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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ecclesiastes VI].</TITLE>
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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. VI.</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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In this chapter,
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I. The royal preacher goes on further to show the vanity of worldly
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wealth, when men place their happiness in it and are eager and
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inordinate in laying it up. Riches, in the hands of a man that is wise
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and generous, and good for something, but in the hands of a sordid,
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sneaking, covetous miser, they are good for nothing.
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1. He takes an account of the possessions and enjoyments which such a
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man may have. He has wealth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:2">ver. 2</A>),
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he has children to inherit it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:3">ver. 3</A>),
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and lives long,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:3,6">ver. 3, 6</A>.
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2. He describes his folly in not taking the comfort of it; he has no
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power to eat of it, lets strangers devour it, is never filled with
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good, and at last has no burial,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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3. He condemns it as an evil, a common evil, vanity, and a disease,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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4. He prefers the condition of a still-born child before the condition
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of such a one,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:3">ver. 3</A>.
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The still-born child's infelicity is only negative
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>),
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but that of the covetous worldling is positive; he lives a great while
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to see himself miserable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:6">ver. 6</A>.
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5. He shows the vanity of riches as pertaining only to the body, and
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giving no satisfaction to the mind
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>),
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and of those boundless desires with which covetous people vex
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themselves
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:9">ver. 9</A>),
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which, if they be gratified ever so fully, leave a man but a man still,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:10">ver. 10</A>.
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II. He concludes this discourse of the vanity of the creature with this
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plain inference from the whole, That it is folly to think of making up
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a happiness for ourselves in the things of this world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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Our satisfaction must be in another life, not in this.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_6"> </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 Miseries of Covetousness.</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 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it <I>is</I>
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common among men:
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2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so
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that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet
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God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth
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it: this <I>is</I> vanity, and it <I>is</I> an evil disease.
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3 If a man beget a hundred <I>children,</I> and live many years, so
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that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled
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with good, and also <I>that</I> he have no burial; I say, <I>that</I> an
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untimely birth <I>is</I> better than he.
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4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and
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his name shall be covered with darkness.
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5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known <I>any thing:</I>
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this hath more rest than the other.
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6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice <I>told,</I> yet hath
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he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon had shown, in the close of the foregoing chapter, how good it
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is to make a comfortable use of the gifts of God's providence; now here
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he shows the evil of the contrary, having and not using, gathering to
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lay up for I know not what contingent emergencies to come, not to lay
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out on the most urgent occasions present. This <I>is an evil which</I>
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Solomon himself saw <I>under the sun,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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A great deal of evil there is <I>under the sun.</I> There is a world
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above the sun where there is no evil, yet God <I>causes his sun to
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shine upon the evil</I> as well as upon <I>the good,</I> which is an
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aggravation of the evil. God has lighted up a candle for his servants
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to work by, but they bury their talent as slothful and unprofitable,
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and so waste the light and are unworthy of it. Solomon, as a king,
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inspected the manners of his subjects, and took notice of this evil as
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a prejudice to the public, who are damaged not only by men's
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prodigality on the one hand, but by their penuriousness on the other.
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As it is with the blood in the natural body, so it is with the wealth
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of the body politic, if, instead of circulating, it stagnates, it will
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be of ill consequence. Solomon as a preacher observed the evils that
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were done that he might reprove them and warn people against them. This
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evil was, in his days, <I>common,</I> and yet then there was great
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plenty of silver and gold, which, one would think, should have made
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people less fond of riches; the times also were peaceable, nor was
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there any prospect of trouble, which to some is a temptation to hoard.
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But no providence will of itself, unless the grace of God work with it,
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cure the corrupt affection that is in the carnal mind to the world and
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the things of it; nay, when <I>riches increase</I> we are most apt to
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set our <I>hearts upon them.</I> Now concerning this miser observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The abundant reason he has to serve God with joyfulness and gladness
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of heart; how well God has done for him.</P>
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<P>
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1. He <I>has given</I> him <I>riches, wealth, and honour,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note,
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(1.) <I>Riches</I> and <I>wealth</I> commonly gain people <I>honour</I>
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among men. Though it be but an image, if it be a <I>golden</I> image,
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<I>all people, nations, and languages,</I> will <I>fall down and
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worship it.</I>
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(2.) <I>Riches, wealth, and honour,</I> are God's gifts, the gifts of
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his providence, and not given, as his rain and sunshine, alike to all,
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but to some, and not to others, as God sees fit.
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(3.) Yet they are given to many that do not make a good use of them, to
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many to whom God does not give wisdom and grace to take the comfort of
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them and serve God with them. The gifts of common providence are
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bestowed on many to whom are denied the gifts of a special grace,
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without which the gifts of providence often do more hurt than good.</P>
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<P>
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2. <I>He wants nothing for his soul of all that he desires.</I>
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Providence has been so liberal to him that he has as much as <I>heart
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could wish,</I> and <I>more,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:7">Ps. lxxiii. 7</A>.
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He does not desire grace for his soul, the better part; all he desires
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is enough to gratify the sensual appetite, and that he has; his
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<I>belly</I> is <I>filled with</I> these <I>hidden treasures,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. He is supposed to have a numerous family, to <I>beget a hundred
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children,</I> which are the stay and strength of his house and as a
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<I>quiver full of arrows</I> to him, which are the honour and credit of
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his house, and in whom he has the prospect of having his name built up
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and having all the immortality this world can give him. <I>They are
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full of children</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>),
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while many of God's people are written childless and stripped of
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all.</P>
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<P>
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4. To complete his happiness, he is supposed to <I>live many years,</I>
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or rather many <I>days,</I> for our life is to be reckoned rather by
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days than years: <I>The days of his years are many,</I> and so
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healthful is his constitution, and so slowly does age creep upon him,
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that they are likely to be many more. Nay, he is supposed to <I>live a
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thousand years</I> (which no man, that we know of, ever did), nay, <I>a
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thousand years twice told,</I> a small part of which time, one would
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think, were enough to convince men, by their own experience, of the
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folly both of those that expect to find all good in worldly wealth, and
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of those that expect to find any good in it but in using it.</P>
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<P>
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II. The little heart he has to use this which God gives him, for the
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ends and purposes for which it was given him. This is his fault and
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folly that he <I>renders not again according to the benefit done unto
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him,</I> and <I>serves not the Lord God</I> his benefactor, <I>with
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joyfulness and gladness of heart, in the abundance of all things.</I>
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In the day of prosperity he is not joyful. <I>Tristis es, et felix?--Art
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thou happy, yet sad?</I> See his folly:
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1. He cannot find in his heart to take the comfort of what he has
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himself. He has meat before him; he has wherewith to maintain himself
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and his family comfortably, but he has <I>not power to eat thereof.</I>
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His sordid niggardly temper will not suffer him to lay it out, no, not
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upon himself, no, not upon that which is most necessary for himself. He
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has not power to reason himself out of this absurdity, to conquer his
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covetous humour. He is weak indeed, who has not power to use what God
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gives him, for <I>God gives him not</I> that <I>power,</I> but
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withholds it from him, to punish him for his other abuses of his
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wealth. Because he has not the will to serve God with it, God denies
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him the power to serve himself with it.
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2. He suffers those to prey upon him that he is under no obligation to:
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<I>A stranger eateth it.</I> This is the common fate of misers; they
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will not trust their own children perhaps, but retainers and
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hangers-on, that have the art of wheedling, insinuate themselves into
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them, and find ways of devouring what they have, or getting it to be
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left to them by their wills. God orders it so that <I>a stranger eats
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it. Strangers devour his strength,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+7:9,Pr+5:10">Hos. vii. 9; Prov. v. 10</A>.
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This may be well called <I>vanity, and an evil disease.</I> What we
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have we have in vain if we do not use it; and that temper of mind is
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certainly a most wretched distemper which keeps us from using it. Our
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worst diseases are those that arise from the corruption of our own
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hearts.
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3. He deprives himself of the good that he might have had of his
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worldly possessions, not only forfeits it, but robs himself of it and
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throws it from him: <I>His soul is not filled with good,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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He is still unsatisfied and uneasy. His hands are filled with riches,
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his barns filled, and his bags filled, but <I>his soul is not filled
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with good,</I> no, not with that good, for it is still craving more.
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Nay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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<I>he has not seen good;</I> he cannot so much as please his eye, for
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that is still looking further and looking with envy on those that have
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more. He has not even the sensible good of an estate. Though he looks
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not beyond the things that are seen, yet he looks not with any true
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pleasure even on them.
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4. <I>He has no burial,</I> none agreeable to his rank, no decent
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burial, but <I>the burial of an ass.</I> Through the sordidness of his
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temper he will not allow himself a fashionable burial, but forbids it,
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or the strangers that have eaten him up leave him so poor, at last,
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that he has not wherewithal, or those to whom he leaves what he has
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have so little esteem for his memory, and are so greedy of what they
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are to have from him, that they will not be at the charges of burying
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him handsomely, which his own children, if he had left it to them,
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would not have grudged him.</P>
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<P>
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III. The preference which the preacher gives to an untimely birth
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before him: <I>An untimely birth,</I> a child that is carried from the
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womb to the grave, <I>is better than he.</I> Better is the fruit that
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drops from the tree before it is ripe than that which is left to hang
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on till it is rotten. Job, in his passion, thinks the condition of
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<I>an untimely birth</I> better than his when he was in adversity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+3:16">Job iii. 16</A>);
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but Solomon here pronounces it better than the condition of a worldling
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in his greatest prosperity, when the world smiles upon him.
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1. He grants the condition of <I>an untimely birth,</I> upon many
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accounts, to be very sad
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>):
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<I>He comes in with vanity</I> (for, as to this world, he that is born
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and dies immediately was born in vain), and he <I>departs in
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darkness;</I> little or no notice is taken of him; being an abortive,
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he has no <I>name,</I> or, if he had, it would soon be forgotten and
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buried in oblivion; it would <I>be covered with darkness,</I> as the
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body is with the earth. Nay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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<I>he has not seen the sun,</I> but from the darkness of the womb he is
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hurried immediately to that of the grave, and, which is worse than not
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being known to any, he has not <I>known any thing,</I> and therefore
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has come short of that which is the greatest pleasure and honour of
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man. Those that live in wilful ignorance, and know nothing to purpose,
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are no better than <I>an untimely birth</I> that <I>has not seen the
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sun nor known any thing.</I>
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2. Yet he prefers it before that of a covetous miser. <I>This</I>
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untimely birth <I>has more rest than the other,</I> for <I>this</I> has
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some rest, but <I>the other</I> has none; <I>this</I> has no trouble
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and disquiet, but <I>the other</I> is in perpetual agitation, and has
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nothing but trouble, trouble of his own making. The shorter the life is
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the longer the rest; and the fewer the days, and the less we have to do
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with this troublesome world, the less trouble we know.</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>'Tis better die a child at four,
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<BR>Than live, and die so at fourscore.
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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The reason he gives why <I>this has more rest</I> is because <I>all go
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to one place</I> to rest in, and this is sooner at his rest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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He that <I>lives a thousand years</I> goes to the same place with the
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child that does not live an hour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:20"><I>ch.</I> iii. 20</A>.
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The grave is the place we shall all meet in. Whatever differences there
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may be in men's condition in this world, they must all die, are all
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under the same sentence, and, to outward appearance, their deaths are
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alike. The grave is to one, as well as another, a land of silence, of
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darkness, of separation from the living, and a sleeping-place. It is
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the common rendezvous of rich and poor, honourable and mean, learned
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and unlearned; the short-lived and long-lived meet in the grave, only
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one rides post thither, the other goes by a slower conveyance; the dust
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of both mingles, and lies undistinguished.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec6_10"> </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 Insatiableness of Desire.</I></FONT></TD>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 All the labour of man <I>is</I> for his mouth, and yet the
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appetite is not filled.
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8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the
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poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
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9 Better <I>is</I> the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the
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desire: this <I>is</I> also vanity and vexation of spirit.
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10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that
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it <I>is</I> man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier
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than he.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The preacher here further shows the vanity and folly of heaping up
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worldly wealth and expecting happiness in it.</P>
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<P>
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I. How much soever we toil about the world, and get out of it, we can
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have for ourselves no more than a maintenance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>All the labour of man is for his mouth,</I> which <I>craves it of
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him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:26">Prov. xvi. 26</A>);
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it is but <I>food and raiment;</I> what is more others have, not we; it
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is all <I>for the mouth. Meats</I> are but <I>for the belly and the
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belly for meats;</I> there is nothing for the head and heart, nothing
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to nourish or enrich the soul. A little will serve to sustain us
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comfortably and a great deal can do no more.</P>
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<P>
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II. Those that have ever so much are still craving; let a man labour
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ever so much <I>for his mouth, yet the appetite is not filled.</I>
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1. Natural desires are still returning, still pressing; a man may be
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feasted to-day and yet hungry to-morrow.
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2. Worldly sinful desires are insatiable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:10"><I>ch.</I> v. 10</A>.
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Wealth to a worldling is like drink to one in a dropsy, which does but
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increase the thirst. Some read the whole verse thus: <I>Though all a
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man's labour fall out to his own mind (ori ejus obveniat--so as to
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correspond with his views,</I> Juv.), just as himself would have it,
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<I>yet his desire is not satisfied,</I> still he has a mind to
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something more.
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3. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to
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give them any satisfaction. <I>The soul is not filled,</I> so the word
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is. When God <I>gave</I> Israel <I>their request</I> he <I>sent
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leanness into their souls,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:15">Ps. cvi. 15</A>.
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He was a fool who, when his barns were full, said, <I>Soul, take thine
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ease.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. A fool may have as much worldly wealth, and may enjoy as much of
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the pleasure of it, as a wise man; nay, and perhaps not be so sensible
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of the vexation of it: <I>What has the wise more than the fool?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Perhaps he has not so good an estate, so good a trade, nor such good
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preferment as the fool has. Nay, suppose them to be equal in their
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possessions, what can a wise man, a scholar, a wit, a politician,
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squeeze out of his estate more than needful supplies? and a half-witted
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man may do this. A fool can fare as well and relish it, can dress as
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well, and make as good a figure in any public appearance, as a wise
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man; so that if there were not pleasures and honour peculiar to the
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mind, which <I>the wise man has more than the fool,</I> as to this
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world they would be upon a level.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Even a poor man, who has business, and is discreet, diligent, and
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dexterous, in the management of it, may get as comfortably through this
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world as he that is loaded with an overgrown estate. Consider <I>what
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the poor has</I> less than the rich, if he but <I>knows to walk before
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the living,</I> knows how to conduct himself decently, and do his duty
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to all, how to get an honest livelihood by his labour, how to spend his
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time well and improve his opportunities. <I>What has</I> he? Why, he is
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better beloved and more respected among his neighbours, and has a
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better interest than many a rich man that is griping and haughty.
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<I>What has</I> he? Why he has as much of the comfort of this life, has
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<I>food and raiment,</I> and is <I>therewith content,</I> and so is as
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truly rich as he that has abundance.</P>
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<P>
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V. The enjoyment of what we have cannot but be acknowledged more
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rational than a greedy grasping at more
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>Better is the sight of the eyes,</I> making the best of that which
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is present, <I>than the wandering of the desire,</I> the uneasy walking
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of the soul after things at a distance, and the affecting of a variety
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of imaginary satisfactions. He is much happier that is always content,
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though he has ever so little, than he that is always coveting, though
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he has ever so much. We cannot say, <I>Better is the sight of the eyes
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than the</I> fixing <I>of the desire</I> upon God, and the resting of
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the soul in him; it is better to live by faith in things to come than
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to live by sense, which dwells only upon present things; but <I>better
|
|
is the sight of the eyes than the</I> roving <I>of the desire</I> after
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the world, and the things of it, than which nothing is more uncertain
|
|
nor more unsatisfying at the best. <I>This wandering of the desire is
|
|
vanity and vexation of spirit.</I> It <I>is vanity</I> at the best; if
|
|
what is desired, be obtained, it proves not what we promised ourselves
|
|
from it, but commonly <I>the wandering desire</I> is crossed and
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disappointed, and then it turns to <I>vexation of spirit.</I></P>
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<P>
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VI. Our lot, whatever it is, is that which is appointed us by the
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counsel of God, which cannot be altered, and it is therefore our wisdom
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to reconcile ourselves to it and cheerfully to acquiesce in it
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+6:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
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<I>That which has been,</I> or (as some read it) <I>that which is,</I>
|
|
and so likewise that which shall be, <I>is named already;</I> it is
|
|
already determined in the divine foreknowledge, and all our care and
|
|
pains cannot make it otherwise than as it is fixed. <I>Jacta est
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alea--The die is cast.</I> It is therefore folly to quarrel with that
|
|
which will be as it is, and wisdom to make a virtue of necessity. We
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|
shall have what pleases God, and let that please us.</P>
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<P>
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VII. Whatever we attain to in this world, still we are but men, and the
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|
greatest possessions and preferments cannot set us above the common
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|
accidents of human life: <I>That which has been,</I> and is, that busy
|
|
animal that makes such a stir and such a noise in the world, <I>is
|
|
named already.</I> He that made him gave him his name, <I>and it is
|
|
known that it is man;</I> that is his name by which he must know
|
|
himself, and it is a humbling name,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+5:2">Gen. v. 2</A>.
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He <I>called their name Adam;</I> and all theirs have the same
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|
character, <I>red earth.</I> Though a man could make himself master of
|
|
all the treasures of kings and provinces, yet he is a man still, mean,
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|
mutable, and mortal, and may at any time be involved in the calamities
|
|
that are <I>common to men.</I> It is good for rich and great men to
|
|
know and consider that they are <I>but men,</I>
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:20">Ps. ix. 20</A>.
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|
<I>It is known that</I> they are but men; let them put what face they
|
|
will upon it, and, like the king of Tyre, <I>set their heart as the
|
|
heart of God,</I> yet the Egyptians are men, and not gods, and it is
|
|
known that they are so.</P>
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|
<P>
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|
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VIII. How far soever our desires wander, and how closely soever our
|
|
endeavours keep pace with them, we cannot strive with the divine
|
|
Providence, but must submit to the disposals of it, whether we will or
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|
no. If <I>it is man, he may not contend with him that is mightier than
|
|
he.</I> It is presumption to arraign God's proceedings, and to charge
|
|
him with folly or iniquity; nor is it to any purpose to complain of
|
|
him, for <I>he is in one mind and who can turn him?</I> Elihu pacifies
|
|
Job with this incontest able principle, That <I>God is greater than
|
|
man</I>
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:12">Job xxxiii. 12</A>)
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|
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|
and therefore <I>man may not contend with him,</I> nor resist his
|
|
judgments, when they come with commission. A man cannot with the
|
|
greatest riches make his part good against the arrests of sickness or
|
|
death, but must yield to his fate.</P>
|
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|
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<A NAME="Ec6_11"> </A>
|
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<A NAME="Ec6_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 Insatiableness of Desire.</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>11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what <I>is</I>
|
|
man the better?
|
|
12 For who knoweth what <I>is</I> good for man in <I>this</I> life, all
|
|
the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who
|
|
can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
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<P>
|
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|
|
Here,
|
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|
|
1. Solomon lays down his conclusion which he had undertaken to prove,
|
|
as that which was fully confirmed by the foregoing discourse: <I>There
|
|
be many things that increase vanity;</I> the life of man is vain, at
|
|
the best, and there are abundance of accidents that concur to make it
|
|
more so; even that which pretends to increase the vanity and make it
|
|
more vexatious.
|
|
|
|
2. He draws some inferences from it, which serve further to evince the
|
|
truth of it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That a man is never the nearer to true happiness for the abundance
|
|
that he has in this world: <I>What is man the better</I> for his wealth
|
|
and pleasure, his honour and preferment? What remains to man? What
|
|
residuum has he, what overplus, what real advantage, when he comes to
|
|
balance his accounts? Nothing that will do him any good or turn to
|
|
account.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That we do not know what to wish for, because that which we
|
|
promise ourselves most satisfaction in often proves most vexatious to
|
|
us: <I>Who knows what is good for a man in this life,</I> where every
|
|
thing is vanity, and any thing, even that which we most covet, may
|
|
prove a calamity to us? Thoughtful people are in care to do every
|
|
thing for the best, if they knew it; but as it is an instance of the
|
|
corruption of our hearts that we are apt to desire that as good for us
|
|
which is really hurtful, as children that cry for knives to cut their
|
|
fingers with, so is it an instance of the vanity of this world that
|
|
what, according to all probable conjectures, seems to be for the best,
|
|
often proves otherwise; such is our shortsightedness concerning the
|
|
issues and events of things, and such broken reeds are all our
|
|
creature-confidences. We know not how to advise others for the best,
|
|
nor how to act ourselves, because that which we apprehend likely to be
|
|
for our welfare may become a trap.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That therefore our life upon earth is what we have no reason to
|
|
take any great complacency in, or to be confident of the continuance
|
|
of. It is to be reckoned by <I>days;</I> it is but a <I>vain life,</I>
|
|
and we spend it <I>as a shadow,</I> so little is there in it
|
|
substantial, so fleeting, so uncertain, so transitory is it, and so
|
|
little in it to be fond of or to be depended on. If all the comforts of
|
|
life be vanity, life itself can have no great reality in it to
|
|
constitute a happiness for us.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That our expectations from this world are as uncertain and
|
|
deceitful as our enjoyments are. Since every thing is vanity, <I>Who
|
|
can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?</I> He can no
|
|
more please himself with the hopes of <I>what shall be after him,</I>
|
|
to his children and family, than with the relish of what is with him,
|
|
since he can neither foresee himself, nor can any one else foretel to
|
|
him, <I>what shall be after him.</I> Nor shall he have any intelligence
|
|
sent him of it when he is gone. <I>His sons come to honour, and he
|
|
knows it not.</I> So that, look which way we will, <I>Vanity of vanity,
|
|
all is vanity.</I></P>
|
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