_Cast thy bread upon the waters_ The book, as it draws nearer to its close, becomes more and more enigmatic, and each single verse is as a parable and dark saying. It is not to be wondered at, in such a case, that interpreters should, after their nature, read their own thoughts between the lines and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give a portion to seven, and also to eight_ The precept is clearly a pendant to Ecclesiastes 11:1 and has received the same variety of interpretations. Following the same line of thought as before, we find in it the counsel to give freely as opportunities present themselves. The combination of "to... [ Continue Reading ]
_If the clouds be full of rain_ The thought is linked to that which precedes it by the mention of the "evil coming upon the earth." In regard to that evil, the sweeping calamities that lie beyond man's control, he is as powerless as he is when the black clouds gather and the winds rush wildly. He kn... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that observeth the wind shall not sow_ This is, as has been said above, the answer to the question suggested in Ecclesiastes 11:3. Our ignorance of the future is not to put a stop to action. If we allowed that "taking thought for the morrow" (Matthew 6:25) to hinder us from doing good, we should... [ Continue Reading ]
_As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit_ The Hebrew word for "spirit" has also the meaning of "wind" as in the verse immediately preceding, and this has led many commentators (as with the corresponding Greek word in John 3:8) to prefer that meaning, here. Two different examples of man's i... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the morning sow thy seed_ Once again the enigmatic form, as in Ecclesiastes 11:2, is the touchstone of interpreters. It has been held to mean (1) that men are to seek sensual pleasures not in the morning of their youth only, but in the eventide of age, not to be afraid of begetting children, in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Truly the light is sweet_ Better, AND THE LIGHT IS SWEET. The conjunction is simply the usual copulative particle. The word for "sweet" is that used of honey in Judges 14:14; of the honeycomb in Proverbs 24:13. The pessimism of the thinker is passing away under the sunshine of the wiser plan of lif... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if a man live many years_ Better, FOR _if a man_… The relation is one of connexion rather than contrast. In the calm, enjoyable because beneficent, life which the thinker now contemplates as within his reach, the remembrance of the darkness which lies beyond is to be a motive, not for a fretful... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth_ Strictly speaking, as the beginning of the end, the opening of the _finale_of the book, these should be read in close connexion with chap. 12. The DEBATER turns with his closing counsel to the young. That counsel, like the rest of the book, has been very variousl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart_ The two clauses recognise the two conditions of happiness so far as happiness is attainable by man on earth. "Sorrow," better perhaps, DISCONTENT or VEXATION, is by a deliberate effort to be put away from our "heart," _i.e._from our mind. We are not to look o... [ Continue Reading ]