mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Ec.v" n="v" next="Ec.vi" prev="Ec.iv" progress="90.90%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Ec.v-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.v-p1">Solomon, having shown the vanity of this world in
the temptation which those in power feel to oppress and trample
upon their subjects, here further shows, I. The temptation which
the oppressed feel to discontent and impatience, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.1-Eccl.4.3" parsed="|Eccl|4|1|4|3" passage="Ec 4:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The temptation which those that
love their case feel to take their case and neglect business, for
fear of being envied, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.4-Eccl.4.6" parsed="|Eccl|4|4|4|6" passage="Ec 4:4-6">ver.
4-6</scripRef>. III. The folly of hoarding up abundance of worldly
wealth, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.7-Eccl.4.8" parsed="|Eccl|4|7|4|8" passage="Ec 4:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. IV. A
remedy against that folly, in being made sensible of the benefit of
society and mutual assistance, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.9-Eccl.4.12" parsed="|Eccl|4|9|4|12" passage="Ec 4:9-12">ver.
9-12</scripRef>. V. The mutability even of royal dignity, not only
through the folly of the prince himself (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.13-Eccl.4.14" parsed="|Eccl|4|13|4|14" passage="Ec 4:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>), but through the fickleness of
the people, let the prince be ever so discreet, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.15-Eccl.4.16" parsed="|Eccl|4|15|4|16" passage="Ec 4:15,16">ver. 15, 16</scripRef>. It is not the prerogative even
of kings themselves to be exempted from the vanity and vexation
that attend these things; let none else then expect it.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.v-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4" parsed="|Eccl|4|0|0|0" passage="Ec 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.v-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.1-Eccl.4.3" parsed="|Eccl|4|1|4|3" passage="Ec 4:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.4.1-Eccl.4.3">
<h4 id="Ec.v-p1.9">The Prevalence of
Oppression.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.v-p2">1 So I returned, and considered all the
oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of
<i>such as were</i> oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on
the side of their oppressors <i>there was</i> power; but they had
no comforter.   2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are
already dead more than the living which are yet alive.   3
Yea, better <i>is he</i> than both they, which hath not yet been,
who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p3">Solomon had a large soul (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.4.29" parsed="|1Kgs|4|29|0|0" passage="1Ki 4:29">1 Kings iv. 29</scripRef>) and it appeared by
this, among other things, that he had a very tender concern for the
miserable part of mankind and took cognizance of the afflictions of
the afflicted. He had taken the oppressors to task (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16-Eccl.3.17" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|3|17" passage="Ec 3:16,17"><i>ch.</i> iii. 16, 17</scripRef>) and put
them in mind of the judgment to come, to be a curb to their
insolence; now here he observes the oppressed. This he did, no
doubt, as a prince, to do them justice and <i>avenge them of their
adversaries,</i> for he both <i>feared God and regarded men;</i>
but here he does it as a preacher, and shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p4">I. The troubles of their condition
(<scripRef id="Ec.v-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.1" parsed="|Eccl|4|1|0|0" passage="Ec 4:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>); of these he
speaks very feelingly and with compassion. It grieved him, 1. To
see might prevailing against right, to see so much <i>oppression
done under the sun,</i> to see servants, and labourers, and poor
workmen, oppressed by their masters, who take advantage of their
necessity to impose what terms they please upon them, debtors
oppressed by cruel creditors and creditors too by fraudulent
debtors, tenants oppressed by hard landlords and orphans by
treacherous guardians, and, worst of all, subjects oppressed by
arbitrary princes and unjust judges. Such <i>oppressions are done
under the sun;</i> above the sun righteousness reigns for ever.
Wise men will <i>consider these oppressions,</i> and contrive to do
something for the relief of those that are oppressed. <i>Blessed is
he that considers the poor.</i> 2. To see how those that were
wronged laid to heart the wrongs that were done them. He <i>beheld
the tears of such as were oppressed,</i> and perhaps could not
forbear weeping with them. The world is a place of weepers; look
which way we will, we have a melancholy scene presented to us,
<i>the tears of</i> those that are <i>oppressed</i> with one
trouble or other. They find it is to no purpose to complain, and
therefore mourn in secret (as Job, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.16.20 Bible:Job.30.28" parsed="|Job|16|20|0|0;|Job|30|28|0|0" passage="Job 16:20,30:28"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 20; xxx. 28</scripRef>); but
<i>Blessed are those that mourn.</i> 3. To see how unable they were
to help themselves: <i>On the side of their oppressors there was
power,</i> when they had done wrong, to stand to it and make good
what they had done, so that the poor were borne down with a strong
hand and had no way to obtain redress. It is sad to see power
misplaced, and that which was given men to enable them to do good
perverted to support them in doing wrong. 4. To see how they and
their calamities were slighted by all about them. They wept and
needed comfort, but there was none to do that friendly office:
<i>They had no comforter;</i> their oppressors were powerful and
threatening, and therefore <i>they had no comforter;</i> those that
should have comforted them durst not, for fear of displeasing the
oppressors and being made their companions for offering to be their
comforters. It is sad to see so little humanity among men.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p5">II. The temptations of their condition.
Being thus hardly used, they are tempted to hate and despise life,
and to envy those that are dead and in their graves, and to wish
they had never been born (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.2-Eccl.4.3" parsed="|Eccl|4|2|4|3" passage="Ec 4:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2,
3</scripRef>); and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it
serves to prove that <i>all is vanity and vexation,</i> since life
itself is often so; and if we disregard it, in comparison with the
favour and fruition of God (as St. Paul, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.20.24 Bible:Phil.1.23" parsed="|Acts|20|24|0|0;|Phil|1|23|0|0" passage="Ac 20:24,Php 1:23">Acts xx. 24, Phil. i. 23</scripRef>), it is our
praise, but, if (as here) only for the sake of the miseries that
attend it, it is our infirmity, and we judge therein after the
flesh, as Job and Elijah did. 1. He here thinks those happy who
have ended this miserable life, have done their part and quitted
the stage; "<i>I praised the dead that are already dead,</i> slain
outright, or that had a speedy passage through the world, made a
short cut over the ocean of life, dead already, before they had
well begun to live; I was pleased with their lot, and, had it been
in their own choice, should have praised their wisdom for but
looking into the world and then retiring, as not liking it. I
concluded that it is better with them than with <i>the living that
are yet alive</i> and that is all, dragging the long and heavy
chain of life, and wearing out its tedious minutes." This may be
compared not with <scripRef id="Ec.v-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.3.20-Job.3.21" parsed="|Job|3|20|3|21" passage="Job 3:20,21">Job iii. 20,
21</scripRef>, but with <scripRef id="Ec.v-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.13" parsed="|Rev|14|13|0|0" passage="Re 14:13">Rev. xiv.
13</scripRef>, where, in times of persecution (and such Solomon is
here describing), it is not the passion of man, but the Spirit of
God, that says, <i>Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth.</i> Note, The condition of the saints that are dead,
and gone to rest with God, is upon many accounts better and more
desirable than the condition of living saints that are yet
continued in their work and warfare. 2. He thinks those happy who
never began this miserable life; nay, they are happiest of all:
<i>He that has not been is happier than both they.</i> Better never
to have been born than be born to <i>see the evil work that is done
under the sun,</i> to see so much wickedness committed, so much
wrong done, and not only to be in no capacity to mend the matter,
but to suffer ill for doing well. A good man, how calamitous a
condition soever he is in in this world, cannot have cause to wish
he had never been born, since he is glorifying the Lord even in the
fires, and will be happy at last, for ever happy. Nor ought any to
wish so while they are alive, for while there is life there is
hope; a man is never undone till he is in hell.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.v-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.4-Eccl.4.6" parsed="|Eccl|4|4|4|6" passage="Ec 4:4-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.4.4-Eccl.4.6">
<h4 id="Ec.v-p5.6">The Prevalence of
Oppression.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.v-p6">4 Again, I considered all travail, and every
right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This
<i>is</i> also vanity and vexation of spirit.   5 The fool
foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.   6
Better <i>is</i> a handful <i>with</i> quietness, than both the
hands full <i>with</i> travail and vexation of spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p7">Here Solomon returns to the observation and
consideration of the vanity and vexation of spirit that attend the
business of this world, which he had spoken of before, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.11" parsed="|Eccl|2|11|0|0" passage="Ec 2:11"><i>ch.</i> ii. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p8">I. If a man be acute, and dexterous, and
successful in his business, he gets the ill-will of <i>his
neighbours,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.v-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.4" parsed="|Eccl|4|4|0|0" passage="Ec 4:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
Though he takes a great deal of pains, and goes through <i>all
travail,</i> does not get his estate easily, but it costs him a
great deal of hard labour, nor does he get it dishonestly, he
wrongs no man, defrauds no man, but by <i>every right work,</i> by
applying himself to his own proper business, and managing it by all
the rules of equity and fair dealing, yet <i>for this he is envied
of his neighbour,</i> and the more for the reputation he has got by
his honesty. This shows, 1. What little conscience most men have,
that they will bear a grudge to a neighbour, give him an ill word
and do him an ill turn, only because he is more ingenious and
industrious than themselves, and has more of the blessing of
heaven. Cain envied Abel, Esau Jacob, and Saul David, and all for
their right works. This is downright diabolism. 2. What little
comfort wise and useful men must expect to have in this world. Let
them behave themselves ever so cautiously, they cannot escape being
envied; and <i>who can stand before envy?</i> <scripRef id="Ec.v-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.4" parsed="|Prov|27|4|0|0" passage="Pr 27:4">Prov. xxvii. 4</scripRef>. Those that excel in virtue
will always be an eye-sore to those that exceed in vice, which
should not discourage us from any right work, but drive us to
expect the praise of it, not from men, but from God, and not to
count upon satisfaction and happiness in the creature; for, if
<i>right works</i> prove <i>vanity and vexation of spirit,</i> no
works <i>under the sun</i> can prove otherwise. But for <i>every
right work</i> a man shall be accepted of his God, and then he
needs not mind though he be <i>envied of his neighbour,</i> only it
may make him love the world the less.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p9">II. If a man be stupid, and dull, and
blundering in his business, he does ill for himself (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.5" parsed="|Eccl|4|5|0|0" passage="Ec 4:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>The fool</i> that goes
about his work as if <i>his hands</i> were muffled and <i>folded
together,</i> that does every thing awkwardly, <i>the sluggard</i>
(for he is a fool) that loves his ease and <i>folds his hands
together</i> to keep them warm, because they refuse to labour, he
<i>eats his own flesh,</i> is a cannibal to himself, brings himself
into such a poor condition that he has nothing to eat but his own
flesh, into such a desperate condition that he is ready to eat his
own flesh for vexation. He has a dog's life—hunger and ease.
Because he sees active men that thrive in the world envied, he runs
into the other extreme; and, lest he should be envied for his right
works, he does every thing wrong, and does not deserve to be
pitied. Note, Idleness is a sin that is its own punishment. The
following words (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.6" parsed="|Eccl|4|6|0|0" passage="Ec 4:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), <i>Better is a handful with quietness than both the
hands full with travail and vexation of spirit,</i> may be taken
either, 1. As the sluggard's argument for the excuse of himself in
his idleness. He <i>folds his hands together,</i> and abuses and
misapplies a good truth for his justification, as if, because <i>a
little with quietness is better than</i> abundance with strife,
therefore a little with idleness is better than abundance with
honest labour: thus <i>wise in his own conceit</i> is he, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.26.16" parsed="|Prov|26|16|0|0" passage="Pr 26:16">Prov. xxvi. 16</scripRef>. But, 2. I rather take
it as Solomon's advice to keep the mean between that <i>travail</i>
which will make <i>a man envied</i> and that slothfulness which
will make a man <i>eat his own flesh.</i> Let us by honest industry
lay hold on the handful, that we may not want necessaries, but not
grasp at both the hands full, which will but create us vexation of
spirit. Moderate pains and moderate gains will do best. A man may
have but a handful of the world, and yet may enjoy it and himself
with a great deal of <i>quietness,</i> with content of mind, peace
of conscience, and the love and good-will of his neighbours, while
many that have both their hands full, have more than heart could
wish, have a great deal of travail and vexation with it. Those that
cannot live on a little, it is to be feared, would not live as they
should if they had ever so much.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.v-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.7-Eccl.4.12" parsed="|Eccl|4|7|4|12" passage="Ec 4:7-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.4.7-Eccl.4.12">
<h4 id="Ec.v-p9.5">The Vanity of Human Wishes.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.v-p10">7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the
sun.   8 There is one <i>alone,</i> and <i>there is</i> not a
second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet <i>is there</i>
no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches;
neither <i>saith he,</i> For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul
of good? This <i>is</i> also vanity, yea, it <i>is</i> a sore
travail.   9 Two <i>are</i> better than one; because they have
a good reward for their labour.   10 For if they fall, the one
will lift up his fellow: but woe to him <i>that is</i> alone when
he falleth; for <i>he hath</i> not another to help him up.  
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one
be warm <i>alone?</i>   12 And if one prevail against him, two
shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly
broken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p11">Here Solomon fastens upon another instance
of the vanity of this world, that frequently the more men have of
it the more they would have; and on this they are so intent that
they have no enjoyment of what they have. Now Solomon here
shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p12">I. That selfishness is the cause of this
evil (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.7-Eccl.4.8" parsed="|Eccl|4|7|4|8" passage="Ec 4:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>):
<i>There is one alone,</i> that minds none but himself, cares for
nobody, but would, if he could, be placed alone in the midst of the
earth; <i>there is not a second,</i> nor does he desire there
should be: one mouth he thinks enough in a house, and grudges every
thing that goes beside him. See how this covetous muckworm is here
described. 1. He makes himself a mere slave to his business. Though
<i>he has</i> no charge, <i>neither child nor brother,</i> none to
take care of but himself, none to hang upon him, or draw from him,
no poor relations, nor dares he marry, for fear of the expense of a
family, <i>yet is there no end of his labour;</i> he is at it night
and day, early and late, and will scarcely allow necessary rest to
himself and those he employs. He does not confine himself within
the bounds of his own calling, but is for having a hand in any
thing that he can get by. See <scripRef id="Ec.v-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.127.2" parsed="|Ps|127|2|0|0" passage="Ps 127:2">Ps.
cxxvii. 2</scripRef>. 2. He never thinks he has enough: <i>His eye
is not satisfied with riches.</i> Covetousness is called <i>the
lust of the eye</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.16" parsed="|1John|2|16|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:16">1 John ii.
16</scripRef>) because the <i>beholding of it with his eyes</i> is
all that the worldling seems to covet, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.11" parsed="|Eccl|5|11|0|0" passage="Ec 5:11">Eccl. v. 11</scripRef>. He has enough for his back (as
bishop Reynolds observes), for his belly, for his calling, for his
family, for his living decently in the world, but he has not enough
for his eyes. Though he can but see it, can but count his money,
and not find in his heart to use it, yet he is not easy because he
has not more to regale his eyes with. 3. He denies himself the
comfort of what he has: he <i>bereaves his soul of good.</i> If our
souls are bereaved of good, it is we ourselves that do bereave
them. Others may bereave us of outward good, but cannot rob us of
our graces and comforts, our spiritual good things. It is our own
fault if we do not enjoy ourselves. Yet many are so set upon the
world that, in pursuit of it, they <i>bereave their souls of
good</i> here and for ever, make shipwreck of faith and of a good
conscience, bereave themselves not only of the favour of God and
eternal life, but of the pleasures of this world too and this
present life. Worldly people, pretending to be wise for themselves,
are really enemies to themselves. 4. He has no excuse for doing
this: <i>He has neither child nor brother,</i> none that he is
bound to, on whom he may lay out what he has to his satisfaction
while he lives, none that he has a kindness for, for whom he may
lay it up to his satisfaction and to whom he may leave it when he
dies, none that are poor or dear to him. 5. He has not
consideration enough to show himself the folly of this. He never
puts this question to himself, "<i>For whom do I labour</i> thus?
Do I labour, as I should, for the glory of God, and that I may have
to give to those that need? Do I consider that it is but for the
body that I am labouring, a dying body; it is for others, and I
know not for whom—perhaps for a fool, that will scatter it as fast
as I have gathered it—perhaps for a foe, that will be ungrateful
to my memory?" Note, It is wisdom for those that take pains about
this world to consider whom they take all this pains for, and
whether it be really worth while to bereave themselves of good that
they may bestow it on a stranger. If men do not consider this, it
<i>is vanity, and a sore travail;</i> they shame and vex themselves
to no purpose.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p13">II. That sociableness is the cure of this
evil. Men are thus sordid because they are all for themselves. Now
Solomon shows here, by divers instances, that <i>it is not good for
man to be alone</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.18" parsed="|Gen|2|18|0|0" passage="Ge 2:18">Gen. ii.
18</scripRef>); he designs hereby to recommend to us both marriage
and friendship, two things which covetous misers decline, because
of the charge of them; but such are the comfort and advantage of
them both, if prudently contracted, that they will very well quit
cost. Man, in paradise itself, could not be happy without a mate,
and therefore is no sooner made than matched. 1. Solomon lays this
down for a truth, That <i>two are better than one,</i> and more
happy jointly than either of them could be separately, more pleased
in one another than they could be in themselves only, mutually
serviceable to each other's welfare, and by a united strength more
likely to do good to others: <i>They have a good reward of their
labour;</i> whatever service they do, it is returned to them
another way. He that serves himself only has himself only for his
paymaster, and commonly proves more unjust and ungrateful to
himself than his friend, if he should serve him, would be to him;
witness him that <i>labours endlessly</i> and yet <i>bereaves his
soul of good;</i> he has no <i>reward of his labour.</i> But he
that is kind to another has <i>a good reward;</i> the pleasure and
advantage of holy love will be an abundant recompence for all the
<i>work and labour of love.</i> Hence Solomon infers the mischief
of solitude: <i>Woe to him that is alone.</i> He lies exposed to
many temptations which good company and friendship would prevent
and help him to guard against; he wants that advantage which a man
has by the countenance of his friend, as iron has of being
sharpened by iron. A monastic life then was surely never intended
for a state of perfection, nor should those be reckoned the
greatest lovers of God who cannot find in their hearts to love any
one else. 2. He proves it by divers instances of the benefit of
friendship and good conversation. (1.) Occasional succour in an
exigency. It is good for two to travel together, <i>for if</i> one
happen to <i>fall,</i> he may be lost for want of a little help. If
a man fall <i>into sin,</i> his friend will help to <i>restore him
with the spirit of meekness;</i> if he fall into trouble, his
friend will help to comfort him and assuage his grief. (2.) Mutual
warmth. As a fellow-traveller is of use (<i>amicus pro
vehiculo</i>—<i>a friend is a good substitute for a carriage</i>)
so is a bedfellow: <i>If two lie together, they have heat.</i> So
virtuous and gracious affections are excited by good society, and
Christians warm one another by <i>provoking one another to love and
to good works.</i> (3.) United strength. If an enemy find a man
alone, he is likely to <i>prevail against him;</i> with his own
single strength he cannot make his part good, but, if he have a
second, he may do well enough: <i>two shall withstand him.</i> "You
shall help me against my enemy, and I will help you against yours;"
according to the agreement between Joab and Abishai (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.10.11" parsed="|2Sam|10|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 10:11">2 Sam. x. 11</scripRef>), and so both are
conquerors; whereas, acting separately, both would have been
conquered; as was said of the ancient Britons, when the Romans
invaded them, <i>Dum singuli pugnant, universi vincuntur—While
they fight in detached parties, they sacrifice the general
cause.</i> In our spiritual warfare we may be helpful to one
another as well as in our spiritual work; next to the comfort of
communion with God, is that of the communion of saints. He
concludes with this proverb, <i>A threefold cord is not easily
broken,</i> any more than a bundle of arrows, though each single
thread, and each single arrow, is. Two together he compares to <i>a
threefold cord;</i> for where two are closely joined in holy love
and fellowship, Christ will by his Spirit come to them, and make
the third, as he joined himself to the two disciples going to
Emmaus, and then there is <i>a threefold cord</i> that can never be
<i>broken. They that dwell in love, dwell in God, and God in
them.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.v-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.13-Eccl.4.16" parsed="|Eccl|4|13|4|16" passage="Ec 4:13-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.4.13-Eccl.4.16">
<h4 id="Ec.v-p13.4">The Advantages of Society.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.v-p14">13 Better <i>is</i> a poor and a wise child than
an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.   14
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also <i>he that
is</i> born in his kingdom becometh poor.   15 I considered
all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that
shall stand up in his stead.   16 <i>There is</i> no end of
all the people, <i>even</i> of all that have been before them: they
also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also
<i>is</i> vanity and vexation of spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p15">Solomon was himself a king, and therefore
may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the
vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an
uncertain thing; he had before said so (<scripRef id="Ec.v-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.24" parsed="|Prov|27|24|0|0" passage="Pr 27:24">Prov. xxvii. 24</scripRef>, <i>The crown doth not endure
to every generation</i>), and his son found it so. Nothing is more
slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the
people's love.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p16">I. A king is not happy unless he have
wisdom, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.13-Eccl.4.14" parsed="|Eccl|4|13|4|14" passage="Ec 4:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>.
He that is truly <i>wise,</i> prudent, and pious, though he be
<i>poor</i> in the world, and very young, and upon both accounts
despised and little taken notice of, <i>is better,</i> more truly
valuable and worthy of respect, is likely to do better for himself
and to be a greater blessing to his generation, <i>than a king,
than an old king,</i> and therefore venerable both for his gravity
and for his dignity, if he be <i>foolish,</i> and knows not how to
manage public affairs himself nor <i>will be admonished</i> and
advised by others—<i>who</i> knows not to <i>be admonished,</i>
that is, will not suffer any counsel or admonition to be given him
(no one about him dares contradict him) or will not hearken to the
counsel and admonition that are given him. It is so far from being
any part of the honour of kings that it is the greatest dishonour
to them that can be not to be <i>admonished.</i> Folly and
wilfulness commonly go together, and those that most need
admonition can worst bear it; but neither age nor titles will
secure men respect if they have not true wisdom and virtue to
recommend them; while wisdom and virtue will gain men honour even
under the disadvantages of youth and poverty. To prove the <i>wise
child better than the foolish king</i> he shows what each of them
comes to, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.14" parsed="|Eccl|4|14|0|0" passage="Ec 4:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 1.
<i>A poor</i> man by his wisdom comes to be preferred, as Joseph,
who, when he was but young, was brought <i>out of prison</i> to be
<i>the second</i> man in the kingdom, to which story Solomon seems
here to refer. Providence sometimes <i>raises the poor out of the
dust, to set them among princes,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.v-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.113.7-Ps.113.8" parsed="|Ps|113|7|113|8" passage="Ps 113:7,8">Ps. cxiii. 7, 8</scripRef>. Wisdom has wrought not
only the liberty of men, but their dignity, raised them from the
dunghill, from the dungeon, to the throne. 2. <i>A king</i> by his
folly and wilfulness comes to be impoverished. Though he was
<i>born in his kingdom,</i> came to it by inheritance, though he
has lived to be old in it and has had time to fill his treasures,
yet if he take ill courses, and <i>will no more be admonished</i>
as he has been, thinking, because he is old, he is past it, he
<i>becomes poor;</i> his treasure is exhausted, and perhaps he is
forced to resign his crown and retire into privacy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.v-p17">II. A king is not likely to continue if he
have not a confirmed interest in the affections of the people; this
is intimated, but somewhat obscurely, in the last <scripRef id="Ec.v-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.15-Eccl.4.16" parsed="|Eccl|4|15|4|16" passage="Ec 4:15,16">two verses</scripRef>. 1. He that is king must
have a successor, a <i>second,</i> a <i>child that shall stand up
in his stead,</i> his own, suppose, or perhaps that <i>poor and
wise child</i> spoken of, <scripRef id="Ec.v-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.12" parsed="|Eccl|4|12|0|0" passage="Ec 4:12"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. Kings, when they grow old, must have the
mortification of seeing those that are to jostle them out and stand
up in their stead. 2. It is common with the people to adore the
rising sun: <i>All the living who walk under the sun</i> are
<i>with the second child,</i> are in his interests, are conversant
with him, and make their court to him more than to the father, whom
they look upon as going off, and despise because his best days are
past. Solomon considered this; he saw this to be the disposition of
his own people, which appeared immediately after his death, in
their complaints of his government and their affectation of a
change. 3. People are never long easy and satisfied: <i>There is no
end,</i> no rest, <i>of all the people;</i> they are continually
fond of changes, and know not what they would have. 4. This is no
new thing, but it has been the way <i>of all that have been before
them;</i> there have been instances of this in every age: even
Samuel and David could not always please. 5. As it has been, so it
is likely to be still: <i>Those that come after</i> will be of the
same spirit, and <i>shall not</i> long <i>rejoice in him</i> whom
at first they seemed extremely fond of. To-day,
<i>Hosanna</i>—tomorrow, <i>Crucify.</i> 6. It cannot but be a
great grief to princes to see themselves thus slighted by those
they have studied to oblige and have depended upon; there is no
faith in man, no stedfastness. <i>This is vanity and vexation of
spirit.</i></p>
</div></div2>