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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E C C L E S I A S T E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Solomon, having shown the vanity of this world in the temptation which
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those in power feel to oppress and trample upon their subjects, here
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further shows,
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I. The temptation which the oppressed feel to discontent and impatience,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The temptation which those that love their case feel to take their
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case and neglect business, for fear of being envied,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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III. The folly of hoarding up abundance of worldly wealth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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IV. A remedy against that folly, in being made sensible of the benefit
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of society and mutual assistance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>.
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V. The mutability even of royal dignity, not only through the folly of
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the prince himself
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:13,14">ver. 13, 14</A>),
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but through the fickleness of the people, let the prince be ever so
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discreet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:15,16">ver. 15, 16</A>.
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It is not the prerogative even of kings themselves to be exempted from
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the vanity and vexation that attend these things; let none else then
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expect it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prevalence of Oppression.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are
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done under the sun: and behold the tears of <I>such as were</I>
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oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their
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oppressors <I>there was</I> power; but they had no comforter.
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2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than
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the living which are yet alive.
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3 Yea, better <I>is he</I> than both they, which hath not yet been,
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who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon had a large soul
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+4:29">1 Kings iv. 29</A>)
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and it appeared by this, among other things, that he had a very tender
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concern for the miserable part of mankind and took cognizance of the
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afflictions of the afflicted. He had taken the oppressors to task
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16,17"><I>ch.</I> iii. 16, 17</A>)
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and put them in mind of the judgment to come, to be a curb to their
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insolence; now here he observes the oppressed. This he did, no doubt,
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as a prince, to do them justice and <I>avenge them of their
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adversaries,</I> for he both <I>feared God and regarded men;</I> but
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here he does it as a preacher, and shows,</P>
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<P>
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I. The troubles of their condition
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
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of these he speaks very feelingly and with compassion. It grieved him,
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1. To see might prevailing against right, to see so much <I>oppression
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done under the sun,</I> to see servants, and labourers, and poor
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workmen, oppressed by their masters, who take advantage of their
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necessity to impose what terms they please upon them, debtors oppressed
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by cruel creditors and creditors too by fraudulent debtors, tenants
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oppressed by hard landlords and orphans by treacherous guardians, and,
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worst of all, subjects oppressed by arbitrary princes and unjust
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judges. Such <I>oppressions are done under the sun;</I> above the sun
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righteousness reigns for ever. Wise men will <I>consider these
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oppressions,</I> and contrive to do something for the relief of those
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that are oppressed. <I>Blessed is he that considers the poor.</I>
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2. To see how those that were wronged laid to heart the wrongs that
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were done them. He <I>beheld the tears of such as were oppressed,</I>
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and perhaps could not forbear weeping with them. The world is a place
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of weepers; look which way we will, we have a melancholy scene
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presented to us, <I>the tears of</I> those that are <I>oppressed</I>
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with one trouble or other. They find it is to no purpose to complain,
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and therefore mourn in secret (as Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+16:20,30:28"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 20; xxx. 28</A>);
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but <I>Blessed are those that mourn.</I>
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3. To see how unable they were to help themselves: <I>On the side of
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their oppressors there was power,</I> when they had done wrong, to
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stand to it and make good what they had done, so that the poor were
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borne down with a strong hand and had no way to obtain redress. It is
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sad to see power misplaced, and that which was given men to enable them
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to do good perverted to support them in doing wrong.
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4. To see how they and their calamities were slighted by all about
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them. They wept and needed comfort, but there was none to do that
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friendly office: <I>They had no comforter;</I> their oppressors were
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powerful and threatening, and therefore <I>they had no comforter;</I>
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those that should have comforted them durst not, for fear of
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displeasing the oppressors and being made their companions for offering
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to be their comforters. It is sad to see so little humanity among
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men.</P>
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<P>
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II. The temptations of their condition. Being thus hardly used, they
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are tempted to hate and despise life, and to envy those that are dead
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and in their graves, and to wish they had never been born
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>);
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and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it serves to prove that
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<I>all is vanity and vexation,</I> since life itself is often so; and
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if we disregard it, in comparison with the favour and fruition of God
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(as St. Paul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+20:24,Php+1:23">Acts xx. 24, Phil. i. 23</A>),
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it is our praise, but, if (as here) only for the sake of the miseries
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that attend it, it is our infirmity, and we judge therein after the
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flesh, as Job and Elijah did.
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1. He here thinks those happy who have ended this miserable life, have
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done their part and quitted the stage; "<I>I praised the dead that are
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already dead,</I> slain outright, or that had a speedy passage through
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the world, made a short cut over the ocean of life, dead already,
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before they had well begun to live; I was pleased with their lot, and,
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had it been in their own choice, should have praised their wisdom for
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but looking into the world and then retiring, as not liking it. I
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concluded that it is better with them than with <I>the living that are
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yet alive</I> and that is all, dragging the long and heavy chain of
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life, and wearing out its tedious minutes." This may be compared not
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with
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+3:20,21">Job iii. 20, 21</A>,
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but with
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+14:13">Rev. xiv. 13</A>,
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where, in times of persecution (and such Solomon is here describing),
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it is not the passion of man, but the Spirit of God, that says,
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<I>Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.</I>
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Note, The condition of the saints that are dead, and gone to rest with
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God, is upon many accounts better and more desirable than the condition
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of living saints that are yet continued in their work and warfare.
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2. He thinks those happy who never began this miserable life; nay, they
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are happiest of all: <I>He that has not been is happier than both
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they.</I> Better never to have been born than be born to <I>see the
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evil work that is done under the sun,</I> to see so much wickedness
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committed, so much wrong done, and not only to be in no capacity to
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mend the matter, but to suffer ill for doing well. A good man, how
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calamitous a condition soever he is in in this world, cannot have cause
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to wish he had never been born, since he is glorifying the Lord even in
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the fires, and will be happy at last, for ever happy. Nor ought any to
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wish so while they are alive, for while there is life there is hope; a
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man is never undone till he is in hell.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Prevalence of Oppression.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that
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for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This <I>is</I> also vanity
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and vexation of spirit.
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5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own
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flesh.
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6 Better <I>is</I> a handful <I>with</I> quietness, than both the hands
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full <I>with</I> travail and vexation of spirit.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here Solomon returns to the observation and consideration of the vanity
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and vexation of spirit that attend the business of this world, which he
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had spoken of before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:11"><I>ch.</I> ii. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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I. If a man be acute, and dexterous, and successful in his business, he
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gets the ill-will of <I>his neighbours,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Though he takes a great deal of pains, and goes through <I>all
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travail,</I> does not get his estate easily, but it costs him a great
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deal of hard labour, nor does he get it dishonestly, he wrongs no man,
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defrauds no man, but by <I>every right work,</I> by applying himself to
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his own proper business, and managing it by all the rules of equity and
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fair dealing, yet <I>for this he is envied of his neighbour,</I> and
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the more for the reputation he has got by his honesty. This shows,
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1. What little conscience most men have, that they will bear a grudge
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to a neighbour, give him an ill word and do him an ill turn, only
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because he is more ingenious and industrious than themselves, and has
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more of the blessing of heaven. Cain envied Abel, Esau Jacob, and Saul
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David, and all for their right works. This is downright diabolism.
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2. What little comfort wise and useful men must expect to have in this
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world. Let them behave themselves ever so cautiously, they cannot
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escape being envied; and <I>who can stand before envy?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:4">Prov. xxvii. 4</A>.
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Those that excel in virtue will always be an eye-sore to those that
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exceed in vice, which should not discourage us from any right work, but
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drive us to expect the praise of it, not from men, but from God, and
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not to count upon satisfaction and happiness in the creature; for, if
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<I>right works</I> prove <I>vanity and vexation of spirit,</I> no works
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<I>under the sun</I> can prove otherwise. But for <I>every right
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work</I> a man shall be accepted of his God, and then he needs not mind
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though he be <I>envied of his neighbour,</I> only it may make him love
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the world the less.</P>
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<P>
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II. If a man be stupid, and dull, and blundering in his business, he
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does ill for himself
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>The fool</I> that goes about his work as if <I>his hands</I> were
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muffled and <I>folded together,</I> that does every thing awkwardly,
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<I>the sluggard</I> (for he is a fool) that loves his ease and <I>folds
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his hands together</I> to keep them warm, because they refuse to
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labour, he <I>eats his own flesh,</I> is a cannibal to himself, brings
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himself into such a poor condition that he has nothing to eat but his
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own flesh, into such a desperate condition that he is ready to eat his
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own flesh for vexation. He has a dog's life--hunger and ease. Because
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he sees active men that thrive in the world envied, he runs into the
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other extreme; and, lest he should be envied for his right works, he
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does every thing wrong, and does not deserve to be pitied. Note,
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Idleness is a sin that is its own punishment. The following words
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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<I>Better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with
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travail and vexation of spirit,</I> may be taken either,
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1. As the sluggard's argument for the excuse of himself in his
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idleness. He <I>folds his hands together,</I> and abuses and misapplies
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a good truth for his justification, as if, because <I>a little with
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quietness is better than</I> abundance with strife, therefore a little
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with idleness is better than abundance with honest labour: thus <I>wise
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in his own conceit</I> is he,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+26:16">Prov. xxvi. 16</A>.
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But,
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2. I rather take it as Solomon's advice to keep the mean between that
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<I>travail</I> which will make <I>a man envied</I> and that
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slothfulness which will make a man <I>eat his own flesh.</I> Let us by
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honest industry lay hold on the handful, that we may not want
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necessaries, but not grasp at both the hands full, which will but
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create us vexation of spirit. Moderate pains and moderate gains will do
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best. A man may have but a handful of the world, and yet may enjoy it
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and himself with a great deal of <I>quietness,</I> with content of
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mind, peace of conscience, and the love and good-will of his
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neighbours, while many that have both their hands full, have more than
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heart could wish, have a great deal of travail and vexation with it.
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Those that cannot live on a little, it is to be feared, would not live
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as they should if they had ever so much.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vanity of Human Wishes.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
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8 There is one <I>alone,</I> and <I>there is</I> not a second; yea, he
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hath neither child nor brother: yet <I>is there</I> no end of all his
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labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither <I>saith
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he,</I> For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This <I>is</I>
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also vanity, yea, it <I>is</I> a sore travail.
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9 Two <I>are</I> better than one; because they have a good reward
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for their labour.
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10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe
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to him <I>that is</I> alone when he falleth; for <I>he hath</I> not another
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to help him up.
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11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can
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one be warm <I>alone?</I>
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12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and
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a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here Solomon fastens upon another instance of the vanity of this world,
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that frequently the more men have of it the more they would have; and
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on this they are so intent that they have no enjoyment of what they
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have. Now Solomon here shows,</P>
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<P>
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I. That selfishness is the cause of this evil
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>):
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<I>There is one alone,</I> that minds none but himself, cares for
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nobody, but would, if he could, be placed alone in the midst of the
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earth; <I>there is not a second,</I> nor does he desire there should
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be: one mouth he thinks enough in a house, and grudges every thing that
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goes beside him. See how this covetous muckworm is here described.
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1. He makes himself a mere slave to his business. Though <I>he has</I>
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no charge, <I>neither child nor brother,</I> none to take care of but
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himself, none to hang upon him, or draw from him, no poor relations,
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nor dares he marry, for fear of the expense of a family, <I>yet is
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there no end of his labour;</I> he is at it night and day, early and
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late, and will scarcely allow necessary rest to himself and those he
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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
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:2">Ps. cxxvii. 2</A>.
|
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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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:16">1 John ii. 16</A>)
|
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|
|
because the <I>beholding of it with his eyes</I> is all that the
|
|
worldling seems to covet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:11">Eccl. v. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+2:18">Gen. ii. 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+10:11">2 Sam. x. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec4_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec4_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec4_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec4_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Advantages of Society.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:24">Prov. xxvii. 24</A>,
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
I. A king is not happy unless he have wisdom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+113:7,8">Ps. cxiii. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:15,16">two verses</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:12"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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