_Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed._ Ver. 1. _Who is as the wise man?_] _q.d., _ He is a matchless man, a peerless paragon, outshining others as much as the moon doth the... [ Continue Reading ]
I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God. Ver. 2. To keep the king's commandment.] Heb., Mouth - _i.e., _ the express word of command. Go not here by guess or good intention, lest you speed as that Scotch captain did, who, not expecting orders from hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. Ver. 3. _Be not hasty to go out of his sight._] Turn not thy back discontentedly, fling not away in a chafe; for this will be construed for a contempt, as it was in the Earl of Essex, A.D. 1598. D... [ Continue Reading ]
Where the word of a king [is, there is] power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? Ver. 4. _Where the word of a king is, there is power._] _Ibi dominatio._ He hath long hands, and can reach thee at a great distance, as Mithridates did when with one letter he slew eigthy thousand citizens of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment._ Ver. 5. _Whoso keepeth the commandment,_] _scil., _ The king's commandment. He that is compliant, and goes as far as he can with a good conscience in his obedience to the commands of... [ Continue Reading ]
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him. Ver. 6. _Because to every purpose there is time._] Therefore the wise man seeketh after that nick of time, that punctilio of judgment, that he may do everything well, and order his affairs with dis... [ Continue Reading ]
For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? Ver. 7. _For he knoweth not that which shall be._] Man's misery is the greater because he cannot foresee to prevent it; but he is suddenly surprised and hit many times on the blind side, as we say. “ _Nescia mens hominu... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 8:8 [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. Ver. 8. _There is no man that hath power, &c._] Death man is... [ Continue Reading ]
_All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt._ Ver. 9. _One man ruleth over another to his own hurt._] Not only to the hurt of his subjects, but to his own utter ruin, though after a lon... [ Continue Reading ]
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity. Ver. 10. _And so I saw the wicked buried._] With pomp and great solemnity, funeral orations, statues, and epitaphs, &c., as if he had... [ Continue Reading ]
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Ver. 11. _Because sentence against an evil work, &c._] _Ennarrata sententia,_ a published and declared sentence. So that it is only a reprieve of mercy that a wick... [ Continue Reading ]
Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his [days] be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: Ver. 12. _Though a sinner doth evil an hundred times._] Commit the same sin a hundred times over, which is no small aggravation of his sin,... [ Continue Reading ]
But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. Ver. 13. _But it shall not be well with the wicked._] (1.) Not always well, Isa 3:12 for "sin will be sure to find him out," Num 32:23 and he that hath guilt in... [ Continue Reading ]
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just [men], unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity. Ver. 14. _There is a vanity which is do... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun. Ver. 15. _Then I commended mirth._] A lawful lightsomeness and cheerfulness of... [ Continue Reading ]
When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) Ver. 16. _When I applied mine heart to know wisdom,_] _i.e., _ The wisdom and other excellencies of God shining plainly and plen... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea further; though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it]. Ver. 17. _That a man cannot find o... [ Continue Reading ]