_A.M. 3027. B.C. 977._ Having discoursed, in the foregoing part of this book, of the vain courses men take to make themselves happy; Solomon now proceeds to prescribe the best remedies that can be found against that vanity to which we are subject, giving many wise precepts for our direction, suppor... [ Continue Reading ]
_A good name_ A good and well grounded report from wise and worthy persons; a name for wisdom and goodness with those that are wise and good; _is better than precious ointment_ Which was very fragrant, acceptable, and useful, and of great price in those countries. _And the day of death, than the day... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is better to go to the house of mourning_ Where mourners meet together to celebrate the funerals of deceased friends; _than to the house of feasting_ Where people meet to indulge their appetites in eating and drinking, in which they frequently go to excess. _For that_ Namely, death, the cause of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sorrow is better than laughter_ Either sorrow for sin, or even sorrow on other accounts; _for by the sadness of the countenance_ Sadness seated in the heart, but manifested in the countenance; _the heart is made better_ Is more weaned from the lusts and vanities of this world, by which most men are... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise_ Which, though it cause some grief, yet frequently brings great benefit, even reformation, and salvation both from temporal and from eternal destruction; _than the song of fools_ Their flatteries, or merry discourses, which are as pleasant to corrupt natu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Oppression maketh a wise man mad_ Either, 1st, When a wise man falls into the sin of oppressing others, he is infatuated by it, and by the riches which he gains in this way: or, rather, 2d, When a man is oppressed by wicked men, it often makes him fret and vex himself, and speak or act unadvisedly... [ Continue Reading ]
_Better is the end of a thing than the beginning_ The good or evil of things is better known by their end than by their beginning; which is true, not only respecting evil counsels and practices, which perhaps seem pleasant at first, but, at last, bring destruction; but also concerning all noble ente... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say not thou_ Namely, by way of impatient expostulation and complaint against God, either for permitting such disorders in the world, or for bringing thee into the world in such an evil time and state of things: otherwise a man may say this by way of prudent and pious inquiry, that by searching out... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wisdom is good_ That is, very good; the positive being put for the superlative, as it frequently is in the Hebrew text; _with an inheritance_ When wisdom and riches meet in one man, it is a happy conjunction, for wisdom without riches wants opportunities and instruments of doing that good in the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Consider the work of God_ Not of _creation_, but of _providence;_ his wise, and just, and powerful government of all events, which is proposed as the last and best remedy against all murmurings. _For who can make that straight_, &c. No man can correct or alter any of God's works; and therefore all... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the day of prosperity be joyful_ Enjoy God's favours with thankfulness. _In the day of adversity consider_ Namely, God's work, that it is his hand, and therefore submit to it: consider also why he sends it: for what sins, and with what design? _God also hath set the one against the other_ Hath w... [ Continue Reading ]
_All things have I seen_ All sort's of events, both such as have been already mentioned, and such as I am about to declare. _In the days of my vanity_ Since I have come into this vain life. _A just man perisheth in his righteousness_ Notwithstanding his righteousness; whom his righteousness does not... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not righteous overmuch_ This verse and the next have a manifest reference to Ecclesiastes 7:15, being two inferences drawn from the two clauses of the observation there recorded. Solomon may here be considered as speaking in the person of an ungodly man, who takes occasion to dissuade men from r... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this_ Embrace and practise this counsel last given. _Also from this withdraw not thy hand_ From the practice of the preceding advice: _for he that feareth God_ Who orders his actions so as to please God, and keep his commandments, walking by the rule of h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take no heed unto all words that are spoken_ Namely, concerning thee, or against thee. Do not severely observe, or strictly search into them, or listen to hear them, as many persons out of curiosity, are wont to do. Under this one kind of offences which are most frequent, namely, those of the tongu... [ Continue Reading ]
_All this have I proved_ All these things, of which I have here discoursed, I have diligently examined and found to be true; _by wisdom_ By the help of that singular wisdom which God had given me. _I said, I will be wise_ I determined that I would, by all possible means, seek to attain perfection of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I applied my heart to know_ I was not discouraged, but provoked, by the difficulty of the work, to undertake it. _To know, search, and seek out wisdom_ He useth three words signifying the same thing, to intimate his vehement desire, and vigorous and unwearied endeavours after it. _And the reason of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I find_ By my own sad experience, which Solomon here records as a testimony of his true repentance for his foul miscarriages, for which he was willing to take shame to himself, not only from the present, but from all succeeding generations; _more bitter than death is the woman _ The strange wom... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, saith the preacher_ Or, _the penitent_, who speaks what he hath learned, both by deep study and costly experience; _this have I found_ And it is a strange thing, and worthy of your serious observation; _counting one by one_ Considering things or persons, very exactly and distinctly, one aft... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lo, this only have I found_ Though I could not find out all the streams of wickedness, and their infinite windings and turnings, yet I have discovered the fountain of it, original sin, and the corruption of nature, which is both in men and women; _that_ God made our first parents, Adam and Eve, _up... [ Continue Reading ]