_So I returned, and considered_ The thought that follows is the same in substance as that of chap. Ecclesiastes 3:16, but, in the speaker's wanderings of thought he passes once again, after the manner of the ἐποχὴ, or "suspense" of Pyrrho, he looks at the same facts, the "oppressions" and disorders... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, better is he than both they_ As the utterance of a personal feeling of despair we have a parallel in the words of Job (Ecclesiastes 3:11-16). As expressing a more generalised view of life we have multiform echoes of the thought in the Greek writers, of whose influence, direct or indirect, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I considered all travail, and every right work_ The "right work," as in ch. Ecclesiastes 2:21, is that which is DEXTEROUS and successful, without any marked reference to its moral character. Men exult in such work at the time, but they find it has the drawback of drawing on them the envy and ill-wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_The fool foldeth his hands together_ Simple as the words seem they have received very different interpretations: (1) The fool (the word is the same as in ch. Ecclesiastes 2:14-16, and is that, the prominence of which in both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes serve as a connecting link between the two Books... [ Continue Reading ]
_Better is a handful with quietness_ The preposition is in both clauses an interpolation, and we should read "A HANDFUL OF REPOSE, … TWO HANDFULS OF TRAVAIL AND FEEDING ON WIND." In form the saying presents a parallel to Proverbs 15:17, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox a... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is one alone, and there is not a second_ The gaze of the seeker now falls on another picture. That which strikes him as another example of the vanity of human efforts is the frequent loneliness of the worshipper of wealth. He is one, and he has no companion, no partner or friend, often none b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Two are better than one_ The strain of moralising which follows indicates at least the revived capacity for a better feeling. As the DEBATER had turned from the restless strivings of the seeker after wealth to the simple enjoyment of the labouring man or even the sensuous pleasure of the indolent,... [ Continue Reading ]
_if two lie together_ Here again the experience of travel comes before us. Sleeping on a cold and stormy night, under the same coverlet, or in Eastern houses, with their unglazed windows and many draughts, two friends kept each other warm, while one resting by himself would have shivered in discomfo... [ Continue Reading ]
_if one prevail against him_ Better, IF A MAN OVERPOWERS HIM THAT IS ALONE, YET TWO SHALL WITHSTAND. Another incident of travel is brought before us. The robber may lie in ambush. Against one his attack would be successful; the two friends defend each other and are saved. _a threefold cord is not qu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Better is a poor and a wise child_ Better, YOUNG MAN. The words are general enough but the ingenuity of commentators has sought for examples in history, which the writer, according to the varying theories as to his date, may have had in his thoughts. Such, _e.g._as Abraham and Nimrod, Joseph and Ph... [ Continue Reading ]
_For out of prison he cometh to reign_ The pronouns are ambiguous in the Hebrew as in English, and the clauses have consequently been taken in very different ways, as referring to one and the same person, or to the two who had been named in the preceding verse (1) "FOR ONE COMETH OUT OF PRISON TO RE... [ Continue Reading ]
_with the second child that shall stand up in his stead_ If we take the word "second" in its natural meaning, the clause may point either to the wise young ruler of the previous verse, as succeeding (_i.e._coming _second_to) the old and foolish king, or possibly to _his_successor, and points in eith... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is no end of all the people_ The words continue the picture of the crowds who follow the young king. _even of all that have been before them_ The last words are not of time but position. The people are before their king, or rather, HE IS BEFORE THEM ALL, going in and out before them (1 Samuel... [ Continue Reading ]