_A.M. 3027. B.C. 977._
Solomon shows that there is no true happiness to be found in mirth and
the pleasures of sense, Ecclesiastes 2:1. He considers wisdom again,
and owns it to be an excellent thing, and yet insufficient to give
happiness, Ecclesiastes 2:12. He shows that business and wealth are
o... [ Continue Reading ]
_I said in my heart_ Being disappointed of my hopes from knowledge, I
resolved to try another course. _Go to now_ O my soul! I will try
whether I cannot make thee happy by the enjoyment of sensual delights.
_This also is vanity_ Is vain, and unable to make men happy. _I said
of laughter, It is mad_... [ Continue Reading ]
_I sought to give myself unto wine_ To gratify myself with delicious
meats and drinks; _yet acquainting_, &c. Yet resolving to use my
wisdom, that I might try whether I could not arrive at satisfaction,
by mixing wine and wisdom together. _To lay hold on folly_, &c. To
pursue sensual pleasure, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_I made me great works_ Magnificent works, for my honour and delight.
_I builded me houses_ Of which see 1 Kings 7:1, &c.; 9:15, &c.; Song
of Solomon 8:11. _I made me gardens_ Hebrew, _paradises_, or gardens
of pleasure; _I planted trees_, &c. Mixing pleasure and profit
together. _I made me pools of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I gathered me silver and gold_ Vast riches; _and the peculiar
treasure of kings_ Riches, answerable to the state of a king, or, he
means, the greatest jewels and rarities of other kings, which they
gave to me, either as a tribute, or by way of present; _and of the
provinces_ Which were imposed upon... [ Continue Reading ]
_So I was great_ In riches, and power, and glory. _My wisdom remained_
As yet I was not wholly seduced from God. _And whatsoever mine eyes
desired_ Whatsoever was grateful to my senses, or my heart desired; _I
kept not from them_ I denied myself nothing, at least, of lawful
delights, but went to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I looked on all the works_, &c. I made a serious review of my former
works and labours, and considered whether I had obtained that
satisfaction in them which I had expected to find; _and behold, all
was vanity_ I found myself disappointed, and wholly dissatisfied in
this course. _And there was no p... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I turned myself_, &c. Being frustrated of my hopes in pleasure, I
returned to a second consideration of my first choice, to see whether
there was not more satisfaction to be gotten from wisdom, than I
discovered at my first view. _For what can the man do_ To find out the
truth in this matter; t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I saw that wisdom_ I allowed thus much. Although wisdom is not
sufficient to make men happy, yet it is of far greater use than vain
pleasures, or any other follies. _The wise man's eyes are in his head_
In their proper place. He hath the use of his eyes and reason, and
foresees, and so avoids, many... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then I said why was I more wise_ What benefit have I by my wisdom?
or, to what purpose did I take so much pains to get wisdom. _For there
is no remembrance of the wise_ Their memory, though it may flourish
for a season, yet will, in a little time, be worn out; as we see in
most of the wise men of f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I hated life_ My life, though accompanied with so much
honour, and pleasure, and wisdom, was a burden to me, and I was ready
to wish, either that I had never been born, or that I might speedily
die; _because the work, &c., is grievous_ All human designs and works
are so far from yielding... [ Continue Reading ]
_I went to cause my heart to despair_ I gave myself up to despair of
ever reaping that satisfaction which I promised to myself. _For there
is a man whose labour_, &c. Who uses great industry, and prudence, and
justice too, in the management of his affairs; _yet to a man that hath
not laboured therei... [ Continue Reading ]
_For what hath man_ “To what purpose,” a man may well say, “is
all this toil of my body, and these solicitous thoughts, and this
anguish of my mind? For all that a man can enjoy himself of the
anxious labours wherein he spends his days, amounts to little or
nothing; and what comfort hath he in think... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is nothing better_ Or, _Is there any thing better for a man?_
Which implies that there is nothing better, namely, for man's present
comfort and satisfaction; _than that he should make his soul enjoy
good in his labour_ That, studying first to free his mind from
overmuch care and anxiety, he s... [ Continue Reading ]
_For who can eat_, &c. For the truth of this you may rely upon my
experience: for who can more freely and fully enjoy the comforts of
this life than I did? _Or who else can hasten hereunto more than I?_
Who can pursue them with more diligence, obtain them with more
readiness, or embrace them with mo... [ Continue Reading ]
_For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight_ Who not only seems
to men to be good, as many bad men do, but is really and sincerely
good; or, _who pleaseth him_, as the same phrase, שׂוב לפניו,
is rendered, Ecclesiastes 7:26, and often elsewhere: whereby he seems
to intimate the reason why he... [ Continue Reading ]