71

FIRST SECTION.

THE QUEST OF THE CHIEF GOOD IN WISDOM AND IN PLEASURE.

Chap. I., v. 12, to Chap. II., v. 26.

12 I, the Preacher, was King over Israel, in Jerusalem:

13 And I applied my heart to survey and search by wisdom
Into all that is done under heaven:
This sore task hath God given to the children of men,
To exercise themselves therewith.

Ver. 13. To survey and search into, etc. The verbs indicate the broad extent which his researches covered, and the depth to which they penetrated.

14 I have considered all the works that are done under the sun,
72And, behold, they are all vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ver. 14. Vexation of spirit. Literally, "striving after the wind." But the time-honoured phrase, "vexation of spirit," sufficiently expresses the writer's meaning; and it seems better to retain it than, with the Revised Version, to introduce the Hebrew metaphor, which has a somewhat novel and foreign sound.

15 That which is crooked cannot be set straight,
And that which is lacking cannot be made up.

16 Therefore I spake to my heart, saying,
Lo, I have acquired greater wisdom
Than all who were before me in Jerusalem,
My heart having seen much wisdom and knowledge;

17 For I had given my heart to find knowledge and wisdom.
I perceive that even this is vexation of spirit;

Ver. 17. To find knowledge and wisdom. Both the Authorized and Revised Versions render "to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly." The latter clause, however, violates both the sense and the grammatical construction. The word translated "to know" is not an infinitive, but a noun, and should be rendered "knowledge;" the word translated "folly" means "prudence," and the word translated "madness" hardly means more than "folly." The text, too, seems corrupt. The sense of the passage is against it, I think, as it now stands; for the design of the Preacher is simply to show the insufficiency of wisdom and knowledge, not to prove folly foolish. On the whole, therefore, it seems better to follow the high authority which arranges the text as it is here rendered. The Hebraist will find the question fully discussed in Ginsburg.

18 For in much wisdom is much sadness,
And to multiply knowledge is to multiply sorrow.

1 Then I said to my heart,
Go to, now let me prove thee with mirth,
And thou shalt see pleasure:
And, lo, this too is vanity!

73 2 To mirth I said, Thou art mad!
And to pleasure, What canst thou do?

3 I thought in my heart to cheer my body with pleasure,
While my spirit guided it wisely,
And to lay hold on folly,
Till I should see what it is good for the sons of men to do under heaven,
Through the brief day of their life.

4 I gave myself to great works;
I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;

5 I made me gardens and parks,
And I planted in them all manner of fruit-trees;

6 I made me tanks of water,
From which to water the groves:

7 I bought me men-servants and maid-servants,
And had servants born in my house.
I had also many herds of oxen and sheep,
More than all who were before me in Jerusalem:

8 I heaped up silver and gold,
And the treasures of kings and of kingdoms:
74I got me men-singers and women-singers;
And took delight in many fair concubines:

9 So that I surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem,
My wisdom abiding with me;

10 And nothing that my eyes desired did I withhold from them,
I did not keep back my heart from any pleasure;
For my heart took joy in all my toil,
And this was my portion therefrom.

11 But when I turned to look on all the works which my hands had wrought,
And at the labour which it cost me to accomplish them,
Behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit,
And there was no profit under the sun.

12 Then I turned to compare wisdom with madness and folly—
And what can he do that cometh after the king
Whom they made king long ago?—

13 And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly
As far as light excelleth darkness:

14 The wise man's eyes are in his head,
While the fool walketh blindly.
75Nevertheless I knew that the same fate will befall both.

15 Therefore I spake with my heart:
"A fate like that of the fool will befall me, even me;
To what end, then, am I wiser?"
And I said to my heart:
"This too is vanity,

16 For there is no more remembrance of the wise man than of the fool;
For both will be forgotten,
As in time past so also in days to come:
And, alas, the wise man dieth even as the fool!"

17 So life became hateful to me, for a sore burden was upon me,
Even the labour which I wrought under the sun;
Since all is vanity and vexation of spirit:

18 Yea, I hated all the gain which I had gained under the sun,
Because I must leave it to the man who shall come after me,

19 And who can tell whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
Yet shall he have power over all my gain
Which I have wisely gained under the sun:
This too is vanity.

20 Then I turned and gave my heart up to despair
76Concerning all the gain which I had gained under the sun;

21 For here is a man who hath laboured wisely, and prudently, and dexterously,
And he must leave it as a portion to one who hath not laboured therein:
This also is vanity and a great evil;

22 For man hath nothing of all his heavy labour,
And the vexation of his heart under the sun,

23 Since his task grieveth and vexeth him all his days,
And even at night his heart hath no rest:
This too is vanity.

24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink,
And to let his soul take pleasure in his labour.
But even this, I saw, cometh from God;

25 For who can eat,
And who enjoy himself, apart from Him?

26 For to the man who is good before Him,
He giveth wisdom and knowledge and joy;
But to the sinner He giveth the task to gather and to heap up,
That he may leave it to him who is good before God:
This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.