates it, and must have another; both are surfeited, but
neither satiated, and what was most grateful becomes ungrateful.
Curiosity is still inquisitive, because still unsatisfied, and the
more it is humoured the more nice and peevish it grows, crying,
<i>Give, give.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.9-Eccl.1.11" parsed="|Eccl|1|9|1|11" passage="Ec 1:9-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.1.9-Eccl.1.11">
<h4 id="Ec.ii-p14.9">Change without Novelty.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ii-p15">9 The thing that hath been, it <i>is that</i>
which shall be; and that which is done <i>is</i> that which shall
be done: and <i>there is</i> no new <i>thing</i> under the sun.
  10 Is there <i>any</i> thing whereof it may be said, See,
this <i>is</i> new? it hath been already of old time, which was
before us.   11 <i>There is</i> no remembrance of former
<i>things;</i> neither shall there be <i>any</i> remembrance of
<i>things</i> that are to come with <i>those</i> that shall come
after.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p16">Two things we are apt to take a great deal
of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with
reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they
helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in
both.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p17">1. The novelty of the invention, that it is
such as was never known before. How grateful is it to think that
none ever made such advances in knowledge, and such discoveries by
it, as we, that none ever made such improvements of an estate or
trade, and had the art of enjoying the gains of it, as we have.
Their contrivances and compositions are all despised and run down,
and we boast of new fashions, new hypotheses, new methods, new
expressions, which jostle out the old, and put them down. But this
is all a mistake: <i>The thing that</i> is, and <i>shall be, is</i>
the same with <i>that which has been, and that which shall be
done</i> will be but the same with <i>that which is done,</i> for
<i>there is no new thing under the sun,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.9" parsed="|Eccl|1|9|0|0" passage="Ec 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. It is repeated (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.10" parsed="|Eccl|1|10|0|0" passage="Ec 1:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) by way of question, <i>is there
any thing</i> of which <i>it may be said,</i> with wonder, <i>See,
this is new;</i> there never was the like? It is an appeal to
observing men, and a challenge to those that cry up modern learning
above that of the ancients. Let them name any thing which they take
to be new, and though perhaps we cannot make it to appear, for want
of the records of former times, yet we have reason to conclude
<i>that it has been already of old time, which was before us.</i>
What is there in the kingdom of nature of which we may say, <i>This
is new? The works were finished from the foundation of the
world</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.3" parsed="|Heb|4|3|0|0" passage="Heb 4:3">Heb. iv. 3</scripRef>);
things which appear new to us, as they do to children, are not so
in themselves. The heavens were <i>of old;</i> the earth abides for
ever; the powers of nature and the links of natural causes are
still the same that ever they were. In the kingdom of Providence,
though the course and method of it have not such known and certain
rules as that of nature, nor does it go always in the same track,
yet, in the general, it is still the same thing over and over
again. Men's hearts, and the corruptions of them, are still the
same; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, are still the
same; and what God does in his dealings with men is according to
the scripture, according to the manner, so that it is all
repetition. What is surprising to us needs not be so, for there has
been the like, the like strange advancements and disappointments,
the like strange revolutions and sudden turns, sudden turns of
affairs; the miseries of human life have always been much the same,
and mankind tread a perpetual round, and, as the sun and wind, are
but where they were. Now the design of this is, (1.) To show the
folly of the children of men in affecting things that are new, in
imagining that they have discovered such things, and in pleasing
and priding themselves in them. We are apt to nauseate old things,
and to grow weary of what we have been long used to, as Israel of
the manna, and covet, with the Athenians, still to tell and hear of
some new thing, and admire this and the other as new, whereas it is
all what has been. Tatianus the Assyrian, showing the Grecians how
all the arts which they valued themselves upon owed their original
to those nations which they counted barbarous, thus reasons with
them: "For shame, do not call those things
<b><i>eureseis</i></b>—<i>inventions,</i> which are but
<b><i>mimeseis</i></b>—<i>imitations.</i>" (2.) To take us off
from expecting happiness or satisfaction in the creature. Why
should we look for it there, where never any yet have found it?
What reason have we to think that the world should be any kinder to
us than it has been to those that have gone before us, since there
is nothing in it that is new, and our predecessors have made as
much of it as could be made? <i>Your fathers did eat manna, and</i>
yet they <i>are dead.</i> See <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:John.8.8-John.8.9 Bible:John.6.49" parsed="|John|8|8|8|9;|John|6|49|0|0" passage="Joh 8:8,9,Joh 6:49">John viii. 8, 9; vi. 49</scripRef>. (3.) To
quicken us to secure spiritual and eternal blessings. If we would
be entertained with new things, we must acquaint ourselves with the
things of God, get a new nature; then <i>old things pass away, and
all things become new,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.17" parsed="|2Cor|5|17|0|0" passage="2Co 5:17">2 Cor. v.
17</scripRef>. The gospel puts <i>a new song into our mouths.</i>
In heaven <i>all is new</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.5" parsed="|Rev|21|5|0|0" passage="Re 21:5">Rev. xxi.
5</scripRef>), all new at first, wholly unlike the present state of
things, a new world indeed (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.20.35" parsed="|Luke|20|35|0|0" passage="Lu 20:35">Luke xx.
35</scripRef>), and all new to eternity, always fresh, always
flourishing. This consideration should make us willing to die, That
in this world there is nothing but the same over and over again,
and we can expect nothing from it more or better than we have
had.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p18">2. The memorableness of the achievement,
that it is such as will be known and talked of hereafter. Many
think they have found satisfaction enough in this, that their names
shall be perpetuated, that posterity will celebrate the actions
they have performed, the honours they have won, and the estates
they have raised, that <i>their houses shall continue for ever</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.11" parsed="|Ps|49|11|0|0" passage="Ps 49:11">Ps. xlix. 11</scripRef>); but herein
they deceive themselves. How many <i>former things</i> and persons
were there, which in their day looked very great and made a mighty
figure, and yet <i>there is no remembrance</i> of them; they are
buried in oblivion. Here and there one person or action that was
remarkable met with a kind historian, and had the good hap to be
recorded, when at the same time there were others, no less
remarkable, that were dropped: and therefore we may conclude that
<i>neither shall there be any remembrance of things to come,</i>
but that which we hope to be remembered by will be either lost or
slighted.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.12-Eccl.1.18" parsed="|Eccl|1|12|1|18" passage="Ec 1:12-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.1.12-Eccl.1.18">
<h4 id="Ec.ii-p18.3">Vanity of Human Wisdom.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ii-p19">12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in
Jerusalem.   13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by
wisdom concerning all <i>things</i> that are done under heaven:
this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised
therewith.   14 I have seen all the works that are done under
the sun; and, behold, all <i>is</i> vanity and vexation of spirit.
  15 <i>That which is</i> crooked cannot be made straight: and
that which is wanting cannot be numbered.   16 I communed with
mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have
gotten more wisdom than all <i>they</i> that have been before me in
Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and
knowledge.   17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to
know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of
spirit.   18 For in much wisdom <i>is</i> much grief: and he
that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p20">Solomon, having asserted in general that
<i>all is vanity,</i> and having given some general proofs of it,
now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it, 1.
By his own experience; he tried them all, and found them vanity. 2.
By an induction of particulars; and here he begins with that which
bids fairest of all to be the happiness of a reasonable creature,
and that is knowledge and learning; if this be vanity, every thing
else must needs be so. Now as to this,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p21">I. Solomon tells us here what trial he had
made of it, and that with such advantages that, if true
satisfaction could have been found in it, he would have found it.
1. His high station gave him an opportunity of improving himself in
all parts of learning, and particularly in politics and the conduct
of human affairs, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.12" parsed="|Eccl|1|12|0|0" passage="Ec 1:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. He that is <i>the preacher</i> of this doctrine
<i>was king over Israel,</i> whom all their neighbours admired as
<i>a wise and understanding people,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.6" parsed="|Deut|4|6|0|0" passage="De 4:6">Deut. iv. 6</scripRef>. He had his royal seat <i>in
Jerusalem,</i> which then deserved, better than Athens ever did, to
be called <i>the eye of the world.</i> The heart of a king is
unsearchable; he has reaches of his own, and <i>a divine sentence
is often in his lips.</i> It is his honour, it is his business, to
search out every matter. Solomon's great wealth and honour put him
into a capacity of making his court the centre of learning and the
rendezvous of learned men, of furnishing himself with the best of
books, and either conversing or corresponding with all the wise and
knowing part of mankind then in being, who made application to him
to learn of him, by which he could not but improve himself; for it
is in knowledge as it is in trade, all the profit is by barter and
exchange; if we have that to say which will instruct others, they
will have that to say which will instruct us. Some observe how
slightly Solomon speaks of his dignity and honour. He does not say,
<i>I the preacher am</i> king, but I <i>was king,</i> no matter
what I am. He speaks of it as a thing past, because worldly honours
are transitory. 2. He applied himself to the improvement of these
advantages, and the opportunities he had of getting wisdom, which,
though ever so great, will not make a man wise unless he give his
mind to it. Solomon <i>gave his heart to seek and search out</i>
all things to be known <i>by wisdom,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.13" parsed="|Eccl|1|13|0|0" passage="Ec 1:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. He made it his business to
acquaint himself with <i>all the things that are done under the
sun,</i> that are done by the providence of God or by the art and
prudence of man. He set himself to get all the insight he could
into philosophy and mathematics, into husbandry and trade,
merchandise and mechanics, into the history of former ages and the
present state of other kingdoms, their laws, customs, and policies,
into men's different tempers, capacities, and projects, and the
methods of managing them; he set himself not only to seek, but to
search, to pry into, that which is most intricate, and which
requires the closes application of mind and the most vigorous and
constant prosecution. Though he was a prince, he made himself a
drudge to learning, was not discouraged by its knots, nor took up
short of its depths. And this he did, not merely to gratify his own
genius, but to qualify himself for the service of God, and his
generation, and to make an experiment how far the enlargement of
the knowledge would go towards the settlement and repose of the
mind. 3. He made a very great progress in his studies, wonderfully
improved all the parts of learning, and carried his discoveries
much further than any that had been before him. He did not condemn
learning, as many do, because they cannot conquer it and will not
be at the pains to make themselves masters of it; no, what he aimed
at he compassed; he <i>saw all the works that were done under the
sun</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.14" parsed="|Eccl|1|14|0|0" passage="Ec 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>),
works of nature in the upper and lower world, all within this
vortex (to use the modern gibberish) which has the sun for its
centre, works of art, the product of men's wit, in a personal or
social capacity. He had as much satisfaction in the success of his
searches as ever any man had; he <i>communed with his own heart</i>
concerning his attainments in knowledge, with as much pleasure as
ever any rich merchant had in taking account of his stock. He could
say, "<i>Lo, I</i> have magnified and increased <i>wisdom,</i> have
not only gotten more of it myself, but have done more to propagate
it and bring it into reputation, than any, <i>than all that have
been before me in Jerusalem.</i>" Note, It becomes great men to be
studious, and delight themselves most in intellectual pleasures.
Where God gives great advantages of getting knowledge he expects
improvements accordingly. It is happy with a people when their
princes and noblemen study to excel others as much in wisdom and
useful knowledge as they do in honour and estate; and they may do
that service to the commonwealth of learning by applying themselves
to the studies that are proper for them which meaner persons cannot
do. Solomon must be acknowledged as competent judge of this matter,
for he had not only got his head full of notions, but his <i>heart
had great experience of wisdom and knowledge,</i> of the power and
benefit of knowledge, as well as the amusement and entertainment of
it; what he knew he had digested, and knew how to make use of.
<i>Wisdom entered into his heart,</i> and so became <i>pleasant to
his soul,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.2.10-Prov.2.11 Bible:Prov.22.18" parsed="|Prov|2|10|2|11;|Prov|22|18|0|0" passage="Pr 2:10,11,22:18">Prov. ii. 10,
11; xxii. 18</scripRef>. 4. He applied his studies especially to
that part of learning which is most serviceable to the conduct of
human life, and consequently is the most valuable (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.17" parsed="|Eccl|1|17|0|0" passage="Ec 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>I gave my heart to
know</i> the rules and dictates of <i>wisdom,</i> and how I might
obtain it; <i>and to know madness and folly,</i> how I might
prevent and cure it, to know the snares and insinuations of it,
that I might avoid them, and guard against them, and discover its
fallacies." So industrious was Solomon to improve himself in
knowledge that he gained instruction both by the wisdom of prudent
men and by the madness of foolish men, by <i>the field of the
slothful,</i> as well as of <i>the diligent.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p22">II. He tells us what was the result of this
trial, to confirm what he had said, that <i>all is vanity.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p23">1. He found that his searches after
knowledge were very toilsome, and a weariness not only to the
flesh, but to the mind (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.13" parsed="|Eccl|1|13|0|0" passage="Ec 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>This sore travail,</i> this difficulty that
there is in searching after truth and finding it, <i>God has given
to the sons of men to be</i> afflicted <i>therewith,</i> as a
punishment for our first parents' coveting forbidden knowledge. As
bread for the body, so that for the soul, must be got and eaten
<i>in the sweat of our face,</i> whereas both would have been had
with out labour if Adam had not sinned.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p24">2. He found that the more he saw of <i>the
works done under the sun</i> the more he saw of their vanity; nay,
and the sight often occasioned him <i>vexation of spirit</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.14" parsed="|Eccl|1|14|0|0" passage="Ec 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>I have
seen all the works</i> of a world full of business, have observed
what the children of men are doing; <i>and behold,</i> whatever men
think of their own works, I see <i>all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.</i>" He had before pronounced all <i>vanity</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.2" parsed="|Eccl|1|2|0|0" passage="Ec 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), needless and
unprofitable, and that which does us no good; here he adds, It is
all <i>vexation of spirit,</i> troublesome and prejudicial, and
that which does us hurt. It is <i>feeding upon wind;</i> so some
read it, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.1" parsed="|Hos|12|1|0|0" passage="Ho 12:1">Hos. xii. 1</scripRef>. (1.)
The works themselves which we see done are <i>vanity and
vexation</i> to those that are employed in them. There is so much
care in the contrivance of our worldly business, so much toil in
the prosecution of it, and so much trouble in the disappointments
we meet with in it, that we may well say, It is <i>vexation of
spirit.</i> (2.) The sight of them is <i>vanity and vexation of
spirit</i> to the wise observer of them. The more we see of the
world the more we see to make us uneasy, and, with Heraclitus, to
look upon all with weeping eyes. Solomon especially perceived that
the knowledge of <i>wisdom and folly</i> was <i>vexation of
spirit,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.17" parsed="|Eccl|1|17|0|0" passage="Ec 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. It
vexed him to see many that had wisdom not use it, and many that had
folly not strive against it. It vexed him when he knew wisdom to
see how far off it stood from the children of men, and, when he saw
folly, to see how fast it was bound in their hearts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p25">3. He found that when he had got some
knowledge he could neither gain that satisfaction to himself nor do
that good to others with it which he expected, <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.15" parsed="|Eccl|1|15|0|0" passage="Ec 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. It would not avail, (1.) To
redress the many grievances of human life: "After all, I find that
<i>that which is crooked</i> will be crooked still and <i>cannot be
made straight.</i>" Our knowledge is itself intricate and
perplexed; we must go far about and fetch a great compass to come
at it. Solomon thought to find out a nearer way to it, but he could
not. The paths of learning are as much a labyrinth as ever they
were. The minds and manners of men are crooked and perverse.
Solomon thought, with his wisdom and power together, thoroughly to
reform his kingdom, and make that straight which he found crooked;
but he was disappointed. All the philosophy and politics in the
world will not restore the corrupt nature of man to its primitive
rectitude; we find the insufficiency of them both in others and in
ourselves. Learning will not alter men's natural tempers, nor cure
them of their sinful distempers; nor will it change the
constitution of things in this world; a vale of tears it is and so
it will be when all is done. (2.) To make up the many deficiencies
in the comfort of human life: <i>That which is wanting</i> there
<i>cannot be numbered,</i> or counted out to us from the treasures
of human learning, but what <i>is wanting</i> will still be so. All
our enjoyments here, when we have done our utmost to bring them to
perfection, are still lame and defective, and it cannot be helped;
as they are, so they are likely to be. <i>That which is wanting</i>
in our knowledge is so much that it <i>cannot be numbered.</i> The
more we know the more we see of our own ignorance. <i>Who can
understand his errors,</i> his defects?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ii-p26">4. Upon the whole, therefore, he concluded
that great scholars do but make themselves great mourners; <i>for
in much wisdom is much grief,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.18" parsed="|Eccl|1|18|0|0" passage="Ec 1:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. There must be a great deal of
pains taken to get it, and a great deal of care not to forget it;
the more we know the more we see there is to be known, and
consequently we perceive with greater clearness that our work is
without end, and the more we see of our former mistakes and
blunders, which occasions <i>much grief.</i> The more we see of
men's different sentiments and opinions (and it is that which a
great deal of our learning is conversant about) the more at a loss
we are, it may be, which is in the right. Those <i>that increase
knowledge</i> have so much the more quick and sensible perception
of the calamities of this world, and for one discovery they make
that is pleasing, perhaps, they make ten that are displeasing, and
so they <i>increase sorrow.</i> Let us not therefore be driven off
from the pursuit of any useful knowledge, but put on patience to
break through the sorrow of it; but let us despair of finding true
happiness in this knowledge, and expect it only in the knowledge of
God and the careful discharge of our duty to him. <i>He that
increases</i> in heavenly wisdom, and in an experimental
acquaintance with the principles, powers, and pleasures of the
spiritual and divine life, <i>increases</i> joy, such as will
shortly be consummated in everlasting joy.</p>
</div></div2>