not the proper sense of the place, but rather an accommodation of the words to another profitable

purpose.

CHAP. II.

THE ARGUMENT.-Having passed his censure upon the first way men take to find satisfaction, (mentioned in the notes upon ver. 12. of the first chapter), which without all contradiction is the chief and the best of the four; he proceeds here to consider the second, which is the more common; most men immersing themselves in pleasure, as their highest good. Of which he was more capable to judge than any other man; because he denied himself no delights that he desired, and yet did not plunge himself wholly into them, but with a mixture of wisdom, as he tells us, ver. 3. Whereby he soon perceived that they who leave the pursuit of knowledge for the sake of bodily pleasure, change for the worse; for after he had tried all sorts of things that could give him any pleasure, he went back to wisdom and knowledge, as the better of the two, ver. 12. And yet, after he had considered that again the second time, he could not but confess, that there were such great imperfections in it, that it could not make a man happy; as he discourses in the following verses. Of which I shall give a inore particular account in the annotations.

Ver. I

SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold, this also is vanity.] Being thus disappointed, therefore, in the expectations I had of happiness from much wisdom and knowledge, and beholding many men look jollily who had none at all, I resolved to leave off those troublesome cares and labours, and to follow my pleasures; saying to myself, Why dost thou vex and torment thy mind to no purpose? Let alone these crabbed studies which hasten old age, and indulge thyself in all those sweet delights which youth desires; try what satisfaction mirth and joy can give thee, and for that end, take no thought for the future, but enjoy to the height the present goods of this life: which accordingly I did; but believe me, though this promised much at first, it performed little, but left me more void of contentment than it found me. See Aunot. [a]

Ver. 2. I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doth it?] For the noise, the tumult, the indecent motions, and scurrilous jestings of mea, that let themselves loose to excessive laughter, and extravagant merriment, appeared to me like distraction of mind; and considering how unprofitable it is, I could not but with a passionate disdain put it from me; saying of it, and of mirth and dancing, and all the frolicness of mankind, What is there in it, that thus bewitcheth them? Where lies the pleasure, that thus inchants them, and puts them so beside themselves, that they think neither of God, nor of any thing else that is worthy of them, but of this alone? See Annot.

[b]

Ver. 3. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, (yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom), and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good, for the sons of men, which they should do under the bea ven all the days of their life. I deliberated, therefore, with myself, about a middle course of life; which should neither be altogether studious, nor altogether voluptuous, but a mixture of both; and, in pursuance of this counsel, entertained myself freely with all the delights of feasting and banqueting; yet so as not to lose my acquaintance with wisdom, but to keep my mind so intent upon it, that folly might not have its full swing; but find a check upon it, till I might make a sufficient trial, whether herein lay that so much desired good which men should propose to themselves, and prosecute all the time of their stay in this world. See Annot. [c]

Ver. 4. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;] For which end I raised, with exquisite art, the most stately and magnificent works that could be contrived, for the pleasure of all the senses; as first of all, I built myself a most magnificent palace, and other goodly houses; which, when I had elegantly adorned and sumptuously furnished, I proceeded to plant about them, in a beautiful order, the choicest vines, (Cant. viii. 11.), which, besides the fragrant smell, (Cant. ii. 13.), and the lovely sight wherewith they entertained me abroad, afforded the most generous wines for my table at home. See Annot. [d]

Ver. 5. I made me gardens and orchards, and 1 planted trees in them of all kind of fruits;] To which I added delicious gardens, full of various flowers, herbs, and plants, for all the seasons of the year; and then spacious forests and parks, or rather paradises of pleasure, wherein, besides other delights, were lovely shades and covers for all sorts of beasts; nor were orchards wanting, stored with all kinds of fruit-trees, which either this or other countries could afford. See Annot. [e]

Ver. 6. I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees;] And that nothing might be wanting to the perfection or preservation of these places, I made, with great charge, and no less art, either fountains, or cisterns, or pools of water; not only for delight, and for fish, but to serve instead of rain, to water the flowers and herbs, especially the young nurseries of trees, that they might not die with drought. See Annot. [f]

Ver. 7. I got me servants, and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle, above all that were in Jerusalem before me ;] All which requiring the care of a great many persons, I purchased servants, both men and women, in great abundance; of whom I had a multitude of children born in my house, whom I employed in looking after my other possessions, which I had in herds and flocks, of greater and lesser cattle; which were so numerous, that I killed every day for my family, ten oxen crammed in the stalls, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, with an hundred sheep, (besides harts, and roe-bucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl,

to say nothing of other provision, 1 Kings, iv. 22. 23.); and yet such was the plenty, my stock did not decrease, because a new brood grew up continually in such a bundance, as the like had never been seen in our country before my days. See Annot. [g]

Ver. 8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings, and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers, and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.] By which and divers other means, (1 Kings, iv. 21. X. 21. 22. 23. &c. 2 Chron. ix. 24.), I laid up vast treasures of silver, and gold, and jewels, and all that was choice and precious in other kingdoms; and especially in those provinces which were subject unto me, which were great and many, ( Kings, iv. 24.), out of whom I picked also the sweetest voices that could be found, both of men and women; together with the rarest songs and hymns composed by the best masters in the world, and all sorts of instruments of music; than which nothing is more charming among the children of men, either to lay them asleep when they would go to rest, or to recreate their spirits when they are tired with business; to banish melancholy when they are oppressed with sorrow, and to augment their pleasures when they would be merry; being no less fit to wait upon feasts, than they that attend at the table. See Annot. [h]

Ver. 9. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.] Thus I was not only great in place, and power, and riches, but by such means as these, added splendour also to my greatness, and made it more conspicuous and illustrious; and (which is still more glorious) I was not greater in any thing than in wis dom; which was not undermined by all these pleasures, but when they were in danger to dethrone my reason, this settled it again in its former state and authority. See Annot. [i]

Ver. 10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them, I with-held not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my portion of all my labour.] And on the other side, my wisdom did not lay such restraints upon me, but that I took the liberty to please my eyes, and all my senses, with every thing that fell within the wide compass of their desires; it did not deny me any joy to which I had a mind, but taught me rather to reap this as the sweet fruit of all my labours; there being nothing (it shewed me) that came to my share, of all that I had gotten with so much care and diligence, but only the free enjoyment of it, without which I had as good have been without it. See Annot. [k]

Ver. 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that 1 had laboured to do; and bebold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.] But then, after I had considered seriously, how small a thing this pleasure was, how short, and how often interrupted, and laid in the balance against it all the time I had spent, and the pains I had taken in contriving these magnificent buildings, gardens, paradises, and all the rest, it seemed to me as nothing; and I cannot but

leave this observation behind me, that all this is empty and unsatisfying to the spirit of man; and there is also much vexation and torment in it, to see how cross things go many times to our, desires, how negligent they are who should look after such great works as mine were; but especially in this, that a man can reap so little benefit, and so transient, from such vast and long labours, chap. i. ver. 3. 14. See Annot. [1]

Ver. 12. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which has been already done.} Wherefore I began to reflect upon my former thoughts, and to turn them back again towards wisdom, as the only good of man, chap. i. ver. 13. 17. and especially that wisdom which moderates our pleasures, and keeps them from running into madness and folly, (and who is there that can give a better account of this than I? who have had such advantages above any private man to know the history of former times, as well as of my own, that I am confident, they who come after can pass no other judgement upon things than I do now.)

Ver. 13. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.] For I clearly discerned, that there is as wide a difference between wisdom and folly, as there is between the light of the sun, which beautifies the whole world, and shews all things. distinctly to us, and the darkness of the night, which wraps up all in dismal confusion, and hides even our dangers from us.

Ver. 14. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness; and I myself perceived also, that one event happeneth to them all.] Whence it is, that a wise man, having this light in his mind, looks before him, and round about him; which makes him cautious and well aware of dangers, into which a blundering fool, whose mind is blinded with the sottish love of pleasure, falls rashly and inconsiderately; and yet, with all his circumspection, (so imperfect are all things here, in which we place our happiness), the wisest man is not able to avoid a great many calamities, which are common to the whole race of mankind.

Ver. 15. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.] Which reflection made me sigh, and think with myself, if, notwithstanding this excellence of wisdom above folly, the very same diseases, loss of children and friends, and innumerable casualties, happen unto me, even unto me who know so much, that there do unto a fool, to what purpose have I taken all this pains, and studied so hard to be wiser than he? And upon this review of all that wisdom can and cannot do for us, I concluded again the second time, that there is a vanity also in this, which makes it incapable of giving us full satisfaction. See Annot. [m]

Ver. 16. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is, in the days to come shall be forgotten; and how dieth the wise man? as the fool.] For as both wise and foolish are alike subject unto death, so, when they are dead, their

names live not long after them, but they and all their famous atchievements are forgotten; there being few of those things which are now done, that will be so much as thought, of in the next generation; much less in future ages, when the memory of them will be ut terly lost, and cannot be recovered; and is not this a lamentable case, that a wise man hath no more privilege than a fool, either from death, or from its insepa. rable companion, oblivion? See Annot. [n]

Ver. 17. Therefore I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.] This put me quite out of love with life, because the toil and labour of it is so great and grievous, and the pleasure it yields either interrupted and spoiled by many unforeseen accidents, or quite taken away by death, which leaves no footsteps of us behind us; for nothing is constant or of long continuance, nothing solid, nothing satisfactory here, but all our enjoyments leave us as empty as he that feeds only upon the wind; nay, it torments us to see that we must take great pains too, for such weak and fading things, chap. i. 14.

Ver. 18. Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun; because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.] ¶ And besides all this, there are other reasons which made me despise all those goodly structures which I had erected, and those beautiful works which I had contrived, (ver. 4. 5. 6. &c.), because, as I cannot keep them long myself, so I must leave them to I know not whom, to a stranger perhaps, who, without any pains of his, enjoys the fruit of all my labour.

Ver. 19. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man, or a fool? yet shall be bave rule over all my labour, wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.] Or if my son succeed me in the possession of them, there is no man can assure me, whether he will wisely preserve and improve what I have gotten, or foolishly squander all away; in short, whether he will prove a worthy or an unworthy inheritor of my labours; and yet, such as he is, he must have an absolute power over all that I leave, to dispose of it as he pleaseth; and sottishly, perhaps, to waste in a little time, what I with prudent care and diligence have been heaping up all my life long. This is a great addition to human misery, and renders even the study of wisdom very vain, which cannot find a remedy for these evils.

Ver. 20. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.] Which are so great, that, instead of pursuing my designs for this world, I turned my thoughts the quite contrary way; and, like one perfectly tired, I concluded it best to leave off all farther cares about any thing here; despairing to reap any satisfaction from all my labours, particularly to attain any certainty what kind of man he will be who shall inherit them.

Ver. 21. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that bath not laboured therein, shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity, and a great evil.] For what hath

happened to others may to me, who have observed a man no way defective, either in wise contrivance, or prudent management, or upright dealing, but as emi nent for honesty as he was for diligence; whose estate fell to the share of an idle person, nay, of an ignorant, silly, unjust, and ungrateful wretch; who prodigally consumed upon his lusts, that which cost him no pains, not so much as a thought, to acquire. This likewise, it cannot be denied, is not only a dissatisfaction, but a torment, nay, a great torment, to the mind of man ;

Ver. 22. For what bath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he bath laboured under the sun?] Who may well say, To what purpose is all this toil of my body, and these solicitous thoughts and anguish of my mind? For all that a man can en◄ joy himself of the anxious labours wherein he spends his days, amounts to little or nothing; and what comfort hath he in thinking who shall enjoy the fruit of them hereafter?

Ver. 23. For all bis days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, bis heart taketh no rest in the night. This is also vanity.] And yet, such is our folly, there is no end of our cares; for we see many a man whose life is nothing but a mere drudgery, who never is at leisure to enjoy any thing that he hath, but still engaged in one troublesome employment or other to get more; which he follows so eagerly, as if it were his business to disquiet and vex himself, and make his life uneasy to him; being not content with his daily toils, unless he rack his mind also with cares in the night, which invites him to take some rest. This is so void of all reason, that nothing can be imagined more vain and foolish..

Ver. 24. There is nothing better for a man, than be should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.] ¶ Nor can any man reap the benefit of his labours, but by studying first to free his mind from over much care and anxious thoughts; and then, (instead of heaping up perpetually for his heirs), by allowing himself a moderate and decent use of all that he hath gotten by his honest labours; chearfully communicating them with his friends and neighbours; and lastly, (in order to these), by being truly and devoutly religious, acknowledging God to be the donor of all good things; from whose bountiful hand-proceeds even this power, both to enjoy all a man hath, with a quiet, peaceable, and well-pleased mind, in the midst of all troubles of this life; and, in conclusion, to leave all with the like mind, unto those that shall come after him.

Ver. 25. For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?] For the truth of which, you may rely upon my experience; who, when I could have hoarded up as much as any other man, chose rather freely to enjoy the fruit of my labours; and was as forward to spend, as ever I was to get; but must acknowledge this to be the singular grace of God to me; who preserved me from that great folly of neglecting myself, for the sake of I know not whom.

Ver. 26. For God giveth to a man that is good in bis

sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner be giveth travail, to gather, and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.] For this is a blessing which God reserves for him whom he loves; whose sincere piety he rewards with wisdom to judge when, and with knowledge to understand how, he should enjoy and take the comfort of all that he hath; especially with inward joy, satisfaction of heart, and tranquillity of mind, in this favour of God to him; whereby the troublesome affairs of this life are tempered and seasoned; but he delivers up him that regards not God to the most cruel tormentor, which are his unsatiable desires, and anxious cares, with busy labours and incessant pains to increase his estate without end, and to heap up vast treasures, which God disposes afterward to those who approve themselves to him, in a pious, just, and charitable life, with contented minds.

Now, what a vanity and vexation is this also to a sinner, to get riches for those to whom he never designed them; nay, it is a sad thought to a good man, that if his son be not virtuous, the estate he leaves is not likely to prosper with him. See Annot. [0]

ANNOTATIONS.

[a] Ver. r. Thus Themistocles, Lucullus, and others, (as Melancthon observes), being wearied in their attendance upon public affairs, by many unprofit able contentions, nay, by the ingratitude of the people, delivered up themselves unto pleasures, as better than ill-bestowed pains.

[b] Ver. 2. Laughter.] The censure he passes upon this makes it necessary to expound it of such dissolute and frantic mirth, as I have mentioned in the paraphrase.

[c] Ver. 2. Gave myself.] The word in the Hebrew (as the margin of our translation informs the reader) imports something of extension, as in other places of scripture, Psal. xxvi. 10.; because, when men indulge themselves very liberally in eating and drinking, the blood boils and rises, the veins swell, and the skin of the whole body is distended. Lay hold on.] The word signifies not simply to apprehend, but to keep under restraint what we have seized. As the Philistines are said to have taken David (had him in their power) in Gath, in the title of Psal. lvi. Thus I have expounded it here, as most agreeable to the sense of the place. r [d] Ver. 4. Great works.] Includes all that follows, to the end of ver. 8. consisting either in buildings, or in plantations, and water-works belonging to them, or in his household, or his stock upon his land; or his exchequer, and magazines; or in things that were for mere state and magnificence, viz. royal furniture, or in great variety of vocal and instrumental music; to which some add a kind of seraglio of the most beautiful women that could be found; though for this last there is no ground to think it here mentioned, but what lies in two hard words, of which I shall give an acdeunt presently,

[e] Ver. 5. Gardens.] The Hebrew word gennoth, some will have to be proper places for flowers, herbs, sallets, and all manner of fruit-trees; and pardesin, which we translate orchards, to be only woods, forests, or parks. Of which there is no certainty; for this last word, pardesin, is used but twice more in the holy scripture, and in the first of those places we translate it forests, Nehem. ii. 8. and in the other, Cant. iv. 13. it signifies a place where pomegranates grew. And therefore, it indifferently signifying either of these, I have expressed both in the paraphrase. And if we judge of such places by what the Greeks (from this word) call a paradise, they were so large as to comprehend not only all sorts of trees, both fruit-trees and others, (such as cedars, cypress, &c.), but fountains, and fish-ponds, and aviaries, and walks for all kind of beasts, wild and tame; in short, whatsoever could make a place pleasant, either by nature or art.

[f] Ver. 6. Pools.] The word berecoth, carrying in it the notion of blessing, some interpreters will have it to signify, places filled and supplied by the great blessing of rain. But there is no reason for this limitation, it being as capable to signify any lake, or large hollowness in the ground, or upon it, for the reception of water, either from the clouds, or from springs, or from rivers, which are beneficial for sundry uses, as I have expressed it in the paraphrase.

[g] Ver. 7. Though the word baker properly belong to oxen and cows, yet we well translate it, the - greater sort of cattle, comprehending camels, asses, &c. In like manner, tzon is commonly used for sheep, but comprehends goats also, and therefore is well translated by us, the lesser sort of cattle. All which, both great and small, are comprehended under the general word mikneb, which we translate possession.

[h] Ver. 8. Peculiar treasure.] The word segullah, signifies either the things themselves that are rare and precious, or the place where such things are reposited and kept, viz. a treasury.

But the greatest difficulty in this verse, and indeed in this chapter, is, to tell what is meant by siddah and riddoth; which he calls, in the conclusion of this description of his magnificence, the delights, or delicious pleasures of the sons of men. These Bochartus hath probably conjectured to be most excellent compositions in music, or most excellent verses, set by a rare artist among the Phonicians, called Sido, to the most ravishing and melt-ing notes. And therefore I have not so much as taken notice of their interpretation, who, deriving these words from an original, signifying spoil and devastation, understand hereby beautiful women, taken captive in the wars, of which the king had the first choice, as he had of the rest of spoil. For there were no wars in his time, till the latter end of his reign, and then he was rather worsted than victorious. Some indeed, to keep this sense, derive it from saddaim, the breasts or paps; be

cause no small part of women's beauty (which they would have to be the delights here spoken of) consists in the fine shape and decent position of this part of their body. But this seems to be far fetched, and therefore I have let it, and divers other interpretations, alone, and only expressed the sense of our own translation, which takes these for musical instruments, and those of such extraordinary sweetness, that they left no part of a man's soul untouched, nor room for any other pleasure, (so some derive it from a word signifying abundance); and had some regard to the LXX. who understand it of such as waited upon him at the table, (cup-bearers, and such like officers), where music also was seldom wanting, but made a part of the entertainment of great persons, as I have expressed in the paraphrase."

[i] Ver. 9. My wisdom remained.] For it was not the manner of great men, in ancient time, to pass their feasts only in eating and drinking, and after the sottish custom now, to send the cups going round, when all was taken away, but to spend the time in pleasant, but learned discourses, or in telling stories, or propounding and resolving questions, which might whet the wit, and form men's manners, or open the secrets of nature, and at the same time both refresh and instruct the mind. As we see at Sampson's marriage. feast, he propounded a riddle to be unfolded, concerning the generation of bees, out of the carcase of a lion. In Plutarch's Symposiacs, there are abundance of such merry and learned questions resolved. And Athenæus, in his Diepnosophists, hath excerpt the flower of all arts and authors, poets, philosophers, and historians. In Virgil also, at the end of his first book of Æneids, Jopas is introduced singing a philosophical song, (at the feast which Dido made), concerning the motions of the moon and the sun, and in short of all that atlas that most famous astronomer had taught. And in another place, Æneas himself relates the destruction of Troy.

[k] Ver. 10. My portion.] Though wisdom thus bridled his pleasures, yet it did not restrain him from such a free and plentiful enjoyment of them, that there was no sort which he did not taste as highly of as was possible, without making himself a mere fool. This he calls his portion, by a metaphor taken from inheritance, which being divided into parts, every one of the children had his part given him; or from lots, which as they were used among merchants, so sometimes, in the dividing of inheritances, when the heir could not agree among themselves, about the equality of the portions which were set out for them. [1] Ver. 11. I locked.] Having considered the value of this portion, he could not say it was much worth, but rather that there was very little in it; and therefore he prefers wisdom much before all this pleasure; and still far more before sottish and mad pleasure, ver. 12.

And yet, for all that, after he had taken the benefits of wisdom into a second consideration, ver. 13. 14.

he could not but conclude again, that there is a vanity in that also. Which is threefold, as there are three ends for which men study wisdom. First, That they may provide for their safety and security; Secondly, That they may commend their names to posterity; or, Thirdly, That they may leave to their children, what their singular prudence and great diligence hath gathered together. But all these, he shews, are vain designs.

[m] Ver. 15. Happened.] For instance, he represents here, how all mankind, wise and fools, are alike liable to the same casualties, and many inconveniences, which are common to every one of us in this life. Which the Lord Bacon (in Book iv. of the Advancement of Learning, chap. ii.) extends to such considerations as this, That, "in all times, witches and old women, and impostors, have been rivals and competitors, in the reputation and opinion of the multitude, with the ablest physicians, and contended with them for the same cures. Nay, the impostor bears away the prize, and virtue lies under the censure; such is the weak. ness and credulity of men, they prefer a mountebank, or a witch, before a learned physician; which the poets observed, when they made Esculapius and Circe, brother and sister, both children of the sun. And what follows from hence, but that physicians say to themselves, as Solomon in another case, It befals to me, as it doth to the fool; why should I labour to be more wise? It discourages them, that is, in their profession." [n] Ver, 16. No remembrance.] And then for the other two, (mentioned above, k), he observes how short-lived our memorial is, as well as ourselves, ver. 16. 17. and that no man can be sure who shall inherit his labours, or what kind of person he shall be, wise or sottish, good or bad, ver.. 18. 19. Which he reflects upon again in the following verses with a very heavy heart, that made him weary of life, ver. 20. 21. And then concludes the chapter, with a brief account of the true way to enjoy all the happiness that this world can afford; of which we are utterly incapable, unless we have a sense of God, be devoutly affected towards him as the author and donor of all good things. Which I have expressed so fully in the paraphrase of ver. 24. &c. that I may be censured for making it too long, and therefore shall not commit another error, in enlarging it farther There's '.

[o] Ver. 26, But only observe that wisdom and knowledge, in this verse, do not differ, as they may be thought to do, chap. i. 26. but relate both of them to the same thing, only with such a distinction as I have mentioned in the paraphrase; or, as others will have it, wisdom relates to the acquisition of the good things of this world, knowledge to the use, from which prudent fruition flows the joy he mentions together with them. Thus Co

ranus.

The last words of the chapter are referred by all expositors, in a manner, only to the condition of the sinner, which immediately precedes; but since