CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 9:2. ONE EVENT.] An equal chance or happening—the wisest and best having no special destiny (chap. Ecclesiastes 2:14, and Ecclesiastes 3:19). Chance, in this use of the word, is not opposed to Providence, but is a term employed to signify the impotence of all human eff... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 9:8. LET THY GARMENTS BE ALWAYS WHITE; AND LET THY HEAD LACK NO OINTMENT] No literal observance of these circumstances of external appearance is intended; but rather an exhortation to indulge those calm and pure emotions of joy, of which white garments and a face which... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 9:12. KNOWETH NOT HIS TIME.] He knows not the hour of his destruction, when he shall be suddenly snared and taken by death. This solemn crisis in man’s destiny is called in Scripture the “day” (Job 18:20), the “hour” (Mark 14:41). AS THE FISHES THAT ARE TAKEN in an evil... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 9:13. THIS WISDOM.] The special instance of the power of wisdom related in the next verse. ECCLESIASTES 9:14. FEW MEN WITHIN IT.] Not a city with a scanty population, but one possessing only a few fitting men capable of defending it. ECCLESIASTES 9:18. ONE SINNER DES... [ Continue Reading ]