A COMMENTARY, UPON THE WHOLE book OF ECCLESIASTES OR THE PREACHER.  
WHEREIN The original Hebrew text is carefully examined, our own English Translation and others are duly viewed and compared, in which also The literal sense is chiefly considered, other senses as useful are not omitted.  
The exposition of the ancient Fathers, and other ancient and classical authors being diligently observed: the whole Is also illustrated with frequent passages and Sentences taken out of them.  
Ratio divina in medulla est, non in superficie,& plerumque aemula manifestis. tertul. de Resurrect. Carnis. c. 3.  
Search the Scriptures. John 5.39.  
By MICHAEL JERMIN, Dr. in divinity, and Rect. of St. Martins Lud-gate. London.  
LONDON: Printed by Ric. Hodgkinsonne, for JOHN clerk, and are to be sold at his shop under Saint Peters Church in Corne-hill. 1639.   

TO THE SACRED majesty OF THE LADY ELIZABETH, queen OF BOHEMIA.  
MOst Sacred majesty, having before made some exposition upon the Proverbs of King Solomon, I have now done the same upon his Preaching. For seeing so great a King was pleased to be a Preacher, I have brought the homage of a Preacher to him. My former labours received the honour of Patronage from your royal Brother, my dread sovereign, to whom the God of mercy and glory be a gracious Patron, and a safe defender: these labours most humbly beseech the same from your Sacred majesty. For seeing, when I was your ordinary chaplain, I had long and often in expounding other parts of Scripture, the gracious attention of your hearing, I desire that the world may red these with the favourable light of your Patronage. It is but a beam of that illustrious and splendent light shining in you which I crave, and which though clouded with many trials, yet breaks out gloriously in heavenly patience, spiritual cheerfulness, divine courage, noble courtesy. To put these, and many other graces in one, God hath made you, the onely Daughter of a famous King deceased, the only Sister of a glorious King alive, that all might look upon you to his greater glory. And he that hath made you the mirror of his praise for others to look upon, vouchsafe himself to look upon you as the object of his graciousness. He that is the only wise God be your precious comforter: he that is the only son of God be your merciful Saviour, and make you glorious in the happiness of heaven, who hath made you so glorious in the troubles of the earth.  
Your Majesties in all devoted and obliged serviceableness of heart, MICHAEL JERMIN.   

To the Christian Reader.  
CHristian Reader, to make ashort commentary upon mine own mind in publishing this commentary upon the book of Ecclesiastes: I desire that God may be glorified by the knowledge of his Word, and that the Church of God may be illightened in the knowledge of it, and that the discharge of my duty to the Church might be in some sort expressed. For though the Scriptures be the firmament of the Church, in which the Sun of truth shineth, the moon of knowledge is in her full brightness, and where there are a multitude of stars of most excellent and divine light; yet such are the clouds of human ignorance, such the mists of our corrupted nature, that we perceive but darkly the beauty and glory of them. If therefore such means be used, as that these clouds may be in some measure cleared, and the thickness of these mists in some part lessened, it is not a labour that needeth to be judged of, as needlessly bestowed. As for this book of the Preacher, such is the blindness of the eyes of many in the reading of it, that mistaking utterly his heavenly meaning, from hence they frame pretences for their own earthly and voluptuous living. But such also are many passages of this book, that even they who have the sharpest sight, must aclowledge a dimness of their eyes when they look upon them. Where if my small candle hath given any light, the whole praise be given unto the Father of lights: if it hath cast a false light, I presume that they who discern it, will not be misled by it, I hope that they who discern it, shall receive no hurt by it. For though we may not walk in the way of a right understanding, in all things, yet if we do walk in the way of a right faith, and of a godly life, we shall be sure not to miss the way unto eternal life, which God of his mercy grant to us all for his son Jesus Christs sake. The faults of the printing had not been so many and great, had mine health been greater, that I could have lookd after it. But let thy courtesy be the physic to cure them, and for many of them there is a remedy set down in the end of the book, where seeing thou mayest easily correct them, be not hasty to condemn them. Farewell  
Thine in CHRIST JESUS, Michael Jermin.   

REcensui Commenta haec in Ecclesiastem, nec in iis quicquam reperio quò minus Imprimantur.  
SAMUEL BAKER. Londini December. 7. 1638.   

A COMMENTARY VPON THE WHOLE book OF ECCLESIASTES.  

The Preface.  
GRegory Nyssene writing upon this book, beginneth thus: 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  Nobis Ecclesiasten proponimus exponendum, qui magnitudini utilitatis habet parem laborem contemplationis: Ecclesiastes is proposed to be expounded by us, which is a book, that to answer the great profit of it, requireth great pains in him that shall go about it, and not onely great pains, but also great abilities, to be able to reach the height, to fathom the depth of it: And what then can be expected, Hac qualicunque lucubratiuncula mea, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Praesat. in Ecclesiast.  iter ad intelligentiam praeeunte? From this my dim light, showing the way for understanding of it? But seeing Christ hath commanded us to search the Scriptures, let me have leave to search this book of Scripture as I can; trusting that He, Qui scrutandi dedit praeceptum, ad hoc etiam omnino dabit vires, who hath given the commandement for searching, will also give strength in some measure, for the doing of it.   

The general scope of the book.  
THe greatest labour of Philosophers hath been to find out the greatest good of man; wherein what hath their labour been, but a labyrinth, in which themselves being lost, they were far from finding that which they sought? But this being the scope of the royal Philosopher, the ecclesiastical King of Israel in this book, he shows where it is, by showing it not to be in the things of this world: he declareth what it is, by declaring what wee must be in the fear of the Lord, and in keeping his Commandements. It is a mistake, as some think, 
Picolomineus.  of the meaning of Epicurus, to imagine that he placed the chief good of man in a sensual pleasure; but that he intended the sweet delight of virtue, and therein the happy contentment of mans mind, to be the bed of rest unto it. Now much more are they mistaken, who think that in this book a luxurious pleasure is commended to us: seeing it is from a discommendation of worldly things, in respect of the vanity of them, 
Hieronym. in Ecclesiast.  Et quae dum tenentur, intereunt, and which are still in losing even while they are kept, as St. jerome speaketh, that the Preacher laboureth to make us to deny the world: {αβγδ}, and to seat the mind above a sensual contentment, as a Greek Father expresseth the purpose of this book. The things whereof the vanity is here weighed unto us, are by Hugo de Sancto Victore reduced unto three heads, as being, Aut quae propter homines facta sunt, aut quae ab hominibus facta sunt, aut quae in hominibus facta sunt, Either those things which were made for men, or those things which are made by men, or those which are made in men. 
Hugo de Sancto Victore in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  In his quae ab hominibus facta sunt, vanitas est curiositatis, in his quae propter homines facta sunt, vanitas est mutabilitatis, in his quae in hominibus facta sunt, vanitas est mortalitatis, In those things that are made by men there is the vanity of curiosity, in those things that are made for men, there is the vanity of mutability, in those things that are made in men, there is the vanity of mortality. The way which I shall follow in tracing out the sense of what is here delivered, shall be by walking in the steps of a literal exposition, because that it is to which the Preachers hand leadeth me. And yet because there may be some things, as an ancient Writer noteth, Spiritualiter intelligenda, non negligenter praetereunda, spiritually to be understood, and not to be omitted negligently, I shall sometimes turn aside to meet with a mystery, that may bring profit with it: they being alike to be condemned, Qui mysticam intelligentiam vel inquirendam pertinaciter negant, ubi est, vel apponendam superstitiose contendunt, ubi non est, who wilfully refuse to seek for a mystical sense, where it is to be had, and who superstitiously strive in seeking for it, where it is not to be had, as the same author addeth.   

CHAPTER I.  
VER. 1. The words of the Preacher the son of David King of Jerusalem. 
Verse 1. WE have here not onely the title of the author expressed by three names, but also the office of a governor set forth by three duties. First, that he must be a Preacher, in teaching those that are under him: secondly, that he must be a son, in being himself obedient to that which he teacheth: thirdly, that he must be a King, in commanding and exacting that those things be performed which are taught by him. But to consider them as the titles of the author, set down to procure the better regard of what he writeth. First, he is called the Preacher: and if wee take the reason to be, because these words were written by Solomon, to be red in the Church and Congregation; 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  then Gregory Nyssene asking the question, why this book rather then others should be called the words of the Preacher, seeing that Moyses and the Prophets were red in the Church and Congregation also; he giveth a good answer to it: because in other books, there are many things of Warres, and Cities, and Countries, and marriages, which are not so profitable for the Church of God, 
Gregor. Nyssene in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  Hujus autem libri doctrina ad solam Ecclesiasticam conversationem pertinet, ut quae ea explicet, per quae quis rectè& ex virtute vitam instituat, but the Doctrine of this book belongeth onely to an ecclesiastical conversation, as speaking of those things by which any one may lead a virtuous and a godly life. Or else if we take this book to be written by Solomon after his repentance, as the Iewes affirm, then we may conceive him to be called the Preacher or Ecclesiastes, as making his repentance in the Church, to which by his repentance he was again joined, and as thereby teaching repentance unto others. And then the Hebrew word {αβγδ} rendered the Preacher, being of the feminine gender, in which regard some say, that {αβγδ} anima the soul is to be added to it, filling up the place thus, The words of the preaching soul, it very well agreeth to Solomons penitent soul, grieved for the sinful pleasures of his body. It may be noted also that it is said, The words of the Preacher, because in this book he speaketh with the words of divers, sometimes of himself, sometimes of some other person. And therefore in the end of the book, as it were speaking unto all, in whose words he had spoken, and shutting up their many words in a few, but containing the whole truth, 
Eccles. 12.13.  he saith; Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his Commandements, for this is the whole duty of man. Secondly, he is called the son of David, as walking in the steps of his Father David, both in the course of his repentance, and in the ways of godliness, which here he teacheth. Thirdly, he is called the King of jerusalem, because in jerusalem the glory of the world being chiefly shewed, the vanities of the world being most of all embraced, it is to them more especially that he writeth, to make them contemn the glory of worldly things, to make them to see the vanity of them. But seeing to the son of David, to the King of jerusalem( or else the King in jerusalem, as the original more directly is) is added the Preacher; fort ad ducem ecclesiae intuetur inscriptio, perhaps the inscription casteth an eye to him who is the captain and Leader of his Church,( as a greek Father speaketh) to Christ, who is indeed the Preacher of righteousness, who is {αβγδ} Ecclesiastes, congregans coetum, gathering into one Church both Iewes and Gentiles, and calling together into one Congregation, those who were scattered in the errors of iniquity. He is the son of David, to whom the whole multitude sang their Hosanna. He is the King of jerusalem, of that jerusalem, which is the city of the great King. He was King in jerusalem, being there crwoned with thorns, being there lifted up on the throne of his cross. Non ad eum fit verbum Dei, 
Hieronym. in Ecclesiast.  sicut ad caeteros prophetas, said ipse est verbum, verbaque loquitur ad ecclesiae viros; The word of the Lord doth not come to him, as to the other Prophets, but he is the word, and he speaketh words to the men of the Church, as S. jerome hath it.   

VER. 2. vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  
VER. 3. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?  
Verse 2. After the three titles of the author, Hugo de Sancto Victore conceiveth Solomon, to set down the sum of the three parts of his book in the three following verses. In this verse the vanity of mutability, which is handled from the first verse unto the twelfth verse of this Chapter: in the next verse, the vanity of curiosity or desire, which is handled from the twelfth verse of this Chap. unto the twelfth Chapter: in the following verses, the vanity of mortality, which is handled from the beginning of the twelfth Chapter to the end of it, and of the book. The same author speaking of these vanities saith; 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast.  Prima vanitas naturalis est,& apta sieve congrua: secunda vanitas culpabilis est quia perversa: tertia vanitas poenalis& misera. Prima causa est peccati; secunda peccatum; tertia poena peccati; The first vanity is natural, and fit for the nature of worldly things; the second is sinful, because perverse and froward; the third penal and miserable. The first is the occasion of sin, the second is sin, the third is the punishment of sin. But to consider the verse in itself. The Preacher which is the first of the titles in the former verse, is here the onely title of the author, as showing that to be his proper title as author of this book. Or else it sheweth that in his repentance, he esteemed this title above all: and that he thought this to be more glorious unto him, then that he was either the son of so great a King, or else so great a King himself. An ancient Writer saith of this part of the verse, saith the Preacher, Cum pondere pronuntiandum est, that it is to be pronounced with a weighty emphasis. He saith it, who in his sinful folly did not consider it: he saith it, who hath said so much of so many things: he saith it, who being the son of a wise King, was himself the wisest King that ever was or shall be. Quod ergo tantus,& talis dixit, vanum esse non potuit, etiansi de vanitate dixit, Wherefore that which one so great, and such a one hath said, cannot be vain, although he hath said it of vanity. But if all things be vanity, then himself also, who spake this, is vanity. And if vanity speak, what can it be but vain that is spoken? To answer this: it was not himself in speaking this that spake, it was the spirit of God that gave him utterance. And therefore Hugo de Sancto Victore saith, ubi putatis mens erat hujus hoins, quum haec diceret? Homo erat, said supra hominem erat. Quia nisi hominem excederet, omnem hominem mendacem esse non videret? Where do ye think was the mind of this man, when he said these things? He was a man, but yet above a man: because unless he did exceed a man, he could not have seen that all men are vanity. But to consider what he saith, what the Spirit of God meaneth by vanity, the Spirit of God can best tell us: 
Jere. 16.19.  who doth himself explain it, when the Prophet jeremiah acknowledgeth, Surely our Fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. The vanity then whereof the Preacher speaketh, is the lying promises of contentment which worldly things make, and the no-profit which is made of them. vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, that is, the vanity of them, is even more then vanity: and as if he would say more, but could not, he saith the same again: and least he should not have said all, yet he addeth, All is vanity. Saint jerome tells us, that in all translations besides the Septuagint, the words are rendered {αβγδ} vapour vaporum, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  a vapour of vapours, as showing, that as a vapour being the extraction of the thinnest part of any thing, if the thinnest part of a vapour should be extracted also, the thinness of that would be exceeding great: so the vanity of worldly things, which is a vanity of vanities, to be exceeding great also. But doth not this redound to the dishonour of the creator, if all things created by him in this world be so strangely vain? Clemens Alexandrinus apprehendeth, 
Clemens Alexan. storm. l. 5.  that it was from a mistake of the meaning of this verse, that Epicurus affirmed, Omnia temere ferri, All things to be carried lightly and vainly. Wherefore that wee may not mistake also, Saint Gregory tells us the meaning to be, 
Gregorius. M. in c. 12. Pri. Samuel.  In comparatione aeternorum bonorum vana esse omnia, etiam bona temporalia, In comparison of eternal good things, even all things to be vain, yea, although they be good things temporally. Which is indeed most true, but I conceive the Preachers speech to intend rather the vanities of mans life, then to be uttered of the creatures generally. But having considered, who it is that saith it, what it is that is said, I will say no more, but that which S. Chrysostome speaketh of this verse, 
Chrysost. Epistola ad Eutropium.  Hunc versiculum si saperent, qui in potestate sunt, in parietibus omnibus& in vestibus scriberent, in foro, in domo, in januis, in ingressibus,& ante omnia in conscientiis suis, ut semper eum oculis cernerent,& cord sentirent. This verse, if they who are great in this world were wise, they would writ on all their walls and garments, in their common meeting places, in their private houses, on their doors, in their entries, and above all in their consciences, that so they might always see it before their eyes, always consider it in their minds.  
Verse 3. The original word here used is {αβγδ}, which is well translated, What profit: for so the Syriac also reads it, Quae utilitas, filio hoins? What profit is there to the son of man? 
Aquin. 1. Q. 5. Ar. 6. ad 2m.  Now Aquinas tells us, Vtilia dicuntur, quae non habent in se unde desiderentur, said desiderantur solum ut sunt ducentia in alterum; Things are said to be profitable, which have not in themselves any thing for which they be desired, but only are desired as leading to some other thing. And what profit then hath a man of all his worldly labour, which neither in itself is to be desired, nor yet to be desired for any other thing? 
Gregorius Neocaesar: in hunc vers.  Wherefore Gregorius Neocaesariensis affirmeth boldly, Nemo est qui utilitatem ullam iis annexam dicere posset, quae homines humi reptantes perficere contendunt, rebus temporariis& caducis addicti; There is no one who can say, that there is any profit so much as annexed unto those things, which men crawling on the earth, and addicted to vanishing and temporary things do seek to perform. This translation doth well answer to the exposition of vanity which in the former verse I gave. The arabic doth read the word, Quae praestantia homini? What excellency is there to a man in all his worldly labour? Wherein doth this make any man to excel another? And therefore Olympiodorus saith, Quid homine homo amplius habet in eo labour, 
Olympiodorus in Catena.  quod non supra solem, said laborat sub sole, quando omnes relicta praesenti vita communem mortem subimus? What more then another man hath any man in that labour which he taketh under the sun, not above the sun, when all leaving this life do undergo a common death? The Septuagint do render it, {αβγδ}, Quid superest? What remaineth saith, St. jerome? Quid amplius habet? What hath he more? saith the Vulgar latin? What remaineth to a man of all his worldly labour? What, besides the vanity whereof the former verse speaketh? For as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh, Si secundum aliquid vanum est quod Deus creavit, quomodo non multo magis vanum est quod homo facit? Si temporale est quod fecit aeternuus, quod temporalis facit, quid est? If that bee in some respect vain, which God hath created, how is not that much more vain, which man maketh? If that be temporary which he hath made who is eternal, what is that which he maketh, who is himself temporary? What hath he more? What more of all his labour, then the labour itself, then his labour for his pains? St. Ambrose and St. Aust. do read it, Quae abundantia? What abundance is there to a man of all his worldly labour? yea although he be abundant in his labour: yea although it be not only the early labour of the morning, but that labour which endureth the heat of the day, and is under the sun: yea although wee consider not only that labour which a man hath taken, or still taketh, but that also which he shall take( for so the original is) even as long as the sun is up, and till the sun of his life be set, even of all his labour, what great matter, and worthy to bee regarded ariseth from it? The original in the Hebrew, and the greek word in the Septuagint do not reject any of these translations. Which he taketh under the sun. The sun is the master-workman of the world, labouring continually, and labouring under his great master God, to minister unto the inferior creatures of the world, as the Hebrew name of it {αβγδ} doth notify unto us. under this Master workman are all other labourers, he calls them up to their labour, he oversees their labour, he appoints unto them their time of ceasing from labour. But although we labour under him, yet unless the end of our labour be for something above him, it will not profit us: unless as he calls us to labour, so we call upon God for a blessing on our labour, 
Hugo de Sancto Victore in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  we shall have no comfort in it. Hugo de Sancto Victore, here by labouring under the Sun, understandeth our labouring under time, because by the motion of the Sun times are distinguished. Whereupon his distinction is, Alia fiunt in tempore tantum, alia fiunt in tempore& sub tempore, some things are done in time only, some things are done in time and under time: in time onely they are done, which are begun in time, but end not in time: they are done in time, and under time, which begin and end in it. again he saith that of those things which are done under time, Alia fiunt pro tempore, alia fiunt pro aeternitate, some things are done for time, and these are they that yield no profit to him that laboureth in them: other things are done for eternity, and these alone are profitable. As for the rest, whatsoever any one may now deem of them, yet this speech of Solomons, Cujusvis est ainae oratio, quando iis quae hic sunt spoliata, ad vitam quae speratur migraverit, Is the speech of every soul, when being spoiled of those things which are here, 
Gregor: Nyssenus in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  she goeth to that life, which is hoped for, as Gregory Nyssene hath it.   

VER. 4. One generation passeth away, and another cometh, but the earth abideth for ever.  
VER. 5. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place, where it arose.  
VER. 6. The wind goeth toward the South, and turneth about unto the North: it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his courses.  
VER. 7. All the rivers come into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full; unto the place from whence all the rivers come, thither they return again.  

Clem: Alex. Stromat: 5.  Ver. 4. Clemens Alexandrinus who sheweth the theft of Philosophers from the sacred Scriptures, might easily have shewed, that Aristotle took from hence his principles, that Materia prima, The first matter, which is as it were the earthly foundation of things abideth for ever, and that Corruptio unius est generatio alterius, the corruption of one thing is the generation of another, the passing away of one generation is the coming of another. But to view the words. A generation, is, the number of men, which at any time are living together upon the earth, according as the derivation of the Hebrew word {αβγδ} doth give us to understand, and so long as any of them are alive, so long doth that generation continue. Now ever since that the first man passed away from his obedience unto GODS Law, and that sin came into the world, thus it hath been still, that one passeth away, and another cometh: one passeth away that the other may come, the other cometh to pass away also, Et hanc viam omnes post ipsum per transeunt, qui ab ipso per carnis nativitatem descendunt. And this way do all pass after him, who by the birth of the flesh are come from him, as one saith. The force of the verse, as it followeth the former, is this, If you cannot believe but that mans labour doth get him some profit, yet what profit is it, when it cannot bee enjoyed? And how can it bee enjoyed, when man himself passeth away? Or else the force is this, if you think it a thing not to bee regarded, that what you do is vanity: is that also not to bee regarded, that ye yourselves are vanity? For ye pass away. And were it but a few, or if many, were it not all, the miserable vanity were the less, but it is the whole generation that passeth away, and though another cometh, the other by passing away, hath shewed it the way which it must pass likewise. But seeing it passeth away, whither doth it pass? When it cometh, from whence doth it come? Surely, this also sheweth the great vanity of men. For all can say, Hinc abeundum, Hence we must: but quò transeundum, whither then, none can tell. All have a coming; but whence they come, none brings the news with them. The Preacher therefore only saith, One generation passeth away, and another cometh. The original doth express itself by a participle, and thereby sheweth, that it doth not only pass away, as it were when the time cometh, but is continually passing away, and never abideth, which as it maketh the vanity the more, so it is still made more, in that the earth abideth for ever. The element which is so much beneath man, that element which a man treadeth under his feet.( For as the latin word terra, is taken a terendo from breaking and wearing, so the Hebrew word {αβγδ} is taken from {αβγδ} which signifieth to break and to wear also,) even the earth which is trampled on abideth, when man passeth away. Man was made of the earth, yet man vanisheth, and the earth continueth: the earth was made for man, yet man passeth away and the earth standeth still. The earth standeth, and standeth in testimonium& poenam culpae hoins, for a monument of mans sin, and punishment, bringing forth briars and thorns unto him. The earth standeth, and standeth up an accuser against man. For so Olympiodorus speaketh, 
Olympiodor. in Ecclesiast.  Terra quidem in perpetuum stat, accusatrix vestra effecta, in qua nefaria opera purpetrastis, The earth indeed standeth for ever, being made an accuser against y, for the evil deeds which ye have committed in it. The earth standeth, Vt venientes mittat, pertranseuntes portet, discedentes recipiat, to sand those people that come, to bear those that are passing away, to receive those that are gone, as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh. 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  But doth the earth stand for ever? If we take it, in a mystery for the Church, as Saint Gregory doth, then most true it is, that it abideth for ever, Quia sancta ecclesia in hoc saeculo a catholica fide nequaquam deficiet,& in futuro cum Deo aeterna stabilitate permanebit, 
Gregor. in 7. Psalmos Poenitentiales.  Because the holy Church in this world shall never fail from the catholic faith, in the next, shall abide with God for ever settled. And then wee may understand the generation which passeth away to be the Iewes, the generation that cometh to be the Gentiles, 
Hieron. in Ecclesiast.  the Christians, as Saint jerome doth. Or else if we may here understand a mystery, wee may take the generation that passeth away, for that which was made out of the earth, the generation that cometh for that which shall be raised out of the earth, and that the earth is said to abide for ever, because it shall continue until this be done. But to keep to the letter. 
Tremellius in hunc vers.  The earth is said to abide for ever, in respect of the vanity and shortness of mans life, which is so quickly gone. Or else it is said to abide for ever, because it is a thing unknown to men, or Angels how long it shall continue. For the original word {αβγδ} is taken from {αβγδ} which signifieth to lie hide, and speaketh of that continuance, the continuance, and the ceasing whereof is a thing unkowne and concealed. But what is it that maketh the earth to abide so firmly? Surely let Philosophers search for a reason of it, let us abide satisfied with that of Saint Ambrose, 
Ambros. l. 1. Exam. c. 16.  Non fulcris suis stabilis perseverat, said Dominus fundavit eam, They are not her own pillars that do bear it up, but the Lord hath founded it.  
Ver. 5. The general exposition among the Ancients given of this Verse, and of the two following, is, that by the vanity of these creatures is set forth the vanity of man. 
Greg. Nys. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  And therefore Gregory Nyssene saith, O homines qui universitatem aspicitis, vestram ipsorum naturam intelligite, O men who do behold the universe, understand your own nature in it, Est ad solis similitudinem nostrae quoque naturae ortus& occasus: una est omnibus via, unus ingressus vitae circulus, There is of our nature a rising, and a going down, as of the sun: there is one way to all, wee all walk one circled of life. But as I conceive, this ariseth not to the meaning of the place. For as in the Verse before the Preacher comparing man with the earth, shewed the vanity of man to be greater than the earth is subject to: So in these following verses he compareth the vanity of man with the sun, and wind, and waters, showing it to bee greater, than that which they have in them. This verse speaketh of the sun, 
Zanchius de operibus Dei.  which though a glorious creature, and as Zanchius speaketh, Gloriosior quod alios illuminet, quam quod ipse luceat, more glorious that it illightneth others, then that it is so bright in itself, yet much inferior is it unto mans beauty and glory. Notwithstanding the Preacher showing the transitory vanity of man, prefereth the sun before it: which though in motion it passeth on from rising to going down, yet passeth not away, but returneth to his place, as Symmachus and Theodotio did translate the word: or {αβγδ} as Aquila translated it, that is, saith Saint jerome aspirat, and so doth Tremellius translate it, attaineth to his place. Our English saith, hasteth, the French very well, ahane, laboureth hard towards his place, as one that bloweth labouring: and which though labouring, yet laboureth not in vain, but cometh to his place. Man passeth away, and his place beholdeth him no more, 
job 20.9.  as Zophar speaketh in job: but the sun cometh to his place, that is, to the point where his circular motion is terminated and accomplished: for as the place of any thing is, that wherein it stayeth; so that is said to be the place of the sun, because there it stayeth from going to any other point, wherein it hath not been before. The sun cometh to his place {αβγδ} & oritur ipse ibi, and itself ariseth there, as Saint jerome rightly translateth the Hebrew; whereas man passeth away, and another ariseth in his place. Now this being the proper translation of the original words, doth much confirm that to be the meaning of the verse which I have delivered. Saint Ambrose, as also St. jerome applying this verse in a mystery to Christ, show how that he is the sun, Qui oritur justis,& occidit injustis, which riseth to the righteous, and shineth upon them, but goeth down to the unrighteous, and leaveth them in darkness: but then they do also both of them read the next words thus, Trahit ad locum suum, draweth to his place, 
Ambros. in Psal. 119. Octon. 12.  and applying it to Christ, say, that he being gone to heaven, doth draw the desires of all men unto him.  
Verse 6. The Septuagint do make the first part of this verse to belong to the former verse, as if the Preacher spake it of the sun, That he goeth to the South, and returneth about to the North: and thereupon Saint Ambrose applying it mystically to Christ, saith that he went first to the South, first to the Iewes, Ad nobiliorem plebem, quae erat genus electum, vendicans sibi Patriarcharum prosapiam, The more noble people, which was a chosen Nation, challenging to themselves their descent from the patriarches: but because these persisted in their wickedness, he returned about to the North, Gyravit ad Gentes, 
Ambros. in Psal. 119. Octon. 12.  He came about to the Gentiles. But to take the words as a part of this verse, and as applied to the wind, for so the original doth apply them. Wee have here the vanity of man compared to the wind: and though that may be conceived to be of all things most vain, most light; yet here mans vanity is shewed to be greater. And whereas job saith, 
job 7.7.  O remember that my life is wind; the Preacher saith, that it is more vain then wind. For though the wind pass on speedily, and pass away quickly, though most inconstantly it pass from place to place, and every way turneth itself, which our Translation hath, whirleth about continually, yet it returneth still, and going from the North, it cometh back to the North again: but it is not so with man: and that which job speaketh of himself, is true of every man, When a few yeares are come, 
job 16.22.  I shall go the way whence I shall not return. That this is the meaning of the verse, the original sheweth by the conclusion of it, where it is said, Vadi● ventus& revertitur supper circulos suos, the wind goeth and returneth again upon his circles, Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur, and is turned into itself, by its own steps, as the Poet speaketh: as if the Preacher did bid us to note, that although the wind goeth toward the South, and returneth unto the North, that though it turn never so many ways whirling continually, yet that the going of it hath his returns in the circles of it: whereas the passing breath of mans life hath no return. But though man being gone from his natural life cannot return, yet being gone from his spiritual life, he may and should return. In this it were good, if man were like the wind, and being gone to the South of sinful lusts and pleasures, to the South of vain and worldly contentments, it were good that he would return to the North of sorrow and repentance for his sins, for his vanities; and having wandered here and there, and whirled about continually in the giddy mazes of iniquity, it were good that he would return according to his circuits, and go back to God by the contrary courses of amendment. This is that which God calleth for so earnestly, 
Cantic. 6.13.  saying, return, return O Shulamite, return, return. Where the word return being four times repeated, Saint Bernard saith, that wee are called to return from four things, 
Bern. Par. Serm. 58.  Primò ab inepta laetitia, secundò ab inutili tristitia, tertiò ab inani gloria, quartò a latenti superbia, First, from a foolish mirth, secondly, from an unprofitable sadness, thirdly, from a vain ostentation, fourthly, from a hidden pride. For these being the vanities of the world, from these wee must return, to go to God, to come to happiness.  
Verse 7. Here the vanity of man is compared to the Rivers, which though they go away likewise, yet it is but into the Sea: from whence as they come forth, so thither their return is, that from thence they may come forth again. And therefore as one speaketh, Dum mere sine intermissione recipit quod effudit, sine defectu effundit quod recipit,& fit defectus sine defectu, while the Sea without ceasing receiveth that which it sendeth forth, it sendeth forth without ceasing that which it receiveth, and so the passing away of the Rivers is not a passing away. But the passing away of men is into the bottomless gulf of death, from whence is no issuing forth: that devoureth all, sendeth back none, which sheweth the vanity of men to be worse then of the Rivers. And that this is the meaning, appeareth from the words. For when it is said, All the rivers run into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full, why is this added, but to show that the end why the Rivers go into the Sea, is not to fill it, seeing that is not filled, that is, is not filled the more by them. But what then is the end why the Rivers go into the Sea? The original plainly sheweth, and as it is rightly translated by the Septuagint, and by the Vulgar latin it clearly appeareth. For say they, Ad locum unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur, ut iterum fluant, the Rivers return to the place from whence they came, that they may flow again. Wherefore in their flowing again, they are not so vain as man, who in his flowing away hath no reflux allowed him. Saint Gregory in a moral sense applieth this verse unto Preachers, who having studied and meditated of heavenly things, do then sand them forth, for the watering of the Lords fields; 
Greg. Mor. l. 30. c. 3.  and when they have done so, do then return to studying and meditating again. Because unless they do this, Interna caecitas etiam externa praedicationis verba siccabit, An inward ignorance, will dry up the outward words of their preaching. But by this means, Quasi decursura foras flumina intus semper oriuntur, quatenus illic amando sumunt, unde ad nos praedicando defluunt, the rivers which flow forth abroad, do arise within continually, for as much as from them they take by a studious love, those things which by preaching flow forth to us. Or else in a moral sense, we may apply the verse another way. 
Caesarius, Dialog. 1.  And as Caesarius the brother of nazianzen saith, Pulchrum quoque quod quum mere fluminum sit matter, ipsum eadem rursus suscipit; hinc quidem quasi inlucem proferens, illinc vero recipiens quasi hospites, This also is delightful, that whereas the Sea is the mother of the rivers, itself doth receive the same again: now bringing them forth as it were into the light, then receiving them, as it were guests unto her. So may we admire the Sea of Gods goodness, who by his Holy Spirit having brought forth the children of grace, when by their holy obedience they do return unto him, doth entertain them as welcome guests with all respects of love. Now as all this ought to humble us; so it must stir us up to the seeking of a better life, seeing in this life so many of the creatures do excel us.   
VER. 8. All things are full of labour, man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. 
Verse 8. The verse saith, All things are full of labour, and it is not an easy thing, it is not a little labour to find the meaning of the verse. Howsoever the ancient expositors may have satisfied themselves in the understanding of it, that which they say doth not satisfy me. The original may be translated, either Omnes res all things, and so do the septuagint and the vulgar latin red it, or else omnes sermons, all words, and so do Gregory Nyssene and Saint jerome read it. In that which followeth, the original saith no more then this, Non potest homo eloqui, man cannot express. Our English applieth it unto labour, saying, Man cannot utter it. The Ancients apply it either to the things, or to the words, saying, Man cannot express them. As for the meaning of the Verse, the Ancients understood it of the knowledge of things, which it is laborious and difficult for man to get: and seeing man doth not know what things are, much less can he express what they are. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, man cannot by his own study, find the knowledge of things: the ear is not filled with hearing, man cannot learn the knowledge of things by the hearing of others. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Wherefore Saint jerome saith that it is written Contra eos qui putant otiosis sibi& vota facientibus, venire notitiam scripturarum, Who think that the knowledge of the Scriptures will come unto them, 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. Homil. 1. in Ecclesiast.  being idle and wishing for it only: Hugo de Sancto Victore understandeth the latter part of the verse thus, That although man doth not attain to the knowledge of things, yet that which he attaineth unto, doth give him that sweet delight, that he still seeketh more, and that the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Wherefore he saith, Cor humanum toti mundo non sufficit:& totus mundus cordi humano non sufficit, The heart of man is not sufficient for the whole world, and the whole world is not sufficient for the heart of man. The first he sheweth, because all things are hard to be understood, and man cannot express what they are: The second, because the eye is not satisfied, nor the ear filled with seeing and hearing. Gregory Nyssene expounding the verse as being translated, Omnes sermons sunt laboriosi, All words are full of labour, man cannot utter them, tells us, that nothing is more easy then to speak, and therefore that we must understand the Preacher of those words, whereof the Apostle speaking saith, 
1 Tim. 5.17.  That they are worthy of double honour who labour in the word. sermons ergo sunt qui verè sunt sermons, qui fiunt ad animarum utilitatem. The words therefore( saith he) are those, which are truly words, and which are spoken to the profit of souls. And such words( saith he) are full of labour, because they who teach them must be careful to follow them in their own lives. But if a man cannot express those words, how can he utter that eternal word of God? The Father addeth truly, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  Quaevis certè quantumvis sublimis oratio,& vox quantumvis magna est obscuritas quaedam& silentium, si ad veram ejus quod quaeritur judicetur significationem, Whatsoever speech it be, though never so high, whatsoever voice, though never so great, it is but darkness and silence, if compared with the true signification of that which is sought. But to deliver mine apprehension of the meaning of the verse: I conceive the Preacher to say, That all things desired by man are full of labour, full of weariness in the seeking of them, which is a misery unto him: and that the misery is made the greater, for as much as the desire of man is not full, not wearied in the seeking of them. For as one well speaketh, Magna est miseria semper ad indigentiam accipere,& nunquam indigentiâ accipiendi posse career, It is a great misery, always to receive for the supplying of our want, and never to want the need of receiving. And yet this is the vain condition of man in this world. So that as Saint Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambros. de Bono mortis c. 7.  Nullus finis laboris, nullus est fructus abundantiae, there is no end of his labour, no fruit of his abundance to satisfy his desire. Or else, I take the meaning of the Preacher thus: That all things being full of weariness even when they are enjoyed, yet that man is not weary in the desiring of them. And the things desired or enjoyed by man belonging either to the body or to the soul, the unsatisfied desire of things belonging to the body, is expressed by the eye, of things belonging to the soul is expressed by the ear.   

VER. 9. The thing which hath been, is that which shall be, and that which is done, is that which shall bee done, and there is no new thing under the sun.  
VER. 10. Is there any thing whereof it may bee said, See this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.  
VER. 11. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after.  
Verse 9. Man, whose fickle changeableness cannot fasten upon the permanency of any thing, doth seek to settle his contentment in the newness of things. But this also the Preacher declareth to be vain, showing here that there is nothing new, neither that which shall bee, nor that which is, because that which shall be, hath been, that which is, shall be. The kind of things is still the same, the contentment which they yield is still the same in the nature of it, the vanity of the things, and of the delight taken in them is still the same, for there is nothing new under the sun. If we will have new things, we must go above the sun. There indeed are new things of another nature, things of eternity, things of true contentment, things in which there is no vanity. But that we may attain to these, we must be new creatures by amendment of our life: the old man must be crucified in us, that we may be glorified in these new things. The Septuagint, Saint jerome and the Vulgar Latin, do red this verse by way of question and answer, saying, Quid est quod fuit? Ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est? Ipsum quod faciendum est, What is that which hath been? The very same which shall be. What is that which hath been done? The very same which shall bee done. And surely in natural things it is a thing most evident, a certain course and constant order being still observed in them. As for civill affairs, which are swayed and carried by the will of man, he that shall duly mark them, even in the greatest variety and inconstancy thereof, shall find a revolution, whereby they are turned about in one and the same circled. Wherefore hence it is that the knowledge of Histories is accounted so excellent, because setting things past before our eyes, it shows us how to order the things that are present. So that they who are taken up with novelty and stand so much amazed at it, do thereby but give the greater testimony of their great ignorance in things that are past, being indeed like children or rude Country people, by whom many things are received and admired as new and strange, which in the City and Court, are common, stale, and of no regard. But seeing there is nothing new, let this bridle our restless desire in seeking after new things, let us fasten our minds with this nail, and make them contented with things that are present, least skipping hither and thither, now after one thing, then another, we take away quietness which is the only solace of our life. Gregory Nyssene having here a peculiar exposition of this passage, let me have leave to set it down. He reading the verse by way of a question, supposeth that the Preacher having shewed all things, that are, to be vain, doth here ask the question, What is to be conceived of those things which have been? And that answering he telleth us, that as things shall be, so they were, that is, as they shall be renewed to a perfection in the resurrection, so they were made in perfection in the creation. And then we may take the following words to signify: but that as yet there is nothing under the sun renewed from the vanity thereof. There must be a new heaven, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  and a new earth, when that shall be. The same Father observing the difference of phrase that is used, in, Hath been, and Hath been done, applieth the one to the soul, the other to the body. For( saith he) Fuit seu orta est anima,& corpus factum est, The soul was or began to be; but the body was made. The soul therefore which was without sin, shall be purged, and shall be so again: the body as it was first made, so shall it be made again. Neque enim est aliquid aliud resurrectio nisi quae sit omnino in pristinum statum restitutio, for( saith he) the resurrection is nothing else but a restitution into the former state and condition.  
Verse 10. This verse is added, to express more fully, more forcibly the sense of the former: and because worldly mindes imagine to themselves, a newness, a variety of some things, wherewith their delight is much taken; the Preacher therefore saith, whatsoever any one may imagine to himself, or others may admire; Is there any thing whereof it may be truly said, See this is new? Or seeing the original goes thus, Estne verbum, quod dicat? Is there a word which may say? Wee may take it thus. Is there any new word to be invented, that may set forth any new thing? The answer of the common saying is, Nihil jam dictum, quod non sit dictum prius, there is nothing now said, which was not said before. And the answer of the Preacher is, that all things are so far from being new, that they are old, and have been already of old time. But because the former verse may also have another meaning, that will give another sense unto this. When it is said therefore, The thing which hath been, it is that which shall be, wee may conceive the meaning to be, That as that which hath been, is not now, so that which shall be, is not yet, and so both do show their vanity in their not being. When it is said, That which is done, is that which shall be done, we may take the sense to be, that also the thing which is, is much what the same with that which shall be, because it is so little time until that it shall not be, and so even no less vain. Wherefore an ancient writer saith, Quod est, dum est, pene nihil est, that which is, while it is, is almost nothing, seeing the moments of the present time do fly away so fast. And when the Preacher addeth, Nihil est novum sub sole, Nothing is new under the sun, Gregory Nyssene expoundeth it, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  That which is new under the sun, is nothing indeed. Now if thus we take the meaning of the former verse: then the force, which this verse addeth to it, is this, That so vain is the continuance of the thing, that is, that it doth not stay, until it can be said, It is. And if it be asked, what it is? He that answereth must tell, what it was, not what it is. And when it is added, It hath been already of old time, which was before: in a consequent exposition, the meaning of that must be, that nothing is truly said to be but God onely, who hath been of old even from everlasting, and before that wee ever were. For seeing Gregory Nyssene expoundeth novum esse to be new, by revera subsistere, to be and to subsist indeed, and thereupon understandeth nothing to be new, because nothing in this world truly is; therefore in like manner that which is said to be of old, must be understood of that which truly is, and that is God alone. But to apply this in a moral sense: it serveth well to teach patience unto Gods servants, and if they be hated of the world, it is that which hath been always in the world; if they suffer reproach, slanders, persecution, it is that which shall be done to Gods servants after themselves be gone. The thing which hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, it is that which shall be done. Neither let any say it is strange, it is new that which I endure. For is there any thing of which it may be said, see this is new? No, 
Ezek. 1.16.  the servants of God have of old endured the same, whatsoever it be that is endured by any: and therefore let every one expect that to be done to himself, which hath been done to them. In the vision of the Prophet Ezechiel, wee read of a wheel in the wheel, 
Ambros. de Virg. l. 3. circa finem.  and this Saint Ambrose expoundeth to be, Vitam intra vitam, quod Sanctorum vita sibi non dissonet, said qualis fuerit superioris aetatis, talis sit& sequentis, Life within life, because the life of Gods Saints is not different the one from the other, but such as it was in the former ages, such it is in the ages that follow.  
Verse 11. It is some kind of preservation of things that are not, that they are not forgotten: and because this might seem to mitigate the vanity of worldly things, the Preacher sheweth that there is also no remembrance of things, neither of former things which go before, that is, neither of things past which are already gone, neither of things present when they shall be gone also, neither shall there be any remembrance of things which shall be, whether they shall be soon after, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Homil. 2. in Ecclesiast.  or whether a long time after. So that as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh; Non solum praesentia eorum interitu sublata est, said memoria quoque oblivione deleta est, not onely their presence by perishing is taken away, but their memory also by oblivion is blotted out. Wherefore let this check the great minds of some, who think to do some great thing by which they will be remembered, and let it make them to seek after righteousness; 
Prov. 10.7.  for it is the righteous, it is the memory of the righteous that is blessed. Or else let me offer to consideration, this meaning of the Preacher: who to show the vanity of worldly things, saith, that there is no remembrance {αβγδ} capitum& primariorum, of those who have been chief and highest in worldly esteem, of those who by their famous deeds, their glorious works, have striven to leave their memory behind them: {αβγδ} and much more that there is no remembrance of them, who have been inferior in the worlds repute: and that they who shall be, whether great ones or of meaner account, shall not be remembered by them who follow after them. Gregory Nyssene taking here also the same way in expounding this verse, that he did in expounding the former, goes from the beginning to the end of the world, and conceiveth the Preachers meaning to be, That as now there is no memory of that happiness wherein man was created; so in the Resurrection, there shall be no remembrance of the misery which man now suffereth. 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 1.  Quando enim ad vitium conversa est natura, bonorum nobis subrepsit oblivio; quando autem ad bonum redierimus, rursus malum oblivione tegetur; For when our nature turned unto sin, then a forgetfulness of good things came upon us; and when we shall return unto goodness, then evils shall be covered by forgetfulness from us. The Chaldee doth here understand a mystery, and showing the great happiness of the time of the Messiah, he saith; 
Chaldaeus Costi.  Profecto praeteritarum nationum memoria non extat, neque earum quae post futurae sunt recordatio erit iis qui temporibus Regis Messiae victuri sunt; Surely in respect of them who shall live in the times of Messiah the King, the memory of past Nations is not, the memory of them which shall come after shall not be: as if they onely were worthy not to be forgotten, and that time onely were worthy to be remembered. And indeed a most happy time it was: but, if wee so remember it, as to forget our sins.   

VER. 12. J the Preacher was King over Israel in Jerusalem.  
VER. 13. And J gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travel hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.  
VER. 14. J have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.  
Verse 12. I the Preacher, that is, as an ancient writer speaketh, Ego qui vos doceo, expertus sum universa, quae dico, I who teach you, have learnt in myself all these things which I say unto you: and therefore as I speak no more then I know, so do ye regard it the more because I speak it unto you. I was King. He had not yet put off his royal robes, he had not yet laid aside his crown, and yet considering the vain uncertainty, and speedy passing away of worldly greatness, he rather affirmeth himself to have been then to be. 
Hildebertus Episc. de contemptu rerum humanarum. Epist. 56.  Hildebertus considering the same of all worldly things, saith of them; Haec aliena esse fuga ipsorum denuntiat. Bona vaga, bona pennata sunt haec omnia. Eorum est, nusquam esse diutius, eorum status nemini statum praefigere certiorem, That these things do not properly belong unto us, their flying away from us doth plainly declare. Gadding good things, winged good things are all these things. It is their property to be no where long, it is their condition to afford unto none a certain condition. Hugo de Sancto Victore noting also that he saith, I was King, giveth it this touch; Fui inquit, quasi dicat, jam non sum, quia etsi sum, id ipsum jam nihil esse agnosco quod sum; He saith, I was, as if he had said, I am not now; because although I am, yet I know that to be nothing which now I am. Or else if we conceive this book to have been written by Solomon after his repentance, wee may conceive him to say, I was King, as one that was come down from his throne of glory, and lying on the ground, lamenting and bewailing his former iniquities and vanities. But one saith very well; Vtinam tam certum de poenitentia illius, quam non dubium de culpa testimonium haberemus, I would to God that the proof of his repentance were as certain, as that of his fault is undoubted. Or lastly, in that he saith, I was, wee may note him to have been King a long time when that he wrote this book, and so to have written it in his old age. King over Israel in jerusalem: and being so, he wanted neither wealth nor power to get knowledge, both the more fully and the more easily. Which therefore shameth those which being great and rich, yet are illiterate and idiots in knowledge. And surely it is a great damage both to Church and State, that they are the poorer sort onely who seek after knowledge, and who being destitute of means, cannot make so happy progress in it. But these also are too often worthy of blame. For when by some degree of knowledge they have attained greatness and wealth, and so are made fit to seek more, then do they lay aside their seeking, as refusing to fight when they are well armed, and then onely being forward to the battle, when they are naked and without weapons. A greek Father applieth the verse to Christ, telling us, that as he is called the physician, the life, the resurrection, the light, the way, the door, the truth, so here the Preacher, Omnia nomina humanitatis& benevolentiae in homines, all being names of his love and good will towards men. Wherefore he addeth, Nos alloquitur Ecclesiastes: audiam us ejus verba, qui sumus ecclesia, The head of the Church speaketh unto us: let us hear him, who are the Church.  
Verse 13. Behold here the royal Student, not given to his pleasures, but given to his book: and see the matter, the method, the manner, the diligence of his studying. The matter is all things that are done under heaven, as the ethics of the manners of men, the civill histories of the deeds of men, the natural history of the works of God. Or else to take the matter more largely, by all things under heaven, wee may understand all things under God, 
Daniel 4.26.  it being the phrase of Scripture, sometimes by the heavens the throne of God, to understand God himself who sitteth on the throne: so high his study carried him, but there it stood amazed. The method of his study we have, in that it is said, by wisdom, for that is the onely right method of well seeking any thing. And therefore an ancient Writer maketh him to say, Si sine sapientia quaererem, etiansi sapientiam quaererem, insipienter quaererem, If I sought without wisdom, although I sought wisdom, I should unwisely seek. Method is the wise part of study, but an unwise method, is a methodical folly. The manner of his studying wee have in that he sought and preached. Quaerebat ignota, investigabat profunda, he sought things unknown, he preached deep things, saith Hugo de Sancto Victore. Or else we may understand his seeking, of seeking the help, counsel, direction of others, for that the original word {αβγδ} signifieth, from whence is derived {αβγδ} commentarius a commentary. His searching wee may understand to be his own meditation. For both must go together to make a good Student: seeking to see what others have found, searching to try what himself can find. The diligence of his studying we have in that he gave his heart unto it; he went about it, not onely with a willingness, but with a love, which locked him up, and held him hard unto it. again, his diligence is shewed, in that he did not seek and search all things, but {αβγδ} supper omne concerning all things, as what the causes, the reasons, the uses, the effects of them were as well as their natures. In the latter part of the verse, where we read sore travel, the original is {αβγδ} which the Septuagint and as S. jerome tells us, Aquila and Theodotio translated {αβγδ}, that is, distentio sieve occupatio, a busy occupying or distending of the mind with care. Symmachus as St. jerome also sheweth, did translate the word {αβγδ}, a restless troubling of the mind. The Hebrew word {αβγδ} properly signifieth evil, but as the greek {αβγδ} evil is taken {αβγδ} from labour, so in Hebrew the word signifying evil, signifieth also the hardness and soreness of labour. The rest of the verse I find Interpreters generally to render as our English hath it, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  This sore travail hath God given to the sons of men, to be exercised or afflicted therewith. And therefore St. jerome taking this study of Solomon in an ill sense, as winding up the spring of his mind too high; in which respect, 
Hugo de Sancto Victore in Ecclesiast. Homil. 5.  H. de S. Vict. saith, Magna superbia mortalem hominem de tam multis praesumere,& rursum magna curiositas tam multa appetere, it was a great pride for a mortal man to presume of so many things, and a great curiosity to seek so many things. Saint jerome, I say, accordingly understandeth these words, that God is said to give this sore travail unto men, as a punishment of their curious and ambitious mind. But to add to Solomons hard study, this hard censure, I do not see any reason, seeing it is said, that he sought by wisdom. And if I may deliver mine apprehension, I should translate the latter part of the verse thus. This sore travail hath God appointed unto man {αβγδ} ad respondendum in eo, or ad exorandum in eo, to answer thereto with his blessing upon it, or to be entreated therein for giving success unto it, for so the original may well enough be rendered. For it is a diligent and painful labour and study, on which God bestoweth knowledge and the finding out of things. And yet he styleth them the sons of men, that whatsoever their knowledge may be, they might not be proud of it, but considering themselves to be subject to infirmities, misery, and death, might use their knowledge to gain happiness and glory. And surely this glory will be the greater unto them, who studying the knowledge of the creatures, and those many miracles which are shewed in them, do thereby set forth the glory of the creator. For there is nothing which though it have not words, yet hath not as it were a mouth to speak his praise that made it. 
Greg. Nyss. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 2.  Gregory Nyssene going on in his mystical sense telleth us, that here is set down the cause why Christ came in the flesh, and conversed with men, Nempe ut dare● cor suum ad considerandum in sapientia, de omnibus quae facta sunt sub sole, Namely, that he might give his heart to consider in his wisdom of all things that are done under the sun; for the things above the Sun had no need of a physician: but under the sun he considered, how vanity entred into the world, how it increased, how it prevailed, what the confusion of all things was.  
Ver. 14. There is one word of the original in this verse not easily translated, and that is {αβγδ} which the Septuagint translated {αβγδ},& which anciently was rendered in Latin praesumptio presumption of spirit; and St. Austin reading it so, thereupon tells us that the things of this world, Elationis& superbiae plena sunt, 
August. de Serm. Dom. in Monte. Homil. 1. Gregor. Neocaesar.  are full of pride and loftiness of spirit. And to the same purpose Gregory Neocaesariensis saith, Spiritu prodigioso& execrando omnia haec inferiora plena sunt, All these inferior things are full of a prodigious and execrable spirit. A greek Father understanding the greek word {αβγδ} according to the proper signification of it, for the free election of mans will, conceiveth the Preacher to show here what is the cause of the vanity of things, namely, the free will of mans spirit. St. jerome tells us, that his Hebrew Master taught him to take it pro afflictione spiritus, for the affliction of the spirit. And to this effect most Interpreters do render it. For the radical word {αβγδ} signifying pascere& depascere, to feed, and to consume, they take the meaning of the derivative word here used according to the latter signification. And therefore the French to express the force of the word renders it rougement, a gnawing and knipping of the spirit. But as Saint jerome saith, Aquila did render it {αβγδ}, Symmachus {αβγδ}, that is, pastio nourishment or feeding. And this being the most proper signification of the radical word, doth also exceeding well agree unto the place. For if we take the spirit for the wind, and so render it, how excellently is the vanity of worldly things expressed, by faying that it is a feeding on the wind, and nourisheth alike? In which respect, Bernard saith of them, 
Bernardus.  Non esurientes animas, said esuriem ipsam pascunt animarum, They do not feed our hungry souls, but rather the hunger of our souls. And here we may note the difference of the phrase used in this verse, from that in the former. For there speaking of his study, he speaketh of all things under the heavens, under God: but here speaking of the vanity of things, he speaketh of all things under the sun. Now if we do refer the vexation of spirit to his study mentioned in the former verse, and understand the study to be a curious and presumptuous study, then it is a great mercy that God is said to give this sore travail, this vexation of spirit unto the sons of men. For if this study were not painful and evil, who would see the evil of it? But now the affliction of it doth make it to be hateful, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 6.  Et facilius quod praemittit, vanum esse agnoscitur, dum id quod infert durum esse sentitur, And that which it promiseth is the more easily acknowledged to be vain, by how much that which it bringeth is found to be grievous, as Hugo speaketh. Or else if we understand the study to be a diligent and commendable searching for knowledge: then wee have here the blessing of God upon it, bringing the Preacher so to see all the works done under the sun, as to see them all to be vanity and vexation of spirit; and so to show them unto the sight of others. Now they are said to be vain, Quia possidentes non adjuvant, because they do not help the possessors of them; and are said to be vexation of spirit, Quia quaerentes affligunt, because they afflict them that do seek after thm, 
Ibid.  as Hugo also speaketh. Or else the vanity and vexation of spirit, may be referred unto his seeing and knowing; the knowledge of man being such as is full of vanity and unquietness, unquiet in the getting, unquiet being gotten, least forgetfulness should loose it again, and vain where it is greatest, because it is far from the perfect discovery of any thing. For this world and the things in it, are a book of that largeness and greatness, that none is able to read it over.   
VER. 15. That which is crooked, cannot be made strait: and that which is wanting, cannot be numbered. 
Verse 15. The Septuagint, and according to them the Vulgar Latin, reading this verse in a more moral sense, do set it down thus; Perversi difficilè corriguntur,& stultorum infinitus est numerus, The perverse are hardly corrected, and of fools the number is infinite. Now they are properly said to be perverse, who have been right, and how hardly they are amended, St. Austin sheweth, saying, 
August. Epist. 137. ad plebem Hipponens.  Quomodo difficilè expertus sum meliores, quam qui monasteriis profecerunt, ita non sum expertus pejores quam qui in monasteriis ceciderunt, As I have hardly found any better then they who have profited in monasteries; so I have found none to be worse, then they who have fallen in monasteries. For such are hardly amended. But as for fools, as for those who were never good, the number of them is infinite. It is a small matter, 
Cajetanus.  which Cajetane lamenteth, as standing amazed at the miserable condition of mankind, because of ten Virgins, the one half even five were foolish: it is rather to be wondered at, that all are not foolish, seeing so many are. For as Seneca saith, Non tam been cum rebus humanis agitur, 
Seneca de vita beata. c. 2.  ut meliora pluribus placeant: argumentum pessimi, turba est, It is not well with human things, that the best things do please the most, a multitude is an argument of that which is worst. But to consider the words, as in themselves they offer themselves. Saint jerome and Gregory Nyssene do read the first part of the verse thus, Perversum non potest adornari, that which is perverse cannot be adorned; and thereupon St. jerome saith, Qui perversus nisi ante corrigatur, non potest adornari. Recta ornatum reciptunt,& curva correctionem, He that is perverse, unless he be first corrected, cannot be adorned. Right things do receive adorning, and crooked things correction. Our English saith, that which is crooked cannot be made strait: or else it may be red thus; that which is out of order cannot be ordered, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. And for the meaning of it, the Preacher having said, that all things that are done are vanity and vexation of spirit, here he sheweth the vanity of them, in that they are crooked, perverse, and out of order: the vexation of spirit that they bring, in that their crookedness cannot be corrected. The vanity he sheweth in the defects of them; the vexation of spirit that they bring, in that their defects cannot be supplied. For not to be numbered, is, not to be, because of nothing there is no number, and therefore that which cannot be numbered, cannot be made to be. Tremellius 
Tremellius.  therefore reads it well, Non posse in numerum venire, that it cannot come into number, it cannot come into being, it cannot be supplied. Or else we may take the meaning to be, that the vanity of things that are done under the sun is thus aggravated. First, that they are crooked and out of order, and so crooked, so out of order that they cannot be rectified and made strait. Secondly, that they are full of defects, and that the defects are so great, as not having so much entity or being in them, as that they can be numbered: for the least thing that is admitteth numeration. Or else, that they are full of defects, and so full, that they are infinite and cannot be numbered.   

VER. 16. J communed with mine own heart, saying, lo J am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom then all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.  
VER. 17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.  
VER. 18. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.  

Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 7.  Verse 16. Hugo de Sancto Victore, who still taketh Solomon in the worst sense, supposeth him to speak this of his former pride of life. And thereupon when the Preacher saith, In cord dixi, I said in mine heart, he addeth, In cord dixi, de cord enim tumui, I said in mine heart, for I swelled in mine heart. And then showing how a proud heart doth still swell bigger, he noteth, that he, Qui primum de se plus quam debuit, sensit; deinde usque ad aliorum contemptum venit, who first thought of himself more than he ought, next proceeded even to a contempt of others, saying, that he had gotten more wisdom, then all that were before him in jerusalem: So that he made himself praecedentibus summum, subsequentibus primum, the highest to them that went before him, the first to them that followed after him. But not to think so ill of what Solomon spake: if we look with a milder eye upon him, wee may behold his humility here. For first he did speak in his own heart of his great estate, he did not with great words set it out to others. His heart said it, that his heart might give thankes to God, who had made him so great. Secondly, whereas God had said of him that he should be wiser then any that were before him, 
1 King. 3.12.  or any that should be after him, he speaketh onely of those that were in jerusalem before him; so that he doth not prefer himself before Abraham, and Moyses, and others that were not in jerusalem. Yea, whereas the original is {αβγδ} ad facies meas, before me in jerusalem, as present there with me, I suppose that he may be understood, onely to prefer himself before them, which either himself had sent for to commune with; or which had come of themselves to try him and his wisdom; as the queen of Sheba did. But to consider the meaning of the verse, as it standeth in the Chapter. Either we may take it thus, that Solomon from the vanity of other things reflecting upon himself, and saying in his own heart, What shall I say of myself? I am become great, though other things be small and vain; and though the wisdom of others before me were vain, I have gotten more wisdom then all that were before me: yea, not onely is it more then others have gotten, but much also in itself, much wisdom, much knowledge. My heart hath seen much, saith the original, and St. jerome saith upon it, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  that the eye of his heart had seen more, then his tongue was able to utter. Or else wee may take the meaning thus: that Solomon being ashamed in himself of the vanity which he saw in worldly things, He communed with his own heart, saying, I am come to great estate, I am a great King, I have means to do things in a better manner, shall those things which are done by me be vain also? And that thereupon he saith, {αβγδ} adjeci I added, as St. jerome and Gregory Nyssene do read it, I added to my great estate, great wisdom by study and pains, even greater then all they that have been before me in jerusalem: yea my heart looked into the depth of wisdom, and knowledge. Where Clemens Alexandrinus noteth, 
Clemens Alexand. Stromatum 1.  that first it is said wisdom, then knowledge, Quoniam in multitudine sapientiae est multitudo cognitionis, because in the greatness of wisdom, is the greatness of knowledge. Or else as Gregory Nyssene speaketh, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 2.  Quia ex sapientia constat cognitio, because knowledge consisteth of wisdom, the knowledge of human things consisteth of the understanding of things divine.  
Ver. 17. In this verse Hugo supposeth Solomon to set forth also his own former vanity. And therfore when he saith, I gave mine heart to know, he noteth him, to show the pride of his heart, as if for him to know wisdom, it were enough but to give his mind to know it. And when he saith, that he sought to know madness and folly, he expoundeth it. Nequaqua ad hoc mala cognoscere volvit, ut cognita vitaret, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 7.  said ut se de malorum cognitione extolleret,& alios de opere damnaret, that his will to know those evils was not at all, that he might shun them being known, but that he might boast himself of the knowledge of the evils, and might condemn others for the doing of them. And lastly, when he saith, I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit: he apprehendeth the affliction of labour to have quelled the pride of his spirit, as before it did the curiosity of his spirit: and that his vexation was, because his knowledge, Iniquum per conscientiam arguebat, quam elatus ad ostentationem quaerebat, did prove him in his conscience to bee wicked, seeing in his pride he sought it for ostentation. But to consider Solomon in a better mind. This verse sheweth, that having gotten more wisdom then others before him, yet he did not cease to get still more, but giving his heart to it, he still laboured to know wisdom. And that he might the better know it, he laboured not only to know it in itself, but to know it also by comparing it with madness and folly, that the foulness of the one might set out the beauty and clearness of the other. And first he sought to know wisdom, that knowing madness and folly, he might as well hate them, as know them. The original word is plural, and speaketh of madnesses, as showing the many kinds which are of madness. And because madness commonly is joined with a conceit of wisdom, he addeth folly to express it truly. But whatsoever he was in greatness, or how great soever the wisdom was which he had gotten, or how great pains soever he took to get wisdom, in conclusion, it was vexation of spirit to him, to know, that himself also was vanity, that his wisdom was no better, and that he could not by all his wisdom redress the vanity of those things which he did. In conclusion, by his wisdom and knowledge he perceived and came to know, that even this was vexation of spirit. The original word is {αβγδ} and by Pagnine according to the Chaldee signification of the word is translated cogitatio spiritus, a thought of the spirit: which well agreeth to the place. For Solomon having communed in his heart, and thought with himself of this and that, he knew it at last to be but a vain thought of his heart: having brought himself to this perfection of knowledge, as to know himself and his wisdom to be as the vanity of a thought. 
Bernard in Serm. de 7. donis Spir. Sanct.  For as St. Bernard speaketh, Vere scientia est, scire nos mortales& fragiles,& in hac peregrinatione dolendum& lugendum esse, It is truly knowledge to know that we are mortal and frail, and that in this pilgrimage it is sorrow and grief and vexation of spirit that is our portion.  
Ver. 18. The Preacher from his own particular experience delivereth a general rule, that wisdom and grief are made up in the same heap, that knowledge and sorrow do grow upon the same stalk. 
Aristotle Ethic. 10. cap. 7. Aug. solil. l. 1. c. 12.  But how then doth the Philosopher say, Quod maxima delectatio est, quae est secundum operationem intelligentiae, That the greatest delight is that which is according to the operation of wisdom? How then doth St. Austin say, Videbatur mihi si se ille mentibus nostris veritatis fulgour aperiret, aut non me sensurum fuisse illum dolorem, aut certe pro nihilo toleraturum, It seemed to me, that if that light of truth would open itself to our mindes, either I should not feel this pain, or else endure it as a thing of nothing? 
Aquin. 1. 2ae . Quaest. 38. Ans. 4.  The answer which Aquinas giveth is this, Quod ex parte rerum cognitarum scientia dolorem causat, ex parte autem contemplationis veritatis delectationem, that in respect of the contemplation of truth knowledge causeth delight, but in respect of the things known, that it causeth sorrow. Now if they bee good things which are known, then the sorrow is from the great labour, which a man must take to attain the knowledge of them; and from the little perfection of knowledge to which his great pains hath brought him. If they bee evil things which are known, then his sorrow is, that he is subject to them. Thus Saint Ambrose understandeth the latter part of the verse, saying, 
Ambros. de spiritu& Anima.  Qui apponit scientiam; apponit dolorem; quia quanto magis homo sua mala intelligit, tanto amplius suspirat& gemit, He that addeth knowledge, addeth grief; because by how much the more a man knoweth his evils, by so much the more he lamenteth and sorroweth. And to the same purpose Saint Gregory expoundeth it, saying, Qui apponit scientiam, apponit dolorem; 
Gregor. Moral. l. 18. cap. 24.  quia quanto plus homo coepit scire quod perdidit, tanto plus lugere incipit corruptionis suae sententiam, quam invenit, He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow, because by how much the more a man beginneth to know that which he hath lost, by so much the more he beginneth to lament the sentence of his corruption which he hath found. But as for the former part of the verse, that which our translation readeth grief, in the original is {αβγδ} which signifieth indignation, according as by the Septuagint it is translated, and as the vulgar latin readeth it. Now as it is so red, the sense of it is well given by Saint jerome, Quanto magis quis sapientiam fuerit consecutus, tanto plus indignatur subjacere vitiis, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  & procul esse a virtutibus quas requirit; By how much the more any one hath obtained wisdom, by so much the greater is his indignation, that he is subject to vices, and is so far from virtues which he seeketh after. And this is that indignation which, 
2 Cor. 7.11.  that the sorrow of repentance had caused in the Corinthians, was Saint Pauls joy. And therefore Salonius also saith, Quanto quisque plus proficit in sapientia, tanto magis sibi irascitur de malis operibus quae gessit, By how much the more any one profiteth in wisdom, 
Salonius.  by so much the more is he angry with himself for the evil works which he hath done. But the indignation which is here spoken of, the Chaldee Paraphrast understandeth not to be the indignation of man, 
Chald. Paraph.  but the indignation of God, and therefore expoundeth it, Vir qui multiplicat scientiam, quando peccat& non convertitur ad sapientiam, multiplicat indignationem à Domino, The man who multiplieth wisdom, when he sinneth, and is not turned unto wisdom, multiplieth indignation from the Lord himself.  
Now against this which Solomon here teacheth, perhaps it will be objected, that some there are, who spend their whole time, and even grow old in the study of Philosophy, History and other less useful matters, and therefore that they seem to find great delight in it, seeing they cannot be drawn from it. But the reason of this is, not that they have attained to more than Solomon did, but that with Solomon they do not take an account of their study, to see what the true benefit of their pains and study is, whereby they would soon perceive the small comfort and great trouble of it. Wherefore though there be not {αβγδ}, such as oversee our studies, and call us to a reckoning for them; yet it were very good that we would reckon with ourselves, to see how we employ our time and abilities, that our care therein may make the trouble and sorrow of our pains the less, by the greater good wee reap.    

CHAPTER. II.  

VER. 1. J said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold this also is vanity.  
VER. 2. I said of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, What doth it?  
Verse 1. THe speech of the Preacher is not like the speech of many, who have not that in their power, which is pleasing to their heart; 
Gregor. Nys. Hom. 2. in Ecclesiast.  Adeo ut propterea fide sit indignus, ut qui illa accuset, quae non est expertus, so that he might be unworthy of credit, as one condemning those things whereof himself had no experience. For he being the glorious King of Israel, Non operam ponebat in iis quae non habebat acquirendis, said ut frueretur in quibus abundabat, he did not place his labour in getting those things which he had not, but how he might enjoy those things wherein he abounded. Nam cum cupiditate simul extendebatur copia,& ad fruendum laxum et liberum erat etium, For his plenty was extended as wide as his desire, and his leisure of enjoying both was loose and at liberty, as Gregory Nyssene speaketh. He therefore could say in his heart, to his heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth. Our English phrase, go to now, though in the words it answereth very well to the original, yet as our manner is of using it, it doth not express the force of the original. That is {αβγδ} vade nuns, go now. First, he saith it, as speaking to a heart that was under authority, under the command of wisdom, and that stirred not, until leave and order was given. Secondly, he saith, go now, now( if we may take the Hebrew {αβγδ} for {αβγδ} as Aben Ezra saith that in the Scriptures it is always taken) that I have first settled thee by wisdom, that pleasure do not transport thee: now that I have first tried the study of wisdom and knowledge, and found that to be vanity and vexation, now go, I will try thee with mirth. In our translation it followeth, therefore enjoy pleasure; but the original is {αβγδ}, Et vide in bonum, And see into the good of it, see what thou canst find in it, which may be the good that is desired by thee, and which may give thee satisfaction in the pleasing of thee. Vatablus 
Vatablus.  therefore doth well express the sense of the place, Experiar quantum in eo bonum sit, I will try how much good there may be in that. And to the same effect the Chaldee Paraphrase saith, Videbo bona saeculi hujus, 
Chald. Para.  I will see the good things of this world. But behold, all is vanity. He quickly giveth his judgement of this: the folly of this was so manifest, that forthwith his heart descryeth it, and pronounceth the vanity of it. For seeing the objects of worldly mirth, as Plato speaketh, Inania sunt omnia, 
Plato de Repub. 9.  & longius absint ab enter quam a nihilo, quî fieri potest, ut vacuitates animi nostri expleant, are all of them empty things, and farther distant from a true being then they are from nothing, how can it be that they should fill the empty capacities of our mindes? How truly therefore doth the Preacher pronounce them to be vanity.  
Verse 2. The original most directly maketh the Preacher to speak to laughter, to mirth, not of laughter, of mirth, as showing that even in laughter, in mirth, he had that care of himself, as that even then he was able to condemn it, able to reprove it. Now by laughter, wee may understand an excessive mirth, because it is commonly an excessive mirth that breaketh forth into laughter: by mirth, we may understand a lesser violent degree of worldly delight. Or else by laughter, we may understand an outward delight, because that joy which lieth hide within, by laughter, Ruptis quasi modestiae claustris, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 8.  quadam levitate& incontinentia lubricae mentis propalatur, the bars, as it were, of modesty being broken open by a kind of lightness and incontinency of an inconstant mind, is made to be manifest, as Hugo speaketh. By mirth, wee may understand, an inward and secret delight, which sometimes is the greater from the secrecy of it. Or else we may understand the Preacher to mention laughter, thereby to show that he speaketh of a carnal mirth. For a spiritual mirth, doth seldom or never dissolve the mind into laughter. said ea tantum laetitia quae a carnis blandimento concipitur, etiam per carnis motum facile aperitur, but onely that mirth which is conceived by a flattering of the flesh, is also manifested easily by the motion of the flesh, as Hugo also hath it. That which the Preacher saith of laughter, is, that it is madness. The Hebrew word which we have is {αβγδ} and signifieth madness: but Saint jerome tells us, that Aquila did read it {αβγδ} errorem error, as the Vulgar Latin also hath it; and surely it is a great error to take that for the true good of man: that Symmachus did read it {αβγδ} tumultum, a tumult, and surely it is a riotous disorderly tumult, that usually it maketh in the mind and understanding of man: that Theodotio did read it as the Septuagint do {αβγδ} circumlationem, a giddiness, and surely it is a giddiness of the head, a whirling lightness of the mind that laughter causeth. Gregory Nyssene speaking of this reading, saith, Quod quidem sensu idem est quod delirium& amentia, which in the sense of it is the same with raving and madness. Of mirth, that which the Preacher saith, is onely a question, What doth it? As showing that himself could not tell of any good that it doth. Or else it may be taken as implying, What doth it but cause that madness of laughter whereof I have spoken? Or else it may be taken as a challenge to all the most cunning inventors of pleasure, to tell if they can, 
Chald. Para.  what true good it doth? The exposition which the Chaldee giveth of it, is this, Quid emolumenti est viro qui fecerit illud, What benefit is it to a man who hath been taken with it? And if you will know the answer which a greek Father giveth, he will tell you, what it doth, saying, Naturae virtutem effoeminat, animi robur emollit, ainae vires enervat, affert interitum rationi, cogitationum serenarum puritati caliginis tenebras immittit; It effeminateth the virtue of nature, it enfeebleth the strength of the mind, it weakeneth the forces of the soul, it bringeth destruction to reason, it casteth the mist of darkness upon the purity of serene thoughts. The same Father apprehendeth the Preacher to speak here of or to mirth as to a thief unawares crept into the house of his soul, and thereupon to say unto it, What dost thou? What dost thou here thou pernicious enemy, and doing me little or no good, whatsoever contentment for the present thou pretendest to bring unto me? Lastly, an ancient Writer noteth here, Quod gaudium tantum arguitur, risus vero omnino reprobatur: quia risus omnimodo malus est, gaudium vero non semper malum est, nisi quando de malo est, That mirth is here onely reproved, but that laughter is altogether rejected: because that laughter is wholly evil, mirth is not always evil, unless it be in an evil thing. But then laughter must be understood to be with indecency. 
Clemens Alexand. Paedagogus. l. 2. c. 5.  For as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh; Si quomodo oportet, proferatur, prae se fert decorem& honestatem; sin aliter prodeat, indicat intemperantiam, If laughter be used as it ought, it setteth out the comeliness and dignity of man; but if it be used otherwise, it sheweth an intemperancy in man.   
VER. 3. J sought in mine heart to give myself unto Wine( yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom) and to lay hold on folly, till J might see, what was that good for the Sons of men, which they should do under the heaven, all the dayes of their life. 
Verse 3. The first part of this verse is rendered with great diversity. The Septuagint, and according to them the Vulgar Latin do render it, Cogitavi in cord meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam, ut animum meum transferrem ad sapientiam devitaremque stultitiam, I thought in mine heart to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might apply my mind to wisdom, and might shun folly. And this saith Aquinas, 
Aquin. 2. 2 ae. Q. 188. A. 5. Gregor. Moral. l. 6. c. 26.  is spoken to teach us to avoid needless curiosity in the study and contemplation of divine things, seeing as St. Gregory speaketh, Nonnulli dum veritatis discipali esse humiliter negligunt, magistri errorum fiunt, Many while they neglect to be humbly the Schollers of truth, are made the Masters of errors. Saint jerome renders it thus; Consideravi in cord meo, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  ut traherem in vino carnem meam:& cor meum deduxit me insapientiam, I considered in mine heart, that I would spend the time of my flesh in wine: and mine heart led me into wisdom. Which he expoundeth thus; Volui vitam meam tradere delitiis, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  & carnem meam ab omnibus curis liberare,& quasi vino sic voluptate sopire; said cogitatio mea& ratio naturalis retraxerunt me,& deduxerunt ad sapientiam requirendam, I would have given my life to delights, and to have freed my flesh from all cares, and as it were with wine, so with pleasure, to have brought it asleep; but mine own thoughts and natural reason drew me back, and led me to the seeking of wisdom. According whereunto the French translation doth also render it. I' ai recherche en mon caeur le moyen de me traitter delicatement, I sought in mine heart the means to use myself delicately. Gregory Nyssene doth read it, 
Greg. Nyss. in hunc vers.  Consideravi an cor meum carnem meam tanquam vinum traheret,& cor meum deduxit me in sapientia, I considered whether my heart could draw my flesh as it were wine, and my heart led me in wisdom: which he expoundeth thus; As the thirst of a man draweth the wine easily and earnestly unto it, so I considered how my heart, how mine understanding might easily draw the sensitive parts of my soul after it, and make them readily to be ruled by it: which being done, I went on without any hindrance in the way of wisdom. As our translation doth render it, so we may note, that the folly of following wine, and the voluptuousness of feeding and feasting thereby noted, was so apparent without trial, that it was not enough for him to say, I thought to give myself to wine, but I sought in my heart to do it, it was a labour to him to bring his heart unto so foolish a thing. Or else we may conceive the labour to be, because he would both give himself to wine and belly delight, and also acquaint his heart with wisdom, which must needs be very hard, seeing that so quickly destroyeth the wisdom of any one. But therefore it followeth, that he would lay hold on folly, he would not suffer that to lay hold on him; because then he should not be able to cast it off so readily, as having it in his own power he might do. And if I might presume to deliver mine apprehension, I would render it thus: I sought in my heart to bend eagerly my sensual appetite unto the drinking of wine, and I sought also to draw my heart unto it, which leading me in wisdom was averse from it, and that I might make it to take hold on folly. For though the original word signify to draw, yet I render it to bend, the drawing of the appetite being like the drawing of a bow, which the more strongly it is drawn, the more it is bent. In the rendering of the latter part of the verse, which sheweth the end for which he did the other, all do agree. And because it speaketh of the good whieh men should do all the dayes of their life: a greek Father noteth, that some things seem good to men, but it is only for a short time, there being speedily a weariness of them: and that there are some things which are good to men in their youth, other things that are good to them in their old age; but that the Preacher would see that good thing, Cujus cum participatione extenditur appetitus,& ejus aetate qui desiderat non circumscribitur, the desire whereof is extended with the enjoying of it, and which is not limited by his age, by whom it is desired. But the original goes thus, Numero dierum vitae eorum, in the number of the dayes of their life, as showing the fewness of mans dayes, so that they may be numbered. For as the Poet speaketh, Pauperis est numerare pecus, It is a sign of a poor man to number his Cattle, so it is a proof of the scantness of mans dayes, that number doth easily measure them.   

VER. 4. I made me great works, I builded me houses, J planted me Vineyards.  
VER. 5. J made me Gardens and Orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits.  
VER. 6. I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees.  
VER. 7. J 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.  
VER. 8. J gathered me also Silver and Gold, and the peculiar treasure of Kings, and of the provinces: J gate me men singers, and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments; and that of all sorts.  
VER. 9. So J was great and increased more than all that were before me in jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.  
VER. 10. And whatsoever mine eye desired I kept not from them, I withheld not mine heart from any ioy: for my heart reioyced in all my labour, and this was my portion of all my labour.  
VER. 11. Then J looked on all my works, that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that J had laboured to do: and behold all was vanity and vexation of Spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.  
Verse 4. The true greatness of man is to esteem little the vanities of this world, and as Maximus 
Maximus.  speaketh, Magnus est cvi nihil magnum, he is truly great, to whom nothing in this world is great. 
Gregorius.  Saint Gregory therefore saith very well, Let any one be never so great, Parvulus est qui terrena diligit, He is very little that loveth earthly things. And let any one be never so little, Magnus est qui aeterna concupiscit, He is indeed great, that seeketh heavenly things. And to the same purpose Seneca 
Seneca.  speaks worthily, Nihil magnum in rebus humanis, nisi cor magna despiciens, There is nothing great in human things, but a heart despising the things esteemed great by men. But man having by sin deprived himself of that inward greatness, wherein by God he was made, Extra quaerit quod intus perdidit,& in semetipso minoratus, magnificat opera sua, He seeketh without that which was lost within, and being made little in himself, who was Gods work, he striveth to make his own works to be great, as Hugo speaketh. 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 9.  His own works he raiseth to a mighty height, Et dollar propemodum afficitur, quod coelum in suo tecto non fecerit, and is as it were grieved, that he hath not made the heaven to be the roof of them. His own works he setteth out with a glorious pomp, and as it were troubled, Quod ipsos solis radios in eis fabricari non posset, That he cannot work the very beams of the sun in them. His own works he enlargeth to a vast greatness, Tanquam alium orbem terrae sibi construens, as it were making to himself upon the earth another earthly world, as Gregory Nyssene speaketh. And then being as great in pride, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 3.  as his works are great, this is the delight that he taketh in them. But Seneca 
Seneca.  saith well, he is truly great, Qui magna facit,& parva sentit, licet magna sciat, Who doth great things and thinketh them to be little, although he know them to be great. I builded me houses; The weakness of mans constitution being not able to endure the inequalities of heat and could, therefore an house is both useful and needful for man. But the pleasure of man transcendeth the bounds of use and need, and he must build houses, many houses, many houses in one, for the greatness of it, and many houses in divers places, to multiply his vanity. To add yet unto it, these also must be trimmed with much cost, and more curiosity. Aurum in aereas membranas dissectum ubique illinitur, ut avidos in se oculos convertat: arbores ita formantur ex ligno, ut putentur ex caelaturis ramos, fructus& folia producere; Gold being cut into airy skins and beaten into very thin leaves, is every where besmeered on them, to turn the greedy eyes to look upon them: trees are so made out of the wood, that from the carving they may be thought to bring forth branches and leaves and fruit. 
Greg. Nyss. in Eccles. Homil. 3.  But as Gregory Nyssene very well addeth, In haec studium quod confertur, est reprehensio& insimulatio negligentiae in iis quae sunt priora. Quo enim mayor fuerit& multitudine& materiae sumptu magnificentia in aedium structuris, eo magis arguitur inornatam esse animam, The care which is bestowed upon these things doth accuse and reprove the negligence which is in things that are better. For how much the magnificence is greater in the structure of houses, either in respect of the multitude of them, or the cost of the matter, by so much the shane is greater, that the soul is not adorned. Let that be built up carefully; let humility be the pavement of it, let hope be the roof of it, let faith be the pillars of it; on this side let Iustice be towards men, on that side devotion towards God, Et haec omnia praeclarus artifex, nempe charitas, apt inter se conjungat, And let love an excellent Artificer neately join all these together, and then there will be a house for wisdom to dwell in. I planted me Vineyards. The Preacher having  told us, that he made works, built houses, even as great as mountaines, he sheweth also how he planted the mountaines with Vineyards. Now a greek Father telleth us, Magnum affectionum catalogum comprehendit vinearum plantationis confessio, This his confession of the planting of Vineyards containeth a great catalogue of his vain affections. For as the same addeth, Wine immoderately taken, Est foams intemperantiae, pernicies juventutis, probrum senectutis, dedecus mulierum, insaniae pharmacum, Is the nourishment of intemperancy, the bane of youth, the reproach of old age, the shane of Women, the poison of madness. But the Preacher sheweth, that he did not only use that Wine which was to be gotten, but provided also by planting many Vineyards, both for the abundance and delicacy of it. Surely where this mind is, there is commonly no mind to plant the Vineyard of the soul, but there the plants of virtue are suffered to dry up, and whither quiter away. Whereas if it were well dressed, well ordered, it would be a most fruitful Vineyard, so that a man should bruise his Grapes into the cup of wisdom, and drink that Wine which would indeed make his heart merry. Lastly, wee may note in these words, that the Preacher doth kindly express the nature of worldly pleasure, which is to bee all for itself. And therefore he saith, I made me great works, I builded me houses, I planted me Vineyards. If these great works had been made for some great good ends; if these houses had been built to lodge strangers, the fatherless and widows, if these Vineyards had been planted to relieve and comfort those; whose Vineyards were spoyled and destroyed, they had been made, builded, planted for God, and he would have given a reward of blessedness unto it. But that all was for himself made all to be nothing though never so great.  
Verse 5. From the pleasures of the eye, the Preacher sheweth how he led himself to the pleasures of the taste and smell. Or else as Gregory Nyssene noteth, from the pleasures of the house, he sheweth how he walked {αβγδ} ad subdiales voluptates, to the open pleasures of the air. He saith, I made me Gardens and Orchards, as showing that there were none already made pleasant enough for him, and that there were none made before him like unto his. Yea, it was his own particular direction that gave order for the making of them. And he made not only Gardens, but Orchards {αβγδ} saith the original, Paradises Paradises, most pleasant and delicious Gardens and Orchards. It was not one, but many Paradises that he made, as if he would strive to exceed that delight wherein at first man was placed by God, who made but one Paradise for him. But let sensual hearts take heed how they suffer themselves to feed too much upon these pleasures, least at length, to use the words of the Prophet Isaiah, 
Isai. 1.29.& 30.  they be confounded for the Gardens that they have chosen, and that themselves be as a Garden that hath no water. And let those to whom God hath afforded these delights, have in their Gardens as joseph had, a sepulchre, that is, let them in their pleasures, remember their death, that will bee a good means to keep away the sin of pleasure from them. 
Petrus Damianus Epist. 114.  For as Petrus Damianus speaketh, Nullum libidini diversorium, in qua versatur mente Sepulchrum, there is in that mind no lodging for the lust of sin, where the bed of the grave is already made. And as Iosephs sepulchre in his Garden was made the sepulchre of Christ, so it were good also, that such in their Gardens would think of Christs sepulchre, that is, in their delights would think of the misery which he suffered for them. For as Saint Basil speaketh, Benedicitur hortus, 
Basilius.  in quo monumentum est quod temporariam excepit dispensationem mortis in corpore Domini, Blessed is that Garden, in which is the monument that hath received the temporary dispensation of death in the body of the Lord. But to go on with the Preacher. And I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits. Adeo ut omni ex parte jucunda omnia in oculum incurrant, So that from all parts all pleasant things might present themselves to the eye: 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 2.  Et quolibet anni tempore videat quod est praeter anni tempus, and in every season of the year might see that which was above the season, as Gregory Nyssene speaketh. 
Chaldaeus Costi.  The Chaldee Paraphrast doth thus enlarge the sense of the words, Plantavi viridaria amoenitatis plerissima, ubi omnis generis olera seminavi, quae ad victum et convivia, et ad sanitatem usui forent: herbas quoque olfactu nobiles adjeci; item et arbores steriles, et aromata ferentes, quas ad me daemons et nocentes angeli ex India detulerunt, I planted me orchards full of delight, where I sowed herbs of all kinds, whether useful for food and feasts, or health. I added also flowers excellent for smell, and moreover trees that did bear no fruit, but were for shadow onely, tecti vicem aeri praebentes, being as it were a roof hanging in the air, Vt etiam quum sub dio essem tanquam, in domo delicatè vitam agerem, that when I was in the open air, yet I might be for delicacy as it were in an house, as a greek Father expresseth it. I had also trees bearing spices, which the devils and hurtful Angels brought from India unto me. 
Cyprianus de discipl.& habitu virgin.  St. Cyprian also speaking of other the like vanities, saith, Quae omnia peccatores& apostatae angeli suis artibus prodiderunt, All which things sinners and the apostate Angels have brought forth by their arts. But as Gregory Nyssene speaketh sweetly, Quid multis opus est hortis ei qui ad unum intuetur? Si essem in Paradiso non ad multorum hortorum desiderium diffunderer, What need of many gardens unto him, who looketh unto one? If I were in Paradise, my heart would not be spread after many gardens. And that wee may come to this Paradise, we must keep well the garden of our souls; that must be hortus inclusus a garden shut up carefully, so that the destroying beasts come not into it, and that the malicious enemy sow not weeds in it: that garden we must plant with trees of all kindes of fruits, with all virtues, all graces: and as Saint jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  the chief plant must be lignum sapientiae, the three of wisdom: Nisi enim in medio illud plantetur, ligna caetera siccabuntur, for unless that be planted in the middle, the rest of the trees will be dried up. nazianzen writeth of a Country called Ozyza, which was full of all sorts of most pleasant and curious flowers, but there was no corn in it: now surely this part of the world sheweth what this world is, namely, a world full of flowers, full of vanities, and wherein worldly hearts do make most pleasant gardens: 
Gregor. Nazianzen.  but in these gardens, in this world, there is no corn, no true comfort to be found: that is in heaven, where it is always ripe, always gathered, and yet always growing, always standing. Thither therefore let us labour to come, that we may reap the harvest of blessedness.  
Verse 6. Among Per tenta vanitatis, the strange phantasms of vanity, 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 9.  as Hugo speaketh, wherein the world still exceedeth, one is the invention of a wilderness which often is adjoined to great gardens belonging to great houses, and by a multitude of thick bushes and trees affecting an ostentation of solitariness in the midst of worldly pleasures. And this it was as I conceive whereof Solomon in this verse speaketh, having made such a one for himself, and for which he made pools of water, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  that as St. jerome speaketh, Longius viror humour praepeti nutriretur, the greenness might be the longer continued and nourished by moisture always ready at hand. The Vulgar Latin doth read it, Extruxi, I built me pools of water, as implying the greatness and neatness of them. And surely in that he saith, I made, wee may apprehended an intimation, as if they were to be preserved before those which God had made. 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 3.  In regard whereof Gregory Nyssene styleth them Maria m●nu facta, Seas made by the hand of man. But here also wee may note the method of the Kings pleasures; and how from his eye, taste, and smelling, he swimmeth along to delight himself and his touch, by bathing his body in the could and soft and playing waters. For though this end of making the pools be not expressed, yet that to this end they were also made, we may not amiss conceive, this being no little pleasure, {αβγδ}, iis qui exhilarani corpora, to them who refresh and cheer up their bodies, as a greek Father speaketh. Or else wee may observe the method of his pleasures to be; that passing from the earth, whereon he built houses and his great works, and coming to the air, the sweetness whereof he enjoyed in his gardens and orchards, from thence he is carried to the waters, 
Ibid.  utpote quod oporteat in omnibus elements se explere delitiis, as seeking to fill himself with delights even in all the elements, as the same Father also hath it. But that from these pools of water, wee may draw something that shall be wholesome for us: let us also make pools of waters; let us make our eyes pools of waters, that so a sorrow for our sins, Irriguo suo diluat,& fluento fontis sui abstergat, 
Ambros. lib. de Isaac& anima.  may wash them away with the watering of it, and cleanse us from them by the current of amendment in the course of our life, as the words of St. Ambrose are. Or else let us make us pools of charity, therewith to water the decayed trees of misery, therewith to moisten the dry ground of want and necessity. For as St. Ambrose again speaketh, Exuberat charitas, ut haurire eam cominus possis, 
Ibid.  charity overfloweth, so that it is always near at hand for thee to draw out of it. charity is puteus Reboboth, puteus latitudinis, the well of breadth, 
Gen. 26.22.  which name we read to be given by Isaac to a Well which his servants digged: for charity doth spread abroad her waters wheresoever is need of them. Or lastly, let us make us pools by digging into the depth of heavenly knowledge. For as Gregory Nyssene speaketh, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 3.  Nihil melius font divino per quem ainae siccitas irroratur, virtutes oriuntur,& nemus bonorum studiorum& operum in nostris germinet animis, There is nothing better then this divine fountain, by which the dryness and barrenness of our souls is made wet and moistened, by which virtues do spring up in us, so that even a wood of good desires and works doth sprout forth in our lives.  
Verse 7. It is the folly of man, that he is not onely delighted in the vanity of his own eyes and of his own imagination, but also in the vanity of the eyes of others, and of the imagination that others have of him. The Preacher therefore having shewed, how he tried his heart with the delight of the one, here he sheweth how he tried himself also with the delight of the other. For what is the pleasure of a multitude of servants, of a greater multitude of cattle, but that others look with admiration upon them, and by the great number of them, imagine a great deal of happiness in him that hath them? And this imagination in others, is that which much increaseth his own imagination of his own greatness, which the Preacher here expresseth, saying, that he had servants and cattle above all that were in jerusalem before him: Wherein the pride of man doth even exceed nature, making him to behold himself, as if he were not of the same nature, but even of another from all that had foregoed him. And in a particular reference to Solomon, we may conceive it as an imagination, that he was King not onely over those that lived with him, but as it were a King over all that had been before him, being above them all in his great retinue of servants, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and possessions of cattle. St. jerome readeth it, Mercatus sum servos& ancillas, I bought me servants and maidens. But as a greek Father speaketh, Quot nummis aestimasti rationem? Quot obolos expendisti pro Dei imagine? At how many pence didst thou value reason? At how many halfe-pence didst thou rate the image of God? Plainly, as if these were vanities, glory in the buying of them. To the servants and maidens that were bought, the Preacher addeth those which were born in his house; and as if they had been born of his small and great cattle, so doth he join them to his great and small cattle. It being the vain pride of too many men, to reckon those that are under them no better then beasts. But the original calleth them {αβγδ} filios domus, sons of the house, as showing, that though they be not sons of the body, yet that they are sons of the house, and therefore in some sort to be respected as sons. After his servants come his cattle, as showing also that he had his servants to this end, for to look unto his cattle, and therein to be employed. And here it may be noted, that it is not onely said, that he had servants, but that he had much cattle, so that his cattle were more than his servants, his employment no less than his servants were. Whereas it is the vanity of many, to have many servants, and few or no cattle, little or no business for them, or else that business which is worse then none. 
Seneca Epist. l. 6. Epist. 46.  This it is which Seneca condemneth, who saith, Caenantem dominum stantium servorum turba circumdedit, alius sputa detergit, alius reliquias temulentorum colligit, alius pretiosas aves scindit,& erudito manu frusta colligit, alius vini minister, alius cvi convivarum censura commissa est, expectat quos revocet in crastinum, A troope of servants compass their feasting Master, one wipeth away that which is spitten, another taketh away the fowle trenchers, another carveth the costly birds, and with his artificial hand divideth them into pieces, another filleth the wine, to another is committed the disposing of the guests, 
Gen. 18.6.& 7.  and he expecteth whom he must invite the next day. It is true, that Abraham had many servants, but that they were all employed, it appeareth, because when the three men came to his Tent, there was none at home, but himself ran for a Kid, and his wife made ready the meal. And in Athenaeus it is related, that among the Trojans one man had a thousand servants, and some, more; Ac eorum unumquemque pacis tempore agros colere; belly vero, militiae nomen dare, suosque illis deuces esse dominos, 
Athenaeus. l. 6.  And that in time of peace they did dress the ground, in time of war they served in the war, and had their Masters for their Captaines. And surely where there is not employment for more, the judgement of St. Chrysostome is, Herum unum uno servo contentum esse decebit, 
Chrys. in 1. ad Corinth. Homil. 40.  imo uno servo trees heros, It is meet that one Master be contented with one servant, yea three Masters with one servant. It may seem in some sort that God thought so( though I take it for no argument) and therefore he saith, 
Levit. 25.6.  That the Sabbath of the Land shall be meate for thee and for thy servant, and for thy maid, As if God supposed that one Master should not have above one servant, one maiden. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome applying this verse in a mystery to Christ the King of his Church: by the servants understandeth those, Qui habent spiritum timoris in servitute,& spiritualia magis desiderant quam habent, who have in servitude the spirit of fear, and do rather desire spiritual things then enjoy them: by the maidens, he understandeth those souls, which are yet addicted to the world and flesh: by those born in the house, he understandeth those who are members of the Church, and are before the servants and maidens before mentioned, Necdum tamen libertate donati sunt nec nobilitate a Domino, but yet are not set free or ennobled by their Master. Others he saith there are in this family of the Preacher, who for their ignorance and simplicity in divine things, are no better then Oxen or sheep, having not attained, Vt homines esse mereantur,& redeant ad imaginem conditoris, that they should be accounted men, as being returned to the image of their Maker.  
Verse 8. To make up the greatness of his wealth, whereof he spake in the end of the former verse, here he addeth, that he gathered silver and gold, whereby indeed he made up the greatness of his vanity. For they are gold and silver, which are the worst riches, though most esteemed of, and which do bring the greatest evils unto men. Wherefore the Scripture declaring how hard it is for the rich to enter into heaven, and yet showing Abraham and job to be rich, who no doubt are possessed of heaven. Saint Chrysostome saith, 
Chrysost. in Epist. ad Timoth. Homil. 12.  Opes illis non in auri argentique talentis erant, said in pecoribus: quae profecto divitiae& innocuae& divinitus permissae sunt, Their riches were not in talents of gold and silver, but in store of cattle: which are hurtlesse riches, and allowed by God. Wherefore God hath placed these kindes of riches upon the face of the earth, as showing them to man, and offering them unto his pains and diligence: but gold and silver he hath hide in the bowels of the earth, to keep men from seeking of those things which are so pernicious unto them. And indeed in seeking of those riches the greediness of mans desire is sooner satisfied, then in seeking of gold and silver: in possessing of those riches the uncharitableness of mans heart is not so hard, as in gold and silver: in keeping of those riches the fear of mans mind is not so troublesone as in keeping of gold and silver. For how is the money-rich man, 
Sidonius Apollinaris. Epist. l. 2. Epist. 13.  Septus armis ac satellitibus, ac ferro pressus ut premat aurum? Hedged about with weapons and Guards, and pressed down with iron, that he may press under him and keep close his gold, as Sidonius Apollinaris speaketh? But gold and silver being the common treasure of many, the Preacher sheweth that he had the peculiar treasure of Kings, and of the Provinces, that is, saith the French translation, The most precious jewels which are found with Kings, and throughout the Provinces. And because the gathering of gold and silver depriveth men many times of other delights; the Preacher sheweth how in his wealth, and with his wealth, he sought the delights of music, that so he might find if he could that good thing of mans life, wherein he might rejoice. He got him men-singers, and women-singers; but the original is diversified onely by the masculine and feminine gender; and it being the manner of Scripture by that variation to express a generality or universality of things, wee may here understand all kindes of singers, as in the end of the verse by the variation of the singular and plural number, are expressed all sorts of musical instruments. Now these are called the delights of the sons of men, because the music of instruments is proper unto men, whereas the music of the voice is in birds also. Or else we may understand the delights of the sons of men, of music generally, great being the power which the delight of music hath upon men. Of which King Theodoric writing to Boetius in Cassiodore saith; 
Cassiodorus. l. 2. var. 41.  Haec quum de secreto naturae tanquam sensuum regina, tropis suis ornata processerit, reliquae cogitationes exiliunt, omniaque facit ejici, ut ipsam solummodo delectet audiri. Tristitiam jucundat, furores attenuat, saevitiam blandam efficit, ignaviam excitat, vigilantibus reddit requiem, vitiatam turpi amore revocat ad castitatem,& quod beatum curationis genus est per dulcissimas voluptates expellit animi passions,& per insensibilium obsequium praevalet sensuum exercere dominatum, When shee cometh from the secret of nature, as it were the queen of the senses, adorned with her musical figures, other thoughts skip away, and shee causeth all things to be cast out, that there may be a delight onely of hearing her. Shee sweeteneth grief, mollifieth rage, mitigateth cruelty, quickeneth laziness, giveth rest to the watchful, maketh her chast who hath been defiled with unclean love, and that which is a most blessed kind of curing, by most sweet pleasures driveth away the passions of the mind, and by the subjection of things that are insensible, obtaineth command over the senses. But though this be the delight of the sons of men, let the delight of the sons of God be the music and harmony of their lives unto Gods commandements: for as Cassiodore speaketh, 
Cassiodorus, l. de Musica.  Quando iniquitates gerimus, muficā non habemus, when we commit wickedness, we have not then music. Thus have we the end of the verse rendered in our translation, because as I conceive, the former words speak of singing. The Septuagint do render the latter part of the verse, {αβγδ} pocillatores& pocillatrices, men cup-bearers and women cup-bearers; or as St. jerome hath it, Ministros vini& ministras, men-servers and women-servers of wine, and I suppose it to be rendered so, because Solomon( as it appeareth) had such cup-bearers, 
2 Chron. 9.4.  as that the queen of Sheba wondered at them. Arias Montanus doth render it captivam& captivas, that is, many captive women; and to the same effect Pagnine, supposing the Preacher to mean such delicate captive women as were taken in war. Wherein as they have some furtherance from the roote of the original word, so it may be they were pleased the rather with that translation, because of the words going immediately before. The delight of the sons of men. But how the original is here to be taken, he that is the original of all languages and words knoweth best.  
Verse 9. The Preacher had before shewed at the fourth verse, how he had made great works, and here he sheweth how he was made great by his works, and by his houses, by his vineyards, by his gardens, orchards and trees of all kinds, and of all kindes of fruits, by his pools of water, and by his watered woods, by his servants and maidens, and by his much cattle great and small, by his silver and gold and peculiar treasure of Kings and Provinces, by his singers of all kindes, and musical instruments of all sorts: and from hence is shewed that it was to make himself great, that he made himself great works. For this it is which the heart of man seeketh after in this world before all things. 
Luk. 12.18.  The rich fool in the Gospel saith, that he will build his barns greater; he speaketh not of the strength of his barns, nor of the commodiousness of them, but only of the greatness of them, that by the greatness of them his own greatness might be set out. It is not without some mystery that the blind man beginning to recover his sight, saith, that he saw men walking as trees. 
Mark. 8.24.  For mans blindness doth not otherwise look upon men, then it looketh upon trees, esteeming of them according to their tallness and greatness. For so it esteemeth of men according to their greatness and tallness in worldly estate and earthly vanities. But St. Chrysostome admonisheth us, Si videris virum speciosum, 
Chrys. Homil. in Psal. 150.  ne admireris, nam& arbores altitudine excelsae, If thou seest a goodly tall man, do not admire him, for trees are of a great tallness also: and if thou seest a man great in worldly estate, do not gaze upon him, it is but a worldly greatness that is in him. For though Solomon were great and increased, yet it was onely more then they that were in jerusalem before him: not more then they that were in the fear of God before him, not more then they that were in virtue and holinesse before him. There is no comparison between the greatness of the world, and the greatness of them. But Solomon also telleth us, that his wisdom remained with him. And surely he had need to tell us so, for else it might have been feared much, least these worldly delights had spoyled him of that: else it might have been thought, that while he followed after them, he had forsaken that, and while he filled himself with the one, he emptied himself of the other. Well also it is, that he calleth it my wisdom, that is, the wisdom which God gave him, divine and heavenly, for else it might have been doubted, least he had been deceived, and had thought that to be wisdom, which hath a shadow of wisdom, but is none in truth. For there is a wisdom in the sons of this world, a wisdom which looketh to the pleasing of the flesh, regardeth not the hurting of the soul; a wisdom whereby they being fearful where no fear is, they have no care where the greatest danger is. But this was not the wisdom which Solomon received from heaven, and of which he saith, my wisdom continued with me. Saint jerome reads it, Ad stitit mihi, my wisdom stood by me. Gregory Nyssene reads it {αβγδ} stetit mihi, stood with me: and so do Pagnine and Arias Montanus render it. So that although he increased in worldly greatness, yet he did not in wisdom: that stood still. The time and desire which he spent upon worldly delights, left him no time, no desire to look after the benefiting of himself therein. All that he can say, is, and that is much considering his present disposition, that his wisdom stayed with him. That was at a stay, while he went on from delight to delight. Or else wee may take his meaning, that besides all his other delights, also his wisdom remained with him, as showing that to be his chiefest delight, and which made up the fullness of all the rest.  
Verse 10. After the matter and objects of the Preachers delight, wee have here the manner of his seeking it, and the manner of his enjoying it. First, the manner of his seeking it, and if we take the end of the former verse, 
Greg. Nyss. in Eccles. Homil. 4.  with reference to this, as Gregory Nyssene doth, then by the remaining of his wisdom with him, he meaneth that his wisdom served him, to search out delights for him, and to direct him to the greatest of them, and in the greatest to the greatness of their delight. To the wisdom of his understanding, he added the help of his eye, which is a sense both eager and quick in hunting after pleasant delights. And he saith, that he gave it free and full scope, it had all the play of the game: for whatsoever his eyes desired, he kept not from them. Now certainly the eye is most forward in desiring, and if it may have for asking, it will ask often enough. Yea indeed too bold it is, and too often taketh leave where it is not granted, and yeeldeth to desire, when care laboureth to keep it away. Wherefore take wee heed of giving this liberty, and let it be our care to keep our eyes shut from the delights of them. 
Paulinus Epist. 4.  Paulinus doth well admonish us, Reminiscamur qua pernicie illis in Paradiso oculi sunt aperti: quos tamdiu habuerunt illuminatos, quamdiu clausos habuere peccato, Let us remember how unhappily their eyes were opened unto them, that were in Paradise: which they had illightened, so long as they had them shut unto sin. Where we read, 
Mat. 6.22.  the eye is the light of the body, the greek is, {αβγδ}, lucerna corporis, the lamp, the candle of the body: for as a lamp burneth very well, and giveth good light so long as it is shut up and kept close within some room: but if it be set open in the air, is soon blown out with the wind; so the eye if it be kept shut from vanities by a watchful carefulness, then it giveth the best light to the body; but if it bee wantonly and negligently opened, then the good light of it is soon put out. Of this the Poet singeth sweetly, 
Arator.  Quum lumina claudit, Pectora tunc aperit, coelique cognoscitur author: Discedente die, quantum meruere tenebrae, when the eyes are shut, then the heart is opened, and then is God discerned: when the day goeth away, how great is the benefit which the night bringeth. But to return to the Preacher, who when his wisdom had preached, and his eyes sought for delight, then permitted his heart to make choice of what joy it would: he used no restraint, but to the pleasure of the joy added also the pleasure of a free choice. For joy it is that the heart of man would have, and yet almost it would not have it, unless it might have it in this manner, that itself may have a freedom in the choosing of it. But what doth the Preacher speak of not withholding his heart from any joy? Can there be any joy, where God is not? Philo tells us, 
Philo. l. Quod deterior potiori insidietur.  Opifex est Deus boni risus,& gaudii, ideoque Isaac non vulgariter genitus, said operant Deo credendus est. Nam si risus Isaac intelligitur, risus autem factor est Deus, The worker of good laughter is God, and therefore Isaac is not in a common manner born, but by faith he is conceived. For if Isaac be understood laughter, it is God who is the cause of laughter and joy to the heart. But it was no true joy, it was a worldly joy whereof the Preacher speaketh, and that he sheweth by speaking of the labour also which was joined with it, saying, My heart rejoiced in all my labour. Labour there was in the seeking of it, labour in the possession of it, and yet this is the All, which man seeketh of all his labour: this is the portion which the Preacher saith he desired to obtain, and this he saith he had, there being no sickness, no enemy, no other cross either in mind or body, at home or abroad, to disturb him in it, or deprive him of it. So that wee have here under the law, the prodigal of the gospel, 
Luk. 15.  asking his portion of his Father: which is divided to him, and spent by him in the far Country of this world upon worldly delights.  
Verse 11. Wee have here the prodigal returned to himself, and Solomon saying as the Septuagint have it, Quum convertissem me, when I had turned myself to all my works, I saw the feeding of my pleasures to be, but the feeding of swine, and the joy wherewith I would fain have fed myself, to have been but as husks. And therefore now dividing all his pleasures before particularly mentioned into two kinds, the outward works of his hands, and the inward contentment of his fantasy and senses, now looking upon them with the eye of his mind, he doth not call them joys and pleasures, but working only and labour. And whereas in the beginning of the former Chapter, he had said, that all is vanity, he repeateth the same again, as showing that he meant it of all the contentments of this life. 
Chrysost. in Psal. 4.  Now Saint Chrysostome tell us, Vanum est quod est inane, quando nomen quidem fuerit, res nequaquam. Nomen divitiarum, res autem minime,& nomen gloriae, res vero minime, nomen potentiae& remanet nomen solum. Quis est ergo adeo excors ut quaerat nomina, quae rebus defecta sunt,& persequatur inania, quae oportet fugere, That is vain which is empty, when there is a name, but not any thing at all, a name of riches, but not the thing, a name of glory, but without the thing, a name of power, but the name is only to be found. Who is therefore so void and empty of understanding, as to seek after names which have not the things, and to follow after those vain things which should be shunned. It seemeth, that before Solomon did not look upon the things, but only after the satisfying of his desire: but now looking upon the things, and seeing them the better, because he had tried them, 
Petrus Damian. Epist. l. 2. Ep. 17.  he pronounced them to be vanity, that is, saith Petrus Damianus, Qui tot momentanearum rerum congessit exempla, non tam vile quid esse omnem mundanam gloriam, quam nihil esse signavit, He that had gathered together the exemplary proofs of so many momentany things, sheweth all worldly glory, not so much to be a vile thing, as rather to bee nothing. Wherefore a greek Father also saith, Qui ad haec adspicit, nihil aspicit, he that looketh on these things, beholdeth nothing. Yea not only doth the Preacher judge them to be nothing, but a vexation of spirit: nothing in themselves, and yet a vexation of Spirit to him that embraceth them: nothing, besides this one thing a vexation of mind. Wherefore he addeth, And there was {αβγδ} Nihil amplius, nothing more under the Sun. The Septuagint, and according to them the vulgar latin do render it, Et nihil permanere sub sole, and nothing to remain under the sun, nothing which he could lay hold of, nothing to which he could firmly adhere, and on which settle himself, as showing this to bee the vanity of worldly things, and the vexation of them. 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 4.  Gregory Nyssene understandeth it of the short continuance of sensual delights, so that, Quum cessaverit operatio, deletur etiam sensus voluptatis, neque ejus quicquam amplius reconditur, When the operation ceaseth, the feeling of the pleasure is also abolished, and there is not any thing that is reserved of it. Our translation reads it, There was no profit. For what profit can there bee, when of all things there is one end, vanity? unless that any one can find profit in vexation of spirit. Lastly, seeing the Preacher useth so often this phrase under the Sun, perhaps he considered, 
Psal. 18.5.  what his father said of God, Posuit in sole Tabernaculum suum, he hath set his Tabernacle in the sun, as the Septuagint and the vulgar latin have it: as showing that he speaketh of all things in this world under God. Or else the meaning of the phrase is, that as far and wide as the sun shineth there is no true profit to be found upon earth in earthly things. The insulae fortunatae, fortunate islands, which any one may talk of, are but mere dreams, not lying any where under the suins light.   

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 hath been already done.  
VER. 13. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.  
VER. 14. The wise mans eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.  
VER. 15. Then said J in my heart; as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me, and why was J then more wise? Then J said in my heart, That this also is vanity.  
VER. 16. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever, seeing that which now is, in the dayes to come shall bee forgotten: and how dieth the wise man? as the fool.  
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.  
Verse 12. The Preacher having returned to himself, and rightly judged of the vanity of all inferior and sensual delights; he turneth himself now to view and consider the things belonging to the mind. Saint jerome and Gregory Nyssene begin the verse thus, Respexi ut viderem, I looked that I might behold, that is, he carefully looked, that he might understand. For many there are that do look upon things, but it is not to behold, it is not to understand them, it is onely because they stand in their way, because they offer themselves to their sight. But he that will judge of things, must look upon them, as here the wise man doth, he must look upon them, that he may behold them, he must look upon them, that he may look into them. To express the passing of the Preacher from one matter to another, the Septuagint, and the Vulgar latin after them, begin the verse thus, Transivi ad contemplandum, 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in hunc vers.  I passed to consider; and Hugo de Sancto Victore noteth upon it, that Hebraeus, and Hebrew in the original signifieth Transeuntem one that passeth along, as if the King were made a right Hebrew herein. For let the heathen boast of what they can, the Hebrewes were the first that attained to human wisdom, and knowledge. But to pass on with the Preacher. To behold wisdom and madness and folly: by wisdom I understand a philosophical prudence, by madness the curiosity of men, either in pursuing after things above their strength, or in pleasing themselves with their own toys, by folly the simplicity of men in not perceiving or misapprehending the right course of things. Saint jerome supposeth these two to be added to wisdom, as noting the wisdom to which man attaineth, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Plus erroris stultitiaeque habere quam verae certaeque prudentiae. Itaque illa quae novimus, opinari nos potius quam tenere,& aestimare magis quam scire quod verum est, To have in it more error and folly, then true and certain wisdom. And therefore that even those things which we do know, wee do rather imagine then apprehended, and do suppose rather then conceive that which is right. Now this doth well agree with that reading which a greek Father hath of the latter part of the verse, who saith, Quis est homo, qui ingredietur post consilium ea, quaecunque ipsum fecit? Who is the man that will enter after counsel into all those things, which counsel itself hath made? To which the answer is implyed, it is madness and folly to attempt it, it is madness and folly that is attained by it. Where the original word {αβγδ} is translated counsel, according to the Chaldee signification of it: and Gregory Nyssene telleth us, that by counsel in the latter part, is understood that wisdom whereof the first part of the verse speaketh. But to take madness and folly, as they are plainly opposed to wisdom, it is well noted by Hugo, that first he looked upon wisdom, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 7.  as thereby coming to behold madness and folly. For as he speaketh, Nemo ad tenebras vadit ut videat tenebras, said ad lucem venit ut videat per lucem, non solum lucem, said& tenebras& lucem, No one goeth to darkness, that he may see darkness; but he cometh to the light, that by the light he may see, not only light, but light and darkness also. First therefore the Preacher saith, that he beholded wisdom, that so he might behold In ipsâ quod ipsa est sapientia,& per ipsam, errores& stultitiam, quod ipsa non est sapientia, In wisdom itself, what itself is, and by itself madness and folly, which wisdom itself is not, as Hugo addeth. The last part of the verse the Septuagint do red in a much different manner: and Saint jerome tells us, that from their reading, Multum in hoc loco sensus diversus est, much in this place is the sense different. But I do not see, but that the sense also is as much different from the reading which himself bringeth. Our translation agreeth with Tremellius, but that it agreeth fully with the original is more than I perceive. I desiring to come as near to the original, as I could, should render it thus, for what is that man, who shall attain after the King, to that which they have already made him? That is, to that which wisdom, and the knowledge of madness and folly have made him: thereby implying the perfection to which he had attained, so that he was the better able to judge of these things. There is in this verse, and the former, and in some other verses, a kind of emphatical use of the pronoun {αβγδ} ego, I turned myself. And I conceive that it is so used by the Preacher; thereby to show unto us, that it was a thing, which he did of himself, and of his own settled purpose; and that it was not done by the means of any other occasion.  
Verse 13. Then I saw, That is, he had no sooner turned himself to behold, but he saw presently the excellency of wisdom above folly: it being so great, so manifest, that it appeared forthwith, and was as clearly discerned as the excellency of light is above the darkness. But yet he saw, before he judged; he did not rashly deliver his sentence, as the manner of too many is, commending things and preferring them before others, before they see any good cause why to do it. Of Almighty God Saint Ambrose saith, Quae probat videt, 
Ambros. Hexam. l. 1. cap. 9.  & quae videt probat, Those things which he approveth he seeth, and those things which he seeth he approveth; and so it is with those that fear God, they do not approve any thing but that which they see to be good, neither do they delight to see any thing, but that which for the goodness of it, they approve. And fitly is it said, that he saw the excellency of wisdom. For as Saint Ambrose also saith, Bonorum proprium est, 
Ambrosus Ibid.  ut externo commendatore non egeant, said gratiam suam quum videntur ipsa testantur. Plus est quod probatur aspectu, quam quod sermone laudatur, It is the property of good things, that they do not need an external praiser, but themselves when they are seen, do testify their grace. It is a greater excellency which is approved by sight, then that is which is commended by speech. again by this phrase he doth properly set out the nature of wisdom, Quae videndo complacet, quoniam ipsa videndi officium subministrat, which pleaseth in being seen, because it is itself which giveth ability of rightly seeing things. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly: It is a human wisdom whereof I conceive him to speak, which therefore though he could not free from vanity, yet doth he prefer before folly, as much as light is to be preferred before darkness. Now light hath God himself for the praiser of it, and it is the first thing that God praised. Let there bee light, is the first word that God ever spake, and that God saw the light to be good, is the first praise that God ever gave. 
Ambr. Jbid.  Wherefore Saint Ambrose saith, Vnde vox Dei in divina Scriptura debuit inchoare, nisi a lumine? Vnde mundi ornatus nisi a luke exordium sumere? From whence ought the voice of God, in Scripture to begin, but from the light? From whence should the beauty of the world take his beginning, but from the lights excellency? assoon as God had made the light, he divided the darkness from it, as if he would not have the excellency thereof to be dishonoured by the company of it: or as showing the unworthiness of darkness, as not being fit to be joined with light. Let it therefore be our care also, to divide wisdom from folly: the society of the one doth much shane the other, and indeed most unworthy is folly, so much as to be joined in comparison with wisdom.  

Greg. Nyss. in Eccles.  Verse 14. Gregory Nyssene speaking of this verse saith, Estne ullum animal eorum qui caput habent, quod habaet oculos extra caput? Is there any living creature which hath a head, and hath not his eyes in his head? What is this therefore, that the Preacher saith of a wiseman, that he hath his eyes in his head? The answer which he giveth is this. That Christ is the head of a wiseman, and that his eyes are fixed upon Christ. 
Greg. Mag. Moral. l. 17. cap. 5.  And so doth Saint Gregory the great expound or rather apply the words saying, Sapiens quisque illum tota intentione considerat, cujus se membrum per fidem pensat, Every wise man thinketh upon him with the whole intention of his mind, a member of whom by faith he considereth himself to be. 
Olympiod. in hunc vers.  Olympiodorus expounding the words, more largely saith, That a Wise man hath his eyes in his head, Quia ad suprema visum& animum erectum habet, coelestia meditatur, cogitatque illa quae Dei sunt, non contemplante illo quae videntur, said quae non videntur, Because he hath his sight and his mind lifted up unto the highest things, he meditateth heavenly things, he thinketh on the things of God, he mindeth not those things which are seen, but those things which are not seen. Gregor. Neocaesariensis expounding those words saith, Sicut sapienter Deus custodes oculos in capite collocavit ut longius pertingere visu possint; Sic sapiens in capite ponit visum, h. e. intellectum suum( hic est oculus ainae) h.e. ita ut quae à long sunt prospicere valeat, As God hath wisely placed those keepers, the eyes in the head, from whence their sight is able to reach far; so a wise man placeth his sight, that is, his understanding( for that is the eye of the soul) in his head, that is, so, that he may bee able to discern those things which are a far of, as namely what shall bee at death, what after death, what account he shall give to God, what in hell the damned suffer, what in heaven the blessed enjoy. And then going on and expounding the next words he saith, But the fool walketh in darkness, 
Greg. Neocaesariensis in hunc vers.  that is, Ignorat haec omnia,& qui haec ignorat, caecus& stultus est, quamvis omnes mundi scientias norit, Is ignorant of all these things, and he that is ignorant of these things is blind and a fool, although he have all the knowledge of the world. Wherefore a greek Father also saith, Verae sunt tenebroe acer visus in sensibilibus, A sharp sight in worldly things is indeed true darkness. A fool then hath not his eyes in his head but in his heels, Nam quando vis ainae contemplativa occupatur in rebus sensibilibus, in ejus calcaneos oculorum transit natura, For when the contemplative power of the soul is busied in worldly things, the nature of the eyes passeth to the heels, which the Serpent pursueth, and biteth with his teeth, as Gregory Nyssene also hath it. But if we take the wise man here to be a human wise man, we may understand his eyes to be in his head, because he looketh in capita et principia rerum, into the causes and beginnings of things, and marketh what is chiefly to be regarded in them; whereas a fool walketh in darkness, neither considering from whence things come and arise, neither whither they go, nor to what they tend. A wise man seeth what is past, forseeth what is to come, and accordingly ordereth his ways; whereas a fool, looketh no farther then the present, and when evil is present to seize upon him, then onely seeth it. A wise man is sharp-sighted and circumspectly, marking all circumstances for the right doing of any thing; whereas a fool goeth on in a confused blind manner in all that he doth. But against this preferring of wisdom before folly, as much as light is before darkness: against this placing of a wise man above a fool, as much as the head is above the feet, the Preacher objecteth, That one event happeneth to them all: he saith not to them both, but to all of both; to all wise men, to all fools. And this objection he saith that others need not to make, but that himself also perceived it, himself made it in his mind, and that thereupon he said in his heart, as the next verse sheweth.  
Verse 15. I have not omitted to give such useful expositions of the former verses, as the words would bear. But the wisdom whereof the twelfth verse speaketh, being as I conceive to be understood of human prudence and understanding: in the thirteenth verse, that is said to give light to him that hath it, and therefore to prefer him before the ignorant who is in darkness: in the fourteenth verse it is said to be the eyes of the wise man, because he seeth far into the natures, conditions, causes, reasons, circumstances, virtues, operations, events of things; whereas the fool walking in darkness, seeth not the things that are obvious unto him, and lye before his feet when he walketh. But against this the Preacher objecteth, that although the wise man seeth so far into the nature and condition of things, and into the event of them, yet that one event happeneth to them all. And to this objection answering in this fifteenth verse; first of all he granteth it; secondly, he applieth it; thirdly, he repineth at it; fourthly, he delivereth his sentence upon it. He granteth it in these words, Then said I in my heart, I said that it was so, and in my heart confessed it to be true. He applieth it in these words, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me, I cannot deny it in myself, of whom it cannot be denied, that my wisdom is the greatest of any. He repineth in these words, And why was I then more wise? Why did I take so much pains to be wise? Why did I so carefully search into the nature and condition of things, forecast the events of things? He delivereth his sentence in these words, Then I said in my heart, that this is also vanity. Then I concluded of it, and said in my heart, when I had considered of it, that this is also vanity. And that we may not think it to be a small matter which he saith, 
Ambros. de Abrah. l. 2. c. 10.  St. Ambrose saith, Quid deterius vanitate? What is worse then vanity? The vanity whereof this verse speaketh, is this, That all the learning and wisdom of man, is not able to dispose of the event of things, but that as they fall out to fools, so oftentimes to wise men. And therefore I may use the words of S. Austin, though not in his sense, Ambulat homo in imagine veritatis, 
Augustin. de Temp. Serm. 50.  & conturbatur in consilio vanitatis, Man walketh in a shadow of truth, and is disquieted in the counsel of vanity. This is that which the Psalmist teacheth, 
Psal. 38.6.  Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them. His wisdom provideth that his son may gather them, that his son, a good husband, a wise man may enjoy them. But yet he knoweth not, what shall be; perhaps it shall be so, perhaps not; 
Augustin. Ibid.  and as St. Austin speaketh, Inter fort fiet, fort non fiet; nescit quid fiet,& vane conturbatur, between perhaps it shall be done, perhaps it shall not be done, he knoweth not what shall be done, and disquieteth himself in vain. 
Greg. Moral. l. 2. c. 25.  St. Gregory sheweth this vanity very well, saying, Saepè dum cautus futurae praevidet, incautus damna praesentia non videt: saepe dum plus justo vigilantem se in actione exhibet, ipsa actionis suae inquietudine rebus subditis pejus nocet: plerumque tantis cogitationum voluminibus implicatur, ut ipse far vix valeat, quae inter se providus versat, et quum nihil opere faciat, sub magno cordis sui pondere vehementer insudet: plerumque quasi ventura animus conspicit et fit plerumque ut nulla eveniant, quae praevidentur, totaque cogitatio illa quae diu plenâ se intentione paraverat, repent vacua requiescit, Oftentimes while he is wary in foreseing things to come, unawares he doth not see present evils: oftentimes while he is too vigilant in his business, his own troublesomeness doth most hurt the business: not seldom he is so overwhelmed with the waves of his own thoughts, that he is unable to carry himself up in those things which his provident care tosseth up and down in his mind; and when he effecteth nothing, he strugleth mightily under the burden of his own heart: not seldom his mind even beholdeth the things that are to come, and often it cometh to pass that none of them fall out; and all that imagination which with a great deal of earnestness made itself ready to entertain what it looked for, resteth at length empty of what it expected. What therefore should this teach man, but not to trust to his own wisdom? What therefore should man do, but with the care and diligence of his own wisdom, seek to God for his blessing upon on his wisdom, to whom the events of all things are known, and by whom they are disposed? To God let every one commit the event of things, and let no one judge of a wise mans care by the event that followeth it. 
Greg. Nyss. in hunc vers.   
Verse 16. Gregory Nyssene taketh the objection of the fourteenth verse to be proposed by the Preacher in the person of some other, and that rejecting it himself, he saith, This is also vanity. Accordingly therefore in this verse, he conceiveth the Preacher to confirm his rejecting of it. And when the Preacher saith, Non est memoria sapientis cum stulto in aeternum, The remembrance of the wise man is not with the fool for ever( for so the original goes) he conceiveth it, That the memory of the wise man is for ever, but the memory of the fool is not so. And therefore that although both die, yet the dying of both is not alike. For as Hugo saith, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 12.  Sapientia quae vitae praesenti mortalitatem non tollit, futurae vitae tribuit aeternitatem, wisdom which doth not take away the mortality of this present life, giveth eternity to the life to come. And whereas the Preacher saith, The things which now are, in the dayes to come shall be forgotten, Gregory Nyssene understandeth them of the things of a fool. Lastly, whereas the Preacher saith, How dieth the wise man? as the fool.( For so the original may be well rendered) he conceiveth it in this manner. How therefore doth any one say, that the one dieth as the other? For as Hugo de Sancto Victore also saith, Quare unâ viâ ab hac vita exeunt, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Ibid.  qui post hanc vitam ad unum praemium non pertingunt? Why do they go the same way out of this life, who after this life do not come unto the same reward? But to understand this passage of the prudent and foolish, learned and unlearned; for so in this place the Septuagint, and after them the Vulgar Latin do read it, saying, Mo itur doctus similiter et indoctus, The learned dieth as well as the unlearned. And to take Solomon as granting the objection made in the fourteenth verse, here he confirmeth the truth of it by another argument; because the memory of the wiseman, as well as of the fool doth not abide for ever. They are the words of King Theodoric in Cassiodore, though there uttered in another sense, 
Cassiodoru●. var.  Magnum beneficium, oblivionis nescire defectum,& quaedam similitudo verè coelestium est, It is a great benefit, not to know the decay of forgetfulness, and it is a kind of similitude of true heavenly things. But it is the condition of a wise man as well as of a fool to be forgotten: and though a wise man may be remembered somewhat longer then a fool; yet in respect of for ever, they are both forgotten alike. For in that, in eternity, the {αβγδ} the Iam, the now dierum transeuntium of dayes that pass away is wholly swallowed up, wholly forgotten; in which manner I conceive the original words to be most fitly translated. And though while the wise man and the fool live, there be some difference between them, yet when they are dead, in respect of the memory of them for ever there is no difference. For so I understand the last part of the verse in reference to the former, and do not take it to be another argument, proving the equality of them, in that they both die. But yet seeing the words may be so taken, it may be considered, that though the learned man know many things, yet he knoweth not how to escape death, that is beyond his skill. And as Seneca saith, 
Seneca.  Errores fortunae mors inevitabilis reformat, inevitable death reformeth the errors of fortune, making the rich and poor, noble and ignoble alike; So it may be said, Differentias scientiae mors confundit, The differences of learning death confoundeth, and shuts up both learned and unlearned in the grave. Laertius 
Laertius.  reporteth, that Alexander seeing Diogenes tumbling among dead bones, he asked him what he sought, to whom the other replied, that which I cannot find, the difference between the rich and the poor. And he that shall seek there the difference between the learned and unlearned, shall never find it also. Wherefore this may well quell the pride of any ones wisdom, any ones learning: and let this make every wise man, to seek that happiness, wherein not onely his memory but himself shall be immortal.  
Verse 17. I hated life: I who abounded so much with all things, which might make me to love it. I whom the delights of this life did even wooe, to win mine affection. I hated. Indeed I had given mine heart to the pleasures of this life, I had pursued them with the heat of mine affection: but finding my heart to be deceived, my desire frustrated, my love deluded, this hath turned it into hatred. I hated life, not onely the things of this life, but even life itself which is spent in such things, as being foolishly lead on, shamefully wasted, wretchedly employed. 
Ambros. de bono mortis. c. 2.  For as St. Ambrose speaketh, Quid est, quo haec vita delectet, in qua et multae molestiae, et multae lachrymae eorum, qui afflictantur molestiis,& non est qui eos consoletur? What is there in this life that may truly please, in which there are many troubles, and many tears of those that are troubled, and there is not at all wherewith to comfort them? Therefore I hated life, therefore, because of the confusion of things before spoken of, Quum tota confusioni sit obnoxia, neque in bonis suis dum stare videtur, neque in malis suis dum finitur, bonos a malis, vel dignos ab indignis secernit, Seeing it is all of it subject to confusion, and neither in the good things of it, while it seemeth to continue, nor in the bad things of it, when it is ended, doth distinguish the bad from the good, or the worthy from the unworthy, as an ancient Writer speaketh. Therefore I hated life, which me seems Solomon speaketh with such an indignation, as when Seneca saith, 
Sene. Quaest. Natur. l. 1.  O quam contempta res est homo, nisi supra humana se erexerit, O how contemptible a thing is man, unless he be lifted up above the things of men! But the original expresseth itself more fully, then by life, that saith, I hated lives, not onely this kind of life, or that kind of life, not onely this time of life, or that time of life, not onely the life of this man, or of that man, but the lives of all men, of all kindes, of all times. I hated mine own life as well as the life of others. Mine own life, because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: the life of others, because all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which our translation hath is grievous unto me, the original delivereth thus {αβγδ} which St. jerome translateth, Malum supra me, evil above me, above my skill, my strength, my command to make it good unto me by any means. Gregory Nyssene translateth it, Malum adversum me, evil against me: for though it pretend the delight and pleasing of me, yet in truth it is hurtful and pernicious unto me. 
Augustin. Epist. 36. ad Licentium.  For as St. Austin speaking of the things of this life saith, Habent asperitatem veram, jucunditatem falsam, certum dolorem, incertam voluptatem, durum laborem, timidam quietem, rem plenam miseriae, spem beatitudinis inanem, They have true bitterness, false contentment, certain grief, uncertain pleasure, hard labour, fearful rest, matter full of misery, hope empty of happiness. All is vanity and vexation of spirit. And therefore as St. Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. de bono mortis. c. 2.  Quid miserius, quam ut custodia torqueat, quorum abundantia non profit? What more miserable, then that the keeping of those things should torment by vexation of spirit, the abundance whereof by the vanity of them doth no way profit? The hatred therefore which the Preacher here speaketh of, I conceive to be rather an elegant and forcible expression of the miserable vanity of mans life, little deserving any love, then that the Preacher had any such affection in himself of it.   

VER. 18. Yea I hated all my labour, which I had taken under the sun: because J should leave it unto the man that should be after me.  
VER. 19. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man, or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour, wherein J have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.  
Verse 18. It is the commandement of God in the law of Moses, 
Lev. 11.41.  Every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth, shall be an abomination unto thee. And what is all mans labour concerning the things of this life, but a creeping thing on the earth? Wherefore Solomon might well say, I hated all my labour. But there are in this verse couched together six reasons of the Preachers hatred. First, because it was labour and toilsome unto him: secondly, because it was labour taken under the sun, and for things of base unworthiness: thirdly, because he must leave it and pass it over: for as a Father speaketh, Transmissores sumus, non possessores, wee are onely conveyors to others of the things of this life, not possessors of them: fourthly, because he must leave them to the man he knoweth not who: and as St. Austin speaketh, perhaps to some thief, 
Augustin. de Temp. Serm. 50.  Qui una nocte venit, et tot diebus et noctibus congregatum invenit paratum. Et multa quae congregavit inanis vanitas, parata invenit hostilis iniquitas, who cometh in one night, and findeth that ready for him, which was gathered and laboured for, many dayes and nights. And those things which an idle vanity scraped together, an hostile cruelty taketh as ready prey: fifthly, because himself must go away, that the other may come after him, and enjoy his labours: lastly, because he doth leave his labours to those, who shall also go away as himself doth. 
Augustin. Ibid.  For they are as St. Austin speaketh, but successuri non permansuri, They are but such, as shall come after him and succeed him, they are not such as shall continue when he is gone. And therefore suppose that a man leaveth his labours to his children, yet St. Austin doth handsomely mock at it; saying, Magna pietas, thesaurizat pater filiis, imo magna vanitas, thesaurizat moriturus morituris, O great natural affection, the Father laboureth and gathereth riches for his children; yea rather, O great vanity, he that shall die himself, laboureth for them that shall die also. In the beginning of the verse, the pronoun I, in the original is used with an Emphasis, as noting that he was the same who now did hate, who before did love, and that as he had given himself to delight in the things of this life, so he could take away himself again, and make himself to hate them. 
Gregor. Nis. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 5.  And Gregory Nyssene noting here, that he calleth his pleasures labour, saith, Per hoc quod laborem nominavit delitias, significat, quod per vim quoddle quoddam difficile certamen admisit voluptatis participationem; by this that he termeth his delights labour, he signifieth, that he admitted the trial of pleasure, as putting himself to some distress, and as it were entering into a hard combat, that his wisdom might both comply with him, and yet keep a ruling and commanding hand over his delights. Now let the consideration of this verse, make us in our hearts to leave our worldly goods, before that we leave them in the world. And if any hatred arise in us by reason of this misery, let it be against our sins the cause of it, not against our labour, wherein we are by God appointed to employ our time.  
Verse 19. From the more general complaint, of not knowing who shall come after, the Preacher descendeth to a more particular complaint, of not knowing, whether he that cometh after shall be a wise man, or a fool. If he be a wise man, then he complaineth, that he shall have rule over all his labour, wherein he hath laboured, and that when he hath taken the pains and care, another shall enjoy the comfort and pleasure of it: if he be a fool, then he complaineth, that he should have authority over his labour, wherein he hath shewed himself wise under the sun. Or else wee may suppose the Preacher, to speak onely of the fool, and to omit to speak of the wise man, that should come after him, as being contented with his own loss, so that a wise man might gain his labour and succeed him in it. But that a fool should be master of his labour, as if himself had been a servant to him in it; this he saith is a great vanity. For though our English Also doth not express this unto us, yet the original {αβγδ} doth import so much. And therefore the Septuagint, and after them the Vulgar Latin do render it, Et est quicquam tam vanum? And is there any thing so vain? For as Hugo de S. Victore speaketh, Si vana sunt haec omnia, 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccles. Homil. 12.  etiam in nostros usus quaesita& retenta, quid erunt ad stultorum voluptatem transmissa? If all these things be vain, being gotten and kept to our own use, what will they be being left to the pleasure of a fool? If all these bee vain being left to a wise son, who as Saint Austin speaketh, 
August. de Temp. Ser. 50.  Servabit quod dimisisti, augebit quod servasti, will keep that which thou hast left him, will increase that which thou hast kept: what shall they be being left to a fool, who will manifest his folly in that wherein thou hast shewed thy wisdom, Et fluendo perdet quod tu laborando congregasti; and by a profusenesse will wast that, which thou by labouring hast gathered? Saint jerome, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  because the Preacher speaketh of showing his wisdom will not have the verse to bee understood of worldly things, for saith he, what wisdom is there in them? He therefore expoundeth the place of the labours of spiritual wisdom in writing of books, wherein a man having laboured night and day, yet they may come into the hands of fools, who thence may take the seeds of heresy, and bring a slander upon them. A greek Father marking those words, he expoundeth them another way, and saith, It is not the manner of every one, cognitionis causa dimittere sensum, ad faciendum harum rerum periculum. Quod quidem ego inquit, per sapientiam feci, For experience sake to let loose his sensual delight, thereby to get a trial of these things, which I by wisdom was able for to do. For suffering the desire of nature, as it were a young Colt, Libere in inferioribus parumper exultare animi motibus, A little while to sport itself freely in the inferior motions of the soul, I did again adjoin it back by reason, and made it subject to my power. But who can tell, whether he that shall have rule over my things, will not rather serve his pleasure, then keep a ruling hand over it, and so like a fool, make my riches and abundance the matter of his wickedness. But the plainest sense is to understand here a human wisdom, which Solomon having shewed in his great works, strong Castles, stately buildings which he had made, he complaineth that they should come to a fool coming after him, who neither would discern the wisdom of them, nor have wit how to use them. This therefore should make Parents careful to bring up their children in knowledge, and the practise of godliness, that so the hope of their religious and discreet lives when themselves are dead, may diminish this misery while they are yet alive.   

VER. 20. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of the labour which I took under the sun.  
VER. 21. For there is a man, whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity: yet to a man that hath not laboured therein, shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity, and a great evil.  
Verse 20. We have here Solomon turning another way, for so the original most directly soundeth, saying, Then I turned myself to make my heart despair. For fain would his heart find contentment, and seeing it could not be found in the vanity of his labour, he turned his heart to a carelessness of his labours, not regarding what did become of them: seeing he could not find it in the vexation of his spirit, he turned his heart to a secure despair of spirit: there being some imaginary contentment in this, 
Augustin. in Psal. 129.  where none else is to bee had. But as Saint Austin speaketh, Fallax foelicitas, ipsa est mayor infoelicitas, a deceitful happiness is in itself a greater unhappiness; and whatsoever the ease of this course may be to a distressed mind, it is in itself the greater misery. But Solomon would try all, and therfore here he saith, that he made his heart despair, and that of all his labour which he took under the sun, as well of his better labour, as of his worse, as well of his labour of wisdom, as of his labour to delight his senses, of all, because where there is any hope, there is no despair. Now here wee have set down the two causes of despair, first vanity, secondly vexation. Vanity is a great cause of despair, for when men have laboured hard, and find no success, that makes them to despair of any success. Thus he that hath taken pains, and tried many ways to recall some one from his sinful courses, but cannot do it, he despairs of amendment. But as vanity is the cause of this despair, so the despair is vanity. 
Augustin. in Psal. 55.  Wherefore Saint Austin saith, Noli dicere, nunquid ecce talem hominem Deus correcturus est tam, malum tam perversum? do not say, what will God ever amend such a man, so wicked, so perverse? Noli desperare; quem rogas attend, non pro quo rogas: magnitudinem morbi vides, potentiam medici non vides, do not despair, look to him, to whom thou prayest, do not look on him for whom thou prayest: thou seest the greatness of the disease, thou dost not see the power of the physician. Secondly, vexation of mind is a great cause of despair; for when the mind is vexed and cannot find comfort, then it seeketh comfort in not seeking of it. Thus when a heinous sinner is tortured in his Conscience, and cannot get ease, then his ease is to despair of pardon, then he saith, Fruar hoc saeculo in voluptate, in lascivia, in cupiditate nefaria: jam perdita spe reparationis, vel habeam quod video, si non possum habere quod credo, I will enjoy this life, in pleasure, in wantonness, and in the desires of sin: now the hope of recovery being lost, yet let me have that which I see, if I cannot have that which I believe. But as Saint Austin speaketh, valde in profundo sunt, 
August. in Psal. 129.  qui nec clamant de profundo, they are sunk very deep, who do not cry out of the deep. And to them David is sent from God, as Nathan was to David, that from him they may learn to seek, and from his comfort, hope to find the mercy of God, though their sins be very great. For as Saint Cyprian speaketh, Nec quamtitas criminis, nec brevitas temporis, 
Cypr. Serm. de Coena Domini.  nec horae extremitas, nec vitae enormitas excludit à venia, Neither doth the greatness of the fault, not the shortness of the time, neither the extremity of the last hour, nor the enormity of the whole life exclude from pardon. 
2 Sam. 1.  When the Amalekite brought news to David of King Sauls death, and that being desired by himself, he slay him, because he saw he could not live: We red that David presently commanded him to bee put to death, as one condemned by his own mouth. But what was his offence here? One tells us, Illum David statim morte damnavit, quum percussum ab host desperasset esse victurum,& eum sublata spei fiducia jugulasset, Therefore did David slay him, because when the King was wounded by the enemy, he despaired of his life, and that having no confidence of hope he had killed the Lords annoynted. For he should have used his best diligence to have preserved Saul, and not by despair of help, to say he could not live. And surely whether the danger bee our own, or the danger of any other, we must never despair, that will make our own case the more dangerous, the case of others the more remediless: and what ease so ever wee may find in it, it may easily bring evil upon us. But to return to Solomon, and to his turning himself to a careless negligence in despair of things, it serveth to condemn the never wearied covetousness of some, the never tired ambition of others, who notwithstanding the vanity, and vexation that the Preacher sheweth, yet have no stop nor stay of themselves.  
Verse 21. The Preacher giveth here the reason of his despair, because neither wisdom nor knowledge, nor equity were able to give hope to his labour, and what then could? That which our translation and Tremellius read equity, in the original is {αβγδ}, and by the Septuagint is rendered solicitudo carefulness; by Saint jerome virtus, virtue or power, by Gregory Nyssene it is red {αβγδ} animi magnitudo, a courage or greatness of mind, by Pagnine and Arias Montanus, rectitudo a rightness, but as I conceive, the French doth translate it very well, adressè, a right directing and ordering of things. There is( saith the Preacher) a man, that is, though there be not many such, yet there is a man; and it may be speaking of himself and in commendation of himself, therefore he saith indefinitely there is a man, whose labour is( and I take the original to note the labour with some emphasis) in wisdom knowledge and equity. Which may be understood two ways, either that wisdom knowledge and equity, were the things wherein he laboured, or else that his labour was about other things, and that they were done in wisdom, knowledge, and equity. Saint jerome will not have the verse by any means to be understood this latter way, for saith he, Quid ad opes terrae pertinent sapientia, scientia, virtus, in quibus se laborasse testatus est, quum sapientiae, scientiae, atque virtutis sit calcare terrena, What do wisdom, and knowledge and virtue belong to the glorious things of the earth, wherein he testifieth that he laboured? When as it belongeth to wisdom, knowledge, and virtue to despise earthly things. And because the Preacher hath before spoken of his labour in wisdom according to this sense, in the nineteenth verse, therefore I do here rather conceive him to speak in the former sense. And yet if any like better the other meaning, then he may distinguish, wisdom, knowledge, rightness in this sort. First, that his labour was in wisdom, because he had laid a wise foundation for it, and for the beginning of it: Secondly, that it was in knowledge, because he proceeded on according to knowledge: and, Thirdly, in rightness, because he directed and ordered it to a right end; or else in equity, because it was without iniquity. According to the other meaning we may distinguish them thus. First, that his labour was in wisdom in respect of higher things: Secondly, in knowledge, in respect of inferior things: Thirdly, in rightness, in respect of a right ordering and directing the affairs of this life, or else in equity, in respect of a just ordering of them. Otherwise they may be distinguished thus. First, that his labour was in wisdom for the matter of it: in knowledge for the manner of it; in rightness for the end of it, or else in equity, in regard of an equal and indifferent judgement in the pursuit of it. he addeth, Yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. Now if we follow the latter meaning of the former words, then the Preachers complaint is, that he shall leave his labour to one who hath not laboured with him, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and as Saint jerome speaketh, Sudor mortui erunt delitiae viventis, the sweat of the dead shall bee the baths of delight to the living. If wee embrace the former meaning of the former words, then the Preachers complaint is, that he shall leave his labour to him, who hath not laboured in wisdom, knowledge, rightness: but being Otiosus an idle person, as the Septuagint have it, hath not taken the pains to bee acquainted with them. And therefore Hugo de Sancto Victore expounding it saith, 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccles. Homil. 12.  Nonnunquam subsequentium negligentia hoc paratum in usum assumere respuit, quod priorum sagax diligentia non sine grandi labour ac cura acquisivit, Oftentimes the negligence of them that come after, refuseth to make use of that which is made ready for them, and which the wise diligence of those that went before, obtained with great labour and care. Our translation saith, leave it, but the original saith give it. And perhaps that word is rather to bee used, as showing that the Preacher speaketh of leaving it to some, either child, or kinsman, or friend: and perhaps thereby the Preacher also aggravateth his complaint, as showing that it should be his own dead, and that himself should bestow his labours of worth upon an unworthy person: which though he doth in love, yet he is as it were sorry that he should do it. Wherefore he concludeth. This also is vanity and a great evil. First it is vanity, because it is as Hugo speaketh, In cognitione veritatis laborare, ut in notitiam illorum veniamus, qui veritatem nec propter se suscipere volunt, nec in aliis sciunt approbare, To labour in the knowledge of truth, that wee may come into their knowledge, who neither will embrace the truth for themselves, nor know how to approve of it in others. Secondly, it is evil, Quae si quaerenti labour est,& accipienti utilitas non est, because if it bee labour to the seeker, and no profit to the receiver, how can it choose, as one speaketh, but be evil? Thirdly, it is a great evil, Quia& ille malo suo colligit,& iste accipit in malum, Because the one doth gather it with his evil of labour, the other doth receive it to his evil of shane, as the same Author also goeth on. Or else wee may apply the vanity to the great labour lost, the evil to the idle not-labouring person, the greatness of the evil to this, that he must leave it, who could and would make use of it; that he shall have it, who neither will be nor can bee the better for it. That which our translation hath, for his portion, according to the original may bee understood of the labourer, as showing that to be his portion, the portion of his labour, which he leaveth to another, that laboured not for it. And if wee understand it of the portion of his estate in this world, a good way to ease the great evil and vanity of it, is to give a good part of it, to GOD and to pious uses, which shall not want a reward. But so could is the devotion of many herein, that rather than they will give any thing to GOD of whom they have received all, even when they have no children, no kindred, they will give it to a stranger for names sake, or for some other as poor a reason.   

VER. 22. For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured under the sun.  
VER. 23. For all his dayes are sorrows, and his travel grief: yet his heart taketh no rest in the night. This is also vanity.  
Ver. 22. The Preacher here laboureth to express the labour of man. For there is labour, but it is without vexation of heart, and though the body toil, the head work hard, yet the heart is at rest. There is also vexation of spirit, but it is without labour: and though the heart be disquieted with care, or fear, or desire unsatisfied, or such like passion; yet the body is at ease, the head is not troubled with study to find out knowledge. But both these are the condition of man, even labour to tyre him, and vexation of heart to spend him. But it is more also then these, which is mans burden. For he laboureth in the vexation of his heart, and it is his labour how to put his heart to the greatest vexation, and his heart is even vexed that it is not more vexed. And all this is under the sun, all is for the vain things of this world. For Quid proderit homini? What will it profit a man? saith the Septuagint. What benefit hath he to recompense this labour? Quid superest? What is remaining to a man? saith Tremellius, What is remaining to a man when all this labour is ended? Quid fit homini? What is done for a man? saith Saint jerome, What is done for a man, when he hath done, and suffered so much? What hath a man? saith our English, when he hath had such labour, such vexation of heart? he proposeth it as a question, and as a wise man, thinking that though himself might not bee able to tell, although he had sought much to know it, yet that some other might know. he therefore proposeth it to any one to tell himself. Sometimes a question is made, as importing that no answer can be made unto it: but here though the question may expect an answer, yet it supposeth the answer to be nothing. For when it is asked, What hath a man of all his labour? Perhaps some one may answer, as Saint Austin hath it, 
Augustin. in Psal. 50.  Ecce saccos impleo, parietes mei vix capiunt quod acquiro: undique lucra confluunt,& more fontium nummi fluunt, Behold I fill up sacks, my walls do hardly hold that which I get, my gains do flow out every way, and moneys run like a stream into my purse. But Saint Austin also sheweth this to be no answer, for saith he, Vt sacculus tuus impleatur nummis, anima tua febricitat curis, ut accedat aurum, perit fides, ut foris vestiaris, intus expoliaris, That thy sack may be filled, thy soul feavereth with cares, that thy gold may increase, thine honesty is diminished, that thou mayest be richly clothed without, thou art spoyled and left naked within. Or else let the best answer be made that can be made, it is nothing to the question. 
Augustinus. Ibid.  For that is Quid {αβγδ} Quid existens? What is there that abideth and continueth to a man, in all his vexation of heart under the sun? For what things soever they may be that are gotten, yet as St. Austins words again are, Sine dubio transitoria sunt: aut per nos transeunt, aut nos per illa transimus, Without doubt they are transitory things: either they pass away by us, or wee pass away by them: either they pass away while that we live, or else they are let go when that we die, either they pass away by our spending of them, or in the using of them we pass away ourselves.  
Verse 23. It is the complaint of St. Ambrose, 
Ambros. de fide Resurrectionis.  Quid in hac vita non experimur adversi? Quas non procellas tempestatésque perpetimur? Quibus non exagitamur incommodis? Cujus parcitur meritis? What misery do wee not undergo in this life? What storms and tempests do we not endure? With what troubles are wee not tossed? Whose worth is spared? Wherefore St. Austin also lamenteth, Dura causa est vita mortalis. 
Augustin. in Psal. 50.  Quid est aliud hic nasci, nisi ingredi laboriosam vitam? mortal life is a hard condition. What is it else to be born here, then to enter into a troublesone life? The Preacher therefore saith, That all mans dayes are sorrows, his sorrows begin when his dayes begin, his sorrows go on, as his dayes go on, as the travel of his journey proceedeth, so his grief proceedeth, as he passeth from one business to another, so he passeth from one grief to another. Yea, many are the sorrows of every day unto him, his travel is but one continued grief; his business is onely the work of grief. Sorrow is the sun that makes his dayes unto him: it is that which makes him to see himself, to see his condition. And when his sun is so black, what are his dayes? In the night he doth not labour, but yet he doth not rest: his body doth not labour, but his heart is not quiet. And therefore as Hugo speaketh, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 12.  Multum miser est qui nec illud tempus quod naturaliter quieti datum est, quietum habere potest, He is very miserable, who cannot have that time quiet, which even naturally is given for quietness. Per diem labour atteritur, per noctem cura laboris cruciatur, In the day he is worn with labour, in the night he is torn with the care of his labour. Or as St. Austin speaketh, 
Augustin. in Psal. 50.  Per diem vexatur laboribus, per noctem agitatur timoribus, In the day he is vexed with labours, in the night he is tossed with fears. Or as St. Ambrose expresseth it, In nocte dies desideratur, in die nox quaeritur: 
Ambros. de bono mortis. c. 3.  ante eseam gemitus, inter cibos fletus, nulla requies à perturbationibus, nulla à laboribus reclinatio, In the day the night is desired, in the night the day is fought for; before food sighing, in feeding weeping, no rest from troubles, no ceasing from labours. The original is, that the heart of man {αβγδ} non jacet, doth not lie down to rest, saith St. jerome, doth not apply itself to rest; 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 5.  but as Gregory Nyssene speaketh, Non tantum gaudet in iis quae habet, quantum tristatur ob ea quae desunt, Is not so much quieted in those things which it hath, as it is tormented for those things which it hath not. For covetousness doth not onely bring forth thorns, wherewith godliness is choked, but wherewith also itself is pricked and gauled. And doth not the Preacher then well conclude, this is also vanity? The heart of man is hardly persuaded that the things of this life are vanity, and therefore it is, that the Preacher doth so often repeat it, to beate it into man. Yea, the heart of man doth hardly believe, that sorrow itself, yea, and continual sorrow, continual grief suffered for the getting of worldly things are vanity, and therefore the Preacher doth assure them that it is.   

VER. 24. There is nothing better for a man, then that he 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.  
VER. 25. For who can eat? or who else can hasten hereunto more then J?  
VER. 26. For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travel, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.  
Verse 24. As our translation readeth this verse, it may well be understood as the speech of a voluptuous person: and whereas the Preacher had shewed, the sorrow and labour of mans life, and the vanity of both, in that another enjoyeth the content of it; thereupon it may be supposed that such a one should say, There is nothing better, then that a man should freely eat and drink, and give himself to pleasure. And whereas it follows, as the Septuagint have it, Et hoc de manu Dei est, and this is from the hand of God: An ancient writer noteth, that there be some men who say, Devoremus& inebriemur,& benefaciamus nobis ex iis quae Deus dedit nobis, quia et hoc de manu Dei est, quia et haec ideo data sunt nobis, ut been nobis faciamus, Let us devour and be drunken, and do unto ourselves good by those things which God hath given us, for even this is from the hand of God, and therefore are these things given us, that we should do good to ourselves with them. But as he addeth, Et si Deus bona omnia ad usum fecit, ad pravos tamen et inordinatos usus nihil fecit, Although God hath made all things good for use, yet he hath made nothing for bad and inordinate uses. But the original being, Non est bonum homini quod comedat& bibat, It is not the good that belongeth to man, to eat and to drink, I conceive the Preachers meaning to be this, that having before shewed the vanity of mans life in the grief and pains of it, and in providing for the contentment of others, here he sheweth the enjoying of a mans own contentment, which he expresseth by eating and drinking, because therein it appeareth most plainly, not to be the good of man, and in the last verse of this Chapter he pronounceth it to be vanity. The not goodness, in truth, of it, the original declareth, in that it saith, Vt ostendat ainae suae bonum in labour suo, and that he show himself good in his labour. For it is but a showing of good to the soul, it is not a right enjoying of it. And yet the Preacher granteth, that this is from God. He saith that himself saw it to be so, as noting, that he did not forget this, when yet he pronounced it not to be the good belonging unto man. For howbeit, as S. jerome saith, Siquidem Dei munus est, talem viro justo dari mentem, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  ut ea quae curis et vigiliis comparavit, ipse consumat, it be indeed the gift of God, that such a mind be given unto a good man, as that himself consumeth those things which by his cares and watchings he hath gotten. And howbeit, as Cyrillus speaketh, Qui been agere, et Dei mandata servare decreverint, 
Cyrillus in Catena Graeca.  eos sequetur dives coelestium bonorum distributio, et terrestrium bonorum participatio, there shall follow them who are careful to do well, and to keep Gods commandements, a rich distribution of celestial good things, and a participation of terrestrial good things: notwithstanding the enjoying of earthly good things, eating and drinking, are not the good of mans life upon the earth. Bonum est, veros cibos& veram sumere potionem, quos de agni carne& sanguine in divinis voluminibus invenimus, That good is, as St. jerome speaketh, to take true meate, and true drink, which from the flesh and blood of Christ wee find in the sacred volumes. It is not by bread onely that man liveth: hoc veri Verbi est verbum, This is the word of the true Word, saith a greek Father, Pane non alitur virtus, non carnibus vis ainae fit bonae habitudinis,& pinguescit, It is not by bread that virtue is nourished, it is not by flesh that the powers of the soul are made to be of a good liking, and to grow fat, as Gregory Nyssene addeth. By other eating and drinking it is that the good of man is enjoyed, and that is in the actions of justice, temperance, patience, and other virtues. And yet though to enjoy the good of a mans labour, be not the good of man, yet it is good for man to enjoy it. 
Psal. 127.2.  For this is that beloved sleep which God giveth to his servants. And when St Paul exhorteth to use this world as not abusing it, 
1 Cor. 7.31.  his meaning is, that he would not have those who are heirs of the world, so to serve the world, as if they were slaves unto it, but to use and enjoy the benefits of God with a quiet mind.  
Verse 25. In the two last verses of this Chapter, the Preacher proveth the two parts of the former verse. First, he proveth in this verse that a mans own enjoying of the good of this life, is not the good of man: secondly, he proveth in the last verse that the enjoying of it, is from the Lord. The force of the proof in this verse is thus set down by Lyra, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Experto credendum est: Ego autem supra omnes expertus sum,& tamen dixi quod in hoc non consistit bonum hoins, propter quod est mihi credendum, To him that hath tried, belief is to be given: but I have tried above all others, and yet I say that the good of man doth not consist in this, wherefore I must be believed. And Gregory Nyssene delivering the force of the proof to the same effect, he sets it down thus, 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Homil. 5. Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Haec ego dixi voice mea, This have I said with my voice. Saint jerome makes this verse, to begin the proof of the latter part of the former verse, who reads it thus; Quis enim comedit,& quis parcit sine illo, qui homini bono coram se dedit? For who eateth, and who forbeareth without him, who giveth to a man, that is good in his sight? Gregory Nyssene doth read it also, with some reference unto the same manner: So that the copies of the original may seem not to have been the same in this verse. The Septuagint may be thought rather to have delivered the sense of the place, then to have followed the signification of the words. For they say, Quis ita devorabit,& delitiis affluet ut ego, Who shall so devour, and abound with delights as I? Whereupon Hugo saith, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Hom. 13.  Mala gloriatio ista,& sunt tamen, qui in ejusmodi gloriantur, This is a bad glorying, and yet there are that do glory in these things. But as he addeth, Si nemo potest, quod tu potes; magnum est, si bonum potes. Si vero amplius in malo potes, quid gloriaris? Malum enim posse, potestas non est, said infirmitas, If none can do that which thou canst, it is a great matter, if it be good which thou canst. But if thou canst do more in evil, why dost thou then glory? To be able to do evil, is not a power, but a weakness. As the original words are now found, it is no easy matter, according to the signification of them, to render the force of them. Our translation is verbal enough, but yet thereby not so plain. Let me with submission offer mine apprehension. I conceive the Preacher in this verse to set forth his abundant enjoying of the good of this life, two ways. First, by the loud and free cry of his command and authority for it, secondly, by the readiness and speed that was used in obedience unto it, for the satisfying of his desire. And therefore I take the original word {αβγδ} here used as it signifieth to cry, or to call aloud; and so should render the verse according to this sense, Who can call for, more freely? Who can enjoy more speedily, the good of this life then I can? And therefore who should also be believed rather then I; who deny the enjoying of the good of this life to be the good of man? From hence we may take this lesson, that no one do promise to himself, or take upon himself those things, which those who have been far more able then himself, have not been able to perform. And for an instance, let not those promise to themselves heaven, who live carelessly in religion, when it is hard for them who are very careful to attain thither.  
Verse 26. Where God seeth goodness, there he looketh graciously; he hath a blessing in his hand for him that is good in his sight. It is not to him that is good in the sight of men, but to him that is good in the sight of God, that the Lord is good. He giveth to a man that is good, 
Gregor. Nis. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 5.  Bono, qui vivit ad boni solius imaginem, To the good man who liveth according to the likeness of him who is good alone, as a greek Father speaketh. And St. jerome saith, Pulchre homini bono Deus dat, 
Hieronym. in Eccles.  Elegantly it is said that God giveth to a good man, because unless he be good, God is not so properly said to give unto him. And therefore when afterwards it is said, to the sinner he giveth, Lyra expoundeth it, 
Lyra in Eccles.  i.e. dari permisit, he permitted it to be given to him. wisdom and knowledge and joy. The Chaldee Paraphrast doth distinguish these three words thus, 
Chald. Para.  Viro cujus opera sunt recta, coram Domino, dedit sapientiam& scientiam in hoc saeculo,& laetitiam cum justis in saeculo venturo, To the man whose works are right before the Lord, he giveth wisdom and knowledge in this world, and joy with the righteous in the world to come. But to distinguish the words with a more particular reference to the place. By wisdom we may understand a wise desire to enjoy the things which he hath; by knowledge, a discerning of the manner how to enjoy them aright; and by joy the comfort of enjoying of them. All which none can have, but from God alone. But to the sinner he giveth: it is not added, to him that is a sinner in his sight. For a sinner doth not tarry in his sight: and God also turneth away his eye from him, as he hath turned himself away from Gods law. Wherefore that which God giveth him, is but from the not giving of his mercy to him. And it is therefore travel, not joy, it is a carking solicitousnesse, not wisdom, to gather; not a contented wisdom to use that which is gathered: it is a greedy knowledge how to heap up, not a delightful knowledge how to employ with comfort that which is heaped up: and the gathering the heaping is but to fill Gods hand, that he may give to him, who shall use it, employ it in a thankful joy. And yet this, this which God giveth, this which a good man receiveth, this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. Wherefore Gregory Nyssene saith, Qui hoc esse bonum judicat, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 5.  ignorat se bonum definire in eo quod vacuum est, He that judgeth this to be good, knoweth not that he defineth good in that which is vain. vanity it is because although God giveth it, yet he taketh it away again: vanity it is, because although a good man hath it, yet by that he is not made the better. Vexation of spirit it is, because although wisdom desire it, yet wisdom seeth no hope of keeping it: vexation it is, because although knowledge discern how to use it, yet it knoweth not how to continue the use of it: vexation it is, although it be joy, because joy that is to be partend with, cannot but vex.    

CHAPTER. III.  

VER. 1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.  
VER. 2. A time to be born, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.  
VER. 3. A time to kill, and a time to heal: a time to break down, and a time to build up.  
VER. 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance.  
VER. 5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together: a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.  
VER. 6. A time to get, and a time to loose: a time to keep, and a time to cast away.  
VER. 7. A time to rent, and a time to sow: a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.  
VER. 8. A time to love, and a time to hate: a time of war, and a time of peace.  
Verse 1. THE Preacher having ended the former Chapter with the good enjoying of the good things of this life, and with the vanity which yet is therein: he beginneth this Chapter by showing how they may be well enjoyed, namely, by taking them in their time and season, and withall by showing their vanity, in that they have but a time and season. More generally wee may note, that the Preacher having before shewed the vanity of human things from his own experience in himself; here he goeth on to show it, from those things which his experience had observed in others: wherein wee are taught, first to look upon ourselves, and to mark our own ways, and then to cast our eye on those things which are done by others. But to consider the verse. The original words here used for time are in the first place {αβγδ} signifying properly determinatum tempus, a set appointed time, in the latter place {αβγδ} signifying properly opportunum tempus, an opportune time. And therefore it seemeth to me that the words may bee rather transposed thus, To every thing there is a time, and a season to every purpose under heaven. For so also a greek Father doth red it, putting in the first place {αβγδ} which signifieth time, putting in the second place {αβγδ} which signifieth the opportunity of time. But in expounding the meaning of the verse he putteth another difference between them. And because time is the common measure of all things, by time he understandeth measure, and so conceiveth the Preacher to require two things in the well doing of every thing: {αβγδ}, summetriam& opportunitatem, a fit measure and a convenient opportunity. But he taketh his measure of the verse somewhat awry. To consider then the verse as we red it. The first thing is the season of things, and that is of such use in the use of things, that as an Ancient Writer hath it, Quando tempus habet, bonum est ut sit, etiansi bonum non est illud, quod bonum est ut sit, when it is in season, it is good that it should be, although that, which it is good that it should be, even be not good in itself. The other thing is the time of all things: for every thing under heaven hath but a time, and such a time as is also allotted to it. So that as the same Author speaketh, Omne quod est, aut aliud subsequitur, ut non ab initio veniat, aut praecurrit aliud ut usque ad finem se non extendat, Every thing that is, either goeth after another, so that it was not from the beginning, or else goeth before another, so that it doth not continue to the end. Now as the first teacheth, that nothing in his time is to be rejected, and nothing not in his time is to bee embraced, so the other teacheth in such sort to use things in their time, as to see the vanity of them in that they have but a time. But as every thing hath its season, so one thing there is which hath every season, and that is the business of our salvation. Wherefore nazianzen saith; Sow when the time is of sowing, 
nazianzen Orati. in S. Baptismo.  gather the fruits when the time is of gathering, &c. At vero salutis tuae negotium semper age, But be always doing the work of thy salvation. And least this place might seem to oppose it, which appointeth a particular season to every thing, Saint Ambrose noteth, 
Ambros. in Psal. 118.  that it is spoken of every thing under heaven, said Dominus Iesus supra coelum est, nullo circumscriptus tempore, but that the Lord Iesus is above the heavens not being circumscribed with any time. And surely it must be the care of every one so to use the things of this world in their time, which have but a time, Vt transeunte tempore sub coelo, succedat aeternitas quae est in coelo, That time passing away which is under heaven, eternity may succeed which is in heaven, as Hugo speaketh.  
Verse 2. The Preacher here beginneth by divers particulars to show, how as there is a fit time for the enjoying of worldly things, so the season is no less fit, which taketh them away: and putting these two seasons into the scales, he teacheth how the vanity and vexation of spirit in the parting with them, overweigheth the good that is found in the having of them. 
Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccles. Homil. 13.  Hugo de Sancto Victore in the enumeration of these particulars, noteth several things. As first he noteth, that good and bad things are still joined together: because such is the condition of this life, Et mixta sunt omnia, quamdiu tempus est, ut omnia habeant tempus, and all things are mixed so long as there is time, that all things may have time. Secondly, he noteth that the Preacher beginneth with placing good things before evil, and afterwards cometh to place evil things before good; because there are two lives to man, a carnal life, and a spiritual life, 
1 Cor. 15.46.  and as the Apostle speaketh, first that which is carnal, and them that which is spiritual. Now in the carnal life the good things go before, the evil follow after: in the spiritual life the evil go before, the good follow after. And therefore Hugo farther noteth, that as the Preacher beginneth from good to evil, saying, There is a time to be born, and a time to die; so he endeth from evil to good, saying, A time of war, and a time of peace, Quia prima vita, primum bonum,& ultimùm malum: secunda vita primùm malum,& ultimum bonum habet, Because the first life hath first good, and afterwards that which is evil, the second life, hath first evil and afterwards good. Thirdly, he noteth how the Preacher confoundeth this order, and sometimes putteth good things first, sometimes evil, as showing the confusion that is in the world, Quia nec malis usque ad finem bona, nec bonis usque ad finem mala, Because neither the wicked have always good things, nor the good have always evil things. Saint jerome tells us how the Iewes do apply all these to the people of Israel. 
Hieronym. in Ecclesiast.  The time of being born, and of planting to Gods choosing and making them his people: the time of dying and plucking up to their leading into captivity: the time of killing to their bondage in egypt; of healing to their deliverance from thence, the time of breaking down to the destruction of the Temple, of building up to the building of it again: the time of weeping to the taking of the City, of laughing when it was again restored: the time of casting away stones, to the scattering and casting away of them, the time of gathering stones, to the gathering together of them again: the time of embracing to the love of God, 
Ierem. 13.7.& 9.  which as a girdle compassed his people: the time of refraining to the removing of Gods love, and their misery in captivity, which God shewed to jeremiah by a girdle hide in a rock and marred: the time of getting and keeping, to the time of blessing and preserving them, the time of losing and casting away, to the time of rejecting them: the time of renting, to the time of renting them, the time of sowing, to the time of sowing them again: the time of keeping silence, to the silence of their Prophets now, the time of speaking, to the time when they shall not want the comfort and speech of GOD in their enemies land: the time of hatred, when they crucified Christ, the time of love, when God loved them in the time of the patriarches: the time of war, when yet they are impenitent, the time of peace, when the fullness of the Gentiles being come in, Israel shall be saved. 
jerome in hunc vers.  St. jerome himself giving a spiritual sense to these words faith, that the time of being born is, Partus iste qui de timore nascitur, That birth which cometh from fear: the time of dying is, when a man being perfect in godliness, fear is cast out. Gregory Nyssene also applieth the time of being born, 
Greg. Nys. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 6.  to that religious care, whereby Nobis ipsis quodammodo patres sumus, wee are as it were fathers to ourselves, and do bring ourselves forth to bee children unto God: the time of dying, to a religious mortification of ourselves, whereby a man, Nunquam sibi vivit, said viventem in seipso habet Christum, doth never live to himself, but hath Christ living in him. But in a literal sense the words import two things, first that as there is a time of being born, so there is a time of dying. 
Clemens Alexand. Stromatum l. 3.  For as Clemens Alexandrinus reporteth, Solome asking our Saviour Christ how long death should have power, the answer which our Saviour gave, was, so long as you women bring forth. For as he addeth, Ortum omnino sequitur interitus, Dying is sure to follow after being born. The other thing which the words import is, that there is a fit time for being born, namely when the season appointed by nature is accomplished, those that come before being abortives: and that there is a fit time of dying, namely when the period set by nature is come, those that die before suffering a violent death. Wherefore a greek Father saith, Venit tempus& natus sum; veniet tempus& moriar, The time came, and I was born, the time shall come, and I shall die. The last part of the verse, sheweth the same in things of a vegetable life, which was shewed in things of a sensitive life: or else sheweth the same in things that are brought forth by art and industry, which was shewed in things brought forth by nature. In a spiritual sense we know who is our husbandman: wee know whose husbandry we are; the one we have from our Saviour Christ, the other from St. Paul the servant of Christ. 
joh. 15.6. 1 Cor. 3.9.  The time of Gods planting is this life, for now he is ready to plant grace in the hearts of all: the time of his rooting up is the day of judgement, for then he will roote up the tares from his corn. Or if we will apply the words to ourselves, there is a time to plant those virtues in our souls which are not growing in them, and there is a time to pluck up the weeds of 'vice which grow too fast in them. A time must be allotted unto both; and a fit time taken will make the work both the more easy, and the more successful.  
Verse 3. The Preacher in the former Verse having placed good before evil; in this verse he placeth the evil before the good: for so it is in the things of this world, Subsequuntur quae praecesserant,& rursus quae sequuta fuerunt praecedunt, Those things follow which went before, and those things go before which followed. The verse we may consider in a threefold sense, either literal, moral, or spiritual. As for the first, the Preacher having spoken of the vanity of man, in his being and not being, from thence he goeth on to show the vanity of those things which serve for the preservation of his being; and having shewed it in plants, here he sheweth it first in beasts, which in their fit time and when they are fit food for man, are killed for his use, and which at another time are kept alive and cherished, and so are as it were healed, that they may bee made fit for mans nourishment. Now as Cicero 
Cicero.  speaketh, Quotidie mori docemur, qui mortuis nutrimur, We are continually taught to die, who do live by those things which are made to die for us; so the Preacher doth farther show man his vanity, by the perishing of those things which for his sake are subject to vanity. Secondly, the Preacher having spoken of the inward means which serve for the preservation of mans being, he speaketh also of the outward means, as of houses and buildings, and which as in time growing old, have a fit time to be broken down; so when they are built in their time, have but a time of standing though built never so strongly. Much hath been the labour, and great the cost of men, Vt starent post ipsos monumenta jactantiae illorum,& invaluerunt usque ad aliquid, That the monuments of their vain glory might stand after them, and something they have done, as one speaketh: but what a vain pleasure is this, that their buildings stand upon the earth, when themselves are fallen into the earth? And what though their buildings outstand them? They cannot stand out against time, which will have a fit time to throw them down. And in this literal sense wee may mark, that the Preacher saying, in the former verse, A time to pluck up, that which is planted, he doth not here speak in the same manner; because that which is killed, is not healed, but another; that which is pulled down is not built up, but another. In a moral sense we may understand the verse thus: that justice hath a fit time of killing, where expectation of amendment is already killed; and mercy hath a fit time of healing by forgiving, where hope of doing good by it giveth virtue and force to the medicine: justice hath a time of breaking down by due punishment where it is needful, and of building up by rewarding the well doers for their encouragement: justice hath a time of killing and destroying where wrong is done, and of healing and building up, where wrong is suffered. Lastly, in a spiritual sense, 
Greg. Nyss. in Eccles. Homil. 6.  Gregory Nyssene telleth us, that there is a time of killing, Malam animi motuum aciem,& hoc civile quod in nos per voluptates geritur bellum,& nos captivos reddit legi peccati, That hurtful army of the affections of the mind, and that civill war which pleasures make against us, and which doth make us captive unto the law of sin: and there is a time of healing the wounds which they have given us. There is a time of breaking down the strong holds of sin, and there is a time of building up the Temple of God in ourselves. And here we may note the order that is used: first there must be a killing before there can be a healing: first there must bee a breaking down, before there can bee a building up. 
Jerem. 1.10.  In the commission of the Prophet jeremy the same order is observed: where God saith, I have set thee this day, to roote out and to pull down, to build and to plant. The straw and the stubble that is in us must first be taken away, before that we can build silver and gold, and precious stones. For as a greek Father speaketh, Fieri non potest ut cum stipula coalescat argentum, vel foeno agglutinetur aurum, vel ligno margaritum, It cannot be that silver should agree with stubble, or gold be joined with straw, or a pearl with wood.  
Verse 4. The Preacher passeth from man considered in his own being, and from those things that do preserve him in his being, to other things that do belong to them. And therefore Lyra briefly expounding this verse saith, that there is a time to weep, in infortuniis in the misfortunes of this life, and a time to laugh, in eufortuniis in the good fortunes of it: that there is a time to mourn in funeribus defunctorum in the funerals of the dead, and a time to dance, in nuptiis conjugatorum at the bridals of the married. But to mark the words a little more narrowly, The latter part of the verse, is but velut repetitio ejus quod prius dictum est, As it were a repetition of that which is before spoken, 
Gregor. Nis. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 6.  saith Gregory Nyssene. Only saith he, it addeth some amplification unto it. For as by dancing is signified a greater measure of rejoicing, so planctu, by mourning, the Scripture useth to express a greater measure of sorrowing. But Hugo farther noteth, that Fletus& risus ad animum pertinent, planctus& saltatio ad corpus, weeping and laughing do belong to the mind, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccles. Hom. 15.  mourning and dancing to the body. And indeed the original word {αβγδ} which is here used for mourning signifieth the outward carriage of the body in sorrow. Wherefore saith he, in the first place are set down the joy and sorrow of the mind: by mourning and dancing in the second place the same things are signified, but as they are shewed in the motions of the body. For as a greek Father saith, vulnerum animi tanquam sanguis lachrymae sunt, tears are as it were the blood of the wounds of the soul, which manifest the greatness of them, and so the light skipping of the body in dancing, is but a shadow of the light and lofty flying of the mind in joy. Now God hath blended these two in mans life for many reasons: but I will mention two only. The first is to distinguish this life from the next. For in the next life, either in heaven there will bee nothing but joy; or else in hell nothing but howling. If in this life there should bee nothing but joy, many would look for no other heaven: if now there should be nothing but sorrow, many might seem to bee in hell before they come unto it. This life therefore which is the way to either, partaketh of both. Secondly, God hath mixed joy with sorrow in this life, thereby to keep us in the right way. For if we should have nothing but joy, we should be quickly too much puffed up: if nothing but sorrow, wee should bee easily too much cast down. But these being mixed, the sorrows of this world do wean our affections from the vanities of it: the joys of this life do make us long for the greater joys of the next. Now seeing there is in this life a fit time for both, Per haec discimus, quod ad rem praesentem oporteat etiam animum accommodare. prosper res succedunt? Tempestivum est laetari: reducta est animi alacritas ad demissionem? converti etiam convenit in lachrymas, By this wee learn, that we must apply our minds to the present occasion. do things succeed happily? It is a fit time to rejoice. Is the cheerfulness of our mind humbled? It is meet then that our singing bee turned into weeping, as the same Father speaketh. But more generally Saint jerome tells us, and out of him the ordinary gloss. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Nunc tempus flendi est,& in futuro ridendi: Beatienim flentes, quoniam ipsi ridebunt, Now is the time of weeping, hereafter of laughing. For as our Saviour saith, 
Luk. 6.21.  Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. And Gregory Nyssene also showing this life to be the time of mourning, in which there is so much cause of mourning, 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Homil. 6.  thereupon saith, Omnia primas tenant in malorum excellentia, omnia parem praebent luctus occasionem, All things have the precedency in the excellency of evils, all things afford like matter of grief: So that for which to lament most it is hard to find.  
Verse 5. It is not easy to enter into these stones, and to discern what is meant by them. An Ancient Writer taking them for men, expoundeth the casting away of stones to be casting of men into banishment, the gathering of stones to bee the recalling of them into their own Countries and places. 
Gregor. Dialog. l. 3. c. 37 prope finem.  Saint Gregory the great taking them for good men, and reading the words tempus mittendi lapides, a time of sending stones, applieth them to God, who in his good time sendeth good men into the world for a blessing to it, and in his time gathereth them out of the world to deliver them from the evils of it. But that which I conceive to be the right vein, for finding the meaning of the stones, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  is that which Lyra hath, who by stones here understandeth fortilicia, fortresses, as being anciently for their strength made of ston; and which have a time, when though never so strong they are demolished, and their stones cast away: as on the other side, there was a time which served fitly for gathering the stones together, and for the building of them. A Greek Father taketh these stones for stones of war, but applying them in a spiritual manner he saith, Est omnino intelligendum, quod quae vitium perimunt cogitationes, eae sunt lapides, qui ab Ecclesiaste fundâ recte jaciuntur, quos semper mitti oportet& colligi. Mitti quidem ad eum evertendum, qui contra vitam nostram erigitur: colligi autem ad hoc ut ainae nostrae sinus plenus sit iis praeparatis, ut ad manum sit quod jaci posset in adversarios, It is absolutely to be understood, that the meditations which destroy 'vice are the stones which by the Preacher are rightly cast from the sling, which it is needful always to bee cast out, and always to be gathered: to be cast out for the overthrowing of him, who riseth up against us; to be gathered for this end, that the bosom of our soul, may bee filled with them in readiness, and may have at hand that which may bee thrown against the adversaries. Of these stones he saith, Est adeo pulcher jactus, ut& hostem interimant, et ab ejus qui jacit manu non separantur, The casting is so excellent, that they both kill the enemy, and are not put away from his hand that throweth them. The latter part of the verse I would also understand as pertaining to the same sense with the former, because in this passage of the Preacher, it is generally so set down by him. And then by embracing, I should conceive the embracing of safety and defence in strong Fortresses: according as I find the word used in job, where it is said, They embrace the rock for want of a shelter. 
Job 24.8.  Now there is a fit time when fortresses do serve for defence; and there is a fit time which sheweth the vanity of them, and when he that flieth unto them, is far from embracing safety and defence by them. The literal meaning which the words present to the first view, is to understand them of those embracings which God hath ordained for the continuance of mankind upon the earth. For as there is a time in which this embracing is to be used, Vt reparetur mortalitas, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 15.  et excipiatur mortalium infirmitas, that mortality may be repaired, and the infirmity of mortal men may be sustained, as Hugo speaketh: so there is a time in which it is good to refrain from this embracing: and that is especially in the time of Gods wrath and visitation. The ancient Fathers do very much note the manner of Noahs going into the ark, and how the Father and the sons went together, the Mother and her daughters in law went together: God himself dividing at that time those whom himself had joined together. Whereupon St. Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. l. de Noe& Arca. c. 21.  apart et velut ordine ipso ingressionis, vocem quandam justus emittit, tempus illud non esse delitiarum, quo omnibus imminet interitus: quam enim indecorum, ut quo tempore viventes morerentur, eo morituri generarentur? plainly, and as it were by the order itself of their going in, the righteous man pronounceth, that, not to be a time of delights in which destruction hangeth over all: for how unseemly is it, that at what time the living die, at the same time they should be begotten who are to die. Notwithstanding Saint Chrysostome conceiveth, that Cham even in the ark did neglect this care: and this he gathereth from Scripture, 
Chrysost. in Genes. Homil. 28.  because when they came out of the ark, it is said, and the sons of Noah went forth of the ark, Sem and Ham and japhet, and Ham is the Father of Canaan, as being conceived in the ark, and born not long after their coming out. But unworthy is the example of cursed Cham to be followed. 
Gen. 9.18.  Lastly, Si voluerimus ad altiora ascendere, if wee will ascend unto higher matter, as St. jerome speaketh, there is( as he applieth the words) a time of embracing by contemplation and study the high things of wisdom, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and because the mind of man cannot always be lifted up so high, there is a time of refraining from this embracing, that so the body in his place may also be cared for.  
Verse 6. Man having deprived himself of those true good things wherein he was created, seeketh now after those things, In quibus est vere aliquid ad bonum, said non vera bona, in which there is truly something that may serve for good, but they are not truly good things, as one speaketh. And these God, In tempore suo nunc tribuit acquirenda, nunc acquisita subtrahit, now giveth to be gotten, now taketh away being gotten, that man may both see the vain contentment of them when he hath gotten them, and the great vanity of them when they are lost. The Preacher therefore passing from the things belonging to man, to the using of them by man, here he speaketh of getting, losing, keeping, and casting them away. The original word {αβγδ} for the most part is translated by Interpreters to get, and the reason I suppose to be, because the next words speak of losing: but the signification of the word is to seek, and it may be that the Preacher doth use this word here, to show that all which man can attain unto, is but a seeking of the things of this world, for there is no true getting of those things which are to be lost again. And therefore as an ancient writer hath it, Agnoscat homo, quod omnia quae invito tolli poterant fuerant, etiam quum possidebantur, extranea, Let man aclowledge, that all things which can be taken from a man against his will, even then when they were possessed, were not his own. Yea they are not onely such things which may be and are taken away, but such as himself also must cast away. For as there is a fit time of keeping them, so there is of casting them away: because as the same author speaketh, 
Ibid. Homil. 16.  Quae suo tempore custodita possint servanti far subsidium; rursum nisi tempore suo abjiciantur possint facere detrimentum, Those things which in their time being kept, may be helpful to the keeper of them; again, unless in their time they be cast away, they will be hurtful to him. Which therefore that we may do, wee were best at all times to cast them away from the love of our hearts. Gregory Nyssene, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Eccles. Hom. 7.  who readeth the first part of this verse, Tempus est quaerendi, there is a time to seek, applieth it to the seeking of God, Cujus inventio est ipsum semper quaerere, The finding of whom is always to seek him. For as he addeth, Non est aliud quaerere,& aliud invenire, said acquirendi lucrum est ipsum quaerere, It is not one thing to seek and another thing to find, but the gain of finding is the seeking itself. Now the time of seeking God, he tells us briefly, is, the whole life of man. For as he addeth farther, In hoc solo, studii tempus est totum studium, In this thing alone, the time of seeking is the whole seeking of man. The losing here mentioned he applieth to the losing of sin, Cujus amissio est lucrum, whose losing is indeed a gaining. Wherefore he saith, Mala possessio est avaritia, perdamus eam: malum depositum est acceptae injuriae recordatio, id aemittamus, covetousness is an ill possession, let us loose it: the remembrance of a wrong received is a thing ill laid up, let us let it go; for the losing of that must needs be a gain, which being kept breedeth loss. He expounding also the latter part of the verse, saith, Quid servandi? Id scilicet quod a nobis inventum est ex inquisitione. Quid ejiciendi? Id scilicet cujus amissionem existimatum est confer, There is a time to keep, what? Namely, that which by seeking wee have gotten: and that being God, let us keep him, for he it is that must keep us. There is a time to cast away, what? namely that, the losing whereof is a benefit unto us; and that being sin, let us by repentance so cast it away, that wee never take it again: for it is the casting away of that, that keepeth God with us.  
Verse 7. The condition of mans life taketh often much contentment in the sowing together of a friendly society, and where it is done in a fit time, how sweet is it? But the vanity of this appeareth in that the renting also of society is that which is needful also to have contentment, and which hath a fit time in which it must be done. Wherefore Hugo saith, Habet consutionem suam tempore suo consensus socialis; 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 16.  habet& scissionem suam in tempore suo zelus justae contradictionis, A sociable agreement hath in its time his sowing together, and the zeal of a just contradiction hath in his time his renting also. Answerably to this I take the latter part of the verse to speak of a sociable conferring and talking together, wherein the mind of man is much delighted, and when it is done in a fit time, how pleasant is it? But yet the vanity of it is manifest, in that the mind of man being wearied with its own content, silence is desired in the place of it, and hath a fit time that makes it most agreeable. This I conceive to be the most natural meaning of the place. But if we shall take the time of silence and speaking in a general extent, then wee may first note, that silence goeth before speaking, and therefore as S. jerome saith, Discamus prius non loqui, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  ut postmodùm ad loquendum or a reseramus: nihil nobis rectum esse videatur nisi quod discimus, ut post multum silentium ex discipulis efficiamur magistri, Let us first learn not to speak, that afterwards wee may open our mouths to speak: let nothing seem to be right unto us, but that which we learn, that after long silence, of Schollers wee may be made Masters. And indeed it is silence which is the chief thing. Wherefore Seneca saith, 
Seneca, Epist. 40.  Summa summarum haec est, tardiloquum te esse jubeo, In sum, the sum of all is this, I require thee to be slow in speaking. And St. Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. in Psal. 38.  O validum scutum circumspectae munitionis silentium! O fidissimum stabilitatis fundamentum! Multi enim etiam stabili cord firmati, incauti tamen sermonis fluctuantis error ceciderunt, O the strong buckler of a circumspectly defence, silence! O the most faithful foundation of stability! For many being well settled with a stable heart, yet unawares have fallen by the error of a wandering tongue. But yet there is a time to speak also, and as sometimes, Dixisse culpa sit quae fuerant reti●enda, It may be a fault to have spoken those things, which should not have been spoken; so at another time, Tacuisse noceat quae dicenda fuerant, It may be hurtful not to have spoken those things which should have been uttered. So that not onely the works, but the words of men are tossed with uncertainty, and vanity possesseth all. Saepè non possumus loqui quum volumus;& saepè non volumus, quum possumus; saepius autem utrumque non debemus, quum facimus, Often wee cannot speak when we would; and often wee will not speak, when we can, and more often we do both, when we ought not. Sic jactatur homo de tempore ad tempus,& non intelligit tempus suum in omni opere suo, So is man tossed from one time to another, and doth not know his own time in any of his doings, as one speaketh. Now to understand the former part of the verse in the same kind; there is a time of renting, a time of renting open the lips, when undue fear of displeasing, or unjust bribing, or slothful negligence, may hold them hard together: and there is a time of sowing up the lips, when choler, or rashness, or provoking speeches do strive to open them too speedily. Or else there is a time of renting the lips to reprove impudence: and there is a time of sowing up the lips, by passing by in silence the slips of infirmity. The impudent are such, that as St. Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. Past. Cu. Par. 3. Adm. 8.  Non nisi increpatio dura illos compescit,& se delinquere nesciunt, nisi a pluribus increpentur, That it must be a sharp reproof, or else it doth not work upon them; and they know not themselves to have offended, unless by many they be reproved. But the weak are often such, 
Ibid. Adm. 17.  that as the same Father speaketh, Ad se reducti tanto libentius exhortationis verba recipiunt, quanto se tranquillius toleratos erubescunt, That being brought unto themselves, they do the more willingly receive the words of exhortation, by how much the more quietly they have been born with, being ashamed of it. But to consider the words also in a more spiritual sense; There is a time of renting ourselves from the devil, and of breaking from his snares and bonds: and there is a time of uniting also, and as it were sowing ourselves to God, and of fastening our hearts to his commandements, 
Greg. Nyssen. in Eccles. Homil. 7.  Vt ab illo abrupti cvi male adhaesimus, illi adhaereamus, cvi bonum est adhaerere, That being rent from him to whom we have stuck perniciously, we may stick to him, to whom it is good to stick, as Gregory Nyssene speaketh. For as the Psalmist speaketh, It is good for me to hold me fast by the Lord; 
Psal. 73.27.  So surely it is good for all to cleave fast to him. According to this application of the first part of the verse, Gregory Nyssene applieth also the latter part, saying, That there is a time of keeping silence, when we think of God, whose glory cannot be expressed: and there is a time to speak, namely, of such things, which concern our duty towards God and man, and may increase virtue in ourselves and others. An ancient writer doth handsomely apply the first part of the verse in a spiritual sense, and manner, to the flesh and the spirit: to the flesh, the renting, for being made one with it by living according to the flesh, we must rent ourselves from it: to the Spirit, the sowing, because by living godly it must be our care to be joined to him. Neither( saith he) is this to be omitted, that the things which are rent asunder are substantially one; but the things which are sown together are substantially divers, being as it were accidentally made one, by something that ties them. For so indeed man by his corrupted nature is made one with the corruption of the flesh; but he is united to spiritual things by the bond of grace. In this sowing therefore to the Spirit, the needle is compunction, the thread is love. The needle maketh way and goeth through both, that so the thread may hold both together. First then, the needle of compunction goeth through the things of the flesh, when it considereth our sins, it goeth through the things of the Spirit, when it considereth the mercies of God: it goeth through human things, when it considereth our duties towards God; it goeth through spiritual things, when it considereth his gracious promises towards us. Then followeth the thread of love, for the sight of Gods gracious promises in his mercy, maketh us to love him, and God seeing our sorrow and repentance, he is in love reconciled to us, and so wee are happily fast tied the one to the other.  
Verse 8. Time is a circled, and the Preacher shutteth up this passage of time in a circled: For having begun with a time to be born, and a time to die: he endeth with a time of war, which is a time of dying, and with a time of peace, which is a time wherein people by bringing forth are multiplied. But first to consider the first part of the verse, A greek Father defineth love and hatred thus: Amor est intrinsecus insita in id quod animo est jucundum, habitudo operans per voluptatem. Odium est alienatio ab eo quod est injucundum, et aversio ab ●o quod molestiâ afficit, Love is an inward seated inclination to that which is sweet to the mind working by pleasure and delight. Hatred is an alienation from that which is unpleasing, and a turning away from that which breedeth trouble. But how great soever the pleasure may be of enjoying that which is loved, how great soever the contentment may be in shunning that which is hated, yet let no man set his heart upon them. For great is the vanity of them: seeing the same things, Quae sunt odio habita possint iterum just diligi, et dilecta rursum just odio haberi, which are accounted worthy of hatred, may again justly be loved, and those things which are loved, may again justly be hated, as one speaketh. There is saith the Preacher, a time to love, and a time to hate: yea fit time for both. And therefore St. Ambrose speaking of these words saith, 
Ambros. in Psal. 118. Octon. 14.  De quo hoc dicit Ecclesiastes? Nonne de eo, quod ratione temporis fiat, ut pie& amare& odisse possimus: ut quos dilexeris odisse,& quos oderis amare conveniat. To what purpose speaketh the Preacher this? Is it not to show us, that according to the difference of time, wee may both hate and love: and that it may be fitting to hate those whom thou lovest, and to love those whom hatest? While the time is, what love is sweeter then the love of a wife, who is as St. Ambrose speaketh, Quaedam vitae cohaeres, 
Ibid.  a kind of coheir of the life of man? While the time is, what love is more pleasing then the love of a brother, who as St. Ambrose also speaketh, 
Ibid.  Eodem formatur naturae hospitio, Is formed in the same lodging of nature? Notwithstanding it is not seldom, that by the occasions of this world there is a time of just dislike against them. And in religion our Saviour Christ saith, Whosoever for my sake doth not hate wife and brethren, 
Luke 14.26.  cannot be my Disciple. unto the times of love and hatred, agree the times of war and peace: the times of hatred being times of war, the times of love, being times of peace. And of these the changing of them in time, is enough to show the vanity of them at any time. 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccles. Hom. 16.  Non ergo existimet homo valde metuendum bellum, cvi potest pax succedere: neque pacem illam veram, quam subsequens hellum potest perturbare, Let no man therefore think that war much to be feared, to which peace may succeed: neither that peace to be true, which by a following war may be disquieted, as Hugo speaketh. Gregory Nyssene applying this verse in a spiritual sense, tells us, Est unum solum {αβγδ}, diligendum natura, id quod vere est, There is but one thing to be loved in the nature of it, that which truly is; and of which the Law saith, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, thy strength, thy might. And there is but one thing again {αβγδ} Vere odio habendum, 
Greg. Nyss. in Eccles. Homil. 8. Mat. 5.43.  truly to bee hated, namely, the author of 'vice, the enemy of our life; of whom the Law saith, Odio habebis inimicum tuum, thou shalt hate thine enemy. And accordingly applying the rest of the verse, he saith; Si ergo amoris& odii intelleximus opportunitatem, alterum quidem diligamus, cum altero vero bellum geramus, If therefore we have understood the fit time of love and hatred, let us be careful to be at peace with the one, let us be continually in war with the other. An ancient writer applieth this verse in a spiritual sense unto the flesh, of which the Apostle saying in one place, 
Ephes. 5.29.  No man hateth his own flesh: in another place he saith, Let no one take care of the flesh. 
Rom. 13.14.  So that here is love and hatred, and that wee may know the times of it, the same author tells us, Diligenda est caro quantum pertinet ad compassionem naturae; et rursum quantum ad castigationem culpae spectat odienda, For as much as pertaineth to a compassion of nature, the flesh is to be loved; but again in respect of the chastising of sin, it is to be hated. Wherefore discretion is needful, and the time of hatred and love is set down, that we may go in a right course, Neque suffocemus naturam, dum culpam persequimur, neque culpam nutriamus, quando naturam fovemus, and may neither overthrow nature while we suppress sin; neither yet nourish 'vice, while we cherish nature, as one speaketh: But because this cannot be done without great striving, much fighting, therefore it is added, a time of war, and a time of peace, Vt simul agnoscat homo, et quod nemo sine pugna ad victoriam pervenit, et quod qui legitime certaverit, post adeptam victoriam in place requiescet, That so a man may aclowledge, as well that no one obtaineth victory without fighting, as also that he who fighteth lawfully, after the victory obtained, resteth in peace, as the same Father addeth.   

VER. 9. What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth?  
VER. 10. I have seen the travel which God hath given to the sons of men, to be exercised in it.  
VER. 11. he hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.  
Verse 9. 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 17.  It is the wish of Hugo by occasion of this passage of the Preacher, Modo de temporibus exivimus, said utinam pervenissemus ad aeternitatem, wee have passed over the times, but I would to God, wee were come to eternity. And God grant that we may so pass the times of this life, that in his good time wee may come to eternal life. A greek Father maketh this verse, to be the speech of conscience, speaking to the soul of man, when this life is ended. Then conscience saith, Where are thy stately houses? Where are thy stuffed bags? Thy brazen statues, the applause of thy flatterers? What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth? But though the words do fit the mouth of conscience, the application doth not fit the meaning of the place. The Preacher having shewed in the vanities of time, the succession of evil after good, the precedency of evil before good, the mixture of evil with good, the fitness of time for both, and therein the vanity of the things of this world, though being enjoyed in their time, there may be some good in the enjoying of them: here he sheweth that it is not all mans working, all his labour that can help this. He cannot effect that the time of dying, should not follow the time of being born: he cannot bring it to pass, that a time of weeping should not go before a time of laughing. He cannot prevail, that a time of getting, and losing should not be mixed together. The profit of all his labour is not the redressing of this vanity in things. All his working can never find a fit time to remedy these fit times of changing, and wherein the vexation of mans spirit is established. The Hebrew therefore that was Saint Hieroms Master in expounding the Scriptures unto him, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  did rightly expound to him the meaning of this verse, Quum omnia suo labantur tempore,& sit tempus destruendi& aedificandi, flendi& ridendi, &c. Quid frustra conamur& tendimus,& brevis vitae labores putamus esse perpetuos? Seeing that all things do pass away in their time, and that there is a time of breaking down, and of building up, a time of weeping and a time of laughing, &c. Why do we in vain work, and labour, and think to make the works of our short life to be of long continuance? For as Saint Basil bringing in job comforting his Wife in their calamities maketh him to say, Semper prosper agere solius est Dei: 
Basilius Homiliar. 23. Cujus titulus est, Non esse adhaerendum rebus temporal.  Bibisti liquidum vitae laticem,& turbidum iam toleranter bibe, It belongeth to God onely always to enjoy contentment. Thou hast drank of the clear waters of this life, now drink of them patiently when they are troubled: so must every one be contented when the time cometh to mourn, who when time was, danced: when the time cometh, to have that plucked up, which in his time he planted. There will be no profit in all his labour by seeking to avoid it.  
Verse 10. The Preachers Vidi here, I have seen, is nothing else but an affirmation of that which he saith. For when we see a thing, the eye doth as it were say, that this is such a thing, so the Preacher saying, I have seen the travel, it is as if he said, This is the travel, this, that all things in this world have a contrariety of times; this, that man must be subject to these times, and cannot by all his labour and working free himself from it. This is that which God hath given, that is, this is that which God hath appointed and ordained, and which man cannot alter. For as an Ancient Writer speaketh, Omnia nutum sequuntur dispositionis aeternae, neque arbitrio humano subduntur, All things do follow the beck of the supernatural disposing, neither are the changes of times subject to mans arbitrement. This therefore God hath given, God hath appointed to the sons of men, that is, to all generations, to all successions of men. None shall be able to say, things were better in the times of our fathers; none shall bee able to think with themselves, things may be better in the dayes of our children. 
August. in Psalm. 30. conc. 2.  For as Saint Austin speaketh, Si interrogares parentes tuos, similiter tibi de diebus suis murmurarent, If thou couldst ask thy fathers, their complaint of their dayes would be like to thine, and if thou couldst hear thy children, they would say as the Preacher doth, We have seen this travel which God hath given to the sons of men. Now God hath given it to them {αβγδ} to bee humbled in it: for so the signification of the word most directly soundeth, and so it agreeth not amiss to the scope of the place. For by this travel God humbleth the sons of men, that so they may not trust in their own labour, that so they may not hope in their own works, either to hinder that which God hath appointed, or to procure that which God hath not ordained. By this travel God humbleth the sons of men, that so they may not be proud, but being dejected with the vanity of them, may become weary of this life, per quam mortales transeunt nascendo& moriendo, through which mortals pass away by being born and dying: 
August. de civita. Dei l. 19. c. 20. Aug. l. cvi titul. speculum peccatoris.  and may desire that life, In qua immortales manent, nihil adversi omnino patiendo, In which they remain immortal by suffering nothing at all, that is offensive to them, as Saint Austin speaketh. And therefore doth God make the things of the earth so troublesone unto men, Vt quanto infoelicior mundus iste conspicitur, tanto foelicius pro amore coelestis patriae contemnatur, That by how much the more unhappy this world is found, by so much the more happily it may be contemned, in respect of our love to our heavenly Country, as the same Father speaketh. Or else, God hath given this travel to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 
Origen. in joan. Homil. 27.  For as Origen speaketh, Duas Deus nobis vitas constituit, praesentem& futuram: praesentem in certamen posuit, futuram in certaminis praemium, God hath appointed two lives for us, the present, and the future: the present he hath ordained for our exercise of striving, the future for the reward of our exercise. God hath appointed the changes of time, that man may be exercised in them, sieve volens ad meritum, sieve nolens ad tormentum, either wisely and willingly to his praise, or else unwillingly and foolishly to his torment and vexation, as one speaketh.  
Verse 11. That any thing is made in his time, is enough to make it beautiful. For as Hugo Victorinus speaketh, Omnia tempus habent, 
Hugo Victorinus in Ecclesiast. Homil. 1.  qùia in tempore suo omnia been fieri habent,& bona sunt, quum been fiunt omnia, There is a time to all things, because in their time all things are well done, and all things that are well done, are good being done. But when God who is the disposer of time, and the beauty of holinesse, maketh any thing in his time, it must needs be beautiful. Notwithstanding the vain heart of man, is too apt to blame the things which God hath made. A time of laughing he liketh, but not a time of weeping, a time of dancing, but not a time of mourning. Et quum been fit,& ipse male non vult, dicit male fieri, quum been fiat,& ipse male velit, And when a thing is well done, but his evil will would not have it to be done, he saith, that it is ill done, but the thing is well done, and it is his will that is evil, as one speaketh. Now the reason why man is so ready to blame the works of God, is, because the world is in his heart, and God is said to have set it there, because he hath permitted the world to be there. The love then of the world that is in mans heart, makes him to desire that all things in the world should prosper alway. He is pleased with a building up, but displeased to hear of a breaking down: he is well contented with planting, but discontented to hear of plucking up. So that being blinded with this love, he cannot find out, the wise causes from which they do proceed, which is the beginning of them: he cannot find out the good uses to which they are ordained, which is the end of them. That which our translation readeth, He hath set the world in their heart, the Septuagint and according to them the Vulgar Latin render, Et mundum tradidit disputationibus eorum, and he hath delivered the world to their disputation. For as an Ancient Writer saith, Proposuit Deus opus suum in oculis hominum, ut interrogaret corda ipsorum de eo, God hath set his work in the eyes of men, that he might ask their hearts of it. And many are the answers which mens hearts have given, or rather multa fabrefacta mendacia opinionum de judicio rerum, many lies of opinions artificially made of the judgement of things. Aliqui asserunt nihil esse, nisi ipsum quod videtur, alii quod nihil est vere, nisi ipsum quod non videtur, Some affirm, that nothing is, but that only which is seen: others, that nothing truly is, but that onely which is not seen. Et texunt rationes,& quasi rationes,& est cuique ratio existimatio sua, And they frame reasons, and as it were reasons, and every ones opinion is to him a reason. But the book which God hath given man to study, consisteth of two volumes, the one containeth the works that he hath made, the other his providence over his works: the one is larger, the other hath more hidden and abstruse matter: the one is red by more, the other by them who are more excellent, the one is understood by sharpness of reason, the other by the illumination of Gods Holy Spirit. For God hath made it dark, and God hath done this to this end, that man not being able to find out the work of God, he might seek to God, because unless God reveal it, man cannot know it. Or if man by the light of nature bee able to find out some of Gods works, yet he cannot find out his work from the beginning to the end. he cannot find out the beginning of it, how God made all things by his word of nothing: he cannot find out the end of it, Si enim ad finem pervenire potuisset, invenisset utique Deum: quoniam a quo sunt, ibi finem habent omnia. For if he could have come to the end, he would have come to God, because from whom all things are, there they have their end. But to know these things {αβγδ}, Convenientem sibi asscribit magistrum, nempe Deum, requireth a fit matter for it, 
Clemens Alexand. Admonit. ad Gentes.  namely God, as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh. But these translations do not appear to me to kiss the original. The Hebrew word is {αβγδ} which doth not properly signify the world, but Tempus absconditum a hidden time: and I think that the plain signification of the word, will make the sense plainest, and best agreeable to the scope of the place. It may bee therefore rendered thus, he hath made every thing beautiful in his time, also he hath set a hidden time in the heart of them: that is, he hath hidden from the heart of men the time for every thing which he hath appointed; so that man cannot find out the work which God maketh; the work which God maketh in his time from the beginning to the end, from the beginning of the world to the end of it, or from the beginning of his life to the end of it. he cannot find out what GOD will do in the time of it: when it is done, he cannot find out, why God hath done it. Non invenit homo quo fine fiant haec omnia, donec ipse finem accipiat, Man findeth not out, to what end all those things are done, until himself come to his end, as one speaketh. Then he shall understand it: then, either the mercy of God or his justice will show it unto him. Wherefore the counsel is good which Hugo giveth, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 13.  Sit paratus homo ad omne tempus, sieve bonum sieve malum sit, ut per bona& mala probatus transeat ad bona glorificandus, Let a man bee ready for all times, whether good or bad, that being proved by good things and bad things, he may pass to good things, to be glorified in them.   

VER. 12. I know that there is no good in them: but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.  
VER. 13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.  
Verse 12. The Preacher having shewed, that no one can know the times of Gods works, Yet saith he, this I know, this I will take upon me to tell, that there is no good in them, that is, howsoever good, howsoever beautiful they may be in themselves and in the seasonableness of them, which are things that God maketh; yet there is in them no good for man, there is no other good which man is to do in them, then to rejoice, and to do good in his life: that is, 
Glossa minor.  as the lesser gloss doth well expound it, Frui praesentibus,& facere quod in futuro prosit to enjoy the present things, and to do that which may bee profitable in the time to come. The original here is {αβγδ} in vitis suis, in his lives, and though it be an hebraism, yet by occasion of it, wee may note the two lives of man, either his life in prosperity, or else his life in adversity. And surely that which is good for man, is to rejoice in both, is to do good in both. And therefore when our Saviour Christ speaking of sad times saith, when these things begin to come to pass, 
Luk. 21.28. Galfridus, apud Tilmannum.  then look up, and lift up your heads; thereupon Galfridus saith, Dimittamus in prosperis capita, ne vanitatis aura nos rapiat, Levemus in adversis capita, ne nos torrentis mergat unda, Let us hold down our heads in prosperity least the air of vanity carry us away; in adversity let us lift up our heads, that the water of the torrent do not drown us. And in the times of adversity, let us do good by setting forth the good example of our patience, and by doing good to them who have been the causes of our evils. But if it be the good of man to rejoice in times of adversity, and to do good in them, then much more in the times of prosperity. When God sendeth man good things, let him with moderation, humility, thankfulness take the comfort of them. For what is more wretched, then as Plutarch speaketh, Parare opes tanquam splendidos, 
Plutarch. l. de Cupid. Divitiarum.  uti tanquam sordidos, To get the good things of this life as men that are in prosperity, to use them as men that are in misery? What is more unreasonable, then as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, Suis abstinere tanquam alienis, To abstain from a mans own things, as if they were the things of another man? And indeed as the same Father goeth on, 
Chrysost. Homil. 2. ad Popul.  What are the things that such a one hath, but the things of another rather than his own? Quae enim neque aliis erogare, neque in necessariis impendere audet, licet multas sustineret poenas, quomodo propria sunt? For how are those things his own, which he dareth not although he suffer much by it, either to extend unto others in charity, or else to expend upon his own necessary occasions. But as a man must rejoice and do good to himself in times of prosperity, so must he do it to others, by making them also to rejoice through a partaking with him in the good, which God hath sent him. In general, it must bee the care of every man in all times, to fear God, for that is the good of man, that it is which maketh all times to be good to man. And therefore hath God hidden, the times of his works from man, Vt dum nec pro nostro intellectu penetrare, nec pro nostro arbitrio immutare possimus, amplius timeamus, That seeing wee are not able either by our understanding to pierce into them, or according to our minds to alter them, therefore we should fear him the more, as an Ancient Writer speaketh. Had it been said onely, it is good for a man to rejoice, it would have been entertained readily. But it is added also, that we must do good: and surely that alone is true rejoicing, that alone it is which maketh all joy to be comfortable.  
Verse 13. It is not the gift of God to man, to know the times of things: that God hath reserved to himself: but that every man should eat and drink, that is, that every man should enjoy health, and thereby enjoy the good of his labour, that is his gift unto them. For as the Poet speaketh, 
Horatius.  Valeat possessor oportet, Si comportatis rebus been cogitat uti, he that hath gathered much together, if he think to enjoy it, it is needful that he should enjoy health. And that he may enjoy health, it must be the gift of God unto him. Wherefore when jacob saith, The God which fed me all my life unto this day, 
Gen. 48.15.& 16. Philo Allegoriar. l. 2.  the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads: it is the note of Philo upon it, Sanitatem meram, quam nullus morbus praecessit, Deum per semet solum largiri opinor, liberationem autem à morbo etiam per artem& medicinam, I think that God doth give by himself alone, that which is merely health, and hath not had any sickness going before it: but as for recovery from sickness, that he giveth also by art and the skill of the physician. And he thinketh that jacob did here speak in this manner, as reproving joseph because he had before sent a message unto him by his brethren, 
Gen. 45.9.& 11.  saying, Come down unto me into egypt, and there I will nourish thee. The Father therefore seeing his son to be his mothers child in her infirmity, and that as she ascribed too much to the Creature, saying, Give me children, 
Gen. 30.1.  or else I die, so did he likewise, saying, I will nourish thee, this made him to tell his son, that it is God who doth feed us, it is Gods gift unto us, that we eat and drink, and so enjoy health. And it is Gods gift that every man enjoyeth the good of all his labour. Where wee may first note, that it is upon labour that Gods gift is bestowed. For Saint Ambrose writing on those words of our Saviour Christ, many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisaeus the Prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian, there telleth us, evidenter hic sermo Domini informat nos, 
Ambrose in c. 4. Lucae.  non dormientibus divina beneficia, said observantibus deferri, This speech of Christ doth manifestly teach us, the benefits of God to be bestowed not on them that sleep, but on them who observe to do what God requireth of them. Secondly, wee may note here, that Gods gift maketh man to enjoy the good of all his labour, not onely the good of his comfortable labour, but of his miserable labour also. And as an ancient Writer speaketh, Non solum quando bonis hujus mundi industriâ suâ acquisitis cum gratiarum actione perfruitur; said tunc etiam, quando in adversis constitutus pro patientiae suae labour spe futurae consolationis laetatur, Not onely when he enjoyeth with thankfulness the good things of this world, which by his labour he hath gotten, but even then also when placed in adversity, he rejoiceth in the hope of future consolation, as a reward for the labour of his patience. The evil that is in any of mans labour, that is, his own gift to himself: but the good of it, that is Gods gift. For indeed evil cannot come from God. And therefore when Saul came into the cave where David was, 
1 Sam. 24.4.  and Davids men said unto him, Behold the day, of which the Lord said unto thee, behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand: This mentioning of the Lord could not make David to hurt Saul: because as St. Basil noteth upon it; hoins interemptio, 
Basilius Seleuc. Oration. 16.  Dei donum non est, neque oculus divinus arridet, The killing of a man is not Gods gift, neither is the sight of God pleased with it. So also when it is said in job, satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, 
Didymus, in Catena Graeca.  Didymus thereupon writeth thus, Nisi extra Deum diabolus fuisset, contra Iobum nihil fuisset moliturus, unless the devil had gone forth from God, he had never done any thing against job. God himself minding no ill at all to man.   

VER. 14. I know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doth it that men should fear before him.  
VER. 15. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be, hath already been, and God requireth that which is past.  
Verse 14. The Preacher here saying, I know, sheweth that he refuteth an objection of some, who do not know the truth. For because of the changeableness of worldly things, from hence some would impute a changeableness to God by whom they are made. And from the uncertainty of events, some would infer a neglect in Gods government. But the Preacher saith, I know, and let all know from him, 
Phil. l. Quod Deus sit immutabilis.  that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever. Philo therefore saith well, {αβγδ}, what greater wickedness can there be against God, then to think him to be changed, who is unchangeable. And doubtless, 
Salvian. De Guber. Dei. l. 1.  nothing is more true, then that God, as Salvianus speaketh, Qua potestate et majestate cuncta condidit, etiam eadem providentia& ratione moderatur, By what power and majesty he hath made all things, by the same providence and wisdom doth he also govern all things. That change which is in worldly things, is from themselves, not from any change in God. Their being they have from God, Quod autem esse desinunt, ex semetipsis habent; sicut et hoc quod antequam essent, nihil fuerunt, ex semetipsis habuerunt, But that in any kind they cease to be, they have it from themselves, even as that they were nothing before they were, 
Hugo Victorinus in Ecclesiast. Homil. 18.  they had from themselves also, as Hugo Victorinus speaketh. And if in the government of worldly things, God may seem sometimes to alter his pleasure, the same author speaketh well, Dispensatio occulta est, qua non mutatur consilium, said opus variatur,& judicium exercetur. Nam hoc ipsum judicium est, quod judicium differtur aliquando, ut tempore suo restauretur, It is a secret dispensation, by which his counsel is not changed, but the work is varied, and judgement is exercised. For even this is judgement, that sometimes judgement is differred, that in his time it may be recalled. And this is most certain, as Salvianus hath it, 
Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. 2.  Sicut omnipotentia Domini indeficiens, sic censura ind mutabilis, That as the omnipotency of God is without defect, so the counsel of God is without change. For how can there be any change in him, to whom nothing is past or to come, but all things are present? As God filleth heaven and earth, and every where is present, so doth he fill all time, and all things at once are present unto him. He is as Hilarius 
Hilarius.  speaketh, Immensae virtutis vivens potestas, quae nusquam non adest, non dost usquam, A living power of infinite virtue, which no where is not present, and is not absent any where. But not to speak more of this: 
Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. 1.  So foolish are these and such like objections, that as Salvianus speaketh, Cavendum est, quod ne id ipsum quod pro honore Dei dicitur, injuria Dei esse videatur. Tanta quip est Majestatis sacrae& tam tremenda reverentia, ut non solum ea quae ab illis contra religionem dicuntur horrere, said aliam quae pro religione nos ipsi dicimus, cum grandi metu& disciplina dicere debeamus, Care must be had, least that every thing which is spoken for the honour of God, may seem to be an injury unto him. For so great and so fearful is the reverence due to the Divine majesty, that wee ought not onely to abhor those things which are spoken against Religion, but also with fear and awfulness to speak those things, which wee ourselves speak for Religion. Let it suffice therefore, as the Preacher saith, That whatsoever God doth, it shall abide for ever. And that nothing can be put to it in the blessings of his providence: nothing can be taken from it in the judgements of his providence; nothing can be either put to it, or taken from it, in respect of the perfection of it. And that God doth it, that men should fear {αβγδ} à faciebus ejus, from his faces, to make some use of the verbal translation: that is, that men should fear from the face of his judgements, and tremble at his angry look. For as the Psalmist speaketh, 
Psal. 34.16.  The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And that men should reverence the face of his mercies, have their eyes towards it, and put their trust in it. For as the Psalmist also speaketh, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. 
Psal. 34.15.  And that all men should hang down their faces, and be ashamed, who think to mend what God doth.  
Verse 15. It is true, that Gods preservation of all things in the world, in their kindes and natures, though they be passed away and changed, in their particular beings, and individual existences, doth make that to be now, which hath been before, and that which is to be, to have been already, and God to recall that as it were which is driven away and past, and so the work of God to abide continually. But I take the Preacher more especially to speak of the works of Gods providence, and to show how they are immutable, and do abide for ever, notwithstanding the fluctuation and inconstancy of worldly things. He tells us therefore here, that with God there is no difference of times to him, that which hath been is now, and it is all one with him to be hereafter, and to have been already. He asketh that( for so the original word {αβγδ} may well be rendered) which is gone he speaketh to it, as if it were present. For as the Apostle speaketh, 
Rom. 4.17.  He calleth those things which are not, as if they were. And as St. Austin saith, 
Augustinus.  Non aliter scivit Deus creata quam creanda, God did not know things otherwise when they were created, then he did when they were to be created. But as Boetius 
Boetius.  hath it, Omnia futura praecurrit divinus intuitus,& ad praesentiam revocat, unoque ictu simul complectitur, The sight of divine providence outgoeth all future things, and making them to be present, at once doth comprehend them. Wherefore when wee speak of things past, present, and to come, this is not to be understood in respect of God, said rerum quae fiunt,& nostri quibus patefiunt, but in respect of the things which are made, and in respect of us to whom they are made known. And therefore the manner of speaking in the Scripture, is not that God foreknoweth future things, but that he knoweth them as being present to him. So in St. Iohns Gospel it is said of Christ, that he knew all things that should come unto him. 
John 18.4.  And so God saith of himself, 
Exod. 3.9.  I know that the King of egypt will not let you go. For so according to the original it is to be red, although in the book of wisdom it be said, that God did foreknow it. 
Wisd. 19.1.  It is the saying therefore of Origen, That he is very wicked, who believeth not of God, Vt quod nos videmus in praesenti, hoc ille videat in futuro, 
Origenes. Augustin.  That as we see things present, so he seeth things to come. And St. Austin also saith, God is within every thing, because all things are in him, God is without all things, because all things are under him, God is before all things, because all things were made by him, God is after all things, because all things to him are present before that they are. Now as the being of things when they are, and the certainty of them that they are, while they are, doth not take away their uncertainty of being before that they were, nor their mutability either to be or not to be; So neither doth God in his certain government of the world, who respecteth all things as present to himself, either change the mutable nature of things, or take away the uncertainty of human events. And as our beholding of things when they are present doth not alter the instability of their condition, nor the contingency of their being, before that they were; so if there may be any comparison between the sight of God and man, the beholding of God, who looketh upon all things as present, doth neither confer upon him any changeableness from the changeableness of human things; nor yet from the immutability of Gods beholding, infer an immutability in the things of mans life. But if in the difficulty of this point, I have not spoken fully enough, if in the darkness of it I have not spoken clearly enough; for the first, 
tertul.  my hope is, as Tertullian speaketh, Difficilium facilis erit venia, that in hard things a pardon will be easy; for the second, I confess, 
Chrysost.  as St. Chrysostome speaketh, Sicut multa intelligimus de Deo quae loqui non possumus, ita multa loquimur quae non sumus idonei intelligere, That as wee understand many things of God which we cannot utter, so we utter many things which wee cannot understand.   

VER. 16. And moreover, I saw under the sun, the place of Judgement, that wickedness was there: and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.  
VER. 17. J said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose, and for every work.  
Verse 16. The Preacher again here saith, I saw, as preventing the objection which he saw some ready to make. For having shewed the constant providence of God in ordering and governing the things of the world, he bringeth the objection that is made from the confusion of things in the world. And he giveth an instance in the confusion of judgement and justice: because if God did rule and govern the world, it might seem that above all things he should not suffer that to be. This is the objection, which to confute Salvianus that devout and learned Biship of Marseiles, hath written eight most excellent books: and who in the entrance of his book, setting down the objection, saith, 
Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. 1.  Incuriosus à quibusdam,& quasi negligens, humanorum actuum, Deus dicitur, utpote nec bonos custodiens, nec coercens malos; quia boni mala omnia patiuntur, mali faciunt, God is by some said to be careless and negligent in the affairs of men, as neither preserving the good, nor restraining the bad: seeing the righteous suffer all evils, the wicked commit them. Thus is the heart of man moved against God, for that, for which he ought to be loved by man, and to be praised. 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccles. Hom. 18.  For as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh, Conqueritur homo, quod malus homo à Deo toleratur, quum manifestum sit quod nullus homo fuisset bonus, si nullus aliquando fuisset toleratus malus, Man complaineth that evil men are suffered by God, when as it is manifest that no man had been good, if no man that is evil had been sometimes suffered. But to consider the Preachers words. I saw: he that had a discerning watchful eye was able to see it; for commonly such wickedness is hide, and the place of judgement is made to be a cover for it. I saw under the sun. The wickedness that is, is under the sun, and as the Preacher saith, I saw, so the sun saw it also. It is by the light of the sun that sensible things are discerned, and it is by the light of the sun of righteousness, that wickedness is discerned. under that sun therefore it was also that the Preacher saw it. I saw under the sun the place of Iudgement. The place of Iudgement is that which this world hath: the place where it should be, where it is ordained to be, where it is looked for, where it is pretended to be, but where it is not. The Preacher saw that wickedness was there: there, where the place of it was never appointed, there, where the place doth no way agree unto it. And therefore the Preacher as not believing his eyes, he looks again to be sure of it, as being a thing so bad, so strange to be so. But he finds that so it is: and he saw the place of righteousness that iniquity was there. The throne which Solomon made, 
1 King 10.18.  was overlayd with the best gold, auro purissimo, with the most pure gold; and what did this signify, but the esteem and price, in which God would have justice to be held; as also how pure the judgements should be that from thence are given. But too often, where the seat is gold, he that sits on it is brass; where the place is the place of judgement and righteousness, wickedness and iniquity are found. Or if it shall be thought better to distinguish these two sentences. In the first place, wee may understand the place of them, who are placed in authority: in the second place, wee may understand the place of them, who are placed under them. For as an ancient Writer speaketh, Nisi illi per impietatem, innocentiam opprimerent, isti per iniquitatem, justitiam non impugnarent. Propterea namque inferiores ad iniquitatem perpetrandam audaces sunt, quia superiores ad tuendam innocentiam non pii sunt, unless they by wickedness did oppress innocency, the other by iniquity would not oppose justice. For therefore are inferiors bold to commit iniquity, because superiors are not religious in defending of innocency. Or else wee may distinguish the sentences thus: the place of Iudgement, wee may understand to be the place of punishing the wicked, but that wickedness was there. The place of righteousness, we may understand to be the place of rewarding and cherishing the righteous, but that iniquity was there, and the righteous were disgraced and afflicted. Or lastly, wee may understand, and distinguish the sentences thus: in the place of Iudgement, wee may apprehended the judge as a judge, and as giving the judgement of wickedness, when his place calleth for justice: in the place of righteousness, wee may understand the judge as a man, who in his own life and conversation, more especially then others, should show forth righteousness. 
Cassiod. var. l. 6. var. 21.  For as Cassiodore speaketh, Prima aequitas est, in se praesules inchoare: ut debeant criminosi metuere, quem non queunt similem reperire. Nullus enim in se culpas timet reus quas habere conspexerit cognitorem, The first righteousness is, that Governours begin with themselves, that so they who are faulty may fear him, whom they cannot find like unto themselves. For a guilty person never feareth those faults in himself, which he seeth to be in his judge. But where this righteousness should be, there is too often iniquity. And the bad judge freeth another, because he would not condemn himself. For as Cassiodore also speaketh, Sicos actus nullus damnat in altero: quia natura est humani animi, ut nitatur potius vindicare, quod se cogno verit admisisse, No one condemneth his own acts in another, because the nature of mans mind is, that it endeavoureth rather to justify that which himself practiseth.  
Verse 17. The Preacher here answereth the objection, and to show that himself quickly saw the answer, as well as the objection, he saith with an emphasis, {αβγδ} Dixi ego, I said. I said in my heart: to show that he was resolved and firmly persuaded of it. And what he said in his heart, he hath here said openly, that all may hear, and all may be persuaded of it also. God shall judge. Man now too often doth not judge, although he may sit upon the seat of judgement: but God shall judge, although his judgement seat be not now seen, be not now considered. God shall judge: not but that he doth now judge also. 
Salvian. de Gubern. Dei. l. 1.  For as Salvianus speaketh very well, Ita in futuro judicaturum affirmemus, ut tamen semper, etiam in hoc saeculo judicasse doceamus. Dum enim semper gubernat Deus,& semper judicat: quia gubernatio ipsa est ipsum judicium, Let us so affirm, that God will judge in the time to come, as that withall we teach, that God in this world doth also judge always. For while God always governeth, he always judgeth; because the governing is itself a judgement. God shall judge the righteous, the righteous shall first be judged, that they being in the comfort of safety, may not be terrified with the judgement of the wicked: and that the wicked being left out may see their judgement begun before it is begun. He shall judge the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous, who is here wronged, he shall give righteous judgement: the wicked, whose iniquity is here spared, his judgement shall not spare. He shall judge the wicked judge for his wickedness: to the righteous judge his righteousness shall adjudge a glorious reward. For there is a time there, for every purpose and for every work: there is a time there for every thing: 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Quia multa quae nunc videntur inordinata ad ordinem divinae justitiae reducentur, Because many things which now seem to be out of order, shall there be brought into order by Gods divine justice, as Lyra speaketh. Then will be a fit time for all things, then they will be grown to a ripeness. For as Tertullian speaketh, Nihil sine aetate est: 
Tertul. de veland. virg. l. 1.  omnia tempus expectant, There is nothing without a time of maturity: and as all things expect that time, so this time of Gods Iudgement all things expect, as the time of maturity for all things. There is a time there for every thing, that is saith Saint jerome, Deus non judicat per partes, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  & per singulos, said in futurum reservat judicium, ut omnes pariter judicentur, God doth not judge by parts, and by singulars, but reserveth things unto the future judgement that all may be judged together. But that Salvianus and Saint jerome may not seem to oppose one the other: There is a secret judgement, and there is a manifest judgement: by his judgement that is secret, God judgeth every particular in this world, and every singular person when he goes out of the world: by his manifest judgement he will at last judge all together. For every purpose and for every work: not only the works of men at that time shall be judged, and of which alone man passeth his judgement, but every purpose also shall be judged, although it have not proceeded to the working of it. For every purpose: the original is {αβγδ}, which most directly is thus rendered, Tempus omni voluntati, A time for every will: a time for Gods will, as well as a time for mans will. And as man now doth whatsoever he will, and too often follows the bent of his will, though it carry him to wickedness; so then God will have his will, then will be the fit time for it. And therefore whereas we red it in the Epistle to the Galatians, In due season we shall reap if wee faint not, the greek is {αβγδ} in his time wee shall reap, 
Tertul. advers. Mar. l. 5. c. 4.  and so I find Tertullian to render the words. The time of judgement is Gods time, his proper and peculiar time, the fit time for his will to be done upon those who have not done his will: the fit time for his good will to be shewed to those, who have followed his will. The last part of the verse in the original is thus set down {αβγδ} Et supper omne opus ibi, and upon every work there, that is and there God will show himself to have had an eye and a regard upon every work. Or else, and there God will give his judgement upon every work. Or else, and he that is above every work will show himself there. Or else, and he that is over the whole, there is, as Tremellius reads it: there is, that is, there is glorious in that glorious work. So that these last words may bee referred, either to the time of the judgement, or to God who will be the judge. But let not therefore those who are here wronged, be too much afflicted, God shall there do them right. Let not them who here unjustly prevail too much triumph, God shall there confounded them, and their prevailing here shall be there their overthrow.   

VER. 18. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.  
VER. 19. For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as the one death, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast, for all is vanity.  
VER. 20. All go unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  
VER. 21. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?  
VER. 22. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, then that a man should rejoice in his own works: for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?  
Verse 18. The answer of the Preacher having two parts, he repeateth again his words, I said in mine heart: and having answered concerning God, and shewed his just providence, though things may seem to be neglected by him: here he answereth concerning man to whom the things of this world are so full of disorder and confusion. And because this answer concerneth either the righteous, or the wicked, I will consider it both ways. First then, the confusion of things in this world in respect of the righteous is, that God might manifest them, and see whether in the darkness of this world they would look after him. For when God shewed himself plainly unto man in his creation, then man departed from God, and turned away from him. God therfore trieth, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 18.  Si requisierit absentem,& absconditum desideraverit,& sciat esse quod non videtur, If he will seek him being absent, and look after him being hide, and may know him to be in governing and disposing of the world, although he do not see him. Or else it is to manifest them to themselves, that they may see how weak their judgement is, how dark their understanding, how shallow their insight into the ways of God, and that they are but beasts in respect of God. 
Psal. 73.22.  For so the Psalmist speaking of those things whereof the Preacher here doth, saith, So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before thee. 
Ambros. in Psal. 72.  And Saint Ambrose writing upon those words of the Psalmist saith, Pulchre addidit, Apud te, quia, comparatione coelestium homo quid est, nisi jumentum irrationale? Elegantly did he add before thee, because in respect of heavenly things, what is man but an unreasonable beast? This therefore would God have man to aclowledge, and therefore the original addeth, {αβγδ} ipsi sibi themselves to themselves, that is, that in respect of their own esteem of themselves, and in their humble account of themselves, they should see themselves as beasts, and also as beasts should submit themselves to the yoke of Gods pleasure, to the burden which Gods disposing providence layeth upon them. Or else that they may see that themselves are beasts, in the miseries and calamities and changes of this world, which to them are common with beasts. And therefore as Saint jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Non mirandum esse inpraesenti vita inter justum& impium nullam esse discrepantiam, quum etiam inter pecudes& homines secundum corporis qualitatem nihil differre videatur, It is not to be marveiled, that there is no difference in this life between the righteous and the wicked, when as even between men and beasts in respect of the quality of the body there may seem to be no difference. And God would have the righteous to see that they are so beasts, {αβγδ} ipsi sibi, themselves to themselves, that is, by their own fall, by the just punishment which they have brought upon themselves. Secondly, the confusion of worldly things in respect of the wicked is, that God might manifest them, and show what the corruption of their heart is: and that they might see, or as Pagnine reads it, Vt ostenderet, that God might show that themselves are beasts, themselves though men are beasts, beasts in minding nothing but earthly things, beasts in considering onely the things that are present, beasts in destroying and oppressing one the other. And that they are beasts {αβγδ} ipsi sibi, indeed beasts to themselves, in their own apprehension and imagination and persuasion, as thinking that after this life all is done with them, and that there is no more reckoning to be made, for that which is done here.  
Verse 19. If we take this verse as the speech of the righteous, it is their humble confession, and is to be understood of the body only. If we take the words as the speech of the wicked, it is their sinful consolation, whereby they hearten themselves in their wicked courses. But to consider the words, that is said properly to befall a man, of the coming whereof he doth not know, and of this it is that the verse speaketh: the scope of the place aiming at those events, whereof man is ignorant, as a beast is of those events that do befall a beast. That which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts, and seeing the event of dying followeth, in that the Preacher saith, the sons of men, wee may understand the event of being born; for that befalleth beasts, as it befalleth men, as the one is conceived, so is the other, as the one cometh into the world so doth the other, even one thing befalleth them both. unless the difference bee, that mans coming into the world is more wretched, presaging by his cries, the miseries that do expect him. For as Chrysologus speaketh, 
Chrysologus Serm. 44.  In vitâ quem laetitia tenebit, qui vitae sumit exordium de moerore? Whom shall comfort entertain in his life, who from sorrow beginneth his life? As the one dieth, so dieth the other: As death is common to all beasts, so is it to all men; as the one cannot shun it, 
Chrysostom. Homil. de fida& Spiritu Sancto.  so neither can the other. Saint Chrysostome taking notice, how in matrimonial contracts, care is taken for children, and how if one die the other shall succeed him, thereupon saith, Non solum qui vivunt mortis sententia feriuntur, said& illi qui nondum nati sunt, Not only they that live are strucken with the sentence of death, but they also which are not yet born, they are sure to die also, if ever they be born. And as the time of their death is unknown to beasts, so is it to man also. 
Psal. 78.48.  We red in the psalms, he destroyed their mulberry Trees with the frost: now the Mulberry three doth not put forth his blossoms, as other trees in the spring, when often the could doth nip them; but when the heat being grown strong, less danger appeareth; and so many men are careful in shunning the occasions of sickness and the airs contagion, and yet as the frost destroyeth the mulberry Trees, so the frost of death destroyeth them when it is not looked for. The counsel therefore of Seneca is good, 
Seneca.  Nescis quo loco te mors expectat, tu itaque in omni loco mortem expecta, Thou knowest not in what place death expecteth thee, do thou therefore expect death in every place. But though as one dieth, 
Hugo Victorinus in Eccles. Hom. 18.  so dieth the other, yet as Hugo Victorinus speaketh, Quod similiter habent ex simili causa non habent: quia homo ut moriatur ex culpa habuit, jumentum vero ex natura quod moriatur accepit, That which they have alike, they have not from the like cause, because that man dieth, he hath from his offence, that the beast dieth he hath from his nature. And let the wicked know, that death which is from their offence is the passage to their punishment for all their offences: and let the godly know that death, which for their offence endeth their life, endeth also their offences, that they shall sin no more. Yea they have all one breath: the original word is {αβγδ}, and if wee take the words as spoken by the righteous; it must be rendered breath, it being but the breath of this temporal life, which they know to be the same in all. But if we take the words as spoken by the wicked, the word may perhaps rather bee rendered, spirit: for they imagine, or at least would imagine, the spirit of man to bee mortal, 
Greg. Dial. l. 4. c. 3.  as is the spirit of a beast. But Saint Gregory tells them, that God hath created three living spirits, Vnum qui carne non tegitur: alium qui carne tegitur, said cum carne non moritur, tertium qui carne tegitur,& cum carne moritur, One which is not covered with flesh: another which is covered with the flesh, but doth not die with the flesh, a third which is covered with the flesh, and dieth with the flesh. Wherefore although the Spirit in man and beast bee one, in that it is covered in both with flesh; yet it is not one in this, because in the beast the Spirit dieth, with the flesh, in man it dieth not. So that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: No, in respect of giving up his breath, he that hath both the greatest pre-eminence among men, hath no pre-eminence above a beast: but in respect of giving up the Spirit, as the wicked are beneath the very beasts; so the righteous are equal to the Angels. For all is vanity: all is vanity and vanisheth in this mortal life: but after this life, the vanity to the wicked is turned into unsufferable misery; the vanity to the righteous is turned into unexpressible glory.  
Verse 20. All go unto one place: All, for all in this journey are fellow travellers; all both men and beasts. The beast which carrieth man in his journey on the earth, is carried in an equal condition with man in this journey to the earth. All go: yea, all are always going: for there is no journey else, in which there is not some staying, some resting for one occasion or other, but in this journey, there is no time of stay. When once this journey is begun, and begun it is, as soon as life beginneth, there is nothing but a continual going on. Alexis the Poet, being asked what he did, made answer, Paulatim morior, I die by little and little. He was indeed an old man when he spake it, but the youngest may say the same. For as Seneca speaketh, 
Seneca.  Paulatim morimur, quia paulatim vita decrescit, hoc autem decrementum, quid aliud est quam mors paulatim procedens? we die by little and little, because by little and little our life goeth away, and what else is this going away of life, but a going on by little and little unto death? All go unto one place. It is but one place, there be no upper and lower places in death, but how different soever, the places of men may be while they lived, when they die, they are all in the same place: yea beasts are in the same place, with the wisest, the richest, the greatest men. They go to one place, even to the earth. And there indeed is the place, where the beasts do rest, there is their journeys end. But the righteous and the wicked which hitherto keep company, there are divided, and take their several ways, the one to the place of endless comfort, the other to the place of endless torment. Wherefore an Ancient Writer saith, Vna sort involvuntur justi cum impiis, donec pariter currunt in via, ut quum simul exierint, discernantur,& ordinentur dispariter, The righteous and the wicked are wrapped up in one condition, while they go on alike in the way, that when they are gone our together, they may be distinguished, and not alike rewarded. All are of the dust. Saint Basil saith, 
Basilius.  that when God made man of the dust of the earth, he took the dust from the four parts of the earth, that so whither soever men should go, or wheresoever men might bee, whether East, West, North or South, they might still remember that they were made of that earth: 
Chrysolog. Serm. 45.  And Chrysologus puts us in mind of another thing, he tells us, Pulvere concreti, plasmati luto calcamur vitiis, Being made of the dust, formed of the day, wee are trode upon by vices. This it is which maketh the earth itself at last, to trample upon us all, when all turn to dust again. Now thus God hath appointed it, Vt per id quo vadit homo, agnoscat unde venerat, that by the place to which man goeth, he may aclowledge the place from whence he came, as an ancient Writer speaketh: that by the grave wherein his body is laid, he may consider Paradise in which being made he was set by God; that by the baseness to which he is brought, he may consider the glory to which he was created, and so may seek carefully to return thither, before that he return to the dust.  
Verse 21. If we apprehended these words as spoken by the wicked, then it is a question which implieth an answer of denial: as if though some do talk of such a thing, yet that it was not so, and therefore none could know it to be so. If we apprehended the words as spoken by the righteous, then it is a question that implieth a difficulty in the affirming of it, though not an untruth: as if they were but few that knew it, and as if the frailty of mans condition, and the confusion of human things did deceive many in it. Who knoweth? Indeed none but they to whom God hath made it known. 
tertul. de Anima. c. 1.  For as Tertullian speaketh, cvi veritas comperta sine Deo, cvi Deus cognitus sine Christo, cvi Christus exploratus sine spiritu Sancto, cvi spiritus Sanctus accommodatus sine fidei Sacramento? To whom is the truth discovered without God, to whom is God known without Christ, to whom is Christ revealed without the Holy Ghost, to whom is the Holy Ghost given without the Sacrament of faith? The Philosophers were very busy, and much turmoiled in seeking after the nature of the soul, and to speak of them in Tertullians words, 
●●tul. Ibid.  Non ignoro quanta sit sylva materiae istius apud istos, I am not ignorant, what a wood and plenty there is of this matter among them. A wood it is, wherein if they saw any light of the truth, it is only a glimpse of it, through the thick trees of ignorance and errors; and wherein if any shall seek for the truth, he shall seek it in a wood. Certe non alius potius ainae demonstrator quam author, Surely there is no better manifester of the soul, then he who is the maker of it, and that is God himself. 
Eccles. 12.7.  Wherefore the Preacher who setteth down this question here, who knoweth? did himself know it from God, and telleth us that the spirit returneth unto God who gave it. Nostraitaque institutio sit de porticu Solomonis, Let our instruction therefore be from the school of Solomon, and let us know that the spirit of man goeth upward. The original is the spirit of the sons of men, not that they have it by generation as being sons, but because they have it together with their generation from God bestowed on them. The Philosophers also talk much, 
Tertul. advers. Haereti. de praescrip. cap. 7.  of the ascending and going upward of the soul: and as for the souls of the wise, Plato affirmed them to ascend unto the sky, the stoics affirmed them to be under the moon, another affirmed them to ascend only into the air. But the Preacher here comparing the spirits of men with the spirits of beasts, not the spirits of wise men, with the spirits of fools: by going upward, understandeth the immortality of the spirits of men; by going downward to the earth, the perishing of the spirits of beasts. And by the manner of the Preachers phrase, I apprehended him to compare the spirit of man unto a purer exhalation, which ascending upward, continueth in the air: the spirit of a beast, unto a thick and black vapour, which being dissolved into rain, descendeth and falleth to the earth. The spirit of man therefore dieth not, 
tertul. de Anima. c. 53  and as Tertullian speaketh; Abducitur dum absumi videtur, opere decedens non vigore, actu languens non statu, comparere cessat, non esse, It is but carried away when it seemeth to vanish away, and failing in his work, not in his strength, departing in respect of actuating the body, not in respect of its own actual existence, ceaseth onely to appear to be, not ceaseth to be. In a spiritual sense St. jerome applieth these words thus: and asketh, who knoweth, whether one of understanding and learned in the Scriptures, id est homo, that is a man, but not living religiously and carefully, as his knowledge directeth him, doth not go downward to the place of misery? And whether one of more simplicity in understanding and plainness in knowledge; 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Qui jumentum hoins comparatione dicatur, who in comparison of a man may be said to be a beast, but yet living more virtuously and godly, doth not go upward, and to the place of joy.  
Verse 22. The Preacher having seen the objections that were made by worldly minds, against the government of the world by Gods divine providence, and having made others to see the truth, by answering of them: he resumeth his assertion which he delivered before at the thirteenth verse, and concludeth, Wherefore I see and perceive that there is nothing better for man, who cannot see into Gods works, and the reasons of them, then that he rejoice in his own works: there is nothing better for man, who is often forced by the wrongful doings of others to suffer that wherein he hath no cause of rejoicing, then that he do therefore rejoice in those things which he doth himself. And seeing that his portion is the same with beasts in that he dieth, let him take his portion of living comfortably while that he liveth. Seeing he shall not return when he is gone, let him go on with cheerfulness and contentment while he continueth here. For that is the portion which God hath divided to him, that is the talent which God hath committed to him. His own works are they for which he shall answer: and that he may rejoice in them, let him be careful that his works be virtuous and good, for then he may safely rejoice in them, then he shall be sure to have comfort and joy from them. Lyra therefore in this place, expoundeth his own works, to be the works of virtue, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Quae proprie dicuntur humana, alia enim magis dicuntur bestialia, which properly are said to be the works of men, for other works are rather said to be the works of beasts. For who shall bring him to see, what shall be after him? 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  St. jerome tells us, Apertius interpretatus est Symmachus, dicens, ut videat quae futura sunt post haec, More plainly doth Symmachus translate the words, saying, For who shall bring him to see those things which shall be after these? And indeed the meaning so is plainly this; There is nothing better then that a man should rejoice in his own works, in those which he is able to do, and which he doth well, and that he should do them with rejoicing and alacrity: for who shall bring him to see the things that shall be afterwards? How can he know whether he shall be able to do those things, which now he is able to do; whether he shall do those things, which now he doth, whether the things that shall be afterwards will be matter of rejoicing to him or no? But to take the general reading of the words, Who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? that is, saith the French translation, Qui le remanera? Who shall bring him back when he is gone out of this life, to enjoy the things of this life again? Let him therefore rejoice in the good use of them, while that he hath them. The Pythagoreans taught a returning of men to this life, 
tertul. de Anima. c. 28  after they were departed. And Tertullian tells us, that Pythagoras to establish this tenet among his Schollers, did hid himself in a cave, and to dissemble his feigned death, Septenni se ille patientia damnabat, he condemned himself to prison there by the space of seven yeares. Now none knew of this but his mother onely, who ministered unto him, and brought him notice still of those who dyed in the mean while, that so by telling of their being dead, as if he had talked with them, he might assure the imagination of his own being dead. At length appearing again not unlike one that came out of a Sepulchre, for his cave had changed him, Ad mortui veteris horrorem, to the horridness of a long dead man; he was received as one that was alive again. For as Tertullian speaketh, Quis non crederet revixisse, qui crediderat obiisse? Who would not believe him to be alive again, who had believed him to be dead? But howsoever, he lied concerning his own death, to make his tenet seem true, that the dead do live again: Tertullian well concludeth, Mortuos quidem ex vivis effici constat, non ideo tamen ex mortuis vivos, It is most true, that of living men all become dead, but that from the dead, men are made living, is not therefore true. For as the Preacher saith, Who shall bring them back?    

CHAPTER. IIII.  

VER. 1. So J returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter: and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.  
VER. 2. Wherefore I praised the dead, which are already dead, more then the living which are yet alive.  
VER. 3. Yea, better is he then, both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.  
Verse 1. THE Preacher having wearied himself with the sad consideration of the miseries and vanities of this world, gave some rest unto his thoughts: but returning to his meditations, he passed from the consideration of vain and temporal things, to the consideration of vain and sinful things. And first he beholded all the oppressions that are done under the sun. Wee read it oppressions, and as I suppose by reason of the original word {αβγδ} which follows, signifying fiunt are done, that agreeing best unto oppressions. But the original word {αβγδ} signifieth Oppressos, them that are oppressed: and the other original word signifieth as well subiguntur are brought under, as fiunt are done. So that the more direct reading may seem to be this, that he beholded all the oppressed, which are brought under, under the sun. He speaks of all the oppressed, as being many. For as one saith well, Mundus nescit irasci nisi in innocents, the world knoweth not how to be angry but against the innocent. Hence it is, that our Saviour Christ saith to his Disciples, 
Luk. 21.9.  When ye hear of warres and commotions, be not terrified: he saith not, when ye hear of warres and commotions against yourselves: supposing that these things must be understood to be against the innocent. And therefore the Preacher also here saith, And behold the tears of the oppressed, as if nothing were more common to be seen. 
Chrysost. Homil. de Absalom.  So that St. Chrysostome crieth out, O Innocentia, quantum apud reos periculi suscipis! O Innocency, how much dost thou suffer with them that are guilty! under the sun. It is the observation of Theodoret, that God appointed the vehement heat of the sun sometimes to scorch the earth, 
Theodoret. l. 3. de Diis& angels.  and to destroy the fruits of it: Ne solem vitae causam autoremque opinemur, Least wee should think the sun to be the cause and author of life. And I suppose the Preacher showing the vanities of the world, so often to speak of them as being under the sun, least any should think the sun to be the God of the world. Or else wee may conceive him to make mention here of being under the sun, because although the wrongs of the oppressed were most apparent and plain, yet there was none to comfort them. And behold the tears: the original word is {αβγδ} signifying lachrymam, non lachrymas, a tear( according to the Hebrew tongue) not tears: as if the oppressed had wept so long for sorrow, or else had wept so much to beg help, that they could weep no longer, could weep no more, but had onely a tear left them,( if I may in this manner borrow an expression of the greatness of oppression, which the place intendeth) And on the side of the oppressors there was power. The original word {αβγδ} here used, signifieth to oppress either by fraud or else by violence. Wherefore seeing the oppression is here repeated: in the first place wee may understand oppression by fraud: in this latter place, oppression by violence; and the rather because it is said, that on the side of the oppressor there was power. Or else wee may understand it thus, that whereas the oppressed had no comforter to relieve them; the oppressors had friends and great ones to support them. But they had no comforter: none on earth, none from heaven, no man was their comforter, neither was God. For he doth reserve comforts for them another where, and here doth sometimes leave them without the comfort of any; 
Hugo Victorinus in Eccles. Hom. 19.  Ne in alieno consolentur quod suum non habent,& minus desiderent ejus consolationem quam nondum habent, least they should be comforted in the help of others, because they have not his, and should the less desire his comfort, which as yet they have not, as Hugo Victorinus speaketh. Let therefore in this case God be sought unto, whose power is above all power, in expectation of him, let patience rest, for he is and will show himself the comforter of the comfortless.  
Verse 2. Indeed so many, so great are the miseries of this life, that in comparison of them, even death itself is to be preferred before life. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambros. de fide Resurrectionis.  Quid nobis miserius, qui tanquam spoliati& nudi projicimur in hanc vitam, corpore fragili, cord lubrico, imbecillo animo, anxii ad solicitudinem, desidiosi ad labores, proni ad voluptates? What is more miserable then wee are, who like men naked and spoyled are cast into this life, frail of body, inconstant of heart, weak of mind, full of cares, slothful to labours, prove to pleasures. And therefore one saith well; Quomodo potest amari haec vita, tantas habens amaritudines? 
Kempis. l. 3. de Imitat. Christi. c. 20.  Quomodo etiam dicitur vita tot generans mortes? How can this life be loved, which is so full of loathsome bitterness? yea, how can it be called a life, which bringeth forth so many deaths? The resolution therefore of St. Ambrose is, Tantis malis haec vita repleta est, 
Ambros. Serm. 37. de Sanctis.  ut comparatione ejus mors remedium putetur non poena, With so great evils is this life stuffed, that in comparison thereof death may be thought a remedy, and not a punishment. For as the same Father elsewhere speaketh, 
Ambros. de Bono mortis. c. 2.  Si plena oneris vita, utique finis ejus allevamentum, If this life be loaded with burdens, then the end of it must needs be an ease. But I understand rather the Preacher in this place to prefer the dead before the living in respect of the evil of sin. He saith therefore, I praised the dead; 
Ambrosius de fide Resurrectionis.  he it is Qui sapientiam poposcit& impetravit, who asked wisdom and obtained it, as St. Ambrose speaketh. I praised the dead more then the living: and most justly; for as St. Ambrose speaketh, Quid est mors nisi sepultura vitiorum? 
Ambros. de Bono mortis. c. 4. Luk. 2.29.  What is death but the burial of vices? And seeing the death of sin is better then the life of sin, this must needs make the dead more worthy to be praised than the living. Wherefore doth not old Simeon say, Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, Quasi à vinculis quibusdam ad libertatem festinaret, as if he hasted from some bonds unto liberty? And indeed they were bonds that did hold him, even bonds that made him captive unto the law of sin. Doth not jacob say, 
Gen. 47.9. Ambros. Ibid.  Few and evil have been my dayes? Mali, non quia dies mali, said quia nobis accessu dierum incrementa malitiae cumulantur, evil, not because the dayes were evil, but because in us the increase of wickedness is heaped up by the increase of dayes. Doth not St. Paul say, It is gain to die? 
Phil. 1.21.  Nam lucrum est evasisse incrementa peccati, For it is gain to have escaped the gain and increase of sin, as St. Ambrose also speaketh. The dead which are already dead, more then the living which are yet alive: that is, saith Lyra, Qui sublati sunt ex hac vita, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  antequam experientiam haberent tanti mali, Who are taken out of this life before they have experience of so great an evil. He that is the author of the Commentaries upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, 
jerome in Epist. ad Ephes.  which are among St. Hieromes works, reads the words thus, Laudavi omnes mortuos, qui olim mortui sunt, I praised all the dead, which are dead long since: as if to be dead any way were better then to be alive: or, as if they who were not onely dead but forgotten, not onely dead but turned into ashes, and their ashes lost, were better then the living. But seeing the original word speaketh of a time past, wee may well understand the Preacher to speak of those who are dead being young, and to prefer them before those who live to elder yeares. For as St. Bernard speaketh, 
Bernard. Meditat. c. 2.  Cur tantopere vitam istam desideramus, in qua quanto amplius vivimus, tanto plus peccamus: quanto est vita longior, tanto culpa numerosior? Why do wee so much desire this life, in which by how much the longer wee live, by so much the more wee sin: by how much our yeares are more, by so much our sins are more. 
Ambros. Epist. ad Heliodorum.  And St. Ambrose saith, Quod esse discriminis putas inter eum qui moritur puer,& eum qui demoritur senex, nisi quod hic peccatis abeat oneratior,& plurium culparum coram Deo reus quam ille? What difference dost thou think there is between him that dieth a child, and him that dieth an old man, but that this goeth away more burdened with sins, and guilty of more faults before God then the other?  
Verse 3. That the Preacher speaketh of the evil of committing of sin, this confirmeth me, because here he speaketh of the evil work, and of the evil that is done. Better is he, that is not so ill. For we are not so to understand the Preacher, as if he that is not born, hath any being before he is born, and that he is the more happy, because he is not yet encumbered with a body, which thing some have imagined: but because it is better, or rather not so ill, at all not to be, then either to be, or else to live unhappily, and wickedly. Better is he then both they, that is, saith Lyra well, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Malo homine mortuo,& malo homine vivente, An evil man dead, and an evil man living. Better is he then both they, who hath not yet been: 
Ambros. Serm. 18. in Psal. 118.  Wherefore St. Ambrose saith, Mortuus praefertur viventi, quia peccare desinit: mortuo praefertur qui nondum natus est, quia peccare nescivit; He that is dead is preferred before the living, because he ceaseth to sin; and he that is not born is preferred before the dead, because he hath not known how to sin. Who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun: if wee understand the words of the evil of misery, it may serve to express the greatness of human misery, though in itself it be not so to be taken; and better is he that is not yet born, then both they, either he that is already dead, or he that is yet living. For as St. jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers. Cicero in Tuscul. 1a  Alius mala adhuc patitur, alius quaesi nudus de naufragio evasit, The one doth yet suffer evils still, the other is but escaped as one naked from shipwreck. And therefore Cicero could say, Non nasci long optimum, not to be born is the best of all. And howbeit, Solomon alone hath expressly delivered this sentence, it is not the sentence of Solomon alone. 
job 3.3. Ambros. de fide Resurrect.  For job saith, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and that he saith as St. Ambrose expoundeth him, Quia cognoverat nasci malorum omnium principium esse,& ideo diem quo natus est perire optavit, ut tolleretur origo incommodorum, Because he knew, that to be born was the beginning of all evils; and therefore he wished that the day of his birth might perish, that so the beginning of evils and troubles might be taken away. But as I have said, I understand the Preacher here rather to speak of the evil of sin: 
Mat. 26.24.  and in that respect it is that our Saviour Christ speaking of Iudas, saith, It had been good for that man if he had not been born. 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccles. Hom, 19.  For as one saith very well, Majus malum peccatum est, quam non esse,& melius esset non esse quam peccasse, To sin is a greater evil then not to be, and it is better not to be then to sin. In general, the reason is given by Hugo de Sancto Victore thus, Quod longius à malo est in bono, ipsum majus est bonum. Si ergo malum est esse, bonum utique est non esse,& multo melius utroque non fuisse; That which in good things is farthest from evil, is the greater good. And therefore if it bee evil to bee, it is good not to be, and much better then both, not to have been at all.   

VER. 4. again I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour? this is also vanity and vexation of Spirit.  
VER. 5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.  
VER. 6. Better is a handful with quietness, then both the hands full with travel and vexation of Spirit.  
Verse 4. The Preacher having considered the sinful vanity of malice which oppresseth right, he considereth next the sinful vanity of envy, which opposeth right doing, saying, I considered all travail and every right work: Olympiodorus reads it, 
Olympiad.  Omnem laborem& omnem fortitudinem operis, all labour and all strength of work; as if the Preacher intended only the pains of labour, and a patient courage in the enduring of it. But the original is more large, and speaketh of the general rightness of work. And this rightness may be taken either for the handsome rightness of a work, as it is a work, and so the Vulgar Latin according to the Septuagint do take it, rendering it Industrias, that is an aptness in the doing of things: or else the rightness may bee taken more largely, either for the rightness of a work as it is a work, or else for the rightness of a work according to the rules of virtue, and so Saint jerome may seem to take it, 
Hieronym.  who renders it omnem virtutem operis, all virtue of work. That for this a man is envied: When Abraham had rescued Lot, and conquered those Kings by whom he was taken prisoner, afterwards the word of the Lord came unto him saying, fear not Abraham, I am thy shield. 
Gen. 15.1.  If this had been spoken to him before the battle, it might have been done to encourage him: but being spoken to him after the battle and victory, they seem to arm him against a new combat of envy which his valiant and well doing was ready to bring upon him. For this is the difference between envy and other vices: that they are cured by the good examples of others, but the goodness of others is that from which this sin ariseth. Old jacob speaking of his son joseph saith, 
Gen. 49.23.  that the Archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: and Saint jerome expounding the words noteth, 
Hieronym. in Quastionib. Hebrae.  Hic invidiam cum arcu& sagittis introduci ad sagittandum quod immaculatum est, That here envy is brought in with bow and arrows shooting at that which is immaculate, and where there is no spot to bee a mark for it. Or else, as an Archer doth set up some white thing to be the mark at which he shoots, so it is the whiteness of some good thing, against which the height of envy is carried. And therefore, 
Gen. 37.33.  when jacob saith, an evil beast hath devoured my son, he may seem to prophesy, it being envy which had made him away, and which is so evil a beast, that it is goodness always that is opposed by it. The Preacher here speaketh of all labour, and of every right work: for if it be right, whatsoever it be, though never so small, it is by envy opposed; that will seek to hinder the labour in the doing of it, that will seek to overthrow the rightness of it when it is done. Yea it is the nature of envy to make little things appear to be great. Wherefore it is reported by Panormitanus, 
Panormit.  that a question being moved before Fredericke the King, what was good for the eye sight, and the Physitians answering some one thing, some another; Sannizarius answered that envy was very good: at which there being a smiling, he gave his reason for it; because that doth make all things appear bigger then they are. For this a man is envied of his neighbour: nay of his Father in Law. For did not this make Saul to envy David, so that David flying to Achish, Maluit hosti quam invidiae subjacere, he had rather be under an enemy, 
Hieronym. Epist. ad Eustochium.  then under envy, as St. jerome speaketh: Nay, of his brother, when there was but one brother in the world. For did not this make Cain to envy Abel, Vt esse solum zeli livor faceret, quem primum fecerat lex naturae, So that the rage of envy made him to be alone, whom the law of nature had made to bee the first: 
Chrysolog. Serm. 4. de duóbus filiis.  as Chrysologus speaketh. For indeed there is nothing so contrary to charity and affection, whether of nature or grace, or the neighbourhood of place as envy is. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. First vanity, for what is more vain, then that as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, Aliena gloria plus offendant quam proprium damnum, Anothers honour should more offend a man, than his own hurt? And yet was it not so with envious Saul, who when David played on his harp to cure him of the evil spirit, did throw his spear at him, Malens a malo spiritu torqueri, quam Davidem vivere, choosing rather to bee tormented by an evil spirit, then that David should live, 
Bern. de Inter. domo. c. 2. Cypr. de zelo& livore.  as Saint Bernard speaketh. For what is more vain, then as St. Cyprian speaketh, In malum proprium convertere bona aliena, aliorum gloriam facere poenam suam,& nullius magìs quam suae salutis hostem esse, To turn the good things of another to bee evil to himself, to make the glory of another to be his punishment, and to bee an enemy to nothing so much, as to his own welfare? Secondly, vexation of spirit: in which respect Saint Chrysostome saith, 
Chrys. in 2. ad Corinth. Homil. 19.  Praestat serpentem provolutum in visceribus habere quam invidiam, A man were better have a Serpent tumbling in his bowels then envy. For if a Serpent have food given it, it will not feed upon a man; but the more food is given to envy, the more it gnaweth him in whose bowels it is. 
Chrysolog. Serm. 172.  Chrysologus therefore speaking of envy saith, that being svorum carnifex, torquet animos, discruciat mentes, corrumpit corda,& quid plura? hanc qui suscipit, sua sustinet sine fine supplicia; nam quot sunt prosperitates hominum, tot sunt tormenta invidorum, the executioner of them that entertain it: it tortureth the affections, it vexeth the mind, it corrupteth the heart, and what need of more? whosoever receiveth it, endureth without end his own punishment: for as many as are the prosperities of men, so many are the torments of the envious. Such is the vexation of spirit which envy causeth, that it is one of the torments of hell. For our Saviour Christ speaking of them saith, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and jacob and all the Prophets in the kingdom of God. For as Cajetan upon the words addeth, 
Luk. 13.28. Cajet. Ibid.  Nimis invidum torquet foelicitas aliorum, The happiness of others, doth extremely torment the envious.  
Verse 5. This verse may be either referred to the verse before, or else considered as speaking of another sinful vanity to which the Preacher passeth. If it be referred to the former verse, then the fool here is the envious man; for what greater fool then he, who not looking into his own evils to bee grieved for them, is vexed with the good of another. He it is who foldeth his hands together, as a man discontented and heavy for the contentment which another hath and enjoyeth, and as studying and plotting with himself how he may bereave him of it; and as desiring to enwrap him within the traps of his envy as he enwrappeth his own hands. He it is that eateth his own flesh. 
Greg. Nazianz. in Oratione de Seip.  For as Gregory nazianzen speaketh, Invidia tabes est possessoris, virus& rubigo eorum qui ea exagitantur, envy is the consumption of the possessor of it, the poison and rust of them that are troubled with it. He eateth his own flesh, not sparing to hurt himself, that he may hurt him whom he envieth. To which purpose Lyra tells us a story, which is taken out of Aesop, That in a certain City there were two men, the one very covetous, the other, very envious: the Ruler therefore of the City sent for them both, wishing them to desire what they would, and it should be granted them: adding withall, that he who did ask first, should have his asking granted, but the other should have the same doubled. Now hereupon the covetous man would not ask first, because he would have the request doubled: the envious man would not ask first, that his companion might not have more than himself. But the Ruler pressing them to ask, 
Lyra in c. 3. Geneseos.  the envious man asked that one of his own eyes might be pulled out, that so his companion might loose both of his eyes. But if this verse be considered as containing another sinful vanity, to which the Preacher passeth, then the fool is the slothful person, the contrary to the laborious man of whom the former verse speaketh, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 19.  and who Reprehendit operantem,& quasi solicitum arguit, ut ipse sit dissolutus, Blameth the painful man, and reproveth him as too careful, that himself may be careless, as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh. Now he is called a fool, because there is nothing that doth more dull and besot the understanding then idle and sluggish laziness. And indeed what a fool is he, who thinketh not of providing for the time to come, who hopeth to fill his hands with things needful when they are folded together. He foldeth his hands, that they may not be reached out to work, and as it were making a covenant with idleness and sloth. he eateth his own flesh: for having made himself fat by ease, he consumeth himself afterwards by want and misery. He eateth his own flesh, that is, he wasteth his estate to nothing, and brings himself to woeful distress. Wherefore, when joseph having bought the land of the Egyptians, gave it unto them again to dress it, and to till it, paying unto Pharaoh a great tribute out of it: 
Ambros. de office. l. 1. c. 16.  Saint Ambrose conceiveth, that joseph did it in compassion towards them: because the land of Egypt being of itself very fruitful, that made them to be idle, the cause of much misery: whereas the tribute which they paid unto Pharaoh made them to be industrious, which kept them the freer from distress. 
Ambrosi. Epistolarum. l. 4. Epist. 30.  But Saint Ambrose giveth of this place another exposition, he saith, Stultus complexus est manus suas,& devoravit viscera sua, id est, corporalibus se implicavit negotiis, ut non invenerit vitam aeternam. The fool hath folded his hands, and devoured his own bowels, that is, he hath entangled himself in bodily affairs, so that he shall not find eternal life. 
Ambros. in Psal. 104.  So in another place he saith, He hath embraced his hands, and devoured his own bowels, Carnalia magis cogitans, quam spiritualia, thinking more of carnal things then of spiritual. To the same purpose another Ancient Writer expounding these words saith, 
Graecus in Catena Graeca. Glossa Ordinar.  Otiosus actiones suas infames amplexatur& deglutit, The idle person embraceth his own infamous actions and swalloweth them down. And so the ordinary gloss expounding also this verse saith, He eateth his own flesh, Carnalibus scilicet desideriis tabescens donec consumatur, namely, wasting away in carnal delights and lusts, until he bee consumed.  
Verse 6. If we understand the former verse, as speaking of the envious person, this verse giveth me occasion to apprehended another sense in it. And by the folding of his hands together, we may understand, his scraping after worldly things, and his greedy clasping of them; by the eating of his own flesh, we may understand his wasting of himself with care and vexation in the seeking and getting of them. For that is the nature of envy, it maketh men greedy after those things which they envy at in another, and giveth them no quietness by striving to exceed another in them. But the Preacher framing his own conclusion according to this whereof he had last spoken, saith, that better is a handful with quietness, &c. Where the comparison is not only in respect of one handful and two, as showing that one with quietness is better than two with trouble. But in the first place the original word signifieth the palm of the hand; in the second place it signifieth the whole hand closed together to hold any thing. So that the meaning also is, that a little, even no more than a man can hold in the hollow of his hand being spread abroad, is better than much which a man holdeth in both his hands, bended and folded to hold as much as they can: if the little be with quietness, the much with trouble and vexation of spirit. But then the little must be a fullness also, it must bee a handful, it must be plenitudo volae, a fullness of the hollow of the hand, as the Hebrew is, it must be fully so much as shall be sufficient for his needful and convenient occasions that want and distress do not disquiet a man. For it is sufficiency with quietness that is better then abundance with trouble. One hand serves to feed a man and it doth it better to his health, feeding on wholesome meate, then two hands glutting him with superfluous dainties, and breeding diseases in him. In Cassian it is set down to be the tale of Abbot Macarius. That in a certain City there was a Barber, who trimming men for 3. pence a piece had many customers, and found his estate to increase well by it: but hearing that in a City a far off, there was twelve pence given for trimming a man, he would needs go thither: but when he came and found it to bee so, going to buy provision of food, he found that to bee so dear, that his great hire for trimming was all spent in that, so that he had nothing to lay up for his old age, which made him to think himself better in the former City, though his hire was less. 
Cassian. Col. 24. c. 13.  Cassian applieth it to quietness and trouble, though in another manner, then I have here occasion. But surely a little gotten and possessed where quietness layeth up the comfort of it, is better than much, Quod curae arrodunt, solicitudines imminuunt; the comfort whereof cares gnaw away, and troubles diminish. When God had made man, wee red that the next day he restend, and why is this set down saith anselm, Nisi per hoc velvet innuere, 
Anselm. in c. 4. Epist. ad Roman.  quod illum post cujus orationem requievit, adrequiem fecit? But that the Spirit of God would show unto us, that God made him for rest, after the making of whom God is said to have restend. It is rest and quietness, that is the proper gift of man by God bestowed upon him, and this it is which is the good of man. When Martha was busied to entertain our Saviour, he blamed her for it: but as Theophylact 
Theophylact.  noteth, Non hospitalitatem Dominus prohibet, said turbationem& tumultum, It was not her hospitality that our Saviour disliked, but the trouble and tumult of her mind. This taketh away the comfort, the good of what any one hath, though there be much that might afford it. The original here is, Plenitudo volae quietis, The fullness of the hand of quietness: and let it be the hand of quietness that doth reach it unto us, though it be but a little, that will make it to be a fullness, and that little fullness it will make to be better then much fullness of the hands of trouble and vexation of spirit,( for so also the original is) that is, then much fullness which travel reacheth with one hand, and vexation of spirit with another hand. But the Septuagint do add unto the end of the former verse, Dicens, saying: and Tremellius puts into this verse, Inquit, saith he, as if these were the words of the fool in the former verse. And if wee take the fool to bee the sluggard, he may be conceited to say so, as applauding himself in his own laziness, wherein he is at quiet, though he have but little, and therefore preferring himself before those, who though they get more, yet it is with more travel and vexation of spirit. Wherein wee may note how idleness would cloak itself with the commendation of quietness, and the idle person please himself with the comfort of wanting trouble, the like being the manner of other sins also, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 19,  and of other sinners. But as Hugo de Sancto Victore noteth, the fool considereth himself, Quando pugillum habet& requiem habet, when he hath his handful and hath rest also, he considereth not that when his handful is emptied, his rest will be gone likewise. He now eateth of his handful in quietness, and commendeth his laziness, not caring to fill his other hand by labour, that thereon he may feed, when the other is spent. Wherefore when his handful is consumed, then he eateth his own flesh, and with hunger is whipped for his laziness, the rest whereof he preferred before due carefulness. But I would not have so worthy a sentence to bee lost in the mouth of a fool; for surely better is a handful, where quietness filleth the heart, then both the hands full, where travel and vexation overwhelm the spirit. And therefore to take it as the speech of Solomon himself, and yet to apply it unto the slothful fool, we may conceive that as in the verse before, he sheweth his misery in his wasted estate; so here he sheweth his misery in a plentiful estate. For as much as then also idleness maketh his life to be tedious and irksome unto him. So that he who laboureth and getteth but a little, yet by labour hath a quiet mind free from a burdensome tediousness is to be preferred before him.   

VER. 7. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.  
VER. 8. There is one alone, and there is not a second, yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour: neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? this is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travel.  
Verse 7. Then I returned: this sheweth that the Preacher had made some interruption in his thoughts from the considering of vanities, by interposing that conclusion of solid verity, which the former verse containeth. Or if wee take the former verse to appertain to the setting forth of vanity: then wee may imagine the Preachers thoughts to have been so fast in the depth of those vanities, as one amazed with the folly of them, that he was fain to recall himself, and to recover himself as it were, that he might pass unto another matter. And I saw vanity: it is from vanity that wee fall into iniquity, and as St. Gregory speaketh; Dum per quaedam transitoria ducimur, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 10. c. 9.  in quibusdam noxiè ligamur, quumque mens incommutabilitatis statum non tenet, à seipsa defluens ad vitia prorumpit, While wee are carried through transitory things, wee are held fast in sinful things, and while the mind doth not stay settled in an unchangeableness, flying from itself it rusheth into wickedness. The Preacher therefore in his method, having considered first the transitory vanity of worldly things, from thence he passeth in this Chapter, to the iniquity of the world, which is a vanity also, for so he calleth it. And indeed this vanity it was which made Belshazzar to weigh so light in the balance: 
Dan. 5.27.  it was his iniquity which made him to be found wanting, wanting of any true worth, so that his kingdom and his life vanished so quickly from him. Wherefore one saith well, Quisquiliae palearum,& atomi fear invisibiles majoris ponder is sunt quam peccata, The sweepings of chaff, and the motes of the sun, almost invisible, are of more weight and substance then sins are. Yea, such a vanity is iniquity, that as the same Writer speaketh, Inter aliquid quantumvis parum,& nihil, nihil mediate nisi peccat●r, Between something though never so little, and that which is nothing, nothing doth mediate and middle, but a sinner onely, who is so near to nothing, that he may well be accounted to be nothing. The Prophet David speaking of this vanity, faith, 
Psal. 69.2.  I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. sin is but a mire, and such is the vanity of this mire, that there is no standing in it, nothing that is able to support itself, or any one that is in it. Gregory Nyssene writing upon these words in the Canticles, My head is filled with due, 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Cantica.  and my locks with the drops of the night; supposeth Christ there to represent himself and his Church: and therefore by the head he understandeth Christ, by the locks the servants of Christ, the Prophets and Apostles. Now the hair being on, it is an ornament, but being cut off, what is esteemed more vain? In like manner, the servants of God being joined by obedience unto Christ their head, they are worthy of all honour, but being cut off by falling into sin, what are they but vanity, and of no value? under the sun, that is, that it was a vanity visible and plainly to be seen: for as St. Austin speaketh, Sub sole visibilia omnia, quicquid visibile non est, 
Augustin. in Psal. 38.  sub sole non est, under the sun all things are visible: whatsoever is not visible, is not under the sun. Or else under the sun, as showing this vanity to be spread as far as the sun shineth. Or else the Preacher here expresseth the vanity of sin to be under the sun, as showing the unthankfulness of sin, in that it is under the sun, by which God affordeth so many blessings unto men. For in the Hewrew {αβγδ} which signifieth the sun, is taken from {αβγδ} which signifieth Ministrare to minister, because it ministereth to the world so many benefits. That to let the sun therefore man sinneth against God, maketh him unworthy to live under the sun.  
Verse 8. It is the sinful vanity of covetousness which here the Preacher setteth forth, and which as it is commonly joined in men with oppression and envy, so here the Preacher joineth them together. There is one alone: and it were well if there were one alone, but indeed there are many such in the world. And yet there is one alone, for every such a one would himself have all alone: he would be one alone, so that none else should have share or part in any thing with him. And there is not a second: this is the first thing which a covetous man desireth, to have no body near him, no body that may either borrow or beg or get any thing from him. Wherefore St. Chrysostome calleth a covetous man, 
Chrysostom. in Matth. Homil. 81. Isa. 5.8. Ambros. lib. de Naboth. c. 3.  Communem omnium hominum hostem, The common enemy of all men. And when the Prophet Isaiah saith, Woe to them that join house to house, field to field, until there be no place; St. Ambrose saith, Arguit eos inefficacis avaritiae: fugiunt enim cohabitare hominibus,& ideo excludunt vicinos, He reproveth them of covetousness which hath no virtue of doing any thing, for they shun to dwell with men, and therefore they shut out their neighbours. But as Eucherius speaking of the Sodomites saith, 
Eucherius ad c. 19. Geneseos.  Clausas domos hospitibus ingressus est ignis ad perdendos peccatores, The houses that were shut against strangers fire entred, to destroy the wicked; so let such take heed, who shun to have any near them, least that the fire of Gods wrath be a neighbour to them. St. Chrysostome therefore speaking of covetous persons, and comparing them to fruitless trees, 
Chrysost. in Acta. Homil. 21.  saith, Tales sunt qui solum considerant ea quae sua sunt; imo nec tales sunt, nam hi ad incendium parati sunt, illae etiam ad aedificium, Such are they who look after those things onely which are their own; yea rather they are not such: for they are prepared for burning, the other for building also. Yea, he hath neither child nor brother: nec filium quem genuit, nec fratrem cum quo genitus est, Neither son whom he hath begotten, neither brother with whom he was begotten, 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Ecclesiast. Homil. 19.  as Hugo speaketh: yea, not any kinsman, for so the word brother in the Hebrew is taken. himself is the successor of his ancestors, but himself hath none to succeed him. Yet is there no end of all his labours: no end wherein his labour ceaseth, no All of all his labour. Neither is his eye satisfied with riches: much less is his heart satisfied. His purse is filled, his chest is filled, his house is filled, yet his eye is not filled. Neither saith he, for whom do I labour? The original doth not express saith he, but onely implies it, because it is supposed to be, not an express speaking, but onely in the heart, according as the Chaldee Paraphrast hath it; Non dicit in cord suo, he saith not in his heart, For whom do I labour? And surely, Qui nec sibi laborat, nec alii cvi laborat, nisi soli vitio cvi servit? Hic enim soli vitio servitur,& non est alius affectus, qui excuset solicitudinem vanam, cvi ignosci posset, nisi solus ille qui vitium genuit, He that laboureth neither for himself, nor any other, for whom doth he labour, but for his 'vice whom he serveth? For here he is a servant to his 'vice onely, and there is no other affection, which may excuse his vain carefulness, and which might get some pardon for him, but onely that greedy affection which brought forth his 'vice, as an ancient Writer speaketh. And bereave my soul of good: the Chaldee Paraphrase here addeth as an exposition of it, 
Chald. Para.  Surgam& faciam ex eo cleemosynam,& laetabor in hoc saeculo cum filiis hominum,& in saeculo venturo cum justis, I will arise, and will do works of charity, and I will rejoice in this world with the sons of men, and in the world to come with the righteous. This is the good whereof a covetous wretch bereaveth his soul. And plainly, were it not the mind of such a covetous wretch to desire no children, no brethren, no kinsfolk, he might find enough. For as Olympiodorus 
Olympiodorus.  speaketh, Qui desiderio illorum tenetur, quamvis naturâ nullos affines& consanguineos habeat, charitatem tamen habens, omnes homines quamvis externos, esse sibi filiorum loco putat& fratrum, He that hath a desire of them, although by nature he hath no kinsfolk, no kindred, yet having charity he accounteth all men, although strangers, to be in the place of children and brethren unto him. Wherefore the Catena Graeca saith, Si quis fratrem non habet, 
Catena Graeca.  ille proculdubio spiritum adoptionis filiorum non accepit: et si quis pater non est, is porro improbus est, If there be any one who hath not a brother, no doubt he hath not received the Spirit of adoption of the sons of God: and if any one be not a Father, what is he but a wicked man? This is also vanity, yea it is a sore travail: for he that laboureth and enjoyeth his labour, receiveth some fruit from it; and he that laboureth but doth not use those things, which by his labour he hath gotten, yet if he leave them to those whom he loveth, Aliquod emolumentum capit laboris sui, desiderium et votum dilectionis suae, He reapeth some profit of his labour, in the desire and contentment of his love, as one saith. But to labour, and thereby neither to enjoy comfort to a mans self, nor to express love to others, what can be more vain? What more sore travail can there be? The ancient Fathers took such joy in meditating upon Christ, that wheresoever they could find any occasion, their learned skill made the words of Scripture to sound this music. This verse therefore St. jerome tells us, that some did apply to Christ. For he is one, and there is not a second, because he came to save the world without any company: and though there be many sons of God, many who by adoption are called his brethren, yet there was none worthy in this work to be joined with him. Of his labour in bearing our sins and in suffering for us, there is no end, mans understanding cannot reach to the end of the greatness of them. His eye is not satisfied with riches, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  always desiring and seeking our salvation: neither doth he say, for whom do I labour? for though we despise his love, refuse his mercies, yet doth he still labour to bring us to repentance, to win us to himself. And indeed I find, that St. Ambrose speaking of these words, saith, Quis est iste, nisi ille, de quo dictum est, magister vester unus est Christus? Who is this, 
Mat. 23.8. Job 9.8.  but he, of whom it is said, Your Master is one even Christ: of whom wee read, Who alone spreadeth out the heavens. Hic non est secundus, quia primus est: huic non est secundus, quia unus est, He is not the second, because he is first: he hath not a second, because he is one alone. 
Ambros. de Instit. Virginitatis. c. 10.  Vnus est qui secundum non habet, quia unicus, solus sine peccato, solus sine adjutorio, He is one and hath not a second, because he alone onely is without sin, he alone is without a helper.   

VER. 9. Two are better then one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  
VER. 10. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.  
VER. 11. again, if two lye together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?  
VER. 12. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him: and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.  
Verse 9. From the wretchedness of a covetous solitariness, the Preacher passeth to the commendation of a friendly society. Now Aquinas tells us, 
Aquin. 2. 2ae. Q. 188. Ar. 8.  Id quod est solitarium debet esse sibi per se sufficiens, That which is solitary must be in itself sufficient for itself. But what is so? When man was created in his perfection, then it was not good for man to be alone, much less now, when his miseries are so great, his infirmities so many, in regard whereof he hath need of society, that his miseries may be succoured, his infirmities supported. There is none sufficient in himself but God alone, and he is one and alone in his nature and essence, though in his subsistence there be a trinity of persons, that from himself he might commend a society to us. The Philosopher therefore saith, 
Aristoteles Politico. l. 1.  Ille qui non communicat aliis est bestia, aut Deus, He that doth not communicate with others, is either a beast in the savage wildness of his mind, or else a God in the transcendency of his nature. But to consider the Preachers words: two, saith he, are better then one, but then, though two, they must be one likewise. So it was when God made first two, he made them so two, as that he made them one, and it is still the being one of two, that maketh two to be better then one. One they must be in peace, one in affection, one in a mutual correspondency of the offices of society, or else much better one by himself alone, then multiplied into quarrels and discontentments by another joined with him. But in peace better are two then one every way. Better in Religion, for where two or three are gathered together, there is God, and what is better then to have God with us? Better in the study of knowledge, and therefore St. jerome writing to Rasticus saith, Mihi placet, ut habeas Sanctorum contubernium, 
Hieronym. ad Rust. Monachum.  nec ipse te doceas, I like rather that thou shouldst use the familiarity of religious men, and not teach thyself. Better in the affairs of the world, for what is better then to take the advice of others, in that which a man goeth about, so that as Synesius speaketh, Et omnium oculis videat, 
Synesius. l. de regno.  et omnium auribus audiat, omniumque animis in unum consentientibus consilium capiat, He may see with the eyes of all, he may hear with the ears of all, and with the minds of all agreeing in one, he may resolve what to do. Which yet is not so generally true, but that it is better sometimes to be alone: alone in the fervency of devotion, alone in the height of contemplation. But that wee may be alone for the better performance of these, wee must be alone not onely from the company of men, but also from the company of distracting thoughts, of worldly considerations. Otherwise as St. Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. Moral. c. 30.  Quid prodest solitudo corporis, si non sit solitudo cordis? What availeth the solitariness of the body, if there be not a solitariness of the mind? But for the most part two are better then one, because they have a good reward for their labour. One would think the Preacher should have said, because they have a good reward for or in their society. And indeed so do the Septuagint read it, Habent enim emolumentum societatis suae, for they have the benefit of their society. The very society itself being a good reward unto them. And therefore St. Austin saith, 
Augustin. l. de Amicitia.  Quid sit vera amicitia nondum novit, qui vult aliam esse mercedem quam ipsam, What true friendship is he doth not as yet know, who desireth any other reward then itself. But the original word here used is {αβγδ} signifying trouble or labour: and therefore the Preacher seemeth to me here to show, that in the getting and keeping of good society, there is no little trouble and labour. For there is company enough to be had, but to get good company, good in itself, good for our occasions and dispositions is no easy matter. And when such company is gotten, he that will not endure trouble and labour through many occurrences that may and will fall out, shall soon loose it again. But let this labour and trouble be endured, because it hath a good reward which from society ariseth. And it may farther be noted, that it is said, Their labour, because both must labour for the establishing and continuing of a good society, or else it will not be. Or else the meaning of the words may be, they have a good reward for their labour, that is, in society they have a benefit, whereby to ease themselves in their labour. Or else thus, that by society they have the benefit of enjoying the more sweetly and comfortably those things which they have gotten by their labour. Saint jerome goeth on in applying these words also unto Christ: Two saith he, are better then one, Melius est enim habitantem in se habere Christum, quam solum patere insidiis adversantis, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  For it is better to have Christ dwelling in us, then alone to lie open to the snares of the enemy. And no doubt, there is a reward in the labour of Christ and his servants. But as St. Ambrose saith, Christus ergo laborat? Doth Christ therefore labour? 
Ambros. in haec verba, Cohortatione ad Cleric.  Yes, saith he, Laborat, said in nobis, He laboureth, but in us. He laboureth by making us to labour, by supporting us in our labour: and he that laboureth in us, giveth a reward of our labour to us.  
Verse 10. The Septuagint, St. Ambrose, St. jerome, Pagnine, Arias Montanus, do all read it, Si ceciderit unus, If the one fall, as not supposing that both should fall together. But though if the one stand, the other fall, he that standeth will the better be able to help up him that is fallen; yet if they both fall, they may also help one the other in rising, and therein also the mutual help of society is the better set forth. Now the Hebrew is {αβγδ} Si ceciderint, If they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. It is not said he may do it, but he will do it: neither is it said the one will lift up the other, but the one will lift up his fellow. For if there be a fellowship of love, and true society between them, he will do what he can, he will not let his fellow lie being down, but he will lift him up, and he will help up his fellow as well as himself, if they be both down. And it is for this reason given by the Preacher, 
Hieronym. Epist. 12. ad Abigaum.  that St. jerome speaking of himself saith, Vltra soleo bonorum appetere necessitudinem,& me eorum ingerere charitati, I use to seek of myself the friendship of those that are good, and even to thrust myself into their affection. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth: woe because he falleth, but a double woe, because he falleth when he is alone. Perhaps he may not be alone, in respect of some other that thrusteth him down, and that may be some ease unto his woe, in regard that not falling of himself, he may be able to help himself up again. But howsoever, another joined with him, would help him up much better, and therefore woe unto him because he hath not the help of such a one. The original is, woe unto him, because he hath not {αβγδ} secundum, a second to help him up: and indeed this is the right use of a second. Not as the bloody fashion of the world is, who seeking to kill their enemy, desire to kill their friend also. Saint Austin marking the woe here set down, thereupon faith, 
Augustin. de Amicit.  At quae foelicitas, quae securitas, quae jucunditas est habere cum quo aeque audeas loqui ac tibi, cvi confiteri non timeas, si quid deliqueris? But what happiness, what security, what sweetness is it to have one with whom thou mayest talk as to thyself, to whom if thou hast offended thou mayest be bold to confess thy fault? And as it is a great happiness to have such a one to whom it may be done, so it is often a great neglect of happiness not to do it. For many times when the devil tempteth some one to wickedness, the very discovering of it to another, is a present remedy for the preventing of it: So that, as Abbot Moyses speaketh in Cassian, Teterrimus serpens, 
Cassian. Coll. 2. c. 10.  velut à tenebroso ac subterraneo specu virtute confessionis fubte actus in lucem,& traductus quodammodo& dehonestatus abscedit, The most fowle serpent, as it were drawn out into the light by the virtue of confession from his dark and subterranean hole, laid open as it were and shamed, departeth away. Saint jerome still applieth this unto our Saviour Christ, saying, Si unus ceciderit, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Christus eriget participem suum: said vae ei qui quum ruerit Christum non habet erigentem, If one fall, Christ doth raise him up that is partaker of him; but woe to him, who when he falleth hath not Christ in him to raise him up again. Saint Ambrose also applying this to Christ; first, he tells us that Christ, projecit se, non cecidit, Did not fall, but did cast himself down; 
Ambros. in Cohortati. ad Clericos.  he humbled himself, that he might make us to be his fellowes. And then he noteth that he is said to raise us up, not to be raised up, because when he was down, he raised up himself. Saint Gregory more generally applying these words unto God, saith, Solus est, 
Gregor. in cap. 10. 1. Regum.  quia Deo relinquitur; hunc certe cadentem nullus erigit, He is alone who is forsaken of God: such a one when he falleth no one raiseth up. But safe is he that feareth God, because God is with him, and he is not alone. For as our Saviour Christ saith, I am not alone, 
John 8.16.  but I and my Father that sent me; so his servants are not alone, but he is with them to the end of the world: and then they shall be with him for evermore.  
Verse 11. If two lie together in the could night of sorrow and sadness, they have the heat of comfort, which mutually they yield one to the other, even by striking together the hard flints of their misery, by easing their hearts, while their tongues talk of their distress, by supporting each other under their burdens, who cannot bear his own, by doubling the light of counsel which may the better show them the way of getting out. If two lie together in the prison of affliction, society gives heat unto their could irons, softens the hardness of them, and though it cannot break them off, yet makes them to be born with the more contentment. Not because it is an ease to misery to see another in misery, which is the miserable comfort of bad mindes; but because in each, the feeling of his own misery makes them the more ready to afford comfort one to the other. It is not said, if two sleep together, although the Septuagint, St. Ambrose, and St. jerome do read it so, and although naturally sleeping together, as well as lying together bringeth heat: but it is said, If two lie together, and in a moral sense, which is here intended by the Preacher, it must be so taken: because if two lying together in misery, sleep carelessly in it, the heat will be little, the comfort small which one shall have from the other. And farther, this lying together, must be also understood, in the bed of good will and affection, otherwise though lying together they may be far enough from the heat of mutual comfort. Wherefore Lyra tells us, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Per hoc intelligitur quietatio plurium in una dilectione, By this is understood the resting of many in one affection, and love of charity. Now if two lie together in this bed of love, they will lie together in the same misery, although but one be in it, by a fellow feeling of it, and by his care to give the heat of comfort unto him that suffereth it. And thus to lie with another by a loving compassion in his misery and by a readiness to afford the heat of comfort unto him, 
2 Cor. 11.29.  who should not be forward? Saint Paul saith, who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? Where Saint Chrysostome noteth, 
Chrys. Jbid.  Non dicit, quis infirmatur,& ego non compatior, said ego non infirmor, hoc est, tanquam ipsamet infirmitate circumdatus ita excrucior& angor? He saith not who is weak, and I have not compassion on him, but who is weak, and I am not weak, that is, as if I were encompassed with the same infirmity, so am I pained, so troubled: And anselm expounding the latter words, 
Ansel. Ibid.  who is offended, and I burn not? that is saith he, Valde mens mea cruciatur igne amoris zeli; My mind is much tormented with the fire of the love of zeal. Here was heat indeed, ever burning heat which came from that lying together whereof the Preacher speaks. But where is another such to be found? The Preacher speaks but of two lying together, and they are very few, who do thus lie together in the bed of charity. Eusebius 
Eusebius.  tells us that a Poppy is the emblem of a City. Now a Poppy is like unto a Pompegranate having many grains within it: but the difference is, that in a Pomegranate the grains are fastened together, whereas in the Poppy they are loose the one from the other. This therefore it is which maketh a Poppy to bee the emblem of a City, because the affections of men are severed and divided, and they lie not together to cause a heat of consolation the one to the other. But not to understand the Preacher of misery only, it is true of prosperity likewise, and a lying together in love doth make the heat of joy therein to bee the greater. It is true also of the heat of devotion, and the society of others doth make that heat to burn by much the stronger. 
Seneca in Epist. 96.  Seneca speaking of the conversation of good men saith, Frequenter audiri& aspici frequenter, imo occursus ipse bonorum juvat,& est aliquid quod ex magno viro vel tacente proficias. Often to bee heard, and often to be seen, yea the very meeting with good men furthereth, and there is some profit to be gotten from a worthy man even holding his peace. Wherefore if they lie together, if they continue much together, how great a heat of goodness will be stirred up in them? The lying together of the dead body of one, with the bones of the Prophet Elisha, wrought a miracle, and gave life unto it: and surely the benefits of lying together in friendly love are even miraculous, by giving the heat of life to sorrow, the heat of a religious life to them, who are dead in sin. But how can one be warm alone? Surely nothing so well, nothing so easily. Yea, saith Lyra, 
Lyra in hunc versum. Greg. Mag. Hieronym. in hunc vers.  how can one alone show the heat of charity to be in him? For as Saint Gregory speaketh, Charitas semper in alterum tendit, ut Charitas esse posset, Charity always tendeth towards another, that it may be charity. Saint jerome applying still this verse to Christ, saith, Si morte dissolutus quis fuerit,& secum Christum habuerit, calefactus& vivificatus citius reviviscet, If any one shall be dissolved by death, and lie in his grave, yet if he have Christ with him, he shall be warmed, and being quickened shall quickly live again. Saint Ambrose saith, 
Amb. Cohortatione ad Clericos.  Commortui sumus Christo,& ideo onvivimus: Christus nobis commortuus est, ut nos calefaceret, we are dead with Christ, and therefore do we live with him: Christ is dead with us that he might heat us: Et qui in Christo moritur per Christum calefactus vitae& resurrectionis vaporem accipit, And he that dieth in Christ, being warmed by Christ, receiveth the vapour of life and resurrection. But as Saint jerome adddeth, 
Hieronym. Ibid.  Nisi Christus nobiscum dormierit& in morte quieverit, calorem aeternae vitae acoipere non valemus, unless Christ do sleep, and rest in death with us, we shall never be able to receive the heat of eternal life.  
Verse 12. There are three things which concern the life of man in this world, a weakness in falling, a misery in lying, a strength in standing, and in all these the Preacher sheweth the benefit of society. Wherefore having already shewed it in the two former here he shows it in the last. And here he shows two things, first how by society an enemy is withstood and resisted, secondly how by society he is vanquished and led captive as bound with a threefold cord. First, then he saith, And if one prevail against him; that is, if one prevail against one as being too strong for him, two shall withstand him. For as the Proverb is, Ne Hercules contra duos, The strength of Hercules is not able to prevail against two united in their strength. When the read Sea was divided, the egyptians as not fearing either part by itself, pressed after the Israelites, as insulting over the weakness of the waters; but when the two sides meeting in society joined their strength, how soon were the egyptians destroyed? 
tertul. advers. martion. l. 4.  So that as Tertullian speaketh Egyptium exercitum concordia undarum obruit, the concord of the waters overwhelmed the Egyptian army. And surely though the weakness of one may bee as water in resisting another, yet another though feeble as water also being joined to him, they may bee able to withstand a great might. And because there is one common enemy of all, that is the devil, who seeketh especially to fight in divels, and by single combat against us, as knowing our weakness, and his own advantage therein, let it be the care of every one by the society of counsel, and of prayer to withstand him. Two do often resist him, when one cannot, and a threefold cord is not easily broken. Much may be noted from the sacred Scriptures of the mystery of three. And upon these words Saint Ambrose saith, Vt cognoscas secundum mysterium dictum, 
Ambr. Cohorta. ad Clericos.  non secundum numerum, Optimi dvo supper unum, subjecit mysticum,& spartum triplex non facile rumpitur, That thou mayest know that it is spoken in a mystery, not for the number, Two are better than one, he addeth a a mystical thing, A threefold cord is not soon broken, Tria enim non composita non rumpuntur, for three which are not compounded, are not broken, and the Trinity which is of an uncompounded nature, cannot be divided, because God who is one and simplo is whatsoever is. But not to dive beyond the bottom of the words, if in the number three wee will note a mystery, the strength of it, is that, to which the words point, 
Dan. 3.17.  and wee may remember the three children united in Gods worship to have been so strong, that they withstood the force of the fiery furnace though made exceeding hot. 
Zeno. Ser. 4. de tribus pueris.  Whereupon Zeno saith, Sacramento Trinitatis tam potentis elementi subacta est natura: qui putabantur incendio extingui, emicant beatiores incensi; By the mystery of the Trinity was the might of that powerful element subdued: they whom the Chaldeans thought by the fire to have extinguished appear in the fire more glorious then before. But the plainer exposition is that which Lyra gives, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Quanto plures& boni in amicitia conjuncti sunt, tanto status eorum melioratur, By how many they are, the more and good, which are joined in society, by so much is their condition the better. And indeed such is the force of many, that it is able to withstand the power of Gods provoked wrath. Wherefore when God saith, should not I spare Niniveh that great City, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons? 
Chrys. Hom. 3. de Incompreh. Dei natura.  Saint Chrysostome speaking of it, saith, Non sine re, amplum populi numerum ibi proposuit, said ut intelligas plurimùm eam pollere orationem quae cum consensu agitur& jugi concordiâ, It is not to no end, that God setteth down there the great number of the people, but that thou mayest understand, that prayer to bee very prevalent, which is sent forth with consent, and with the continual concord of many people. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome applying these words likewise unto Christ, saith, Et si adversus hominem robustior inexpugnando diabolus extiterit: stabit homo, stabit& Christus pro homine suo, pro sodali suo, And if the devil assaulting man as stronger shall prevail against him; man shall stand, and Christ shall stand for his man, for his fellow. But if I might have leave in this manner to apply this passage of Scripture: in the first place, where man is fallen through the weakness of our first Parents, we may apprehended Christ raising him up: in the second place where man lieth in the misery which sin hath brought upon him, we may apprehended God the Holy Ghost warning and comforting him, with spiritual graces: in the third place, where we have the strength of man withstanding his enemies, we may apprehended the glorious Trinity, placing and establishing man in glory where no enemy shall be able to hurt him.   

VER. 13. Better is a poor and a wise child, then an old and foolish King, who will no more be admonished.  
VER. 14. For out of prison he cometh to reign, whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.  
VER. 15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.  
VER. 16. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him: surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.  
Verse 13. The Preacher having shewed the good of society in respect of private persons, now shows it in respect of a public person; not in regard of his authority and government, but in respect of the careful manner of his governing: For which it is needful that he should have the helpful society of others in counsel and advice: and better is one though mean that follows counsel, then another though never so great that is alone in the wilfulness of his own ways. In this sense therefore to consider the Preachers words. Great is the precedency and excellency of age above childhood: 
Clemens Alexand. Paedag. l. 3. c. 3.  Wherefore Clemens Alexandrinus saith, Quo magis homo festinat ad finem, tanto est vere venerabilior, ut qui Deum solum habeat se seniorem. Nam ille quoque est aeternus senex, qui est omnibus quae sunt antiquior, By how much man draweth near to his end, by so much he is truly more venerable, as having God alone elder then himself. For he is also the eternal old one, who is elder then all things that are. Great is the pre-eminency of a King above a poor man; and yet better is a poor and wise child, wise in being ready to hear and receive instruction and counsel, wise in being careful to follow it, for that is the proper wisdom of a child. And well doth the Preacher join poverty with wisdom, for as the Philosopher speaketh, Paupertas sapientiae reparatrix, Poverty is the repairer of wisdom, in that it puts men to it, and makes them more warily and diligently to look into things. And indeed they are commonly the poorer children that are wise in this kind; the richer, either in pride not suffering themselves, or by the folly of their parents, not being suffered to be ordered by counsel and instruction: and therefore Lyra saith, Delitiosè nutriri, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  et in delitiis vivere, impedit acquisitionem sapientiae, To be bread delicately, and to live in pleasures, doth hinder the getting of wisdom. Then an old foolish King: to be old is to add honour and authority to a King; to be a King, is to add honour and authority to old age: to be a foolish King, is to deprive both of their honour and authority. To be old, is a blessing of nature; to be a King, is a prerogative of favour; to be a foolish King, is to be unworthy of both. To be old, is to be Gods image; to be a King, is to be Gods substitute; to be a foolish King, is to be the Devils vassal. Who will no more be admonished: to refuse admonition, is in none a greater folly, than in a King, because in none it is more pernicious, to none more dangerous: but to be grown old in wilful stubbornness, and self-conceited perverseness, as well as in yeares, so that he will no more be admonished, and not onely not follow it, but not hear it, as it is the extremity of folly, so it is the shane of honour, and maketh a poor wise child better, better worthy of it. The original is, Qui nescit admoneri adhuc, Who knoweth not to be admonished as yet; who hath not as yet learned, though grown old, to be admonished; who hath not as yet learned the good of it in the affairs of a King. Surely such a one must needs be worse then a child, who is so many yeares before him in the learning of it; worse then a poor child, who though never so poor, by this is richer then such a King. 
Act. 1.15.& 23.  When St. Peter stood up in the midst of the Disciples, and moved them to appoint, that two might be name, out of whom one might be chosen in the room of Iudas: Saint Chrysostome asketh, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 3. in Acta.  Cur non solus à Christo postulavit, ut ipse daret aliquem substituendum? Why he did not alone pray unto Christ, that himself would assign one to succeed? The answer which he giveth is, Iam Petrus erat seipso factus melior, Now Peter was made even better himself in taking the assistance of others. And surely as it makes a King even more then a King, to be willing to be admonished; so it makes him less then a poor wise child to refuse it. 
Exod. 18.24. Orig. in 18. Exod.  Origen therefore speaking of Moyses embracing the counsel of his Father in Law, saith, Accepit consilium inferioris ut formam humilitatis principibus populorum daret, He received the counsel of an inferior, that he might leave to Princes over people, a pattern of humility. Amalesnentha queen of Italy being deprived of her son and of her husband, and joining her brother in the kingdom with her, thus writeth of it, to the Senate of Rome; Exultate, 
Cassiodorus. var. l. 10. var. 3.  et factum nostrum supernis commendate virtutibus. Nihil reprehensibile desideramus agere, quae cum consilio alterius cuncta delegimus ordinare, rejoice, and commend our action to the divine powers. Wee desire to do nothing that shall deserve reproof, who have chosen to order all things with the counsel of another. For there is nothing doth make the actions of any to deserve reproof so much, as when themselves in their actions refuse to be reproved; at leastwise by counsel, a reproof not unfit for Kings.  
Verse 14. The Septuagint and Saint jerome do read the end of the former verse, Qui nescit providere in posterum, Who knoweth not to provide for the time to come. And St. jerome tells us that Symmachus did read it, Qui nescit praecavere vicissitudinem, Who knoweth not how to prevent the interchangeable course of things. Whereupon Gregorius Thaumaturgus expounding this verse, saith, That a poor and wise child, is better then an old King and foolish; 
Gregor. Ponti Episc. in hunc vers.  cvi in mentem non venit, fieri posse, ut quispiam ex carcere& ergastulo ad regni gubernacula constituatur, ipse autem postea ab iniquo principatu exturbetur, Into whose mind it cometh not, that it may come to pass, that from prison and bonds, some one may be set upon the throne of a kingdom, and that himself may be thrown down from his wicked command. And surely for an old King, who having lived long in this world must needs have seen the many changes of it, for him not to think of it, cannot but prove him foolish, and may soon make him to find that which he doth not think of. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, Somnus est hîc vivendi usus, 
Ambros. Epist. c. 3, Epist. 19.  in quo diversae commutationum vices tanquam ebriae,& nihil solidum, nihil firmum, said vacuae rerum species dispersae& circumfusae teneri videntur,& non tenentur, The use of living here is but a sleep, in which there are divers, and as it were drunken changes of things, nothing is solid, nothing firm, but the empty shadows of things dispersed and scattered up and down, do seem to be held fast, when they are not held. But to view the Preachers words as here we find them. For out of prison: the Hebrew is {αβγδ} E domo vinctorum, From the house of them that are bound, that is, as it may be taken from a small homely cottage, wherein the dwellers are bound and shut up together: or else as it may be also taken, from some strict school wherein children are tied hard to good orders, and held close to severe discipline: or else we may take it, from the prison of poverty, from the house of them who are tied and bound with many strayts, many distresses. He cometh to reign: either to reign as a King, or to be great in a kingdom. And here for example, 
Ambros. de joseph. Patriarcha. c. 21.  wee may well take joseph to be this poor wise child. For that he was a wise child his Fathers love shewed, who therein as St. Ambrose speaketh, Non tam filium pater praetulisse videatur, quam Propheta mysterium, May seem not so much as a Father to have preferred his son before his other brethren, as a Prophet rather to have preferred a mystery, in respect of that to which he foresaw the wisdom of his son would bring himself. But that he was a poor child also, the malice of his brethren, who sold him for a captive made to be true. The rest God performed for him, and when he was in prison bringing him to the King of egypt, out of prison brought him to be the next in greatness in the kingdom. Yea, while he was in prison, what was he but even then a King? 
Ambros. Ibid.  Saint Ambrose comparing joseph in bondage, with Pharaoh on his throne, saith, Nonne videtur tibi iste in servitute dominari, ille autem in libertate servire? Serviebat joseph, regnabat Pharaoh; beatior hujus servitus, quam regnum illius, Doth not the one seem unto thee in his servitude to reign, the other in his freedom to serve? joseph is in bondage, Pharaoh reigneth: more blessed is his bondage, then the others kingdom. Whereas he also that is born in his kingdom, born in the largeness, in the plenty, in the freedom, in the greatness of a Kings estate, and hath the right of inheritance unto it, becometh poor: for every one is not born to that, in which he is born, and he that is poor in understanding, though never so rich, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  may easily become poor in estate also. Here we may take Zedekiah, as Lyra doth, for an example of it, who being born the son of a King, and coming also to sit upon the throne of the kingdom, for the folly of his wickedness became poor, a poor blind man, a poor fettered captive. Before I leave this verse, let me also show the blindness of the Church of Rome; whose manner being to bring the Scripture to their Religion, not fo fetch their Religion from the Scripture, Cogunt hoc videri in Scriptura dictum, quod ante lectionem praesumpserunt credendum, do even force that to seem to be spoken in the Scripture, which before they red they have presumed that it must be believed, as Hilarius 
Hilarius.  speaketh. Thus doth one of them allege this verse to prove Purgatory: showing himself no less foolish therein, then the foolish King here spoken of: and better is a poor wise child that receiveth instruction, then such an old Master that perverteth knowledge.  
Verse 15. The Preacher drawing his thoughts unto a pause, reduceth them to that which is his general aim in this book, the vanity of human worldly things: and having in the verse before spoken of a King made poor, he setteth down in this verse the manner how sometimes it comes to pass: namely, by the defection of his people from him, by the rebellion of his son against him. I have considered, saith the Preacher: it was a thing which came into the thoughts of King Solomon, though it come not into the thoughts of a foolish King. All the living which walk under the sun; that is, the common people; for living and walking under the sun is a thing common unto all; and that he saith, all the living is but to express the great number and multitude of them. With the second child, that is, saith Lyra, Cum filio regis, qui est secundus ab eo, eo quòd regnaturus est post eum, With the son of the King, who is the second from him, because he is to reign after him. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And with him the people are said to be, because saith Lyra, Accidit quod senescente rege, populus& maxim juvenes adhaerent filio ejus, qui pro eo est regnaturus,& aliquando regnum usurpat sibi vivente patre, It cometh to pass, that the King growing old, the people and especially the younger men( whom wee may conceive to be more especially meant here by the Preacher, when he saith, living and walking under the sun, because they are most lively, they are most stirring) do adhere and cleave to his son who is to reign after him, and sometimes he usurpeth the kingdom, his Father being alive. This it was which Herod feared, whom Egesippus maketh to speak thus, Si supra modum quis liberos meos excolat, reus est mihi etiam pro liberis meis, quibus author est prolapsionis: nimius enim cultus audaciae sumptus est. Nunquid invideo liberis meís? Absit; said malo eos minus cum gratia posse, quam plurimum cum seditione. Quod enim superbiae vel rapinae est cito labitur, quod gratiae diu tenetur, If any one respect my children more then is fitting, he wrongeth me in my childrens hurt, to whom he is the cause of falling: for too much respect is the encouragement of boldness. What then? do I envy my children? No way. 
Egesippus. l. 1 de Excid. Hierusal. c. 39.  But I had rather that they should be able to do less with favour, then much with sedition. For that which cometh from pride or violence soon passeth away; but that which cometh from favour continueth long. And that this is the meaning of the place, Tremellius is so confident, as that he makes it the text in his translation, saying, Adjungentes se puero illi secundo, joining themselves to the child which is second unto him: or as the French translation also hath it, Suivre le parte de l'enfant second apres lui, to follow the party of the child that is second after him. But yet I hope I shall not offend to set down mine apprehension of the Preachers meaning: who recalling his thoughts to his principal scope, the vanity of worldly things, and having spoken immediately before of a King, considereth here the vanity of Kings. And first setting forth the glory of them, he expresseth a King under the emblem of the sun, showing that as the sun giveth life to all things, and motion to the course of things; so the King giveth life to the estates of his subjects, and motion to the proceeding of their affairs: so that living and walking under the sun shine of his government, they flourish in their ways. And indeed a King should be as the sun, cherishing and comforting his people. Wherefore when the lengthening of the life of Hezekiah was confirmed unto him by the going back of the sun in the dial of Ahaz; 
Augustin. de mirabil. l. 2. c. 28.  Saint Austin saith( if the book be St. Austins) Convenienter tale signum regi in mortis expectatione posito aptissimum evenit, quod Dominus per solem fieri disposuit, Conveniently did such a most fit sign fall out to the King being near unto death, that God did order it by the sun to be done: namely, as I conceive to teach the King, that he should be in his life as the sun to his people. With the second child: that is, he considered together with the King shining as the sun in his kingdom, his second child, that is, his grandchild established also in the kingdom, and the succession of it continued so long, so that his grand-child shall stand up in his stead. By which phrase we may note, that to be a King, is but to stand up above the rest, whereby he is higher then they are: as it is said of Saul, that when he stood among the people, 
1 Sam. 10.23.  he was higher then any of the people from the shoulders and upward. He standeth up on high, but yet at length another doth stand up in his stead: for himself to stand will not always last. Or else we may conceive the Preacher to use this phrase, because he that succeedeth, cometh to stand in his kingdom, by the fall of him that went before. I find the ancient Fathers to apply much this passage unto Christ. Saint Ambrose seemeth to be resolved that Christ is meant in this verse: and therefore he saith, Hic est juvenis secundus, ut dicit Ecclesiastes, vidi universos qui vivunt &c. De Christo dictum liquet, He is the second young man, as the Preacher speaketh, I saw all the living &c: it is manifest that it is spoken of Christ. 
Ambrosius de Instit. virginis. c. 12.  And adding farther, he saith, Primus est secundum dignitatem ante quem nullus; secundus autem secundum carnem quia post Adam. Ego plus dico, non solum secundum lego, said etiam novissimum. Ipse est& primus& novissimus. Qui primus est, propter nos se novissimum fecit. Primus quia per ipsum omnia: novissimus quia per ipsum resurrectio, He is the first according to his dignity, before whom none is; but the second according to the flesh, because the second Adam. I say more, I read, that he is not onely the second, but the last. He that is first, for us made himself the last. The first he is, by whom are all things, the last, because by him shall be the resurrection of all men.  

Tremellius in hunc vers.  Verse 16. There is no end of all the people: that is, saith Tremellius, Populares et subditos nunquam sua sort contentos esse, ac ne sapienti quidem regi plurimum acquiescere: propterea non esse mirandum, si male insipientibus accidat, People and subjects never to be contented with their condition; and not to rest long pleased even with a wise King, and therefore to be no marvel, if that it fall out amiss to them who are foolish. But howsoever, a foul shane it is unto them, a foul sin in them. The French translation putteth this sense into the Text, saying, N'on point trouve en qui s'arrester, They have found none in whom to rest, taking the original word, which signifieth an end to import the end of rest. But to follow rather the more natural signification of the word: I conceive the Preacher who hath before shewed the glory of a King in his own happiness, and in the succession of his posterity, here to show it in the multitude of his people, as if there were no end of the number of them, that being a thing whereby in Scripture the greatness of a King is often set forth. And this being set down here as the greatness of the Father, child, and grandchild, it is said, There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. The Hebrew is {αβγδ} ad facies eorum, before their faces, as not signifying so much their being before in time, as rather their being with them and under them in their several times. But after this greatness, what follows? They also that come after shall not rejoice in him: 
Lyra in hunc versum.  that is, saith Lyra, Isto filio senescente parum curabunt de eo, said magis adhaerebunt filio ejus, ut dictum est, When that son is grown old, they that are young, and so are likely to continue after him, will care little for him, but rather will stick unto his son, 
Theodoret. Quaest. 46. in Daniel.  as before is said. For as Theodoret writeth, observing how Baasha slay the house of jeroboam, and how Zimri slay the son of Baasha, Per haec docemur nos, quod eos qui vitam agunt in sceleribus& flagitiis, Deus per se invicem punit,& sceleratum tradit sceleratiori, iis utens tanquam quibusdam lictoribus, By these things wee are taught that God doth punish them, who led their lives in sin and wickedness by one the other, delivering up him that is wicked to him that is more wicked, and making use of them as executioners of his justice. But if it shall not be thought amiss to take the exposition which I have given of the former verse, wee may here understand the cutting off of that race and them from the kingdom, so that the people shall no longer rejoice in their prosperity, and under the prosperity of that succession. And because the Preacher useth this phrase, rejoice in him, perhaps it may imply the departing of the people in discontent from him, in regard of his hard usage, whereby he deprived the people of their joy under him. For so it was with the Preachers son Rehoboam, who being as St. Basil speaketh, Aetate juvenis, mentis prudentiâ adhuc junior, 
Basilius Concio: de humilitate.  populo mitius imperium urgenti graviter minatus est,& per minas regnum amisit: per quas regaliorem se fore sperabat, per eas depositus à dignitate quam habebat, Young in yeares, and more young in the wisdom of his mind, answered roughly to the people that sought a milder government from him, and by his rough answer lost his kingdom: being by those means deposed from the honour he had, by which he thought to make himself more Kingly. Surely this is also vanity and vexation of Spirit: this, even this greatness of glory as the sun, this firmness of succession, this numberless multitude of people, even this is vanity, vanishing all away to him that did enjoy it; and sometimes vanishing away by the multitude of the people, which was a part of the glory of it. This is vexation of spirit, for what greater vexation then the loss of a kingdom? There is vexation in the possessing and establishing of it, but to loose it being possessed and established, is a vexation surely. The Fathers do here also look upon Christ: Saint Ambrose saith, Illud quoque verè Christo convenit soli, quod addidit: 
Ambros. de Instit. virginis. c. 12.  Non est finis omni populo ejus, quia Christi populus innumerabilis finem non habet, That also which he addeth agreeth truly unto Christ onely, There is no end of all his people: for the innumerable people of Christ hath no end. 
Johannis 14.  Saint jerome also saith, Praesago spiritu vidit Ecclesiastes, vidit omnes viventes qui possunt adolescentis participes esse, dicentis ego sum vita, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  vetere stulto rege dimisso sequi Christum, The Preacher by a prophetical spirit, saw all the living who can be partakers of the young man that saith, I am life, to follow Christ, the old foolish King( that is the devil) being forsaken.    

CHAPTER. V.  

VER. 1. keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, then to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.  
VER. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.  
VER. 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fools voice is known by multitude of words.  
Verse 1. THE Preacher having spoken of the sinful vanities of men in themselves, and of their sinful vanities towards other men; now cometh to speak of the sinful vanities of men towards God: the vanity of mans heart making Religion itself to be vain, which in itself is the perfection of a man. And this he handleth as a Preacher more especially, showing what is to be done, what not to be done in it, rather then setting forth the vanity of it. keep thy foot: for the foot of man is weak in this case, and if it be not well kept, will soon slip aside. keep thy foot from the dirt of worldly matters, from the mire of sin and 'vice. This Pythagoras taught, when he saith, {αβγδ}, have not thy shoes on when thou sacrificest and worshippest, and which he took from the Scriptures, 
Exod. 3.5.  it being said to Moyses, Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. keep thy foot, and let not irreligious carelessness keep it back from hastening unto Gods house: bee there with the first, be there at the beginning of divine service. Cassian tells us, that in the Ancient times of the Church, 
Cassian. Instit. l. 3. c. 7.  he that did not come to prayers, Priusquam Psalmus coeptus finiretur, before the first psalm was ended, he did not dare to enter into the house of prayer, but standing at the door until the rest came out, Submissa in terram poenitentia negligentiae suae vel tarditatis impetrabat veniam, By a submiss repentance even down to the earth, obtained pardon for his tardy negligence. keep thy foot, and when thou art in Gods house, keep it there until all the service of God be ended. divers of the Ancient councils have set down censures for them, 
council. Agathens. Can. 47.  who were too forward to depart from Gods house. In general, keep thy foot as clean as thou canst. In the law, the Priests were commanded to wash the inwards and the feet in water; and this saith Philo, 
Philo de Victimis.  was done {αβγδ} surely not without a mystery, as to teach us to keep our feet clean when wee go to Gods service. keep thy foot: the original is {αβγδ}, and Tremellius reads it not without cause utrumque pedem tuum, both of thy feet, the foot of thy body, and the foot of thy soul. The foot of thy body, and let thy foot be bowed, in an humble and decent and devout posture: the foot of thy soul, that is either thy senses, for by them the soul goeth as it were forth from itself, and let them not gad, but be settled and fixed in a solemn modesty: or else taking the feet of the soul for the affections, by which the sail is carried many ways, let them be composed and ordered to the advancement of Gods service. keep thy foot when thou goest: when thou goest is the time of keeping thy foot, for when thou sittest or standest, the danger of hurt being less, the care of keeping it need not to be so great. But when thou goest keep it, for the way is very slippery, and thou wilt quickly get a fall, if thy care be not the more: the way is very rough, and thou wilt never be able to go on well, unless thy diligence bee watchful. Let thy feet therefore be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: 
Ephes. 6.15.  be thou well prepared for the work which thou goest about, when thou goest to the house of God. God hath reserved of men some for himself, as his Ministers, of things some for himself, as his tithes; of times some for himself, as his holy dayes; of places some for himself, as his houses, his Churches, his Oratories, 
Augustin. Epist. 121. ad Probam.  and in them as St. Austin speakketh, Praeter Dei cultum penitus nihil agatur, ut nomini huic et opera jugiter impensa concordent, Besides the worship of God, let nothing at all be done, that with the name, the works that are continually done in them may duly agree. That which the Preacher here calls Gods house, the ancient Christian Church did sometimes call Dominicum, the Lords house; as when St. Cyprian saith, In dominicum sine sacrificio venis? 
Cyprian. lib. de Operib. et eleemos.  Dost thou come into the Lords house without a sacrifice? In greek it was also called {αβγδ}, signifying the same that the former name doth, from whence our English name Church is derived; 
Concilium Laodicen. c. 28.  as in the council of Laodicea, {αβγδ}, The feasts of love must not be made in the houses of the Lord. Sometimes the ancient Church did call it Basilicam, 
Amalarius. l. 3. de office. c. 4.  the Kings house, because there as Amalarius speaketh, Regi omnium Deo, cultus et sacrificia offeruntur, To God the King of all, worship and sacrifices are offered. And indeed, what is it but the palace of the Great King? 
Gen. 28.16.  jacob as one troubled saith, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not, as implying what he would have done in a holy reverence, if he had known it. But how many are there, that go to Gods house, and know it to be Gods house, and yet carrying themselves there in an irreligious manner, are not onely displeasing to God, but troublesone to others that are present with them? It were better if such would keep their feet from going thither. And be more ready to hear. The original word translated ready, is {αβγδ} propinquum, signifying a nearness, either in respect of time or place, as showing us that being in the place of hearing God, wee should there hear him diligently, and that the time of hearing God being then, we should then hearken to him carefully. Wherefore the Septuagint and St. jerome do read it, Appropinqua ut audias, Draw nigh that thou mayest hear. Indeed to make up the sense in the original, there is something to be added. Our Translation addeth, Be thou: but as I conceive, we may not amiss repeat the beginning of the verse, and say, keep thy foot near that thou mayest hear, that is, listen well and be continually attentive to hear: yea keep thy foot near to hear, and let that hear as well as thine ear, that is, walk carefully according as thou art taught, hear diligently what thou art to do, and do readily what thou hearest: for this also the original word {αβγδ} here used signifieth. The French translation maketh up the sense thus; Approche-toy, draw thou near to hear. When thou goest to Gods house, let thy coming thither be, let thy drawing so near to God be to this end, namely, to hear him, to hear him with obedience, rather then to offer the sacrifice of fools. The sacrifice of fools is the outward formality of Religion; for what is it but the part of a fool, to think that God is pleased with shows of godliness? The Iewes that offered sacrifices to God, and did not make themselves a sacrifice of God, were but fools: and they that go to Church, and there stay until divine service be ended, but do not serve God in their lives, are very fools likewise. For as St. jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Non ingredi in domum Dei, said sine offensione ingredi laudis est, Not to enter into Gods house, but to enter in without offence is praise-worthy. For they consider not that they do evil: they please themselves as if they had done very well; but though it be a sacrifice offered to God, a service done to God, they do not please him. And it is so far from being well done, that it is evil in his sight, and will be evil to them in their condemnation.  
Verse 2. From hearing in Religion the Preacher passeth unto speaking; and he may be understood here either of speaking of God, or else of speaking to God. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome thinketh it best to understand the Preacher of a speaking of God, and that we are here forbidden, either to speak or think of God any thing rashly and hastily: but to consider our own weakness, and to remember, that as much as heaven is distant from the earth, so much is our understanding from the nature, glory, perfection of God. job speaking of God, saith, 
Job 26.14.  How little a portion is heard of him? The thunder of his power who can understand? It is but a portion, a little portion that we can conceive of him. The Hebrew is {αβγδ} particulam, a little bit, nay, it is said {αβγδ} particulam verbi, a little piece of a word, or, particulam alicujus, a little piece of something that wee do hear of him. David saith, What is man that God should regard him? And we may well say, what is man that he should speak or think of God? Take wee heed therefore that wee neither speak nor think rashly or hastily of him. But to listen to the Preacher, as he teacheth us to speak to God. Be not rash with thy mouth. The Preacher puts the mouth before the heart, when he forbids the rashness of them, because he would not have thee to put it before the heart in the using of it. And though he call it thy mouth, yet it is not so thine, as if thou wert Lord of it, and when thou comest to speak to the Lord in prayer, mightest use it at thy pleasure: but as it is thy mouth, so let it be thy care not to be rash with it. The original word here is {αβγδ} signifying turbari, to be troubled, and therefore noteth here such a hast as is in a troubled and confused manner. do not therefore tumble out thy words when thou speakest to God, let thy words be distinctly digested into order, understand well what thou sayest, and let others be able to understand thee. do not run when thou readest, when thou prayest. It is reported, that in the Muscovy Churches, if the Minister mistake in reading, or stammer in pronouncing his words, or speak any word that is not well heard, the hearers do much blame him, and are ready to take the book from him as unworthy to read in it. And surely, God is no less offended with the giddy praying of many, who sand their petitions in post hast unto him. The Prophet David saith, At last I spake with my tongue, his tongue came after his heart, his words came after long looking what he would say, what he should say. And the Preacher here would not have our mouth to be first, to be first opened before our understanding be opened for the directing of it. And let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing: the heart and the mouth must be joined together, and as there is clamour in ore, ita debet esse amor in cord, an expression with the mouth, so there must be an impression of it in the heart: but yet they must not be joined in rashness and hastiness. Now the heart is hasty many ways, either when it taketh not faith with it in praying, for unless faith be in the company of prayer, it will never be able to reach unto heaven: or else when it taketh not patience with it, as being contented to stay Gods leisure, until he grant our prayers: or else when it taketh not repentance with it, for God heareth not sinners: 
John 19.3. Mat. 6.33.  or else when it prefereth worldly things before heavenly things, for, seek first the kingdom of heaven: or else, if the heart utter any thing, before it hath words ready whereby to utter it: 
johan. Clym.  for as Clymachus speaks, Mens ad inquisitionem verborum distentatur, the mind is racked, distracted, confounded, when being to utter itself, it is then put to seek words. For God is in heaven, 
Glossa ordinaria in hunc vers.  and thou upon the earth: that is, saith the ordinary gloss, Deus omnia audit& videt,& stultitiam tuam arguit, quamvis ipse in coelo, tu in terra, God heareth and seeth all things, and reproveth thy folly, although he be in heaven, and thou upon the earth. Or else the force of the reason may be thus understood; for God is in heaven, a glorious Majesty, whose throne is the glorious heaven, and as anselm speaketh, quilibet reputat Deum, id quo majus esse vel excogitari non potest, every one doth reckon God to be that, then which there can be nothing greater, nothing devised to be greater: if therefore to a great man thou wouldest not speak hastily, do not to this great God. Thou art upon the earth: earth, made of earth, abiding upon the earth, and though thou mayest have the spirit of God, yet thou hast this treasure in an earthen vessel, and hast, may soon wrong an earthen vessel. Besides the Spirit of God, is a spirit of counsel, and wisdom: show therefore the Spirit of God to be in thee, by being not rash with thy mouth, nor hasty in thy heart. Therefore let thy words be few: one saith well, that the mouth is the Index of the heart, and as Indices and tables do briefly show what is more largely handled in the books; so the mouth in prayer should but briefly point out to God, what is more fully enlarged in the heart. And indeed where the heart is full, either it cannot, or it careth not to be full in speaking unto God. It is a duty required, not to speak more in praying, then a man mindeth, and it is a thing well practised in praying to mind more than a man speaketh. The judgement of those religious persons was good, 
Cassian. Instit. 2. c. 10.  who as Cassian relateth, utilius censent, breves quidem orationes said creberrimas fieri: illud quidem ut frequentius Dominum deprecantes, jugiter eidem adhaerere possimus: hoc vero ut insidiantis diaboli jacula, quae infligere nobis tum praecipue quum oramus insistit, succincta brevitate vitemus, they think it best, that our prayers be short but frequent: the one that praying to God we might continually be joined unto him: the other that by shortness, we might avoid the devils darts which he throweth especially at us when we are praying. Which yet is not so to be understood, as if length of praying were a thing wholly to be condemned. For as Saint Austin speaketh, Sicut intentio orandi non est obtundenda si perdurare non potest, ita si perduraverit non cito est rumpenda, as the intention of the mind in praying is not to bee dulled and blunted if that it cannot continue; so if it do continue, it is not suddenly to bee broken off. Absit enim ab oratione multa locutio, said non desit multa precatio, si fervens perseverat intentio. Nam multum loqui est in orando rem non necessariam superfluis agere verbis: 
Augustin. Epist. 121. ad probam.  multum autem precari, est ad eum quem precamur diuturna& pia cordis excitatione pulsare,& plaerumque plus gemitibus quam sermonibus agitur, plus fletu quam afflatu, far be much talking from praying, but let not much praying be wanting, if an earnest devotion in prayer continue; For to talk much is to pled an unnecessary matter with superfluous words, but to pray much, is to knock at his gates to whom we make our prayers, with a long and devout stirring of our heart: and which is performed rather with sighing then with speaking, rather with weeping then with talking.  
Verse 3. The Preacher here compareth the folly of a busy tongue to the dreams of a busy mind, and that as the one ariseth from multitude of business; so the other appeareth in multitude of words. 
tertul. de Anima. c. 45.  Tertullian sheweth, that dreams are vacuae jactationes negotiosae ainae, the idle tossings of a mind full of business: and in the idle tossing of many words, what can there be but a fullness of folly? How many tautologies, battologies are there: How many needless words? How often are there irreverent, unmannerly, ridiculous, if not worse passages in them? In a multitude of words there is commonly no multitude of matter. And therefore the Preacher saith, that a fools voice is known by them: it is but a voice that is heard, it is but a sound that is made, it is like the uncertain sound of a Trumpet, so that none can tell what it meaneth, what to make of it. 
Tertul. Ibid.  Tertullian expressing the nature of dreams saith, Conspice gladiatorem sine armis, vel aurigam sine curriculis, gesticulantes omnem habitum artis suae: pugnatur, certatur, said vacua jactatio est, nihilominus fieri videntur, quae fieri tamen non videntur. Actu enim fiunt, effectu vero non fiunt. Behold a Fencer without weapons, a Coach-driver without his running Chariot, acting and practising all the postures and feats of his skill: there is a fighting, there is a stirring, but it is an empty moving and gesturing, notwithstanding those things do seem to be done, which are not seen to bee done: they are done in the acting of them, but not in effecting any thing by them, so it is in many words, there is often much fencing, but no weapons wherewith the enemy is wounded, there is much running, but no chariot that winneth the race, much seemeth to be said, but it is to as much purpose as if nothing were said, all is an empty moving of the tongue. If there bee any worth of matter in the multitude of words, it is but by chance, 
Aristot. de Divin. per insomnia.  as Aristotle saith that dreams do foretell those things which come to pass. For saith he, as when a blind man shooteth many arrows, perhaps one may bee near the mark; so saith he in the multitude of dreams which pass through the head in sleep, perhaps one may hit upon that which falleth out to be so: and so in the multitude of words, which pass from the mouth of some, perhaps some there may be which carry some matter with them. Homer, 
Homer.  Duas portas divisit somnii, corneam veritatis, eburneam fallaciae. Respicere est enim inquiunt per cornu, ebur est caecum, appointed unto dreams two doors, the one a door of horn, which was the door of truth, the other a door of Ivory, which was the door of deceit, for horn, as they say, may be looked thorough, but ivory is thick and dark. These doors may well be applied unto the mouths of men, which are the doors of their minds and hearts. For to some it is a door of glass, which is soon broken open and easily giveth passage to a multitude of words, wherein the folly of their hearts and minds is discerned: to others it is a door of brass, firm and solid keeping in their words with more care and circumspection, and showing the firm solidity of their heart and mind. Wherefore when the Preacher here compareth the folly of many words to dreams, it is rather to be understood of the dreams of women then of men: because as folly is made known by multitude of words, so they are the dreams of women which are  told and made known. 
Chrys. Hom. 87. in Mat.  And therefore Saint Chrysostome asking the question why the innocency of our Saviour Christ was rather revealed in a dream to Pilats wife, then unto Pilate, giveth this reason of it, Quia non edixisset Pilatus, said secum ipse tenuisset, idcirco ex dispensatione mulier vidit, ut omnibus notum fieret, because Pilate would not have made it known, but would have kept it with himself, therefore it was ordered that a woman should see it, that so it might be known abroad. And surely a fool is like a woman in this, and as shee will bee telling her dreams, so will he bee telling his folly by his many words. But as Tertullian saith, that dreaming is amentiae instar, as it were a kind of madness; 
Tertul. de Anima. c. 45.  so indeed is much talking a kind of foolish madness; and as he saith, non compotes somniamus, we are not ourselves when we dream; so how often do men out talk themselves by their many words? At best he that useth many words is but a waking dreamer, as he that dreameth is as it were a sleeping mad man.   

VER. 4. When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.  
VER. 5. Better it is that thou shouldst not vow, then that thou shouldst vow and not pay.  
VER. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: Wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?  
VER. 7. For in the multitude of dreams, and many words, there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.  
Verse 4. The Preacher from the general of speaking and praying unto God, descendeth more particularly to vows made unto him. When thou vowest, be not rash and hasty in vowing, as jepthe was, who saith, Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, shall surely be the Lords. For it might have been an ass or a dog as well as his daughter. And therefore as Divines note, God was not pleased to forbid him, as he did Abraham: but suffered him to do it, and to offer the sacrifice of fools: 
Hugo de Sanct. Vict. de Jepthe& ejus filia.  Hujusmodi patri poena ideo retributa ne impunitum talis voti relinqueretur exemplum, Such a punishment being therefore inflicted on the Father, that the example of such a vow might not be left unpunished, as Hugo speaketh. When thou vowest a vow to God: God it is to whom a vow belongeth, 
Aquinas 2. 2ae. Q. 88. Ar. 5.  and therefore Aquinas saith, Quòd votum soli Deo fit, said promissio etiam potest fieri homini, A vow is onely made to God, but a promise may be also made to man; and therefore a vow is properly an act of religion and of divine worship. When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay: defer thou mayest by due consideration before thou vowest, but having vowed defer not to pay it. And first, that thou mayest not defer, let it not be an unlawful or unworthy thing that thou vowest, that shane do not hold thee back: let it not be above thy strength which thou vowest, that impossibility do not stop thy way. Secondly, do not defer it, least by deferring thou become less able to pay it: for as Lyra speaketh, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Ex tali tardatione fit homo plaerumque impotens ad reddendum, By such delaying a man is often made unable to perform it. Thirdly, do not defer, because if thou be speedy in paying thy vow to God, God will be speedy in rewarding thee for it. Zachaeus came down quickly and received Christ gladly, and therefore did Christ bestow upon him a speedy requital, saying, This day is salvation come to thine house. 
Luk. 19.9. Ambros. de Abel et Cain l. 1. c. 8.  For as St. Ambrose speaketh, Festinavit Dominus ad beneficium& non expectavit ut promitteret,& postea impleret, said antè fecit, postea declaravit. Dixit enim facta est salus, quod utique praevenientis fuit, non promittentis. The Lord hastened his blessing, and stayed not to promise, that afterward he might perform; but first did it and afterwards  told him of it. For he saith, Salvation is come, which is surely the voice of a preventing mercy, not of a promising grace. It is said of Cain, And in process of time, 
Gen. 4.3.  or at the end of dayes; but be not thou like him, and stay not the end of dayes, until thou have ended the paying of thy vow, proceed quickly to the performance of it, before that time proceed on farther. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, Prima voti gratia est celeritas solutionis, 
Ambros. Ibid.  The chief grace of a vow is the celerity of paying it. And therefore as he also addeth, justus celeritate suum votum commendat, A just man commendeth and setteth out his vow by the speed of doing of it. Fourthly, defer it not, for he hath no pleasure in fools: the Hebrew is directly as St. jerome doth read it, Quia non est voluntas in insipientibus, Because there is not a will in fools: that is, as I think the sense may be taken, it is in fools that there is not a will to pay it, it is the property of them to repent of what they have done in vowing, and to be unwilling to do what they have vowed. 
Augustin. Epist. 45. ad Armentarium& Paulinam.  But as St. Austin speaketh, Non te vovisse poeniteat, imo gaude jam tibi sic non licere quod cum tuo damno licuisset, Let it not repent thee to have vowed, yea, rejoice, that now in this manner that is not lawful for thee to do, which would have been lawful for thee to thy damage and detriment. Be not therefore such a fool, and defer not to pay thy vow. But the common translation and exposition of the words is to refer them to God, saying, For he hath no pleasure in fools: he hath no contentment in them, who have no more wit, then to think that he is honoured by making vows unto him, when by deferring to pay them, they are as good as not paid. The Psalmist saith, 
Psal. 50.14.  Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the most High: it is the paying of vows that is the sacrifice of praise unto him. He hath no pleasure in such fools, as regard not their own good and benefit: 
Augustin. Ibid.  for as St. Austin speaketh, Benignus exactor est& non egens,& qui non crescit ex redditis, said in se crescere faciat redditores: quia quod ei redditur, reddenti additur, He is a bountiful exactor, and not a needy one, himself doth not increase by those things, which are paid him, but he maketh the payers of vows to increase in themselves: that which is paid God, is added to his estate by whom it is paid, and maketh that the greater. Pay therefore that which thou hast vowed: the Preacher doubleth his exhortation, even thereby pressing to a speedy performing of our vows. For when a Master doubleth his call, it is to make his servant come quickly unto him.  
Verse 5. Better it is to vow, then not to vow, and that for three reasons, as Aquinas 
Aquinas.  hath set them down. First, because it is an act of divine worship, quae est praecipua inter molars virtutes, which is the chiefest among the moral virtues. 
Augustin. de virgin. c. 8.  And therefore St. Austin saith, Non virginitas ipsa, quia virginitas, said quia Deo dedita est honoratur, virginity itself is not so much honoured because it is virginity, as because it is dedicated to God. Secondly, because he that vows something and doth it, doth the more subject himself to God, then he that doth it onely. For he subjecteth himself, Non solum quantum ad actum, said etiam quantum ad potestatem, Not onely in respect of the act of doing, but also in respect of the power of doing, so that after he hath vowed, he cannot do otherwise. 
Anselm. l. de Similit. c. 4.  And therefore as anselm saith, Plus dat homini qui dat arborem cum fructibus, quam qui dat fructus tantum, He giveth more to a man, that giveth him the three with the fruits, then he that giveth the fruits onely; so he giveth more to God that voweth, which is the three, and doth it, which is the fruit, then he that doth it onely, which is the fruit onely. Thirdly, because by vowing the will is more immovably established in goodness. For to do a thing out of a settled resolution unto goodness, belongeth to the perfection of virtue, 
Aristot. Ethic. l. 2. c. 4.  as the Philosopher sheweth. As on the contrary, it doth much aggravate a sin, to commit it out of a settled stubbornness. But though it be better to vow, then not to vow, yet it is better not to vow, then not to pay when thou hast vowed. And as St. jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Melius est non promittere, quam promissa non facere, It is better not to promise, then not to do the things that thou hast promised. It had been better that Pharaoh had never promised to let the children of Israel go, then not to let them go when he had promised it. For because Pharaohs words were but an empty sound, therefore by Gods judgement, as St. Ambrose noteth, 
Ambrosius.  Ranis impletur Aegyptus sonum inanem rerum& strepitum vanum reddentibus, was egypt filled with frogs, which made a great croaking, and a vast idle sound that had nothing in it. It is better to be slow in vowing, then to be slow in paying; 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and as St. jerome speaketh, Melius est ancipitem diu deliberare sententiam, quàm in verbis facilem, in operibus esse difficilem, It is better to deliberate, and to hold long in suspense our doubtful resolution, then to be free and easy in our words, but hard and difficult in our works. But yet it is better to pay slowly, then not to pay at all. Although it be true as S. Ambrose speaketh, Quum moramfacis, non reddis, When thou delayest to perform, 
Ambros. de Abel et Cain l. 1. c. 7.  thou dost not perform, because so long as thou delayest to perform, so long thou dost not perform. But yet better late then never. And yet better never to vow, then never to pay it. S. Ambrose tells us, Votum est postulatio bonorum à Deo, cum solvendi muneris promissione. Et ideo quum impetraveris quod petisti, ingrati est tardare promissum, A vow is an asking of some good things, with a promise of performing some duty. And therefore when thou hast obtained that which thou didst sue for, it is an unthankful part to delay thy promise. But how wicked then is it, not to perform thy promise at all? An nescis quam grave sit ibi contrahere peccatum, ubi speras remedium? Dost thou not know, how grievous a thing it is to make that thy sin, which thou didst hope should have been thy comfort against sin? Certainly, it was no small curse which the Prophet intendeth, when he saith, 
Psal. 109.7.  Let his prayer be turned into sin: and it is no little curse that thou bringest upon thyself, when thou turnest the religious vow which thou hast made into a fowle offence of an irreligious not paying of it. Good therefore it were that they who in sickness or any danger are ready to make vows would consider this, that in their health and safety they might be ready to perform them. For better it is not to vow, then to vow and not to pay.  
Verse 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin: Lyra expoundeth it thus, Suffer not thy mouth by full and dainty feeding, to kindle lust in thy flesh, and to make thy flesh to sin. 
tertul. contra Psychicos. Hieronym. ad Oceanum.  For as Tertullian speaketh, Appendices gulae, lascivia, atque luxuria, wantonness and lust are the appendents of gluttony. And Saint jerome saith, venture mero aestuans cito despumat in libidines, The belly boiling with wine, doth quickly foam out into lust. The words also in themselves may admit this interpretation, Suffer not thy mouth, to give ill counsel unto thine own children, and so to cause thy flesh to sin. For this is a great wickedness, and Cyrillus Alexandrinus speaking of them that practise it, 
Cyrillus Alexand.  saith, Extrema supplicia sustinebunt, ut qui suos ipsi fructus corrumpunt, They shall suffer extreme punishment, as being such bad trees, as that they corrupt their own fruits, and therefore are good for nothing but to be cut down, and to be cast into the fire. But as the words stand in this place, they are more plainly to be understood thus, that by occasion of the mouth we should not suffer sin to be committed in our flesh, whereof the mouth is a part. Suffer not, saith the Preacher, 
Basil. Homil. 9. in Psal. 33.  for if thou shalt but suffer it, it will soon be done: because as Basil speaketh, Peccatum quod per linguam admittitur, omnium fear propensissimum, said& idem multiforme, the sin which is committed with the mouth, is of all most ready, and withall it is of many kindes. The original is, Ne des, Give not thy mouth leave, which of itself is so much given to it, give it not the reins, which is apt to run so headlong. To cause: the mouth is a great cause of sin, and therefore St. Chrysostome saith, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 4. inter 16. varias.  undique nobis diabolus insidias parare consuevit, said facilius ore peccante: nullum enim illi aeque congruum organum est in ministerium interitus atque peccati, The devils manner is to lay traps for us every way, but no way so much as by a sinning tongue; for there is no part of the body so sit for the ministry of destruction and sin. Thy flesh to sin: that is, either thyself, the part being taken for the whole, or else the bodily part of thyself. For though thy mouth be prove to sin, yet it cannot make thee to sin, nor make thy body sinful, unless thou suffer it. And though by thy former bad sufferance, now in a manner thou canst not choose but sin with thy mouth, yet suffer it not to be an ordinary cause of sinning unto thee. Neither say thou before the Angel: Saint Hieromes Master understood the Angel here, to be the particular Angel, which God hath appointed to wait upon every one, and the meaning to be, do not vow, and not perform, for thy words do not pass away into wind, but the Angel which is thy companion doth carry them forthwith unto God, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  and God whom thou thinkest to be ignorant of what thou hast said, is provoked to anger by thee, so that thy works shall be destroyed. Tremellius understandeth here the Angel of the Covenant, 
Mala. 3.1.  Christ our Lord, of whom God saith, Behold, I sand an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way: beware of him, and obey his voice, 
Exod. 23.20.& 21.  and provoke him not to anger. Others understand these words, before the Angel, to be the same with those in the second verse of this Chapter, before God, and that the Angel is here put for God, as an ambassador standeth for his Prince; the Angels being Gods ususuall ambassadors. Wherefore the Septuagint do also read it so, {αβγδ}, before God. But if I may deliver mine apprehension, I understand the Angel here to be the soul of man, which is of an angelical nature, and the meaning to be, When thou hast sinned in thy flesh, say not in thy soul, it is an error: When thou hast sinned with thy mouth, either by thy rash praying, or by thy careless vowing, either delaying to perform it, or not regarding to perform it at all, say not in thy mind, excuse it not in thy soul, answer not thy conscience which is Gods messenger to reprove thee for it, that it was an error. The original word signifieth ignorance or error, and Saint jerome tells us, that Symmachus did render the word Involuntarium, A thing unwillingly done: all which are excuses, which men pretend for not keeping of their mouths from rashness, and for not keeping of their vows and promises. First, ignorance, and either they know not that they said it, or else they said they knew not what: secondly, error, and either themselves were mistaken in that which they said, or else others are mistaken in understanding that which was spoken: thirdly, unwillingness, and either they were forced to say that which they uttered, or else they were transported by some passion, so that it was spoken against their will. The Septuagint do read it, Non est providentia, say not, There is no providence: and though Tremellius do not read it so, yet he giveth the sense of the place according to that reading; showing it to be thus, Say not with thy mouth, and sin not with thy mouth, say not in thy thought before the Angel, who is the discerner of thy thoughts, that there is no providence, as if things did fall out by error and chance. For why should God be angry at thy voice? This wicked voice of thine, either outwardly pronounced with thy mouth, or inwardly conceived in thine heart. Or else wherefore should God be angry with thy voice? either thy first voice, whereby thou hast spoken rashly, or vowed untruly: or else thy second voice, whereby thou addest sin to sin, and with more naughty excusing seekest to help and palliate thy former naughty dealing. And destroy the works of thy hands: destroy thy works, because thou hast destroyed thy words; and make thine hands to err in doing thy works ill, because thou pretendest error for thine ill speaking; and make thee ignorant in that which thou dost, because thou pleadest ignorance in that which thou saidst; and make thy works to perish against thy will, because thou alleagest thy words to have been against thy will.  
Verse 7. The most direct and verbal translation of the words as I conceive is this, Nam in multitudine somniorum,& vanitatum,& verborum, multum, ideo time Deum, For in the multitude of dreams, and vanities, and words, much, therefore fear God. To make up the sense, there must be added to the word Much, much is he angry, the anger of God being that whereof the end of the former verse speaketh. And this verse being a general conclusion to the former passage of the Chapter, wee may understand the Preacher, that many words which being full of rashness and folly, are but as many dreams, many vanities, are most offensive to God, and therefore that the fear of Gods anger should make them to be shunned. Or else in a nearness to a verbal translation, the words may be red thus, as St. jerome hath them, In multitudine somniorum, et vanitates et verba plurima, said time Deum, In the multitude of dreams, there are vanities and many words; but fear thou God: and then the sense, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  which as St. jerome tells us the Iewes gave of it, is taken from the last words; and there being, say they, in dreams many vain fears and many terrifying words, fear not them, but fear GOD who ruleth all things. Or else wee may understand the words with reference to the excuses, which in the former verse are forbidden, and which being but as dreams are only full of vanities and many words, and will not profit any thing: and therefore that God who knoweth all things rightly, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  and as Lyra speaketh, Omnia errata ad lineam justitia reducet, will reduce all errors to the line of justice, ought to be feared. But to give a translation according to the sense which the words may receive, they may be rendered thus, In the multitude of dreams, there is also a multitude of vanities, and in many words there is also much vanity, which in effect is the same with the translation which we red. To consider therefore this: Tertullian tells us, that Epicurus judged all dreams to be vain, wherein divers particular instances both of sacred and profane histories, 
tertul. de Anima. c. 46  to use Tertullians phrase, Epicuro pudorem imperant, do even force Epicurus to be ashamed, and show the true predictions which have been in dreams. And as for the constitution of mans body, dreams are oftentimes good symptoms of it, and in that respect may be called, peculiar solatium naturalis oraculi, the peculiar comfort of a natural Oracle. On the other side the Telmessenses, 
Clemens Alexandri. Stromat. l. 1.  or as Clemens Alexandrinus calleth them the Telmisenses and who as he saith invented the art of divining by dreams, they saith Tertullian, Nulla somnia evacuabant, made no dreams to be vain. But these were as far from the truth as Epicurus, and unless that men do dream in their understanding, they cannot but aclowledge that in the multitude of dreams there are many vanities. And so it is in the multitude of words. There may be some matter sometimes in some of them, but in the multitude of them there are many vanities. Let therefore the fear of Gods anger who is displeased at them, keep thee from them. And indeed the fear of God is a most excellent means to do it. For as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, 
Chrys. Hom. 15. ad populum.  Nihil tam peccata consumit, virtutem vero facit crescere ac germinare, sicut timor, There is nothing that doth so destroy sins, and make virtue to increase and grow, as the fear of Gods wrath doth. And therefore he addeth, Gehenna nihil gravius, said ejus metu nihil utilius, There is nothing more grievous then hell, but nothing more profitable then the fear of it. When our Saviour Christ was pleased to show his terror in the Temple, he made all the buyers and sellers to fly out of the Temple. Yea the Priests fled also, and none remained in it, as Anacletus Bishop of Rome affirmeth: which thing Saint jerome reckoneth among the chiefest of our Saviours miracles. 
Hieronym. uper cap. 21. Matth.  And surely the terror and fear of Gods wrath thoroughly apprehended are able to work miracles in calling men out of their sins, and in stoping them from running into them.   
VER. 8. if thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of Iudgement and Justice in a Province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher then the highest regardeth, and there be higher then they. 
Verse 8. The Preachers last words were, fear thou God, and from thence passing to those who do not fear God, he saith, If thou seest others not to fear God, not to fear his anger, yet do thou fear him, do thou fear his wrath. If thou seest the wickedness of those that are in authority, their oppressing the poor, there violent perverting of judgement and justice, and seest not the wrath of God upon them, marvel not at the matter. For he that is high above the highest regardeth them, he seeth them and their doings as well as thou dost. The original word here used is {αβγδ} custodit; as Saint jerome also rendereth it, he keepeth and preserveth. he keepeth the poor though they be oppressed by them: he keepeth judgement and justice, though it be by them violated and perverted. Perhaps thou dost marvel that good and virtuous men should be so used, so wronged. But Seneca saith unto thee, 
Seneca de proved. l. 4.  Quid miraris bonos viros ut confirmentur concuti? Non est arbour solida nisi frequens ventus incursat, ipsa enim vexatione radices certius figit, fragiles sunt quae in aprica valle creverunt, Why dost thou marvel that good men are shaken that they may bee settled? A three is not firm in the ground unless the wind do often beate upon it; the very shaking of it doth fasten the roote most surely: they are weak that do grow in the warm valley. Perhaps thou dost marvel that any should bee so cruel as to oppress the poor oppressed with want and misery: that they who have their authority to do justice and judgement, should pervert and destroy it. But is it any marvel that heat driveth away could, or that moisture destroyeth dryness? They being contrary the one to the other, the stronger overcometh the weaker. And therefore seeing the bad mind of the ruler is opposite to the good cause of the poor: and seeing the unrighteous heart of the judge, is opposite to the righteousness of judgement, no marvel though he oppresseth the one, perverteth the other. Saint John therefore saith, 
1 joh. 3.13.& 12.  do not marvel my brethren if the world hate you. The works of Cain were evil, the works of Abel good, therefore did Cain slay his brother. And therefore it is that they who are elder with Cain in place and authority being more wicked with him also, do wrong the righteous and godly. Perhaps thou dost marvel, why God whose power is high and great above all, and whose seat of judgement is higher then the highest, why he doth suffer it and permit it to be so. 
August. de Civit. Dei. l. 11. c. 8.  But marvel not, for as Saint Austin speaketh, Non ullum Deus non dico angelorum said vel hominum creasset, quem malum futurum esse praescisset, nisi pariter nosset, quibus eos bonorum usibus commodaret, God would not have created any I say not of the Angels, but of men, whom he foresaw that they would bee wicked, unless he had foreknown also to what good uses he would apply them. Wherefore as in the art of rhetoric there is a pretty elgancy from the opposition of sentences; 
Aug. Ibid.  so saith the same father, Quadam non verborum said rerum eloquentiâ, contrariorum oppositione saeculi pulchritudo componitur, By a kind of eloquence not of words, but of things, from the opposition of contraries the beauty of the world is made and set forth: Origen therefore affirmeth, 
Origenes supper Numeros  Dispositione divina sic omnia in hoc mundo esse disposita, ut prorsus nihil apud Deum sit otiosum, etiansi malum illud sit, That so are all things ordered in this world by the divine dispensation, that nothing is to no purpose, although it be evil that is suffered to bee. Now the word marvel in this verse may be referred to any of these, either to the bad will and delight of the wicked in authority; or to the patient will and sufferance of God though above them in authority; or to the greatness and foulness of the matter, and wickedness. For the original word {αβγδ} here used compriseth all. And there be higher then they: there be also others which being higher in the world and greater in strength, fear not, spare not to oppress them, as they have oppressed weaker and lower then themselves. 
Chrysost. in Psalm. 3.  For as St. Chrysostome noteth, the wicked in this world are like beasts in a theatre, and as the beast which hath killed one, is killed by another, so they Alios quidem invadunt, ab aliis vero interficiuntur, prevail over some by their oppression, but are by others brought under and oppressed. God sometimes being pleased in this world to make his judgements to be seem, in the perverting of judgement by the wicked. But howsoever God may see and say nothing now, he will at length let all see that the poor oppressed shall be relieved, that judgement and justice perverted shall bee rectified and established.   

VER. 9. Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the King himself is served by the field.  
VER. 10. he that loveth silver, shall not bee satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this is also vanity.  
VER. 11. When goods increase; they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?  
VER. 12. The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich, will not suffer him to sleep.  
Verse 9. Saint jerome reading this verse thus, 
Hieronym●● hunc vers.  Et amplius terrae in omnibus est rex in agro culto, And moreover in all things of the earth a King in a tilled field, and applying it to God, who in the verse before is said to be above all, in these words understandeth him, to be in all things of the earth as a King in a tilled field: and that this world being unto him as a field of corn, he doth not now always punish the wicked although he see their wickedness, but leaving the tares and the corn to grow together, he letteth them alone until the day of judgement, at which time he will gather the corn into his barn, and burn the tares with fire. The most direct translation as I conceive, is that of Arias Montanus, Et praestantia terrae in omnibus rex agro fit servus, And the excellency of the earth is in all things; the King is made a servant to the field. For in the height of men it being the height of pride that maketh them to oppress and wrong the poor, and those that are under them: the Preacher having shewed that there are higher then they by whom they are tamed, here he addeth, that the earth itself is higher, and more than all, though all do tread it under their feet: So that the King himself is servant, to the field. For doth he not receive his food and sustenance from the field as a servant from his master? Is not his body the livery of the earth which he weareth as a servant doth the livery of his master? Are not the works of nature, the works of the earth, and doth not a King do them, as a servant doth the works of his master? What are the revenues of his kingdom, but as it were wages which the field payeth him, as a master payeth wages to his servant? But generally that which is understood here by interpreters is the praise of husbandry, and that in Kings themselves. The Septuagint therefore red it, Et praestantia terrae in omnibus est rex agri culti; And the excellency of the earth in all, is a King of a tilled field. The Syriack reads it, Haereditas terrae in omnibus est rex qui agrum colit, The inheritance of the earth in all things is a King who tilleth the ground. Olympiodorus reads it, supper omnes rex est dominus agrielaborati, Above all is the King, who is the master of a dressed field. Others Abundantia terrae pro omnibus rex agri agricolati, The abundance of the earth for all is the King of a field husbanded. And it is to show the excellency of tillage that our Translation reads it: Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the King himself is served by the field. And indeed a great honour it is to Kings to have a care of tillage. 
Josephus Histor. l. 8. c. 2.  Iosephus speaking of the reign of Solomon saith, Mirandum in modum per id tempus auctae sunt res Hebraeorum,& tribus judae, populo ad agrorum colendorum studia converso, wonderfully in that time was the estate of the Hebrewes increased, and of the tribe of judah, the people being turned to the care of tilling the ground. Valerius Maximus showing that Masanissa King of Numidia lived above ninety yeares, sheweth also the benefit of his long life to have been this, 
Valer. Maxim. l. 8. c. 3.  Quod terram quam vastam& desertam acceperat perpetuo culturae study frugiferam reliquit, That the ground which he found wast and barren, 
nazianzen Epist. 194.  by the perpetual care of husbandry he left fruitful. nazianzen also speaking of Caudicenus the governor, and setting forth the jollities of country people when their harvest was ended, saith, Agriculturae nimirum haec festiva sacra sunt, tuo beneficio rursum ad homines reversae, These are the merry solemnities of husbandry by thy favour returned again unto men. And here let me commend the husbandry of the earth of our bodies, then which nothing is more excellent either for Prince or people: Let the plow of Gods Word subdue it, let the seeds of virtue bee sown in it, and though our bodies be earthy, let them bee made heavenly by the fruits of heavenly grace, 
Clem. Alex. Admonitio ad Gentes.  For as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh, Terram in coelum mutat Dei agricola, The husband-man of God turneth earth into heaven. But yet being not satisfied in the meaning of this verse, let me propose to consideration one meaning more. For the Preacher having noted in the verse before, how the wicked are suffered by God in their wicked doings, here taketh away the marvel of it, because it is but here upon the earth that they have their desires, where all things are common unto all; and because that though they bee on high, yet it is but in the favours of the earth; for the King himself the highest of all, hath but the privilege to bee in a field well dressed and husbanded, whereas others are in more barren soils. But that the right which God will do unto the poor oppressed, and to the righteous wronged, is reserved to bee in heaven: where they shall bee Kings not as earthly Kings in a tilled field, but in a kingdom of eternal glory. Some do here take the earth for the people of the earth, the field for the inferior sort, because they that dress the field are of the inferior sort, and then whereas in the former verse is shewed the evil of those that are in higher place oppressing those that are under them, they conceive, that here an argument is given, whereby to work contentment in it. For seeing it is needful for the general profit of all that there should be some on high, some under them, therefore though they on high do abuse their places, yet that it may bee born with, in respect of the general benefit that ariseth from inequality of persons, in which regard even the King serveth the meanest person as having need of him.  
Verse 10. The Preacher showing farther the commendation of husbandry, prefereth it before the other wealth of the world. First, because the profit of the earth satisfieth the appetite of nature feeding upon it, but silver doth not satisfy the appetite of him that loveth it. Secondly, because there is {αβγδ} revenue, fruit from the earth, but he that loveth silver although he have much of it, yet hath he no fruit by it, he enjoyeth no comfort from it. And therefore I should red the verse from the original thus. He that loveth silver shall not bee satisfied with silver, and he that loveth it in the multitude of it, shall not have fruit. But to consider the verse as it is in itself, here is a double love of money set down. First, a love in seeking of it before it is gotten. Secondly, a love of it when it is gotten. he that loveth silver, &c. It is the love of silver which is the mischief of it, and that is to bee removed from the heart of man. Wherefore when Saint Peter saith, 
Mat. 19.27.  wee have forsaken all and followed thee: if we consider this All in itself, what could it be in such poor men, who were but fisher-men, and sustained themselves by their daily labour? But S. Greg. saith well, 
Greg. Hom. in Matth.  In hac re affectum debemus potius pensare quam censum. Multum relinquit qui quantumlibet parum totum deseruit. Multum ergo Petrus& Andreas reliquerunt, quando uterque etiam desiderium habendi reliquit, In this thing we must consider rather their mind then their wealth. For he leaveth much, who leaveth all though never so little. And therefore Peter and Andrew did leave much because both did leave the desire and love of having. He that loveth silver shall not bee satisfied with silver: he that out of love seeketh after it, shall love still to seek it, and never rest satisfied. For as Saint Bernard compareth such a one, 
Bern. Tract. de diligendo Deum c. 3.  he is like to one that being very hungry gapeth continually for wind, Quo inflari potest, satiari non potest, with which he may be puffed up, but cannot be filled; for so, such are swollen great in pride with their wealth, but are never satisfied wi h it. The true happiness of man, saith Boetius; 
Boetius de consol. l. 3.  Non in eo sita est ut multa possideat, said ut desideria sua been adimpleat, Is not placed in this, that a man possesseth much, but that he do well satisfy and fill his desires. And Saint Austin saith, Beatus est qui habet quicquid vult, 
August. de Trin. l. 3.  & nihil malè vult, he is happy who hath whatsoever he will, and hath not his will bent ill unto any thing. But how wretched then is he, whose will is never satisfied, and hath his will always bent and set amiss? And he that loveth abundance: it is much easier to put off the love of wealth, before a man hath it, then when he hath it: because that which a man hath not, is not so much cared for, as being a thing not belonging to him; but when a man hath it, then it being his own, that sets his love upon it; 
Aquinas 2. 2. Quest. 86. Answ. 3. Aug. Epist. ad Paulin.  and then as Aquinas saith, it is like the cutting off of a member from h m, for a man to part with it. Saint Austin therefore saith, Terrena diliguntur arctius adepta quam concupita, Earthly things are loved more eagerly being obtained then being desired and sought for. Then it is that he loveth it as his God, setting it up in his treasury as in a Temple, or in his chest as in a shrine, and not daring himself to touch it as a sacred thing. So that not satisfied with the increase, he hath no fruit in the enjoying of it. The name onely and care of a rich man, is that which such a one hath, he hath no use of his riches. He may be said to have a rich purse, but a rich mind such a one cannot have, who will hardly spare himself that which he standeth in need of. Wherefore Seneca saith, 
Seneca Epist. l. 9. ep. 109.  Desunt inopiae multa, avaritiae omnia: hinc avarus in nullum bonus est, in seipsum pessimus; tam enim ei dost quod habet quam quod non habet, to poverty many things are wanting, but to covetousness all things: hence it is that a covetous man who is good to none, is worst to himself; for he wanteth as well that which he hath, as that which he hath not. But especially he is said to have no fruit of his abundance, because it doth not bring forth the fruits of charity. 
Greg. Pastor. Cur. Par. 3. Adm. 21.  For as Saint Gregory speaketh, Fructus ex eis caperetur, si eas been spargere non amando voluisset. Qui vero eas diligendo retinet, hic utique sine fructu relinquet. The fruit of benefit should bee gathered from riches, if he that hath them by not loving of them would scatter them abroad. But he that loving them doth keep them shall leave them without fruit. And no marvel if silver and abundance of riches do not satisfy the soul of man, for as Saint Austin speaking to God saith, 
Aug. Solil. c. 30.  Facta est anima rationalis capax Domine majestatis tuae, ut à te solo& nullo alio posset impleri, The reasonable soul is made capable, O Lord of thy Majesty, that by thee alone and nothing else it may be filled. 
Bern. Hom. supper Mat. 19.27.  And Saint Bernard therefore saith also well, Anima rationalis caeteris omnibus occupari potest, impleri non potest, The reasonable soul may be busied about other things, but it cannot be filled with them. The Preacher therefore concludeth, This is also vanity. This is not the good of man, for to that two things are required, first Vt sit bonum habenti, That it be good unto him that hath it; secondly, Vt terminet ejus appetitum, That it terminate and set an end unto his desire: but this riches do not, being the care and torment of him that hath them, and without fruit of comfort, and leaving his desire unsatisfied, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  as if he had them not. But this is therefore vanity, and though it bee silver, although it be abundance of silver, it is a thing of nothing.  
Verse 11. The Preacher having preferred the wealth of the field, before the wealth of money; yet here sheweth the wealth of the field to be vain also, because when the good fruits of the earth are increased, they are increased also that do eat them. For more being needful for the sowing, reaping, ordering of them, there are the more mouths to devour them. 
Arabica versio.  This sense the arabic translation makes to be most proper, for that reads it, In multitudine panis, multi& qui comedunt eum, In the multitude of bread, many there are also that do eat it. And to show the vanity of this, the Preacher addeth, What good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? What good doth that do the owners, which is eaten by others? What nourishment have they by it, save onely the feeding of their eyes? He that is the Master may please his eyes in beholding many to be fed with his provision; but as St. jerome speaketh, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  Plus quam unius hoins cibum ipse capere non potest, More then the sustenance of one man himself cannot receive. Or else wee may consider that the Preacher having shewed the vanity of riches in the covetous wretch that doth not use and enjoy them; here he speaketh of them as they are made use of. And then we may take his words either in a good or in a bad sense. First, in a bad sense: When goods increase, and men have much to spend, they are increased that eat them; they will have many about them, they will keep a great retinue, and show the greatness of their estates, by the great number that are fed by them. But what more vain then this? For what good is there to the Masters of them? What are they for the most part, but as Lyra speaketh, Inutiles& ribaldi, useless, needless, 
Lyra in hunc versum. Nah. 3.17.  and ribaldry fellows. Of whom wee may understand the Prophet Nahum to speak, when he saith {αβγδ} Coronantur, crwoned they are as Locusts, that is, those by whom they are crwoned and compassed about are but as Locusts, and as Locusts do onely devour the fruits of the earth, so do they onely devour meate and drink. What good is there therefore to the Masters of them, save the beholding of them with his eyes? The beholding of so many to be their servants, to wait upon them, and to follow after them. 
Olympiodor. in hunc vers.  This sense the reading of Olympiodorus doth seem to countenance, who hath it thus, Principatus enim est illi ut videat oculis suis, For it is a principality to his vain mind, and he thinketh himself a little King to behold it with his eyes. Or else the Preachers words may be taken in a good sense thus. Although some be so base, that they will not spare a little out of their superfluity to relieve others; yet they that are good, when their goods are increased, will do good with them, and they whom their charity feedeth, shall be increased also. But then the latter part of the verse must be red, either as the Syriack hath it, Et factum est, foelix possidentibus se, 
Syriaca versio.  quoniam de capite meo vidioculis meis, And it becometh a happiness to them that enjoy themselves, because from mine head I have seen it with mine eyes. Or else as the Venetian translation hath it, Et quid gracious esse poteritidomino ejus, 
Veneta versio  quàm videre hoc ipsum oculis suis, And what can be more acceptable to the owner of it, then to behold this very thing with his eyes? to behold so many blessing God, and praying for him, by whom they are relieved. But the original word which I find in the Hebrew being {αβγδ}, and which though translated by divers, Quid prodest? What profit? yet properly signifieth rectum, that which is right, and so is used by the Preacher in the second Chapter, the one and twentieth verse; the meaning which I conceive of the Preachers words is this. When goods are increased by the blessing of God, care and charge are increased with them, and they are more that eat them, because there must be more to look unto them, to manage, and to order them. Of job wee read that his substance was seven thousand sheep, 
job 1.3.  three thousand Camels, five thousand yoke of Oxen, five hundred she asses, and a very great household. His substance being shewed to be great, the great number of his household is shewed also, as being needful for it. But besides, Quid rectum dominis suis, What is right to their Masters, then that with their eyes they behold and look to their servants, and see that they govern themselves well, and that they be not idle. Abraham had so great a family, 
Gen. 18.6.& 7.  that his own servants made an army, wherewith at once he conquered divers Kings: yet he had them all so employed, that when the three men came unto him, he ran to Sarah his wife to cause her to make ready three measures of fine meal, and himself ran to the heard and fetched a calf tender and good. Now thus to look to the well managing of a great estate, to the well governing of a great family, being no little toil and vexation of spirit, well sheweth the vanity of worldly goods, even in them that have abundance, 
Bernar. Ser. 7. in Psal. Qui habitat.  and do use it well. The former part of this verse St. Bernard applying in a spiritual sense, and comparing a religious man unto a fruitful Vineyard, telleth us, Tali vineae nunquam infestationes, nunquam insidiae deerunt, nempe ubi multae opes, multi sunt& qui comedunt eas. Sapiens ergo solicitus servare vineam suam, non minus quam excolere, nec sinet eam vorari à vulpibus, To such a vineyard there are never wanting annoyances and snares, for where are much riches, there are many also that eat them. A wise man therefore being careful to keep his vineyard, no less then to dress it, will not suffer it to be devoured by Foxes.  
Verse 12. The Preacher here joineth the covetous wretch, and the voluptuous rich man together, showing a poor labourer to be in a better condition then both they are. For whether he eat little, as the covetous wretch doth: and though his poverty deny him that, which the others love of his riches will not grant himself, yet hath he little care, little trouble of mind, so that he enjoyeth his sleep quietly, which is the wages that nature payeth him for his labour. Yea, it is a sweet sleep unto him: his sleep is to him as the sweet sound of still music, all his senses being joined in an unison of rest: his sleep is to him a sweet moisture, which distilling from the honeycomb of labour, dulleth the appetite of watchfulness, and withall nourisheth his strength, to make him able to watch the better. Whereas the abundance of the covetous wretch, will not suffer him to sleep; 
Ambros. de Nabut. c. 6  but as St. Ambrose speaketh, Excitat eum cupiditas, torquet invidia, sterilitas proventuum infoecunda perturbat, solicitat abundantia, His covetousness rowseth him, his envy tormenteth him, the barren unfruitfulness of his revenues disquieteth him, his abundance vexeth him. Yea, as the same Father noteth, Ne ipse quidem Deus eum dormire permittit, even God himself will not suffer him to sleep. For in the Gospel, God himself, Interpellat cogitantem, excitat dormientem, Interrupteth the rich wretch, while he is thinking, awakeneth him while he is sleeping, and saith unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be taken from thee. 
Luke 12.20.  And as God doth not suffer him to sleep, so neither doth he suffer himself to sleep, but being full of trouble, In ubertate fructus vocem gementis emittit, In the plenty of his fruit he sendeth forth the voice of sorrow, saying, Quid saciam? What shall I do? For is not this the voice of a poor man, who hath not means to live? But the poor labourer who worketh hard to get his means of living, by his labour getteth sweet sleep, whereby his life is by far more happy and comfortable unto him. Or else whether the poor labourer eat much, as the voluptuous rich man, as having by his labour the better stomach to eat, and not wanting to supply his stomachs desire, yet it is {αβγδ}, a plainness of nourishment, which being not heavy of digestion, doth not burden the body, and from which health, 
Clem. Alexand. Paedag. l. 2. c. 1.  {αβγδ} & justae vires, and just strength ariseth, as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh; so that he enjoyeth his due and just sleep, whereby he is sweetly refreshed, and made more able and fit for his labour. Whereas the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep; and that saith Lyra, for two reasons. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Primo quia reformidat ire adlectum, donec per spatium temporis vigilaverit post cibum: secundo quia in lecto existens ex nimio cibo sentit dyscrasias somnum impedientes, First, because he feareth to go to his bed, until for a time he hath watched after the eating of his meate; secondly, because being in his bed, from too much meate he findeth many distempers which hinder his sleep. So that as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh, 
Clem. Alexand. Paedag. l. 2. c. 9.  {αβγδ}, ventrum in arctum compressorum murmura& tumultus, The murmurings and tumults of his belly and straitned guts, make such a noise as that he cannot sleep. His laziness also making his stomach to be dull, there is {αβγδ} studium delitiarum an accurate study of delicates to entice his stomach to a full feeding: but this cannot entice sleep to come unto him. And therefore although he do invite it by his soft downy bed, which on either side of his body riseth up {αβγδ} aggeris instar, like an high bank, as if it would keep in by force the pleasant streams of sleep, yet he cannot entertain it. Whereas the poor labourer, whose hard lodging is, {αβγδ}, iners artificium quietis, the unartificiall art of rest, huggeth his rest most sweetly, and findeth no disturbance until the time of rising awakeneth him. It is {αβγδ} plena& perfecta dormitio, a full and perfect sleeping, which he enjoyeth: whereas though the other may have some imperfect unquiet slumberings, yet his abundance of eating will not suffer him {αβγδ} to sleep soundly, which are the original words here used. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome applying this verse to a spiritual sense, saith, Porro quia somnus, communis de hac vita exitus appellatur: melior erit requies ejus qui operatur in praesenti;& secundum vires suas in bonis operibus conversatur, quàm eorum divitum, de quibus scribitur, vae vobis divitibus, quia recepistis consolationem vestram, Moreover, because the common passage out of this life is called a sleep, better shall be his rest who worketh in this present life, and according to his ability is conversant and busied in good works, then of those rich men of whom it is written, Woe unto you that are rich, 
Mat. 6.24.  for you have received your consolation.   

VER. 13. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.  
VER. 14. But those riches perish by evil travel; and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.  
VER. 15. As he came forth of his Mothers womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.  
VER. 16. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?  
VER. 17. All his dayes also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.  
Verse 13. There is, saith the Preacher as pointing at it, and showing it unto us, and as desirous that others should see it, and take notice of it, as well as himself had seen it and observed it. There is a sore evil: the Septuagint do read it, Infirmitas pessima, a sore disease; St. jerome Languor pessimus, a sore weakness; Pagnine and Arias Montanus, Mala infirmitas, an evil disease; Tremellius, Malum afferens aegritudinem, an evil bringing sickness. And surely, as St. Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambros. in Psal. 1.  Malus est languor qui bonam quietem mentis aufert, It is an evil weakness which taketh away the good quietness of the mind: it is an evil sickness which taketh away the sweet sleep of the body, whereof the former verse speaketh. And what is this disease, but the dropsy of the soul? For distendunt divitiae, non implent, Riches do but stuff out the soul, they do not fill it; even as in a dropsy, drinking swells the body, but doth not stay the thirst. What is this infirmity, but the wolf of the heart? For insatiabilis edacitas cupiditatis est, The devouring of covetousness is insatiable; even as the infirmity of the wolf devoureth continually. What is this sickness, but to use the words of St. Ambrose, Quaedam animarum pestilentia, quae corrupto salubrium cogitationum spiramine, gravi odour terrae illius ac flagitiosae voraginis contrahitur, lues aestuantium passionum miseranda grassatur, A kind of plague of the soul, which the spirits of wholesome thoughts being corrupted, is gotten from the ill sent of that earthly disposition, and pernicious gulf, a woeful pestilence of the boiling affections which seizeth upon them. But this translation supposeth as I conceive the original word to be {αβγδ} which signifieth sickness or infirmity: whereas it is not that word which now wee find, but {αβγδ} dolorificum, an evil bringing sorrow, as Buxtorfius giveth the force of it. And surely, whatsoever the contentment of a covetous mind may be for the present, it will bring sorrow, or bring forth sorrow at the last. Yea, indeed it is an evil, which as {αβγδ} signifieth, from whence the original word here used is derived, with sorrow bringeth forth sorrow, with the sorrow of care and wretchedness, bringeth forth the sorrow of Gods wrath against it. Or else the radical word {αβγδ} signifying also permanere, residere, to remain, to abide; the word here used, may signify such a sore evil, as sticketh close, and is not easily removed. Which I have seen under the sun: that is, literally in this world, metaphorically it may be expounded, under the sunshine of plenty and abundance, under the light of knowledge and understanding. Riches kept for the owners thereof unto their hurt: Saint Ambrose considering the words of the rich man in the Gospel, when he saith to his soul, Thou hast much goods laid up for many yeares; first, he noteth, Nescit avarus bona, nisi ea quae quaestuosa sunt nominare, A covetous man knoweth not how to call any thing goods, save those things that are gainful. But then permitting him to call them so, he saith, Cur ergo de bonis facitis mala, quum de malis bona facere debeatis? Why then do ye make good things to be evil, when ye ought to make evil things to be good? Ei qui uti scit, 
Ambros. l. de Nabut. c. 7.  multa bona sunt, ei qui nescit uti verè mala, To him that knoweth how to use them, they are much good, to him that knoweth not how to use them, they are truly hurt and evil. Give them to the poor, thy righteousness remaineth for ever, and what greater good can there be then this is? But whilst thou keepest them wretchedly, and as thou thinkest, dost keep them for thyself, who art the owner of them, Saint Ambrose telleth thee truly, 
Ambros. Ibid.  Non tibi reservas, said potius tibi ipsi adimis: magis enim servares tibi, si dispertires aliis, Thou dost not keep them for thyself, but rather takest them away from thyself: for thou shouldst better keep them for thyself, if thou didst distribute them to others. The same Father marking the rich fools words, when he saith, I will pull down my barns, addeth, Rightly doth he say, I will pull down my barns, Destruit enim horrea, qui non novit sua frumenta dividere, said claudere, He pulleth down his barns, who doth not sand abroad his corn, but shutteth it up. Destruit sua dives, qui nescit aeterna, That rich man destroyeth his own, his own temporal things, who seeketh not eternal. Rectè destruit, qui sapienter aedificare non novit, He doth truly pull down, who knoweth not how to build up wisely: he truly hurteth himself, who keeping his riches for himself, doth no good with them. But the words of the Text being, Kept for the owners thereof, or, Kept to the owners thereof, they may seem to imply, as if they were kept and preserved by some other for them. And indeed God doth preserve their riches for these covetous wretches, expecting when they will bestow them to his glory, which he keepeth for their comfort: but they possessing them unprofitably, they are but kept for their hurt. 
Chald. Costi.  Thus the Chaldee Paraphrase doth give the sense of the place, saying, Est autem perniciosum malum quod vidi sub sole, cvi medicina non est: homo qui divitias congregat, neque eas ad pietatem confert, parùm merely praevidens dierum finem. Haec enim substantia illi in perniciem venturo saeculo conservatur, There is a pernicious evil which I have seen under the sun, for which there is no remedy, a man who gathereth riches, and doth not bestow them upon the works of devotion, little indeed foreseing the end of his dayes. For this substance is kept unto him, for his hurt and mischief in the world to come.  
Verse 14. From the perishing of the rich, the Preacher goeth on to the perishing of their riches: 
Salvianus contra avaritiam. l. 1.  For so Salvianus also understandeth the former verse: who citing the verse thus; Pessimum ac feralissimum morbi genus divitiae conservatae in malum domini sui, A most grievous and a most lamentable kind of sickness, are riches kept to the hurt of the owner; he addeth, Verum est: quid enim pejus aut quid miserius, quam si quis praesentia bona in mala futura convertat,& quae ad hoc à Deo data sunt ut pararetur ex iis vitae beatitudo perpetua, per hoc ipsa quaeratur mors& damnatio sempiterna. In quo& illud considerandum est, quod si servatae divitiae ad malum hoins conservantur, quanto utique ad majus malum coacervantur? It is true: for what is worse or more miserable, then if any one do turn the present good things into future evil things, and those things which God hath given to this end, that from them may be gotten the eternal blessedness of life, that thereby death itself should be sought, and everlasting damnation. In which this also is to be considered, that if riches being kept, are kept to the hurt of man, then how much greater is the hurt to which they are heaped up? But to pass to the riches themselves, which pass away so soon. The Preacher saith, But those riches perish: he saith not they shall perish, but to show how suddenly how certainly they vanish, in the present time he saith, they perish. The original therefore may not amiss be rendered. And the riches themselves perish; our translation hath it, But those riches, that is, those which a covetous mind hath gotten and possesseth. Wherefore Baldvinus applying to this purpose, the Manna of the Israelites, 
Baldvinus in Alleg. Tilmanni.  which kept unto the morning perished, saith of it, Hoc exemplo de manna damnatur malum avaritiae, qua pecunia male parta, possessori suo in vermem vertitur, By this example of the Manna the evil of covetousness is condemned, by which money ill gotten and kept perisheth and is turned into worms to the possessor of it. By evil travel: by the evil travel of those who make a prey of them. For as Lyra speaketh, Per hoc raptores& cupidi insidiantur illi; By the means of his wealth ravenous Catch-poles do lay snares for him. Or else it may be rendered, In evil travel: that is, even in the evil travel or his solicitous and vexing carefulness to preserve them. 
Clem. Alex. stromatum lib. 4.  For as Clemens Alexandrinus citeth out of Antiphanes the comedian, Pluto is lame when he cometh unto men; but when he goeth away he hath wings. Or else in evil travel, that is in an evil vexation and breaking of his heart for the perishing of them: and then as Isidore relateth, 
Isidore Pelusiota lib. 2. Epist. 149.  that anciently the manner was after a feast to take the harp and to sing unto it this song, O divitiae utinam nec in terra nec in mari videamini, O riches, I wish that ye might never be seen either by Land or Sea; so the same is the ditty of his pensive heart. And he begetteth a son: the manner is of many, that to cover their covetousness they pled their care for their children, and their affection to them, Quasi vero quicunque patres sunt, nequaquam aut possint aut debeant omnino esse, nisi divites,& amare liberos suos sine opum multiplicatione non valeant, As if whosoever are parents, either cannot or ought not to bee so, unless they be rich; and that they could not love their children without abundance of wealth, as Salvianus speaketh. 
Salv. contra Avaritiam lib. 1.  But therefore it is sometimes the justice of God to take away their riches, and to leave them nothing to leave unto their children, for whom as they pretended their covetous scraping was. The mention of begetting a son is here set down after the perishing of his riches; as if the Preacher to show Gods wrath against such covetous wretches would imply unto us, that while they have their wealth, God doth not give them a son, that they might not have the comfort and hope of leaving it unto him; but when their wealth is gone, then they have a son, that their misery may bee the greater by leaving him in misery. And there is nothing in his hand: because there was so much covetousness in the heart of the father, there is no support of sustenance in the hand of the son. There is nothing in his hand, no not so much as to labour; but as Lyra speaketh, Bonis paternis privatus, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  ad laborandum pro victu acquirendo non est assuetus, Being deprived of his fathers goods, he is not used to labour, whereby to get his meate.  
Verse 15. Poverty is the porter of mans life, that lets him in, that lets him out: it lets him in naked as leaving him to himself, it lets him out naked as making him to leave all that he hath behind him. Some it lets in, and follows still through their whole life, even till it lets them out again. And although some it leave for a time, yet oftentimes it meets with them again. Yea even he doth sometimes fall upon it, who is most careful to drive it away, and thinketh himself to bee farthest from it. The best way therefore is so to shun it, as not to be afraid to meet it: not by a careless negligence to lie naked to the assaults of it, and yet not to bee disquieted with vexing impatiency, if it strip a man of all, and leave him naked, as he came forth of his mothers womb. It is St. Chrysostomes question upon the like words of job. said cujus tandem uteri meminit? 
job 1.21. Chrysost. in Catena Gr.  Nempe primi illius opificii, suae è terra coagmentationis, But what womb is it, that is spoken of? Namely the womb of the earth, from whence man was framed in that first working of God. And surely as there, so here, the returning that is added doth make it necessary so to be understod: for it is to the womb of the earth that man returneth. Now from this womb man came naked also, and then as Saint Chrysostome also speaketh, 
Chrys. Ibid.  Nuditas donum fuit, munusque imperatorium, ut adhibito study videret homo quemadmodum imbres declinaret, quemadmodum sapienter frigus arceret, quemadmodum ad depellendos ictus muniretur, &c. & aliam& aliam solertiam nuditas genuit, nakedness was a gift and a royal bounty, that by study and care man might find out, how to shelter himself from rain, how wisely to keep away could, how to fence himself for the resisting of blows, &c. and thus man being brought forth naked, his nakedness brought forth one invention after another. But that man returneth naked this is the punishment of God for sin. And well it were if he that returns naked for sin, did return naked without sin. 
Origenes Hom. 1.  Origen speaking of job saith, Nudus peculio said& peccato, nudus substantia said& injustitia; nudus malis, bonis vero omnibus indutus, justitia vestitus, sanctitate circumdatus, charitate ornatus, misericordia ac bonis operibus coronatus, Naked of Cattle, but naked also of sin, naked of substance but naked also of wickedness; naked of evils but having on all good things, clothed with righteousness, encompassed with holinesse, adorned with charity, crwoned with mercy and good works. But the covetous wretch, as he returneth naked of his wealth, so he returneth loaded with his sins, loaded with the cries of the poor that have not been relieved by him, loaded with the curses of those that have been wronged by him. And whither doth he return? Of job Cl. Alexandrinus saith, Revertitur ad locum ubi Deus est verus pater& matter nostra, 
Clem. Alex. Catena Gr.  He returneth to the place where God is, who is our true Father and Mother both. But the covetous wretch returneth to the devil, who as he was the father of sin in man, so is the punisher of man for sin; and as he bringeth forth wealth to many by the devices which he teacheth them, so doth he bring forth for them torments in hell. To go as he came: it is the manner to sand away unwelcome guests as they came, and a covetous wretch being a most unwelcome guest to the world, as doing no good in it, he is also sent away as he came. Or as a bad servant is used, and turned away to go as he came; so a covetous wretch, who is so bad a servant to God, neglecting his business for which he made him rich, and committed his talent to him, is by God turned away with shane to go as he came. So shall he go, and when perhaps he hath stayed a good time and spent the time carefully, in his own ways, and by his cate hath done much and laboured hard in his worldly business; so shall he go, as if he had done nothing, as if then he were to begin, and as when he first came, so shall he go: this must needs be a sore evil: And shall take nothing of his labour; Nihil attulit natus, nihil hinc auferet sublatus, he brought nothing when he was born and brought forth, and when he is taken away he shall take away nothing, 
Orig. in c. 1. Iobi.  saith Origen. Nothing of his labour: although it was his labour that did get it, that is not a sufficient plea for the keeping of it. he that laboureth to get, must labour to get well, and having well gotten by well labouring, he must also use well that which he hath gotten, or else he may justly fear, least God in justice deprive him of it. Which he may carry in his hand: that is, which he may give away when he dieth. For the hand being the instrument of giving, the Preacher useth this phrase to express a giving. Nothing therfore hath he to give nothing to his children, nothing to give to his friends, or kindred, nothing to give to the poor, that though at last, yet by showing mercy to the distressed he might find mercy with God. Charity is most acceptable to God, when it is shewed to the poor in the time of health and life; but I will not deny it acceptance with God even in death also. Howsoever let me say, as Salvianus doth, Licet offerat, 
Salvianus contra Avaritiam. l. 2.  oret Deum ut lenta sua placeat oblatio, plangens ad ipsum quod tarde offerat, plangens& poenitens quod non prius, Although a man do give, let him beseech God, that his slow giving may be pleasing to him; lamenting this very thing that he giveth so late, bewailing and repenting that he did not give sooner. But sometimes it is the justice of God that he whose wretched covetousness in his life, would not give when he had it, shall at his death have nothing in his hand to give, that being taken away which he would not give. 
Fulgos.   
Verse 16. When Constantine the Emperour had shewed the King of Persia, all the good and glorious things of Rome, then did the King show him this sore evil whereof the Preacher speaks here; for thereupon he making answer said, Mira quidem haec, said ut video, sicut in Persia, sic Romae homines moriuntur, These things are indeed wonderful, but I see that as in Persia, so at Rome men die also: thereby implying that wheresoever any one is, whether at Rome or in Persia, or how great soever any one is, whether King of Persia or Emperour of Rome, when he dyes, he must go as he came. In all points as he came: What? In all points? He came a child, shall he go away a child also? Yes, 
Chrys. Hom. 47. ad Popul. Antioch.  if he be such a covetous wretch as here the Preacher speaketh of. For as Saint Chrysostome saith, Si nondum vilitatem rerum temporalium conspicimus, nondum viri facti sumus, scientes quod haec sunt puerilia, If we do not discern the baseness of temporal things, we are not yet become men, knowing that these are childish things. As he came so he goeth: he came from nothing, 
job 6.8. Greg. in c. 6. Iobi.  he goeth to nothing, so job speaking of such saith, Their paths of their ways are turned aside, they go to nothing and perish. And Saint Gregory expounding those words of job saith, In vacuum ambulant qui nihil secum de fructu sui laboris portant. Alius namque adipiscendis honoribus desudat, alius multiplicandis facultatibus aestuat, alius promerendis laudibus anhelat, said quia juncta haec quisque moriens deserit, labores in vacuum perdit, quia secum ante judicem nihil tulit, They go to nothing, because they carry with them nothing of the fruit of their labour. One sweareth in getting of honours, another toileth in multiplying riches, another is out of breath in hunting after pleasures: but because every one dying leaveth all these though joined together, he looseth his labour for nothing, because he bringeth nothing with him before the judge. 
Chrysost. in Euangelis. Hom. 15.  And what profit hath he? Let Saint Chrysostome answer for riches, who speaking of them saith, In vita cruciant, in morte deserunt,& in divino tribunali divites ipsos accusant, In his life they torment him, at his death they forsake him; and before the divine tribunal they are ready to accuse him. Now being things of no profit, what usage is fitter for them then to tread them under our feet? Doth not the Prophet David tell us, 
Psalm. 8.6.& 8.  That God hath put all worldly things under our feet, all sheep and Oxen, yea and the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the Sea? Nos ergo bona temporalia in eo loco teneamus, in quo Deus ea constituit, Let us place temporal things in that manner as God hath set them, 
Eusebius Emissenus. Zach. 6.1.  as Eusebius Emissenus speaketh. Let not our hearts bee set upon those things, which God hath set under our feet, and which for their profit deserve no better regard of us. For what profit hath he that laboureth for the wind? The vision of the four Chariots which the Prophet Zachary saw, 
Zach. 6.3.& 4.  is by the common opinion of all learned men both Iewes and Christians, as Saint jerome and Saint cyril affirm, interpnted to bee understood of the four Monarchs: but the angel which talked with the Prophet being asked by him, what they were, he answered, These are the four winds of heaven. And indeed what is the greatest glory of this world, but a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again? Philo therefore speaking of the Kings of the earth concludeth rightly, 
Philo, in libro, quod Deus sit Jmmutab.  Nihil in humanis rebus praeter umbram& levissimam auram, sine mora praetervolantem, That there is nothing in human things besides a shadow and a very light air, which without staying flieth away. And whereas Seneca saith, creed mihi levia sunt, propter quae non leviter excandescimus, believe me they are light things, for which wee are not lightly moved; let us at least believe the Preacher, who tells us they are wind.  
Ver. 17. The life and death of a covetous wretch is here set forth unto us: his death in the next two verses before, his life in this ver. All his dayes: he keepeth no festivals, he observeth no daies of joy and gladness, but all his dayes are alike to him. And though they bee dayes to him, dayes of plenty and prosperity, dayes of a sunne-shining fortune, yet he maketh them nights to himself, he eateth in darkness, ashamed justly that any one should see how coarsely, how scantly he feedeth. He hath none that eareth with him; that would bee too much light to witness his baseness. he loveth to eat in darkness so much, that for want of meate his hand can scarce find the way to his mouth. Or else to take his eating whereby life is maintained to signify his life, all the dayes of his life are spent in darkness, in a strange darkness of mind. And therefore Saint Cyprian saith, O detestabilis cacitas mentium, 
Cyprianus, Epist. 2.  & cupiditatis insanae profunda caligo, quum exonerare se posset& levare ponderibus, pergit magis fortunis augentibus incubare, pergit paenalibus cumulis pertinaciter adhaerere, O the detestable blindness of minds, and the deep darkness of mad covetousness, when that he may sithen himself, and ease his weights, he goes on to hug more closely his vexing riches, and cleaveth the faster to his tormenting heaps. All his days are spent in darkness, he seeth not the wants and miseries of others: for though he sees them, he affordeth not help, as if he saw them not. 
Chrysostom. Homil. 14. in 1am ad Corinth.  Wherefore S. Chryso. saith, Explica utriusque animam,& ejus qui despicit pecunias,& ejus qui non despicit:& videbis quod hic quidem est similis furentibus, nihil volens videre nec audire, ille vero est similis portui liberato à fluctibus,& est omnium amicus, unfold the mindes of both, of him that despiseth moneys, and of him that despiseth them not; and thou shalt see that this man is like to them that are mad, and will see nothing, hear nothing; the other is like to a haven freed from tossing waves, and is a friend to all. All his dayes are spent in darkness, In obscurity and baseness of life, being of no esteem, no credit where he liveth: for so the original word {αβγδ} may also signify. And yet he hath {αβγδ} indignationem indignation( which is the original word that follows and is translated sorrow) because he is no more regarded, no more reckoned of seeing his wealth is so great. But to follow the reading of our translation, wee may distinguish the latter words of the verse thus, he hath much sorrow, by strangers, much wrath by his own household, much sickness by himself. First, much sorrow from strangers: for as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, Qui pecunias diligit, innumeros habet suspectos, 
Chrysost. ad Populum.  & multos accusatores, invides, calumniantes& insidiantes, He that loveth riches, suspecteth numberless people, and hath many accusers, envying him, slandering him, and laying snares for him. Secondly, much wrath by his own household: for, as it is said that Absalom did, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 13. in Epist. ad Romanos.  he weigheth the hairs of his head, Et jacturam si faciat, ut vel obolum perdat, gravissime omnium se affligit ac vitam amisisse arbitratur, And if he suffer any damage, so that he lose a farthing or a half penny, he thinketh himself to be afflicted above all measure, and even to have lost his life, as Saint Chrysostome also speaketh. Thirdly, his own much sickness is the vexing malady of his own tormenting care, 
Chrys. Hom. 14. in 1am ad Corinth.  and this is such a sickness, that Saint Chrysostome speaking of it saith, Fugiamus ergo hunc morbum, fugiamus hanc gehennam, est enim gehenna cupiditas ista, Let us fly therefore from this disease, let us fly from this hell, for this covetous desire is a very hell. And it is said his sickness, because he puts it on himself: 
Sen. Ep. 83.  for as Seneca speaketh, Non habet ut putamus fortuna longas manus, neminem occupat nisi haerentem sibi, The misery of wealth, hath not as wee think long arms, it possesseth none but them, who by love do stick and adhere unto it. Or else to take all in reference to himself only. His sorrow wee may see growing in the field of the rich man in the gospel, 
Amb. Serm. 81.  of which Saint Ambrose saith, Video quod non tam redditus largiores, quam gemitus attulit graviores, I see that it did not bring forth unto him, so much larger revenues as more grievous sorrows. His wrath against himself is because he never gets fast enough, for to him, mayor acquisitio fit mayor accessio paupertatis, His greater gaining is but an increase of his poverty. And when he hath a hundred talents, he is still the poorer because he desireth a thousand, when he hath a thousand he is still the poorer because he desireth ten thousand, 
Chrys. Hom. 14. in 1am. ad Corinth. Bern. ep. 113.  as Saint Chrysostome speaketh. Lastly, the fever of his freting carefulness is so continual, that if he have any respite of contentment, it is true as Saint Bernard speaketh, Praterit jocunditas non reditura,& manet anxietas non relictura, The contentment passeth away not to return, the anxiety of his heart remaineth never to leave him. How well therefore doth such a one deserve the style, which in the gospel is given him? 
Basil. Hom. in ditescentes.  And of which S. Basil speaking saith, Audi miser te dignam appellationem, quam tibi nullus hominum, said ipse Dominus indidit, stulte hac nocte animam tuam à te repetent: superat aeternam paenam irrisio ista stultitiae, hear O wretch the appellation worthy of thee, and which no man, but the Lord himself hath given thee, Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee, or required of thee: this scoff: of thy folly exceedeth thine eternal punishment.   

VER. 18. Behold that which J have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun, all the dayes of his life which God giveth him: for it is his portion.  
VER. 19. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour, this is the gift of God  
VER. 20. For he shall not much remember the dayes of his life, because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.  
Verse 18. This is the fourth time that the Preacher hath set down this sentence, and seeing he repeateth it so often, wee have reason to regard it the more. Behold: That which the Preacher had beholded in the world, he bids us to behold in this verse: that which he had seen and looked into, and upon sight, in his judgement approved to be true, that he proposeth to our sight, judgement, and approbation. 
Mark. 9.5.& 6.  It is good: St. Peter said, It is good to be here, when he was with Christ upon the mountain, but the Spirit of God noteth, that he wist not what he said. And Proclus speaking of the same thing, 
Proclus Ser. de Transfigura.  thus setteth out St. Peter by occasion of it, Petrus more suo semper praceps, Peter after his manner always hasty. It is good therefore for every one to consider what he saith, and to see into it, as here the Preacher doth, before he say of it, It is good. It is good, good, but unto them that are good, because they will do it in a good manner. And comely: So that a man doth not destroy his own comeliness by it, doth not by eating and drinking make himself a beast, doth not by rejoicing make himself a fool, and make the devil sport. Comely it is, 
Bernard. in Canti. Serm. 24.  but as St. Bernard speaketh, Quid indecentius, quàm curvum recto corpore gerere animum? What more uncomely, then in an upright body to have a crooked mind, bowed and bended down like a beast to these sensual contentments onely? Comely it is, but as one well speaketh, Indecens quidem est avem alas habentem non in altum evolare. Habemus autem alas excellentiores illis, intellectum scilicet et voluntatem, quibus altius volare valemus, It is an uncomely thing for a bide that hath wings not to fly. But wee have wings more excellent then those, namely, our understanding and will, by which wee can fly higher. Wee must therefore make it our chiefest joy, to fly up to God, that so wee may be able to say with the Prophet David, Thou hast put gladness in my heart, 
Psal. 4.7.  more then in the time that their corn and wine increased. For one to eat and drink: if he be one that can do no more, let him do that, let him take with comfort, that which God sendeth him, and cheerfully eat and drink that which he hath: if he be one to whom the hand of Gods blessing hath been more liberal, let him enjoy it with thankfulness to God, and with fitting delight to himself. It is not a token of Gods displeasure to enjoy the pleasures of this life, nor is it a thing displeasing to God, to rejoice in them. Saint Gregory saith very well, 
Greg. Mor l. 23. c. 4.  Scit redemptor ecclesiae et in hoc itinere solatia venienti tribuere, et pervenienti ad aeternam patriam superna praemia reservare, The Redeemer of the Church knoweth how to give comforts in this journey unto him that travaileth, and how to reserve heavenly rewards for him that resteth in his eternal country. And seeing the Preacher saith, It is good, I know not why any one should say, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  it is bad. The exposition of St. jerome upon these words is this, that it is good, Ad comparationem ejus, qui opibus suis in curarum tenebris vescitur, In comparison of him, of whom the verse before speaketh, that feedeth on his riches in the darkness of cares. And the reason which he addeth, is very proper, Hic enim voluptas parva est in fruendo, ibi vero solicitudinum tantummodo magnitudo, For here is some little pleasure in enjoying, but there is onely a greatness of cares. But to prove it also in itself to be good, the Preacher addeth, It is good to enjoy the good: now it cannot but be good to enjoy good. Then good it is, the good of this life, but not the good of man, not the good for which man was created. The good it is which man may enjoy, but not the good on which man must set his heart: the good it is which the earth affordeth, but which in comparison of heaven is rather evil than good. Of all his labour: if the good be, but the hire of hard labour, let a man enjoy that, that he may be the better enabled to labour: if the good be the benefit of more gainful labour, let a man be the more free in enjoying of it. All labour is not the same, neither hath all labour the same success, but what the success is, that let a man enjoy. That he taketh under the sun: Let his life see the comfort of that, which under the sun he hath seen how to get; let others also in a careful and wise manner, see how God hath blessed his labour under the sun: let him not eat in darkness and solitary sorrowfulness, that which he hath laboured for under the sun. All the dayes of his life: the original is, the number of the dayes of his lifes. First, the number of his dayes, for mans life is but a number, and as in number, there is a perfect end every where, in two as well as in three, in three as well as in four; so in mans life there may be a perfect end every where, this day as well as to morrow, and to morrow as well as next day: and in all, man is but a day-labourer under the sun. Secondly, it is said, of his lifes,( to make use of that though it be an hebraism:) for there is the life of youth, the life of manhood, the life of age, and to every life there belongeth a different manner of enjoying the good of his labour, as well as a different kind of labour is proper unto each of them. Which God giveth him: it is God which maketh up the number of mans dayes for him; so long as he addeth his supportance, they continue; when he subtracteth the stay of his hand, they are ended presently. If he give bountifully, our dayes are many; if he be sparing to give, our dayes are few and quickly gone. For it is his portion: his portion in this earthly Canaan, which GOD hath set out for him: his portion which his labour hath gotten and possessed. But it is but a portion, but a small portion onely of that which is provided for him; and therefore let every one so enjoy this, as that he be careful not to lose the other: let every one so husband this portion, as that he may find the increase of it in the kingdom of glory in Heaven.  
Verse 19. When God commanded Moyses to strike the rock, 
Exod. 17.5.& 6.  he saith, Behold, I will stand before thee there: Moyses striketh, but God standeth there; and it is the note of Lippomannus, 
Lippomannus in Catena.  jubetur Moyses astante Deo percutere petram, ne gratia tanti beneficii homini& non Deo tribuatur, Moyses is commanded, God being present, to strike the rock, least the favour of so great a benefit should be ascribed to man and not to God. And surely, God it is who maketh the stream of wealth and riches to abound to every one: though the diligence and care of man be employed, yet it is God who standeth by, and maketh the waters to flow. The rich therefore in estate must be poor in spirit; for so Hilarius 
Hilarius.  expoundeth the poor in spirit, Qui nihil quicquam suum esse, nihil proprium, said cuncta dono parents unius tribui agnoscunt, Who aclowledge nothing at all to be theirs, nothing to be proper to themselves, but all things to be given by one Father, even the Father of lights, 
james 1.17.  from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, as St. james speaketh. This is that which the Preacher teacheth every man to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof. He that hath meate in his mouth, hath not power to eat it, unless God do give it unto him: without God wee are not able to do any thing. The French translation doth read this very well, Dont il le fait master pour en manger, whereof he is made Master to eat of it. For the covetous wretch is not master of his own wealth; 
Ambros. de Nabut. c. 14.  but as St. Ambrose speaketh, Non tam possessor est divitiarum quam ab eis possidetur, Is not so much a possessor of his riches, as rather is possessed by them. He therefore doth not eat of his riches, that is, doth not make use of them for his necessary occasions. And surely, this is not done, unless God do give it, and give a power to do it. For there be powers that do resist men in it, even the powers of darkness in their malice outwardly, and in the strong power of mans own corruption inwardly. And to take his portion: that is, saith Olympiodorus, 
Olympiodorus.  Qui futurae foelicitatis partem hic aliquam fruitionemque accepit, Who here hath some part and fruition of his future happiness. And indeed to them who serve God in their wealth, their riches are but the first part, and the least part of that blessedness which afterwards God will bestow upon them. But to take his portion here, I understand to be, to take contentment in his portion, to be satisfied with it, and not with greediness of mind never to have enough. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the covetous Israelites, saith, Their land is full of silver and gold: their land, their purses, not themselves. And so it is with many, to whom God doth not give a heart to take their portion with contentment. And to rejoice in his labour. The Chaldee Paraphrase applieth this joy unto heaven, where it is, 
Chald. pared.  that true joy is to be had: and accordingly giving the sense of the whole verse itself, Omnis quoque homo cvi dedit Deus divitias& substantiam,& potestatem, dedit ei Deus ut comedat ex eo in hoc saeculo,& ut faciat ex eo eleemosynam,& ut recipiat mercedem perfectam patris sui in saeculo venturo et gaudeat in labour suo cum justis, Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and God hath given him power that he may eat of it in this world, and that he may show charity by it, and that he may receive a perfect reward from his Father in the world to come, and may rejoice in his labour with the righteous. But to understand the joy of this life, to rejoice in his labour, is beyond the supplying of necessaries which nature requireth, even to delight himself, and to give himself a recompense of fitting pleasure for the pains of his labour. 
Lyra in hunc versum.  This is the gift of God. Lyra tells us, that the gifts of God in this life, are of three degrees, Majora, media, minima, Greater, middle, lesser; the greater are the gifts of grace and virtue, the middle are the gifts of health and strength, and other bodily blessings; the least are riches and wealth. But seeing these are the gift of God to man, it must be mans care to give them to God again. 
Salvianus contrae Avaritiam. l. 4.  For as Salvianus speaketh; Hoc dignior est absque dubio largitate nostra, quia nobis ipse ante largitus est: hoc justius ei officiis respondere tenemur quo beneficiis illius magis impares sumus, By so much is he doubtless more worthy of our bounty, by how much he hath been first bountiful to us: and therefore are wee the more justly bound to answer him in our offices of duty, because wee are most unable to answer his favours. Many are ready to aclowledge their wealth to be Gods gift: 
Salvianus contra Avaritiam. l. 1.  but the same Father tells us, Hoc est agnoscere munus Dei, ut datis suis illum honoremus, à quo data ipsa accepimus, This is to aclowledge the gift of God, to honour him with his gifts, of whom wee have received the gifts themselves.  
Verse 20. It is the solicitous care of mans heart for the things of this life, that in a great measure maketh his life miserable unto him. The Preacher therefore speaking here of one that leadeth a comfortable life, saith, He shall not much remember: not much, and yet something; for he must not be careless, not wholly negligent in looking to the affairs of his life. 
Gregor. Moral. l. 9. c. 40.  Saint Gregory therefore noteth well, Quia solicitos nos esse veritas in crastinum prohibet, habere utcunque curam in praesentibus non negat, Because the truth forbiddeth us to take care for to morrow, he doth not deny but that wee may take care for the present. Not too little, as well as not much is the rule of wisdom and Religion. He shall not much remember the dayes of his life: Sorrow shall not make him think the dayes of his life to be too many, nor calling to mind how bad they have been which he hath past, to wish that they may be few which are to come, nor complaining as shee doth in the Poet; Cur mortis adempta est conditio? Possem tantos finire dolores, Why is the condition of death taken away from me? I might make an end of these so many griefs. But I rather take the meaning of the words to be this, He shall not much think, nor be troubled in his mind, how to provide for the dayes of his life, he shall not loose the comfort of the present dayes, by being solicitous for the dayes to come. The fool in the Gospel, who was much troubled with pulling down and building up, Longos annorum ambitus, spei vanitate in horreis simul includebat, Did shut up all at once in his barns, the long circuits of many yeares, as Gregory Nyssene speaketh; but as the Father addeth, 
Gregor. Nyssen. de Oratione Domin.  anon una nox illam somniatam spem confutavit? Did not one night confute that dreamed hope? It is for this day, not for dayes, that our Saviour Christ doth teach us to pray. do not therefore much remember the dayes of thy life. do not take much care for many dayes: for as Gregory Nyssene speaketh; Qui diem tibi dat, etiam ea quae ad diem pertinent dabit, He that giveth the day, will also give thee those things which appertain to the day: he that giveth thee many dayes, will also give thee that which shall be sufficient for many dayes. Who is it that maketh the sun to shine? Who is it that maketh the darkness of the night to vanish away? Who is it that turneth and carrieth the heaven about, whereby he maketh day? Is it not God? Et qui haec tibi& alia tanta dat, nunquid tuo eget auxilio, ut praestet carni tuae id quod necessitas requirit? He that giveth these, and other great things unto thee, doth he need thy help, that he may provide for thyself that which necessity requireth? Quae corvorum arva sunt? Quae aquilarum horrea? anon una omnibus victum suppeditat divina voluntas? What ploughed fields have the crows? What barns have the Eagles? Doth not one divine will of God supply food unto them all? So Gregory Nyssene. Because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. This translation supposeth a question to be made, and indeed it is a common question in solicitous worldly hearts, Quid faciam? What shall I do? What shall I do the next year? What shall I do in mine old age? What shall I do all the dayes of my life? The rich fool in the Gospel, making this question in the Gospel, Chrysologus would know who it is to whom he speaketh, 
Chrysologus, Serm. 104.  and of whom he asketh it, and supposing it to be some one within him, he concludeth it to be the devil, who possesseth the hearts of such solicitous worldly people. But here God answereth, and that the question might not be asked, he answereth before hand, by giving a joyfulness and cheerfulness of heart, which relying upon Gods providence and goodness, is not troubled with such vexation of thoughts. Wherefore Chrysologus saith, Noli homo inania providendo gemere, 
Chrysologus, Serm. 163.  noli caduca praeparando laborare, quia prandii tui semper& ubique Deus praeparator existit, et Creatoris ad prandium tota concurrit et advolat creatura, O man do not sigh in providing vain things, do not labour in preparing fading things, because God is the preparer of thy dinner, at all times, and every where, and to the dinner of the creator, even all the creatures run and fly together. Cajetane readeth the latter part of the verse thus, Quia Deus testificatus est in laetitia cordis ejus, Because God hath testified in the joy of his heart: and this indeed is the most direct and proper signification of the Hebrew, as Tremellius also noteth. The meaning of the words, as Cajetane translateth them, himself giveth to be this, 
Cajetan. in hunc vers.  Quia Deus dando in cord divitis jugem laetitiam, est tanquam praebens testimonium foelicitatis ejus, Because God giving in the heart of such a rich man a continual cheerfulness, doth as it were give testimony and witness of his happiness. The original word {αβγδ} here used, may also be translated, Canens, singing, as if God himself did sing in the heart of such a one, and make music unto him, to make him merry, and cheerful, and joyful. But from any translation, we may note that God is not onely in a strict, rigid, severe and sour looking heart, but in a merry and lightsome and free heart also. The Ruler did sand for his guests from the open ways to come to his feast, and they that live in an open and sociable freedom of life, may be as welcome to God, as they Whose carriage is composed of an austere severity and gravity. Vpon those words in the Canticles, 
Cant. 3.2. Gilbertus in Cantica.  In the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth, Gilbertus noteth, Non dedignatur etiam ab his qui foris sunt qui nulla arctioris vitae regula constringuntur mutuari virtutis insignia, reputans ferventiorem ibi frequenter affectum, ubi inferior fuerit ordinis gradus, Shee disdaineth not even from them who are without, and who are not bound with the rule of a strict life, to borrow the ornaments of virtue, reckoning that oftentimes there is more ardent affection, where there is a lower degree of orderly austerity and strictness.    

CHAPTER. VI.  

VER. 1. There is an evil which J have seen under the sun, and it is common amongst men.  
VER. 2. A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth; yet God giveth him not power to eat therof, but a stranger eateth it: This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.  
VER. 3. If a man beget an hundred children, and live many yeares, so that the dayes of his yeeres bee many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he hath no burial, J say that an untimely birth is better then he.  
VER. 4. For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall bee covered with darkness.  
VER. 5. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest then the other.  
Verse 1. IN this life which is filled with evils, in which respect Seneca saith, Nemo vitam eligeret si scienti daretur, No one would choose life, if it were proposed to one that did know it: easy it is to him that looketh any way, to say, there is an evil, and there is an evil, and therefore no marvel it is that the Preacher doth so often say it: When our Saviour wept, Lazarus being dead, 
Hieronym.  Saint jerome saith, Doluit Lazarum non dormientum, said potius resurgentum,& flebat quem cogebatur propter salvandos alios ad saeculum revocare, hanc vitam dans Dominus ingemiscebat, He lamented Lazarus not sleeping, but rather rising again, and he wept for him, whom he was constrained for the salvation of others, to bring back into the world, giving him this life he groaned. 
Concilium 4m. Toletanum.  And so the fourth council of Toledo, Non ploravit Lazarum mortuum, said ad hujus vitae aerumnas resuscitandum, He wept not for Lazarus being dead, but because he was to be raised to the miseries of this life again. And surely, as it is easy to see the evils of this life, so it is not easy to keep the eyes from tears in the seeing of them. Which I have seen: the Preacher was diligent in looking into the evils of mans life: and surely, it is good to see and consider them, that so wee may the more rightly judge of this life, and may bee the more willing to leave it, and to go to a better. Wherefore Saint jerome writing to Heliodorus saith, 
Hieronym. Ep. 3. quae est ad Heliodorum.  O si possemus ascendere in sp●●ulam, de qua universam terram sub nostris pedibus cerneremus! jam tibi ●stenderem orbis totius rvinas, gentes gentibus,& regnis regna collisa, alios tor●●eri, alios necari, alios absorberi fluctibus, alios ad servitutem trahi, O that, we could ascend some high watch Tower, from which we might behold the whole earth under our feet; I would even now show thee nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom buckling together, some to bee tortured, others to be killed, some to be swallowed up in the Waves, others to be haled into bondage. It is one end for which God hath filled mans life with evils, that wee seeing them might not mistake our journey for our home. For travellers falling in their way upon some pleasant places, it is not seldom, Quod eorum gressus tardet pulchritudo itineris dum delectet, that the pleasure of their journey hindereth their going on, while that it doth delight them. And therefore while we are journeying to heaven, it is needful to see and observe the evils of the earth, Ne magis nos diu pergere quam citius pervenire delectet, Lest we be more delighted to be long in going, 
Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 11.  then quickly to come unto it, as Saint Gregory speaketh. under the sun: it is under the sun that all the evil is, above the sun there is nothing but good. There be as Saint Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambrosius.  Omnia bona in uno bono, All good things in one that is good. Quid enim ibi deesse potest, ubi Deus est, cvi nihil dost? For what can there bee wanting, where God is to whom nothing is wanting? There it is as Saint Bernard speaketh, 
Bernardus.  ubi nihil sit quod nolis,& ubi totum sit quod velis, where there is nothing which thou wouldest not, and where there is every thing which thou wouldest. Ibi est quicquid expedit, quicquid delectat, omnes divitiae, omnis requies, omne solatium, There is whatsoever is needful, whatsoever is delightful, all rest, all comfort. There is Vita sine morte, juventus sine senectute, lux sine tenebris, gaudium sine tristitia, regnum sine commutatione, 
Augustin. Serm. 49. ad fratres in cremo.  life without death, youth without old age, light without darkness, joy without sorrow, a kingdom without changing, as Saint Austin speaketh. There the brightness of glory doth as far exceed the sun, as the brightness of the sun exceedeth all things that are under it. And it is common among men: to name man, is to name the subject of evil, and therefore St. Basil defineth man to be, 
Basilius Homil. 11. in Hexamer.  Animal deciduum, ab ipsa mox effusione uteri materni ad extrema senectae lineam agmen secum trahens inexplicabilium malorum, quoddle sentinam quandam exhaurit, A living creature subject to falling, which instantly from his shedding out from his mothers womb even to the last line of his old age, drawing with him a troope of unexpressible evils doth as it were empty and draw out the sink of them. Among men therefore who are the common subject of all evils, no marvel if one evil be common. One evil may be common among many, when many evils are so commonly upon one.  
Verse 2. In my meditations upon this passage of the Preacher, the rich man in the gospel hath often come into my mind: but here me thinks the two Preachers do handle the same Text, and that which here the Preacher of Israel delivereth by way of doctrine, the Preacher of the universal Church doth there exemplify by a parable. The rich man there, is here a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour: which words Lyra doth thus distinguish, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  by riches understanding artificiales divitas, aurum& argentum, artificial riches, gold and silver, by wealth understanding naturales divitias, natural riches, as corn and other fruits of the earth, by honour understanding, statum honorificum a great and glorious estate. But to take them altogether, it is God that giveth them. For as the Psalmist speaketh, 
Psal. 95.4.  In his hand are all the deep places of the earth, all the deep mines of gold and silver are in his hand, and as Chrysologus speaketh, Quae in manu Dei sunt, 
Chrysologus Serm. 46.  sine Deo nequeunt obtineri, Those things which are in Gods hand cannot bee obtained without God. Our Saviour Christ speaketh also of the riches which the earth bringeth forth, and which in a more evident manner are the gift of God to man. So that he wanteth nothing for his soul: that is, ainae concupiscenti his desiring soul, for so the original word {αβγδ} signifieth. Of all that he desireth: this is to bee understood in his own thoughts and imagination, 
Luk. 12.19.  according as the rich fool in the gospel said to his soul, soul thou hast much goods laid up for many yeeres, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, Migraturae mox ainae condita satis longa praeparaus, providing for his soul which was presently to be gone away things laid up for a long time. And wee may mark in both places, how both are for their own souls, for their own desires: they who have so much for themselves have nothing for the poor souls of others. Others may beg and desire in their wants and necessities, but nothing is granted, to supply their wants, to satisfy their desires. Humanus agerinhumanum dominum sustinebat, A kind and liberal field in bringing forth fruit, 
Chrysologus Serm. 104.  sustained an unkind and miserable master, saith Chrysologus of him in the gospel: and here a gracious and bountiful God giveth riches, and wealth and honour, to an ungracious and wretched man, who will give nothing to others that stand in need of his help. But therefore God doth not give him power to eat of it, that is, his life is cut off, the powers of darkness do take away his soul, according as in the gospel it is said, 
Luk. 12.20. Chrysologus Ibid.  Hac nocte repetunt animam tuam, This night they require thy soul of thee. Where Chrysologus noteth, Sanctorum animas Deus repetit,& reducit; tartarei ministri repetunt& pertrahunt animas impiorum, God requireth the souls of the righteous, and taketh them back to himself who gave them; but the ministers of hell require the souls of the wicked and drag them away. Thus the rich fool horreorum svorum seras negando aliis, sibi conclusit; by barring up his barns, and denying relief to others did shut them up to himself, and had not power to eat thereof: thus he who wanted as he thought nothing for his soul that he could desire, wanted his soul, and that was taken from him, when so much wealth was given him. But a stranger eateth it: and whereas it is said in the gospel, then whose shall these things bee, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  which thou hast provided? that is saith Lyra, Quasi diceret, alieni habebunt, As if he should say, strangers shall have them. So that as Chrysologus speaketh, Est alienorum custos, qui esse suorom noluit prorogator, ingratus Deo, sibi nequam, He is but the keeper of the things of strangers, who will not be a charitable dispenser of his own, unthankful to God, pernicious to himself. And is not this then a vanity and an evil disease? A vanity of the world, and an evil disease of human nature. For though the man be dead, it is but an evil disease of the corrupted nature of man, to which it is subject, and whereof it is sick. Many particular men are taken away by it: and they that are living, may therein see the infirm frailty of human condition. When men have plenty and flourish in abundance, they promise to themselves long joy, much delight, even all that their soul desireth; but then doth God take away their lifes, 
Chrysologus Ibid.  and as Chrysologus speaketh of him in the gospel, Sic praeventus est, ut magis cogitata perderet, quam bona, he was so prevented, that he might rather loose his thoughts then his goods; in like manner then doth God cut off the lives of many, as well to show them the vanity of their thoughts, as to show them and others the vanity of mans estate on earth. 
Olympiodorus in hunc versum.  Olympiodorus applying this verse in a moral sense, tells us, Saepe accidit, ut aliquis magnas sibi divitias in dicendi copia& in scientia Scripturarum comparavit, aliarumque rerum cognitione, said quia deinde foeditas morum à verbis suis dissidet ac doctrina; hinc fit ut qui in libros illius traditionesque incidunt, magnam ind ipsi quidem utilitatem capiant, nihil vero ipse author emolumenti perceperit, Oftentimes it cometh to pass, that some one hath gotten to himself a great fluency of speech, and a great abundance in the knowledge of the Scriptures and of other things; but because the lewdness of his manners departeth and disagreeth both from his words and doctrine, hence it is that they who meet with his books and instructions, do gather from them much profit to themselves, but the author himself reapeth no benefit from them. One thing more let me note, which the earnestness of my thoughts passed by: and that is the difference between devouring or swallowing, and eating: for none devour or swallow more then covetous wretches; but God doth not give them power to eat it, so that it is not turned into the nourishment of any comfort to them. And what is that but a vanity of feeding? What is that but an evil disease of an ill tempered and ordered stomach?  
Verse 3. But put case saith the Preacher, that a stranger doth not eat of it, and that himself beget an hundred children, whereof it is likely, that some will outlive him, to have his estate and wealth after him: and put case that his life be not taken away, but that he liveth many yeares, even as many more as he begetteth children, and that the dayes of his yeares be exceeding many; yet if being filled with yeares, if being filled with children, his soul be not filled with good, with the good of contentment in that which he hath, with the good of comfort in expecting a reward for that which he hath done: and also that he have no burial: to take these words to signify no more, then the reproach of not being buried, which the Prophet jeremiah denounced against jehojakim, saying, that he should be buried with the burial of an ass, that is, 
Iere. 22.19.  should be cast forth to rot above ground, is to bury the force and worth of the Preachers meaning. And yet how to lay it open well, is not a thing of easy worth. Saint jerome giveth divers interpretations of it; as, first, 
Hieronym. in hunc. vers.  that he doth not think of his burial, think of his death, but because he hath lived many yeares, and hath much laid up for many yeares more, therefore hath no burial in his mind, hath no remembrance of his death to be ready for it. Or secondly, hath no burial, that is, his covetous heart, which hath gathered so much in his life, will not allow any thing at his death to be spent upon his burial, will not spare any thing to the building of a Sepulchre for himself. Or, thirdly, hath no burial, because being assaulted and murdered for his wealth, his wealth is taken from him, and no burial is given to him. Or lastly, which St. jerome approoveth best, because he hath done no good nor worthy thing, whereby to preserve his memory among posterity, and not to suffer his life to pass away in silence as a beast, whereas he had enough, and might have done enough, whereby it might have appeared, that he had lived. To these let me add some other expositions which I have thought upon. As first, he hath no burial, that is, there is no mourning nor lamentation for him, but as he did no good while he lived, so no one is sorry that he is dead. Or secondly, he hath no burial, because although dead, yet he is as it were not dead, 
Salv. contrà Avaritiam lib. 2.  Et quum Deus jusserit viventem opibus renuntiare, ille eas cupit in liberis& cognatis suis etiam mortuus possidere, And when God commandeth the living to renounce his riches, he being dead desire still to possess them in his children and kindred, leaving all to them, as Salvianus speaketh. But as the same Father also hath it, 
Salv. contra Avaritiam. l. 3.  Propinqua vobis vestra pignora esse& conjunctissima satis certum est; said mihi credite, nemo vobis propinquior, nemo conjunctior, quam vos ipsi. Amate itaque, non obsistimus, amate filios vestros, said secundo gradu à vobis; ita illos diligite, ne vos odisse videamini. Inconsultus namque& stultus amor est, alterius memor,& sui immemor, That your children are near and dear unto you is a certain thing, but believe me, there is none more near and dear unto you then yourselves: love therefore, we forbid you not, love your children, but in a second degree to yourselves, do you so love them, as that you be not seen to hate yourselves. It is an unadvised and foolish love, which is mindful of others, 
nazianzen Orat. 2. in Pasch.  but forgetful of himself. Wherefore as nazianzen speaketh, when ye go out of egypt, take something with you, leave not all to them, who perhaps Scelerate quaesita sceleratius consument, will consume more wickedly those things which were wickedly gotten. show thyself to be dead, by giving something to pious uses, that so thou mayst bee butted. Or else he hath no burial, because although men do give him burial, yet God doth not. God taketh care of the dead bodies of his servants, he taketh order for their burial: and therefore he saith to jacob going down to egypt, 
Gen. 46.4. Gen. 50.13.  I will surely bring thee up again: which he did when jacob was dead, bringing up his dead body to be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. But as for the wicked, God doth not bury them, he doth not lay them up in his Cabinet, until he shall bring them forth again in the glorious Resurrection. The covetous wretch hath no burial from God, for God is not left his heir, God is not left his executor, God is not made Overseer of his will: it belongeth to them to look to that and to do it, God was not remembered at all by him, God therefore looketh not after him. But what a wrong is this to God? Is not he the true master of all mens estates? What are we all but possessores usufructuarii, possessors only of the use of that which we have? 
Salvianus contra Avaritiam. l. 1.  Wherefore as Salv. speaks, tenuimus quoad licuit, tenuimus quoad permisit ille qui praestitit, quid rectius? quid honestius? quam ut ubi res ab eo discedit, qui usum habuit, revertatutr ad eum possessio, qui utendum concessit, we have had our estates as long as we could, we have had it, as long as he pleased who lent it unto us, what is more right? what more honest? then that whereas the estate goeth from him who had the use of it, the possession do return to him, who granted it to bee used. But as for him who thus dying hath no burial, hath not God to bury him, the Preacher pronounceth of him, I say that an untimely birth is better than he: I say, he that gave his wise judgement of the two children the one living the other dead, doth here give his judgement of an untimely birth, and an untimely death. For death is always untimely unto a covetous wretch, he is always unwilling to part with his riches, and he is never ready and fit to depart out of the flesh: Now justly is the untimely birth preferred. For the one coming too soon into the world comes not at all; the other being not fit to go out of the world, when he is gone is fit only for torments in hell. The one delivered from the miseries of this life, cometh not nere the sorrows of the next; the other having made this miserable life more miserable to himself by his wretched covetousness, doth make hell even covetous and greedy to devour him. Where his punishment shall never be filled up, as here his heart was not with the things of this world.  
Verse 4. Saint Bernard speaking unto man, saith, 
Bernard. Ser. de primord. med.& noviss. Augustin. l. cvi Tit. Speculum peccato.  Cogita unde veneris,& erubesce, ubi sis& ingemisce, quo vaedis& contremisce, think from whence thou camest, and be ashamed, where thou art, and sigh for sorrow, whither thou goest, and tremble with anguish. Saint Austin also speaking unto man, saith, Intelligar ergo in quantum sit ingressus tuus flebilis, progressus tuus debilis, et egressus tuus horribilis, understand therefore how lamentable thy coming is, how feeble thy going on is, how terrible thy going out is. It is the like manner of expressing himself, and of setting out mans misery and condition which here the Preacher useth. He cometh in with vanity: with the vanity of original corruption, and departeth in darkness, in the darkness of his actual transgressions. For these are darkness indeed, by which the light of Gods favour is darkened and kept from us, the light of knowledge is darkened and shut up in us, by which the darkness of eternal misery is brought upon us. Saint Austin noteth, Non dicit Deus, 
Augustin. in Psal. 8.  fiant tenebrae, et factae sunt, et tamen tenebras ordinavit, et divisit à luke tenebras, God did not say, Let there be darkness, and there was darkness, but yet God ordered the darkness, and divided the darkness from the light: it is so with the transgressions of men, God never said, Let them be, but having their being from man, he ordereth them, and by his justice divideth them from the light of happiness. But here is nothing said of the covetous wretches life; his vain coming in, his dark going out mentioned; wee read nothing of his wretched life, as if that were not worthy to be remembered. And indeed, it follows, His name shall be covered with darkness. Whereby is not meant onely, that his name shall be forgotten, for then it had been enough to have said, his name shall be covered. But seeing it is added, that his name shall be covered with darkness, it is meant that the foulness and blackness of his actions, shall make his name to be as a thing abhorred to be thought upon. And surely, when vanity lets him in, and darkness shuts him out, what could it be but wretchedness that kept him company in the mean while? But it seemeth to me that the original here may not amiss be translated, He cometh into vanity, and goeth into darkness. First, he cometh into vanity: 
Ambros. in Psal. 118. Octon. 5.  Saint Ambrose showing the vanity of mans life, and that it is but a shadow, telleth us, that when the son of God was born of the Virgin, it is said, that the power of the highest overshadowed her, Quia in umbram descendit, ab umbra incipiens operari salutem hoins, et consummaturus claritate solis aeterni, Because he descended into a shadow, from a shadow beginning to work the salvation of man, which he will finish in the brightness of the eternal sun. 
Ambros. Ibid.  And the same Father considering the words of David, I will live and keep thy words; thereupon noteth, Vivam ait, quasi nondum vivens; hic enim in umbra vivimus. Ergo vita ista in corpore, umbra est vitae, et imago, non veritas, He saith, I will live, as not living yet, for here wee live in a shadow. This life therefore in the body, is a shadow and an image of life, not the truth of it. Secondly, He goeth into darkness: said fort tales esse putet homo, quails patiuntur in carceribus inclusi. Vtinam tales essent, tamen in talibus nemo vult esse. In his autem carcerum tenebris possint includi& innocents. In talibus enim tenebris sunt inclusi martyres, But perhaps some one may think this darkness to be such, as they suffer who are shut up in prison. I wish that it were such, but yet in this darkness no one would willingly be. But in the darkness of prisons, innocents may be shut up: for in such darkness Martyrs have been imprisoned, 
Augustin. Homil. 40.  as Saint Austin speaketh. This therefore is another darkness, this is that outer darkness of which the Scripture speaketh, 
Augustin. in Psal. 5.  and into which he is cast, Qui extra Deum penitus est, quoniam dum tempus est corrigi noluerit, Who is without GOD wholly, because when there was time, he would not be corrected, as St. Austin speaketh. 
Ambros. l. 7. in Lucam.  So doth St. Ambrose also expound the outer darkness, saying, Quicunque extra sunt promissa coelestium mandatorum, in tenebris exterior●bus sunt: quia mandata Dei lumen sunt. Et quicunque sine Christo est, in tenebris est, quia lumen in tenebris est Christus, Whosoever are without the promises of the heavenly commandements, they are in outer darkness, because the commandements of God are light. Whosoever is without Christ, he is darkness, because Christ is a light in darkness. And of this outer darkness St. Austin saith, Penitus autem esse extra Deum, quid est nisi esse in summa caecitate? But to be wholly without God, what is it but to be in extreme darkness? Into this darkness therefore it is that the soul of a covetous wretch goeth, when the life into which he came is vanished away. And When his soul thus lieth in the darkness of horror, when his body lieth in the darkness of the grave, then is his name also covered, either with the darkness of silence, abhorring to mention it, or if it be mentioned, with the darkness of reproaches that are cast upon it.  
Verse 5. The Preacher having shewed in the former verse the condition of the covetous wretch, here he sheweth the condition of the abortive child, and from the sight of both confirmeth his sentence, that the abortive child is in better condition. For as he hath not seen the sun, so neither hath he seen the miseries that are under the sun, neither hath the sun seen his sorrow and labour in the enduring of them. His eye hath not beholded the glory of the sun, and the sun which is the eye of the world, hath not beholded the wretchedness of his life. 
Ambros. Hexam. l. 4. c. 1.  It is true, that the sun is Iucunditas diei, coeli pulchritudo, naturae gratia, praestantia creaturae, The sweetness of the day, the beauty of heaven, the grace of nature, the excellency of the creature, as St. Ambrose speaketh: but yet as the same Father addeth, Non te tanto splendori Solis temere committas, Commit not thyself rashly to so great a brightness of the sun. I have red of some, who when the sun riseth, do curse it always, in respect of the scorching heat of it, and when it goeth down, 
Ambros. Ibid.  then they rejoice. And St. Ambrose tells us, In mari positus illum nauta accusat, in montibus illum pastor declinat, The master on the Sea accuseth the hot beams of it, the shepherd on the mountaines flieth to the shadow from it. Wherefore the good of the sun hath evils also with it; and so many are the evils of mans life under it, that rather then to suffer the darkness of them, it is better not to enjoy the light of the sun. But if he that shall see the sun of the heavens, shall not have his eye upon the sun of righteousness, to walk in his ways: surely much better were it for him, not to have seen the sun at all. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambrosius, Ibid.  Si caeco damnum est hujus solis gratiam non videre, quantum peccatori damnum vero luminis munere defraudato, perpetuae noctis tenebras sustinere? If it be a loss to a blind man not to see the comfort of this sun, how great a loss is it to a sinner, being deprived of the favour of the true light, to suffer the darkness of an eternal night? Nor known any thing: but as he hath not known any thing that is good, so hath he not known any thing that is evil; as he hath not known the world, so he hath not known the sorrows of the world, neither hath the world known him turmoiled and distressed in them. It is true, as St. Ambrose speaketh; Scire bonum, melius est quam nescire,& ei qui bonum scit, pulchrum est etiam scire quod malum est; ut sciat pravum vitare,& ut prudens lubeat custodiae cautionem, It is better to know good, then not to know it, and to him that knoweth good, it is a graceful thing to know also what is evil, that so he may know to shun the evil, and being wise may be cautelous to keep himself from it. 
Ambros. de Paradiso. c. 7.  But as the Father addeth; Ita debes scire utrumque ut profunde noveris, et quod noveris exequaris, actusque scientiae congruat. Alioquin tolerabiliorem scriptura judicat eum, qui utrumque nescit. Gravat enim scire, quod vel exequi vel vitare non velis: gravat scire quod vel exequi vel vitare non possis, Thou must so know both, as that thou know them soundly, and dost execute that which thou knowest, and that thine actions agree to thy knowledge. Otherwise the Scripture judgeth him more tolerable( which word Tremellius useth in this verse,) who knoweth not either. For it is a burden to know that, which thou wilt not either perform being good, or avoid being evil: it is a burden to know that which thou canst not do being good, or shun being evil. And therefore more tolerable is the condition of the abortive, then of the covetous wretch. That hath more rest then the other: What the rest of the other is, 
Greg. Mor. l. 16. c. 29.  St. Gregory sheweth; Qui in hoc appetite mundo prosperari, caeteros excedere rebus,& honoribus tumere, huic n●mirum cura saecularis in delectatione est,& quies in labour, valdè enim fatigatur, si desit cura saeculi qua fatigatur, He that desireth to flourish in this world, to exceed others in substance, and to swell in honours, to him the care of the world is a delight, and his rest is in labour; For he is very weary, if that he want the care of the world which may make him weary. O what wretched rest is this! Surely, it is not in this world that rest is to be found. 
Ambrosius in evangel. Lu. c. 9.  Wherefore St. Ambrose noteth, Sex diebus mundus est factus, septimo requietum est die: ultra mundum ergo est quies, ultra mundum etiam fructus quietis, In six dayes the world was made, on the seventh day there was rest; it is beyond this world therefore that rest is, and it is beyond this world that the fruit of rest is to be had. For what rest can there be here, ubi multa cautela custoditur salus corporis, custodita etiam amittitur, amissa cum gravi labour reparatur, et tamen reparata in dubio semper est, Where the health of the body is preserved with much watchfulness, being preserved is also lost, being lost is recovered with much labour, and yet being recovered is always in danger& doubtfulness, 
Greg. Mor. l. 11. c. 26.  what will become of it, as St. Gregory speaks? What rest is there in this world, ubi amamus amicos suspicati, ne offendi valeant, formidamus inimicos, atque securi non sumus de iis quos formidamus, ubi plerumque inimicis sic confidenter quasi amicis loquimur, et nonnunquam verba diligentium quasi verba suscipimus inimicorum, Where we love our friends, and yet are suspicious least they should be offended with us, where wee fear our enemies, and yet are not secure of those whom wee fear, where often we speak to our enemies so confidently as if we spake to our friends, and not seldom wee take the words of our friends, as if they were the words of our enemies? What rest is there in this world? Fixum enim statum hic habere non possumus ubi transituri venimus, atque hoc ipsum nostrum vivere transire est, For here wee cannot have a fixed estate, whither wee come to pass away, and where our very living is but a passing away, as St. Gregory speaketh. Now the abortive resteth, he goeth not this journey, as he hath no friends, so he hath no enemies; as he hath not health, so he hath not sickness. And that which maketh his rest to be the more; Vt non videt, sic non vadit, as he seeth not the sun, so he goeth not into darkness; not into the darkness of Gods wrath for sin. The original word here is {αβγδ} and according to the natural and proper form of it, signifieth ferculum, a mess, or depositum, something committed to trust. Now although it be a short repast which the abortive hath, yet it is better then the gluttonus feeding of the covetous wretch: although it be very little which is committed to the abortive, yet it is the less that he hath to answer for, and that maketh his rest to be more, then the rest of the covetous wretch, who having received much, and done little good with it, hath a sad account, a sore reckoning to make for it.   

VER. 6. Yea, though he live a thousand yeares twice  told, yet hath he seen no good. do not all go to one place?  
VER. 7. All the labour of man is for his mouth; and yet the appetite is not filled.  
VER. 8. For what hath the wise more then the fool? What hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living?  
Verse 6. job in few words hath fully  told us what man is, saying, Man is of few dayes and full of trouble: Et quod verum verbum hoc sit, 
Job 14.1.  non nos verba docuere said verbera, And that this is a true saying, not words but stripes have taught us, 
Bernard. Serm. Feria 4. Hebdomadae poenosae. Greg. Mor. l. 11. c. 26.  the stripes of many miseries saith St. Bernard. And St. Gregory briefly upon the same words saith, Augustatur ad vitam, dilatatur ad miseriam, Man is straitned in respect of his life, and enlarged in respect of his misery. But suppose the life of man should be long, Nihil proficit sibi, said officit, it would profit him nothing but hurt him rather, as Lyra hath it. Yea though he should live a thousand yeares twice  told: hyperbolice dicit, the Preacher speaketh hyperbolically saith St. jerome. For Adam lived not a thousand yeares, and thereupon a thousand yeares with God being but as one day, as God had said to Adam, In the day that thou eatest of the forbidden three, thou shalt surely die, so he dyed accordingly before he came unto a thousand yeares; that being the same day with God. But though he should live twice so long as Adam did, and outlive that also, yet hath he seen no good: Wherefore as St. Bernard speaketh, Quomodo bonum est nos hic esse? 
Bernard. Homil. 6. In Ascens. Domin.  Immo vero molestum est, grave est, periculosum est. Nimirum ubi mali plurimum, sapientiae modicum, si tamen vel modicum invenitur. ubi viscosa omnia, omnia lubrica, operta tenebris, obsessa laqueis. ubi periclitantur ainae, affliguntur spiritus, How is it good for us to be here? Nay, rather it is troublesone, it is grievous, it is dangerous. Namely, where there is much wickedness, little wisdom, if there be a little found to be there. Where all things are catching like bird-lime, all things are slippery, all things covered with darkness, all things beset with snares. Where our souls are endangered, our spirits are disquieted. There be many gay-good things that appear in the world; 
Bernard. de Consid. l. 2. prope finem.  but as Saint Bernard writing to Eugenius, saith, Cuncta haec quoddle nubes quaesdam matutinales velociter transeuntes exsuffles à fancy considerationis tuae, occurret tibi homo, dolens quod homo sit, erubescens quod nudus sit, plorans quod natus est, murmurans quod sit, If thou shalt blow away all these from the face of thy consideration, as a morning cloud, which soon vanisheth away, there will meet thee a man lamenting that he is a man, blushing that he is naked, weeping that he is born, repining that he is. He that should live a thousand yeares twice  told, might seek and look long to find some good, but where should he see it in mans life? Quid enim calamitate vacat, nascenti in peccato, fragili in corpore,& mente sterili? For where is misery wanting unto him, who is born in sin, frail in body, barren in mind? as St. Bernard addeth in the same place. But as for the covetous wretch, Qui privatus interno lumine, tamen in hac vita diu vult perpeti caecitatem suam, Who being deprived of the inward light of natural understanding, yet desireth to lie long under his blindness in this life, and with his own hands addeth to the load of this miserable life, how is his life filled Multis& multiplicibus miseriis? With many and manifold miseries? Miseriis corporis, miseriis cordis, miseriis quum dormit, miseriis dum vigilat, miseriis quaqua versum se vertat, With miseries of body, with miseries of heart, with miseries while he sleepeth, with miseries when he is awake, with miseries which way soever he turneth himself. How is he Appetitus insidiis, interrogatus contumeliis, pulsatus injuriis, vexatus suppliciis, convitiis lacessitus, Assaulted with traps, accused by reproaches, beaten with injuries, vexed with mulcts and punishments, 
Bernard. Feria 4a Hebdomadae poenosae.  provoked with scoffs? as St. Bernard elsewhere speaketh. And where then is any good for him to see? do not all go unto one place? Doth not he that liveth two thousand yeares go to the grave at last, as well as he that is an abortive? Nay, is not the rest of the abortive more then of the other, seeing he is at the place of their rest by two thousand yeares sooner, then the other? Indeed man who is driven out of Paradise, is delighted in this his banishment, and feign would stay here; 
Gregorius.  but as St. Gregory speaketh, Quamvis diu hic stare desiderat, ipso tamen cursu mortalis vitae impellitur ut egrediatur, ipsis suis incrementis ad detrimenta tendit,& ind semper deficit, unde se proficere in spatium vitae credit, Although he desire to stay long here, yet by the very course of this mortal life, he is driven on, and carried to go out; by the very increasing of his life, he tendeth to decreasing, and thereby he always decayeth, whereby he believeth that he proceedeth on in the space of his life. until all come unto one place, the place which Adam provided for all his posterity, and where himself being laid, all shall be brought unto him. 
Masius in ult. cap. josh. vers. 32.  Masius tells us, out of jacob Edissenus Syrus, that when Noah went into the ark, he took the bones of Adam with him, and that when he came out of the ark, he divided them among his sons, giving the head as the chiefest part unto his first born; and therein as it were saying unto them, Let not this delivery from the flood make you secure, behold your first parent, and the beginning of mankind, you must all, and all that come from you, go unto the dust to him.  
Verse 7. The Preacher here passeth A bonis fortunae, ad bona naturae, from the goods of fortune, to the goods of nature, and having shewed the vanity of them, here sheweth the vanity of these. And indeed great is the vanity and misery of mans life, 
Greg. Mor. l. 11. c. 26.  even in these also. Wherefore Saint Gregory saith, Si subtiliter consideretur, omne quod hic agitur, poena& miseria est. Ipsi enim corruptioni carnis servire ad necessaria& concessa, miseria est; ut contra frigus vestimenta, contra famem alimenta, contra aestum frigora requirantur, If it be duly and exactly considered, every thing that is here done is a punishment and misery. For even to serve the frailty of the flesh in things lawful and necessary, is a misery: as that garments may be provided against could, that food against hunger, that could things against heat. The Preacher here that he might not speak of all, speaketh of the chiefest for necessity, All the labour of man is for the mouth: that is, though all the labour of man should bee for the mouth, yet the appetite is not filled. Tremellius reads it, 
Tremellius.  Vt omnis labour hoins obveniatori, Although all the labour of man should meet his mouth: and he expoundeth it, that is, Velut sponte ingerat se in as,& laboranti commodissime succedat, ex sententia, Although it should even thrust itself into his mouth, and it should succeed to the labourer according to his desire, yet the appetite is not filled. For he that hath eaten is hungry again, and the food received being consumed there is more required, more needful to preserve life, and that death break not in through the weak walls. Zeno speaking of the sin of our first Parents, saith, 
Zeno l. 1. Serm. 6.  ubi Adam sacrae arboris pomum male dulce delibavit, lachrymas repperit, dolores& gemitus ultimòque sudore turbatus, posteris haereditatem indigestae mortis dereliquit, when Adam had tasted of the fruit of the forbidden three, which was bitter sweet unto him, he found tears, griefs, sighs, and lastly being troubled with sweat, he left to his posterity the inheritance of indigested death. Whatsoever food we take, it is spent in sweats, in tears, in the sorrows of labour, and though our nourishment be digested, death remaineth still indigested and to withstand that the appetite is never filled. But by the ancient Fathers this verse is much applied in a moral sense, and that divers ways. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome applies it in a good sense, and he saith, Melius est hoc intelligi de viro Ecclesiastico, qui in scriptures eruditus omnem laborem habet in ore suo,& anima ejus non impletur, dum semper cupit discere, It is best to understand this of an ecclesiastical man, who being learned in the Scriptures hath always his labour in his mouth, and his soul is not filled, while he desireth always to learn. So doth Salonius apply it, who saith, 
Salonius in hunc vers.  How can it bee that all things which a man laboureth for should be in his mouth? A wise and learned ecclesiastical man hath all his labour in his mouth, because all things which he learneth in the Scriptures he daily considereth, preacheth, teacheth, and his soul is not filled: quia non sufficit sibi quod didicit, said magis& magis semper discere cupit& studet, Because that which he hath learned doth not suffice him, but he desireth and studieth still to know more and more. 
Greg. Hom. 40.  Saint Gregory applies this verse morally in a bad sense, and he saith, All the labour of a man is in his mouth, but his soul is not filled, Quia quisquis hoc laborat solummodo, ut sciat quid loqui debeat, ab ipsa refectione scientiae suae mente vacua jejunat, Because whosoever doth labour for this only that he may know what to speak, himself fasteth with an hungry mind from the refection of his own knowledge. And using to this purpose the speech of the rich glutton who desired a drop of water to cool his tongue, he saith, Infidelis populus verba legis in ore tenuit, quae opere servare contempsit: ibi ergo amplius ardebit, ubi se ostendit scire quod facere noluit. The unfaithful people had the words of the Law in their mouths, which they despised to observe in their actions: there therefore shall they burn the more, where they shewed that they knew, 
Cassian Collat. 14. c. 9.  that which they would not do. In Cassian Abbot Nesteros applies it by way of advice, and speaking as it seemeth to Cassian himself he saith, Observate inprimis,& tu maxim joannes, ut indicas summum ori tuo silentium, hic est enim primus actualis disciplinae ingressus. Omnis quip labour hoins in ore ipsius est,& ut omnium seniorum instituta atque sententias intento cord& quasi muto ore suscipias, ac diligenter in pectore tuo condens ad perficienda ea potius, quam ad docenda festines, Observe ye chiefly, and you John especially, that you enjoin great silence to thy mouth, for this is the first entrance of an actual discipline. All the labout truly of a man is in his mouth, and that thou dost receive all the institutions and sentences of the elders, with an attentive heart, and as it were with a dumb mouth, and that laying them up diligently in thy heart, thou hasten rather to practise them, then to teach them.  
Verse 8. What hath the wise more than the fool? Much every way, even in the feeding of nature. For a wise man doth not make the feeding of the body, to be his study and care, as knowing, Non nostrum esse manus nutritionem, said esse nutritionem propter nostram hic mansionem, quam ad incorruptionem ratio instituit, that the nourishing of the body is not our business, but that the nourishing of the body, is for our continuance here, 
Clemens Alexander Paedag. lib. 2. cap. 1.  which reason ordereth unto immortality, as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh. A wise man affecteth not delicacy and daintiness of feeding, as knowing Deum parasse opificio suo, homini inquam, cibum& potum, ut conservetur, non ut voluptate afficiatur, That God hath provided for his workmanship, namely man, meate and drink to preserve him, not to affect him with pleasure. A wise man is moderate in his feeding, as knowing, Quae sunt secundum naturam appetitiones circumscribi sufficientia, The appetites, which are according unto nature to bee bounded with sufficiency: Whereas he that is a fool in feeding, and made a fool by feeding, Habet constupratum gustum misera& infausta condiendi arte& inani in faciendis bellariis artificio, Hath his taste adulterated with a wretched and unlucky art of seasoning, and with a vain skill in making of junckets, 
Clem. Alex. Ibid.  as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh. Wherefore he addeth, Mihi quidem morbi eorum misereri lubet; ipsos autem non pudet suas decantare delitias, I am moved to pitty their disease, although themselves bee not ashamed to extol their delicates. A fool in feeding, Soli cibi devorationi blanditur, Doth only flatter his appetite with devouring of meate, and esteemeth more of one cook then of divers husbandmen. A fool in his feeding is ever immoderate, Intruso in ventrem nutrimento, tanquam ad viaticum non ad digestionem edulia reponat, Thrusting his meate into his stomach, as if he laid up provision for a journey, did not eat his meate for digestion. But though a wise man excel a fool so far, yet in the vanity of human nature, which needeth still new supply of nourishment to preserve it, What hath the wise man more than the fool? When a wise man hath eaten, is he not again hungry, as well as a fool? And must not his hunger again be satisfied, or else he cannot live as well as a fools hunger? In this vanity of nature they agree, though not in the vanity of their feeding. What hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living? It is the saying of Clemens Alexandrinus, Nemo ad res necessarias pauper, No one is poor in necessary things, and surely he that knoweth any thing may know how to live. He that will but walk in the labour of any course of life, may easily bee able to walk before the living. But what hath the poor more in preserving of his life by food, or what hath he less then any other? he may bee stronger in digesting of his meate, and the strength also of his body may be the greater by it, he may be the healthier in his life, and his life also may continue the longer by it. 
Clem. Alex. Ibid.  For as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh, Qui escis utuntur vilioribus robustiores sunt& saniores, They that use the coursest meats are the stronger and the healthier. He may have less to eat, and it may be, less variety to eat of, he may have nullas appendices coenae, No labelns of dainties hanging to his lips, no banquets, or after services but in this vanity of human nature, he is as weak as any, in this poverty of nature he is equal with any, and whatsoever his food bee, his hunger again afterwards is the same that is in the rest of men. Now as it is in the bodily feeding of nature, so it is in the spiritual feeding of the soul by grace: when we have eaten, there must bee an appetite again, and again must the appetite be satisfied, or else a spiritual life will not bee preserved in us. It is a fault in any to say or think that they are good enough, and thereby to bee negligent in stirring up their appetite, and in seeking after more. To be filled with Religion is to bee empty of it. Our Saviour Christ saith, 
Matth. 6.6.  Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall bee filled: they shall bee filled in heaven, they should not be on earth. 
Hierom. in Matth.  And Saint jerome saith upon the words, Apertissime nos redemptor instituit, nunquam nos satis justos aestimare debere, said quotidianum justitiae semper amare profectum, Our Redeemer doth evidently teach us, that we must never think ourselves to be righteous enough, but always to love a daily progress in righteousness. And Abbot Theodorus in Cassian tells us truly, 
Cassian Collat. S. Abbot Theod. cap. 14.  In uno mens eodemque statu manner non praevalet, id est, ut nec augmentum virtutum capiat, nec detrimentum sustineat: non acquisisse enim minuise est, quia desinens proficiciendi appetitus non aberit a periculo recedendi, The mind of man cannot abide in one and the same state, that is, as neither to receive increase of virtues, nor to suffer loss of them: for not to gain more, is to grow less, because the appetite of going on failing, a danger of going back, will not be wanting. 
Bern. Epist. 253. Ad Abba. G●●. ●.  Let therefore the saying of Saint Bernard bee remembered, Quid prodest Christum sequi, si non contingat consequi? Ibi tu christian fige cursus tui metam, ubi Christus posuit suam! What doth it profit to go after Christ, unless wee come unto him? do thou O Christian there set down an end to thy course, where Christ did set down an end unto his. he was obedient unto death, and let not thy obedience, and growth in obedience, until then come to an end.   

VER. 9. Better is the sight of the eyes, then the wandring of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.  
VER. 10. That which hath been is name already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier then he.  
Verse 9. The Septuagint in reading of this verse do give a good and plain sense of it, and not dissenting from the force of original; they say, Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias, It is better to see that which thou desirest, then to desire that which thou knowest not. And although the saying bee true in respect of the object desired, Ignoti nulla cupido, of a thing unknown there is no desire, yet in respect of the effects which follow the thing desired, there are many who desire that, of which they know not, how it will prove unto them, nor what will be the consequences of it. Wherefore it is wisdom so to rule the desire as that the eye of the understanding do always go before it, to discover the way that it carrieth us, and to foresee to what it will bring us; lest our desire be placed on something, which at last is most undesired by us. But to take the sense of the words, as they follow the preceding argument of the Preacher; I should conceive their meaning thus. That in dainty and voluptuous varieties of meate, the sight of the eyes is better then the wandring of the appetite, and it is better to bee pleased with looking upon them, then to please the appetite with feeding on them. 
Clem. Alex. Paedag. lib. 2. cap. 1.  For though as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh, Insipientis sit ea quae epulis apponuntur valde admirari ac stupere, It be the part of a fool, much to admire, and with amazement to behold, those things which at feasts are set upon the table: notwithstanding as he addeth, Insipientius est hominem servire ferculis, adeo ut eorum, ut ita dicam, intemperantia una cum eis circumferatur à ministris, It is a more foolish thing for a man to be a servant to dishes, so that by intemperancy he bee as it were carried by the servitors up and down together with the dishes, and that his desire do wander and walk after them, and as it were wait upon them, as they are set down, or taken away, or else are removed from one place to another. For as the same Father speaketh, Vt in cibos regnum& dominium obtineamus, non ut his serviamus ordinati sumus, Wee are ordained by God to have command and authority over our meate and drink, not to be enthralled and subjected to them. If thou overlook them therefore coming where dainties are, it is a thing more seemly and better for thee, then to overcharge thy stomach by feeding upon them, and by suffering thine appetite to wander and walk too boldly and freely among them. For this is nothing else but as in Cl. Alex. it is called {αβγδ} in ventrem vesania, a belly madness, Symmachus as Saint jerome tells us did red the verse thus, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Melius est providere quam ambulare ut libet, It is better to provide, then to walk as it listeth: and surely it is better to provide for cleared of a mans way and for keeping of his way, then by walking and wandring as he listeth to meet with those troubles, which may cross his passage, and whereby himself may be lost in his way. It is better to provide for the end of our journey, and for the account which then we are to make, that so we may bee received into the rest of joy; then by walking now as we will, to suffer then what we will not: and when we come to our walk and to seek rest, to find the way of endless torments to be opened unto us; surely this will show our walking to have been vanity, and to have brought us to nothing but vexation of Spirit. But to apply the conclusion of the verse according to the sense, wherein I have understood the foregoing verses. What is the renewed hunger and appetite of man, though never so often satisfied, but a vanity of nature? What is it, but as St. Hier. tells us, that Aquila and Theodotio did render the words in this place, Pastio venti, a feeding on the wind? Seeing the satisfaction by feeding passeth away, and the appetite is as empty as if it had but fed on the wind. Cl. Al. tells us, Amygdalae dicuntur inanes, non in quibus nihil inest, 
Clem. Alex. stromatum lib. 7.  said in quibus id quod inest est inutile, Almonds are said to be nought and empty, not in which there is nothing found, but in which that which is found is useless and unprofitable. In like manner the feeding of mans body is said to be a vanity, not because it doth nothing, for the appetite is satisfied for the present by it; but because to take away the continual renewing of the appetite it is altogether unprofitable and of no use. again, what is the excess of feeding and pampering the flesh with voluptuous dainties, but a vanity of sin? What is it but a vexation of Spirit by those pains and torments which from diseases it breedeth? For as such feeding {αβγδ} dulleth and stupifieth the mind and understanding, so doth it quicken the sense to the greater misery and vexing of the spirit.  
Verse 10. That which hath been: That is, that which hath been the subject of this discourse and whose vanities have been shewed. For here the Preacher drawing to conclusion of this part of his treatise, repeateth briefly, what he hath said, and of what he hath spoken. Is name already, or his name is already proclaimed, even by this proclamation of the King of Israel: namely in the beginning of this book; 
Eccles. 1. v. 2.& 3.  where having said, vanity of vanities, all is vanity, he addeth, What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? And it is known that it is man: known to every man particularly by that which he feeleth in himself, known to every one generally by that which is easy to be seen and observed in the life of man. Now the whole creature is sometimes taken for man, 
Mar. 16.15.  as when our Saviour Christ saith, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature. Vpon which words Saint Gregory noteth, 
Greg. Mor. l. 6. c. 8.  Omnem videlicet creaturam solum intelligi hominem volvit, cvi commune aliquid cum omnibus creavit, By every creature he would have man only to be understood, whom he hath made to have something common with every creature. And though it be true that every creature is subject unto vanity, and the inferior creatures especially, and that for mans sake; yet it is man of whom the Preacher speaks. Man, 
Ambros. de fide l. 5. c. 1.  that is as St. Amb. speaks, Non una persona hoins, said una caro,& una fragilitas generationis humanae, Not one person of a man, but one flesh, and one frailty of human generation. 
Job 15.15.& 16.  Eliphas comparing man with the heavens saith, that the heavens are not clean in Gods sight, but how much more abominable and filthy is man, that drinketh iniquity as water? Abominable in his original corruption, filthy in his actual transgressions, and the more abominable, more filthy, in that he drinketh iniquity like water. In eating there is some stay made of the meate in the mouth, but in drinking that which is taken, is swallowed down presently; so that thereby is noted the hast of man to commit wickedness; 
Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 15.  and as St. Greg. speaketh, Quia illicita sine timore facit, quasi potum injustitiae sine obstaculo bibit, because he practiseth unlawful things without fear, therefore is he said to swallow down the drink of iniquity without any stoping. This then being man, what marvel is it that he is the subject of so much vanity? What marvel though in his body he be so many ways distressed, so many ways troubled and pained? For indeed as Saint Gregory speaketh, Ipsa haec nostri corporis quae salus vocatur, aegritudo est,& quot solatia ad vivendi usum quaerimus, quasi tot nostrae aegritudini medicamentis obviamus, This very estate of our body, which we call health, is but a sickness, and how many helps wee seek for the use of life, by so many medicines as it were do we withstand our sickness. No marvel also then though man in his mind suffer so many storms and tempests of disquietness and sorrow. For as Saint Gregory also speaketh, Modò spe decipitur, modò pavore vexatur, modò dollar dejicitur, modò falsa hilaritate elevatur, Now is he deceived with hope, then vexed with fear, now dejected and cast down with grief, then lifted up and cheered with a false mirth; it is mans own sin that is the cause of all this. And therefore let him not ask why God hath made him so, neither may he contend with him that is mightier then he. There is no entering of a suite against God, for his cause is always right, and he is always sure to prevail in it. God created man in perfection and happiness, and the first man depriving himself of it, in whom all were: hinc corporis corruptio, hinc animi ignorantia, hinc curae inutiles, 
Ambros. de voc. l. 1. c. 3.  illicitae cupiditates, timor vanus, amor noxius, injusta gaudia, poenitenda consilia& non minor miseriarum mu●●itudo quam criminum, Hence is the corruption of the body, hence the ignorance of the mind, hence unprofitable cares, unlawful desires, vain fears, hurtful love, undue rejoicings, counsels and resolutions to be repented of, and no less a multitude of miseries, then of sins and offences. Besides, God is always mightier then man, much above him in his ways, counsels, and judgements. Saint Gregory saith very well, 
Greg. Mor. l. 27. c. 25.  Homo quum de Deo tacet, per rationem, in qua conditus est, esse aliquid videtur: said si loqui de Deo coeperit, illico quam sit nihil ostenditur, Man when he is silent concerning God, seemeth to be something, by the reason in which he was created: but if he begin to speak of God, forthwith it appeareth how plainly he is nothing. It is therefore rightly concluded by Salvianus, 
Salvianus de Guber. Dei. l. 3.  Sicut plus est Deus quam omnis humana ratio, sic plus mihi debet esse, quam ratio, quod à Deo cuncta agi cognosco, As God is more then all human reason, so it ought to be more with me then reason, that I know all things to be ordered by God. On his side there is might, not to oppress, but to overcome any thing that can be pleaded against him: and it shows the vanity of mans weakness, that he would excuse his own weakness by contending with God any way.   

VER. 11. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?  
VER. 12. For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the dayes of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?  
Verse 11. Much and manifold is the vanity of human things, so that it need not to be made more. But seeing there be also many things that do increase it, why should any man labour to increase it to himself? Why should man by contending with God, and by seeking to cast upon him the blame of human vanity, thereby make himself to suffer the more in his discontented and troubled thoughts, and by provoking the anger of God, make him to heap the more vanities upon him, and then what is man the better? But among the many things that increase vanity, there is one especially, to whom all other things are but serving instruments, and that is the devil. He was the author of mans vanity and misery, and he laboureth still to be the increaser of it. When the devil tempting our Saviour Christ said, 
Cyprianus Serm. de Jejunio& tentat. Christ.  If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down: Saint Cyprian asketh, why he did not rather say, If thou be the son of God, ascend into heaven, because that agreeth rather unto the sons of God. The answer which the Father giveth is, Nec tentando vult ascensum persuadere coelestem, He will not, no not in tempting persuade an heavenly ascending. All his endeavour is to cast men down into earthly vanities. 
Origen. l. 1. in Job.  Origen observeth that if the devil had smitten but one corner of the house, wherein the children of job were feasting, it had been enough to have thrown it down; and thereupon asketh, what made him to smite the four corners of the house? The answer which he giveth is, that he did it, Vt ostenderet ferociam, atque animum suum homicidialem, That he might show his fierceness and his cruel mind to work mans mischief and ruin. For leave and permission being granted from God, it seemeth saith the Father, that all the devils made hast to assault the house on every side, striving as it were between themselves, who should be the first in causing the hurt. And surely, in smiting men with the wind of vanity, most eager and violent is the devils malice, and to increase that, they are increased in their number, where the goodness of God doth not restrain and curb them. Wee read in St. mark, what the devils said to our Saviour Christ, when he cast them out of the man that was in the Synagogue, 
Mark. 1.23.& 24. Theophylac. in evang. Marci.  Let us alone, what have wee to do with thee thou Iesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? What is this saith Theophylact, to destroy us? The answer which he giveth is, Hoc est, auferre à nobis potestatem, quam in homines habemus, ad torquendum scilicet eos, This is, to take away from us the power, which wee have over men for the tormenting of them. So that such is the greatness of the devils desire to torment men, as that they account it their destruction not to be suffered to do it. Wherefore also on the contrary, they account it their gain, their pleasure and delight, to vex and disquiet men with the vanities of this life. Shall any then join hands with the devil, to increase their own vanity? Shall any contend with God, and thereby be at peace with the devil, that he may the more easily increase their misery and trouble? What can man be the better for this? Saint jerome reads the first part of this verse thus, Quia sunt verba multa multiplicantia vanitatem, Because they are many words multiplying vanity: the words that are used in contending with God, and in pleading against him, are but many words that do multiply the vanity and folly of sin. Tremellius reads this verse thus; Quum adsunt res multae, multiplicat vanitatem; quid amplius isti homini est? When there is much wealth, that multiplieth vanity; what hath that man the more? And so also doth the French translation red it. Now the sense is good, and therefore let me consider it a little. One word whereby the latins do express riches and wealth, is Facultates, Abilities, and the reason is given, Quia ind oritur hominibus facultas, multa licentiosè agendi, Because from thence many have power and ability, of living licentiously: as, of voluptuous feeding, profuse drinking, wearing of gay and costly apparel, and other the like vanities, which thereby are multiplied. Saint Austin therefore saith, Aurum est materia laborum, periculum possidentium, 
Augustin. de verb. Domin.  enervatio virtutum, dominus malus, servus proditor, Gold is the matter of labours, the danger of the possessors, the weakening of virtues, a naughty master, a treacherous servant. And indeed, many are the cares and troubles, many the dangers and difficulties, much the decay of goodness, cruel the commands, false the service, which proceed from wealth. Saint Bernard 
Bernard.  tells us, that a Camel hath but one burden onely, but that a rich man hath two, Alterum terrenarum possessionum, alterum vero peccatorum, The one of his earthly possessions, the other of his sinful vanities. The first he must lay down at his death, whether he will or no; the last unless he do lay down before his death, he shall for ever carry and never be eased of it. But to show, how much wealth multiplieth vanities, 
Greg. Mor. l. 33. c. 1.  St. Gregory noteth, that they who do possess it, Tanto familiarius diabolo serviunt, quanto hujus vitae successibus apud semetipsos altius intumescunt. His namque cum gloria augetur elatio, cum elatione vero additur cura, huc illucque animus tenditur, quia& desideria cum rebus crescunt, By so much the more friendly and readily do they serve the devil, by how much within themselves they are swollen higher by the successses of this life. For by these with their glory, their pride is increased, with their pride also their care, this way and that way is their mind distracted, because their vain desires also are augmented with their wealth. And what then hath such a one more? Surely more troubles, more miseries, more sins. And that he might have less of these, it were far better for him, if he had less of the other.  
Verse 12. To contend, for I know not what, is a great shane, but to contend with God, for I know not what, what greater shane can there be? And who is there that knoweth what is good for man in this life? Who is there so well learned in the knowledge of himself? Who is so well studied in the knowledge of another? What art, what skill, what mystery is there, that can teach any one to know it? Many think, that this or that is good for themselves, or others. Many hope well, many are well persuaded of this thing or that thing, but who knoweth any thing? Saint Ambrose saith, lo aeger Simiam quarit ut devoret, quo posset sanari; 
Ambrosius Hexam. l. 6. c. 4.  caprea vulnerata dictamum petit,& de vulnere excludit Sagittas; ursus aeger formicas devorat, ergo ferae norunt expetere ea quae sibi prosint, tu ignoras O homo remedia tua, The lion being sick seeketh an ape to devour it, that thereby he may be healed; the goat being wounded seeketh for dittany, and so driveth out the arrow from the wound; the bear being sick devoureth pismires: the beasts therefore do know how to seek those things which are profitable for them, but thou O man knowest not the remedies that are good for thee. Man desireth often that as good for himself, which is indeed evil; and often shuneth that as evil, which is indeed good for him. It is God onely that knoweth, as St. Austin speaketh, Quid nobis in hac vita expediat, 
Augustin. l. cvi titul. expos. quarund. proposit. ex Epist. ad Roman.  & quid post hanc vitam daturus est, Both what is good for us in this life, and what the good is which himself will give us after this life. Man judgeth the troubles and miseries of this life to be evil for him, but God knoweth them to be good; and though in themselves they be evil, God turneth them for his servants into good unto them. 
Ambros. de fuga saeculi. c. 6.  Et non mirum si convertit in bonum, qui perfectae bonitatis est, And no marvel if he turn them into good, who is himself perfect goodness, as St. Ambrose speaketh. It is a great ignorance therefore, that any are vexed for the miseries of this life, or that any do imagine the servants of God to be miserable if that they suffer them: Quia quum flagella humiliter suscipiunt, post flagella ad requiem sublimiter suscipiuntur; Because while they receive these afflictions humbly, after these afflictions they are received into rest gloriously: 
Gregorius in evang. Homil. 15.  Et tanto mundior pòst ad judicem venit, quanto nunc ejus rubiginem ignis tribulationis purgat, And afterwards he cometh by so much the purer to the judge, by how much now the more the fire of tribulation doth purge him, as St. Gregory speaketh. Who knoweth what is good for man in this life? In this life, not onely many are the evils that do besiege man, but man knoweth not what is good, and how then can he seek it, much less find it? But in the next life, there is nothing but good to be known; and though the good cannot be known as it is, yet as it is known, it shall be the complete and endless good of man. There evil shall be known as a thing not to be feared, and whatsoever contentment may arise from the knowledge that others do suffer it, they that are in that life shall never know it by any feeling of any in themselves. O therefore that men who cannot know what is good for them in this life, would seek for that good in the next life! All the dayes of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow: When Adam had sinned, he went to the bushes and trees, to hid himself under their shadow; and from that time it is, that man spendeth all the dayes of his vain life as a shadow. Then his life became vain, because he was departed from the fountain of life; then all his dayes became a shadow, 
Greg. Mor. l. 11. c. 26.  and were turned into night: Quia amisso amore conditoris calorem cordis perdidit,& in solo iniquitatis suae frigore permansit, Because the love of his Maker being lost, he lost the heat of his heart, and remained onely in the could of his iniquity, as St. Gregory speaketh. But the shadow here is most directly the shadow of ignorance, wherein man spending all his dayes, seeth not, knoweth not what is good for him: but taking oftentimes shadows for substances, or beholding things as they are shadowed over by the subtlety of Satan, by the vanity of the world, by the blackness of his own fond affections, is commonly mistaken in the truth of things. For who can tell a man, what shall be after him? What shall follow him, what shall overtake him: Who can tell him what is close behind him, and may befall him the next day of his life? Wherefore though any one did know what were good for man, yet what were man the better? Seeing he could not tell him, whether he should enjoy it or no. The best way therefore for man, is to commit himself to him, who knoweth what is good for him, and what shall befall him: the best way is to submit himself to his pleasure, whose good pleasure can make all things to be good unto him: the best way is to get under the shadow of his wings, that there he may be preserved while he spendeth his dayes as a shadow. What shall be after him under the sun: That is, briefly, in this world. Man was made under the sun, made to see and know the truth of things, ordained to see and know his own good; but sin coming as a cloud between the sun and him, and though he be under the sun, yet keeping the light thereof from him; hence it is that he spendeth all his dayes as a shadow, and in the darkness of ignorance: hence it is that being deprived of the heat of Gods favour, Sub umbra interni frigoris absconditur, He is hide under the shadow of his inward coldness and vanity. Wee say sometimes that the sun is under a cloud, but it is man, not the sun that is under the cloud: man who is under the sun, is under the cloud of his corrupted nature, and that makes him to lie under so many miseries, not knowing what to do, what is good for him, what shall be after him.    

CHAPTER. VII.  

VER. 1. A good name is better then precious ointment: and the day of death, than the day of ones birth.  
VER. 2. It is better to go to the house of mourning, then to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart.  
VER. 3. Sorrow is better then laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.  
VER. 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning: but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.  
VER. 5. It is better to hear the rebuk of the wise, then for a man to hear the song of fools.  
VER. 6. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: this is also vanity.  
Verse 1. THE Preacher having manifested the vanity of a false human happiness in the former part of this Treatise, proceedeth now to show what the true happiness of man is. And the happiness of man consisting as Lyra noteth, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Objective in Deo solo, formaliter in clara ejus visione& fruitione, dispositive vero in meritorio opere, For the object of it in God alone, for the form of it, in a clear vision and fruition of God, and for a disposition unto it in the works of a godly life. It is of the happiness of man in this last kind considered that the Preacher speaketh, Et quae est inchoatio quaedam perfectae beatitudinis, sicut dispositio est quaedam introducendae formae inchoatio, And which is a kind of beginning of perfect happiness, even as a disposition to a form, is a kind of beginning of the form, which is to be introduced. Now the works of a godly life being the actions of virtue and devotion; the Preacher beginneth with the actions of virtue. And first, with the actions of prudence, which as the Philosopher sheweth, 
Aristotel.  Proprie sunt eligere ea quae sunt meliora, Properly are to choose those things that are better. Wherefore in this verse he tells us, that a good name is better then precious ointment, the one being but a perfume of the nostrils, the other a perfume of the heart. It is not said, a great name, arising from the greatness of worldly honour, worldly wealth, worldly glory in any kind: but a good name, arising from the goodness of a mans works and actions. 
Chald.  The Chaldee therefore doth thus read this verse, Melius est nomen bonum quod comparabunt justi in hoc saeculo, quam unguentum unctionis, quod fuerit inunctum supper capita regum& sacerdotum, Better is the good name which the just shall obtain in this world, then the ointment of anointing which was powred upon the heads of the Kings and Priests. And Olympiodorus rightly saith, 
Olympiodor. in hunc vers.  that the praise belonging to a name is due to that name, Non quod linguae sicut pictae tabellae efformant, said quod ex officiosis actionibus viri justi comparant, Not which the tongues of men as painted tables set forth, but which righteous men procure by their virtuous actions. Saint Chrysostome considering those words of the Psalmist, They call their lands after their own names, thereupon saith, 
Psal. 49.11. Chrysostom.  Ecce aliud genus amentiae, aedificiis, agris, balneis sua nomina inscribere. Ne nomen O homo aedificiis inscribas, said trophaea recte factorum erigas, quae et in praesenti vita nomen tibi conservant,& infutura vita, immortalem tibi requiem comparent. Nihil enim facit nomen adeo immortal, ut natura virtutum, Behold another kind of madness, to set their names upon houses, lands, baths. But O man, do not engrave thy name on houses, but erect trophies of thy good works, which will preserve thy name in this life, and in the next life will procure thee immortal rest. There is nothing that doth make a name so immortal, as the nature of virtues. When jacob asked to know the name of the Angel that had wrestled with him; the reply of the Angel is, 
Gen. 32.29.  Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. What is this? His name was desired, and he gave him a blessing. It was not sure so much that the Angel would have his name concealed, as rather to show, that the true glory of a name doth not consist in letters and syllables, but shineth from the actions of goodness and virtue. And the day of death is better then the day of ones birth. It is soon after the day of any ones birth, that anciently in the Church of the Iewes, and still in the Church of Christians, his name was and is given to him. And it is the day of death that maketh the name of any one to be good: for until then what name he will deserve, it cannot be said. Hence it is that the Preacher joineth these together, and even thereby proving that the day of death is better than the day of ones birth, because a good name is better than a name. It is true that in the day of death, peregrinamur à mundo, wee are absent from the world; but in the day of birth peregrinamur à Domino, we are absent from the Lord, 
2 Cor. 5.6.  as the Apostle speaketh. It is true that the day of death depriveth us of the good things of this life, but it giveth us the better things of a better life, and is it not then better? It is true that the day of death taketh away the light of the sun from us, but it giveth us the light of God himself: it takes us away from the earth, but it brings us to heaven, and how much better is that? It is true that the day of birth enters man into many miseries, but the day of death sets an end to all. It is true that the day of birth brings forth a man unto many sins, but at the day of death the time of sinning dieth. It is true that the day of our birth, is the beginning of our journey to our Country, but the day of death leads us into it. And is it not better to be in our Country then to bee traveling to it? Is it not better that sin should die in us, then we live to sin? Is it not better to bee delivered from miseries then to be brought into them? 
Ambr. de fide Resurrect.  Saint Ambrose therefore tells us, Fuisse quidam feruntur populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitusque celebrarent. Nec imprudenter: eos enim qui in hoc vitae salum venissent, moerendos putabant; eos vero qui ex istius mundi procellis& fluctibus emersissent, non injusto gaudio prosequendos arbitrabantur, There are reported to have been some, who lamented the births of men, celebrated their deaths. Nor unwisely: for they judged those to bee lamented who came into the salt Sea of this life; they accounted those happy and to bee honoured with joy, who were escaped from the waves and storms of this world. Saint Bernard speaking of himself saith, 
Bern. de Inter. Dom. cap. 35.  Vivere erubesco, quia parum proficio: mori timeo, quia non sum paratus: malo tamen mori& misericordiae Dei me committere& commendare, quia benignus& misericors est; quam de mala mea conversatione alicui scandalum facere, I am ashamed to live because I am so little bettered; I fear to die, because I am not ready: yet I had rather to die; and to commit and commend myself to the mercy of God, who is gracious and merciful, then to give a scandal to any one by my sinful conversation. 
Cyprian. de Immortalit.  Saint Cyprian relateth of a Bishop, who being near to his death, and unwilling to die, and praying unto God for a longer life, an angel appeared unto him, and with an angry countenance in reproving him said, Pati timetis, exire de vita non vultis, quid faciam vobis? ye fear to suffer, ye will not go out of this life, what shall I do unto you? All which shows the day of death to be better then the day of ones birth; but take it, as the Preacher sets it down: it is when a good name is joined with it, which is better then a precious ointment.  
Verse 2. The plague of sin is that which always reigneth; and therefore as in a time of the plague it is better to go into a house not infected, then into a house that is infected; so it is better to go into the house of mourning which is not infected with the plague of sin, then into the house of feasting, which is infected with it. The original word for feasting, is {αβγδ} signifying a drinking feast most properly, and there it is that the infection of sin is most dangerous. What though in the house of mourning one being dead, all are sorrowful, and in the house of feasting all bee merry and pleasant? yet it is better to bee with the sorrowful, that the cause of sorrow for thy sins may be the less; then being merry for a fit to fall into some sin, for which it will be needful for thee to be long sorrowful; 
Eccles. 2.4.& 5.  The Preacher had built unto himself pleasant houses, Vineyards, Gardens, Orchards, and he it is that here prefereth the house of mourning before the houses of pleasure and delight. God saith unto the Prophet jeremiah, 
jer. 18.2.  Arise and go down into the Potters house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. The Potters house is the house of mourning, wherein is the earthen vessel broken, the earthen vessel of mans body broken by death. And if wee shall go down thither, that will make us willing to hear the words of God, whereby to keep our souls from the infection of sin. The very temper of sadness is a friend to virtue; whereas the heart set upon a merry pin, is like one standing on the top of a Pinnacle, and in great danger of falling. Saint Chrysostome therefore saith, 
Chrysostome Hom. 54. ad Popul.  Sit aliquis gaudens& laetus, effususque, quid turpius? Sit aliquis dolens& maestus, quid hoc est sapientius? Non enim stat anima firma seed, said tanquam a quodam flumine tollitur,& elevatur à voluptate, nihil habens stabile, If any one be very joyful and profuse in mirth, what is more unseemly? If any one be sad and sorrowful, what is more wise? For the soul doth not stand upon a firm seat, but is carried away as it were with a river, and is lifted up with pleasure having nothing settled in it. But in the house of mourning there is a special cordial and Antidote against the pestilence of sin, For that is the end of all: by going into that house is shewed to what we must all go; there the end of one sheweth, what is the end of all: for all must die. Saint Austin saith, Ex quo nascimur, necesse est ut moriamur: morbus hic necesse est ut ad mortem perducat, In that wee are born, there is a necessity that wee must die: this disease of necessily doth bring men to their death. The physician seeing one sick of a dropsy, another of a fever, saith, sure they will die, and yet often they die not: but he that is sick of this disease, is sure to die without question: And of this doth the house of mourning put us in mind. An usual name whereby we call a sepulchre is a monument: and the reason of the name of a monument, 
Augustin. Serm. 1. in 1. Dom. Quadrag.  is as Saint Austin giveth it mo●ens mentem, because it admonisheth the mind: and so indeed the Septuagint do red it here, In illa enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum, For therein the end of all men is admonished: the end of another doth admonish every one of his own end. And how can it choose, but that this also should bee a means to restrain him from sin? It was the first means which God used to keep man from sin to tell him of this death, 
Genes. 2.17.  saying, in the day that thou eatest of the forbidden fruit thou shalt surely die: and it is still a most excellent means to keep man from sin to remember his death. Isocrates hath a saying; Si mortalis es, ut mortalis vive, If thou bee mortal, live as a mortal man; and seeing wee must all die let us all so live, as they who at our death must give an account of what we have done. 
Greg. Mor. l. 13. c. 15.  Saint Gregory saith, Qui considerat qualis erit in morte, semper fit timidus in operatione,& paene mortuum se putat, quia moriturum minime ignorat: perfecta enim vita est mortis imitatio, quam dum justi solicit peragunt, culparum laqueos evadunt, He that considereth what he shall bee in death, is fearful in the works of his life, and thinketh himself almost to be dead, because he is not ignorant that he shall bee dead. For a perfect life is an imitation of death, which while the righteous are careful to do, they escape the snares of offences. Wherefore we have here lastly the applying of the cordial to the hear. And the living will lay it to his heart: the living, he to whom God hath given life to see another dead that is living, and not dead in a careless course of wickedness, he will lay it to his heart. Symmachus did red it, as S. Hier. tells us, Respiciet ad mentem, will look unto his mind, and consider with himself, whether he be ready for his death or no. Tren●ell. reads it, Inditurus est illud animo suo, He will put it on upon his mind; as if his body putting on a mourning garment for the death of his friend, his soul also should put on a mourning garment by the sad remembrance of his own death. Our English hath it very well according to the original, will lay it to heart, will bring it home to his own heart, 
Seneca epist. 102.  telling his heart, how that also shall be strucken with death. Seneca observeth well of death, Quod non cogitatur nisi ut aliena, That it is not thought upon, but as belonging to another. We can say, such a one is dead, and such another is dead, and yet we do not think of our death. But let him that liveth in Gods fear, and looketh to die in his favour, lay it to his own heart, to keep him from the infection of sin, that so though his life may be somewhat the more sad, his death may be by much the more joyful.  
Verse 3. A gravity of behaviour is better than a light wantonness; and though it look with the aspect of sorrow, yet he that can but look into the heart shall find that full of cheerfulness. Laughing and sporting are often by carelessness ensnared in the traps of trouble, whereas a sober sadness being more vigilant doth easily avoid them, and give the heart more quietness. But the general reading of the first part of this verse is, Ira melior risu, Anger is better than laughing. For though an affability of carriage, 
Cassian. Institut. lib. 8. cap. 5.  or else as in Cassian it is styled, placiditas, a plausibility of disposition and behaviour be a thing acceptable to others, and that which giveth much contentment unto him that hath it; yet it is not seldom that a more stern countenance, a more sour behaviour, though distasted by others, and causing discontentment unto him that hath it, is rather required and better chosen. Wicked martion framing to himself one God, 
Ter. contra martion. l. 1.  who was all mildness, all sweetness, and having no anger in him, Tertullian doth justly refute him saying, Hinc sufficit perversissimum Deum ostendi in ipso praeconio solitariae bonitatis, From hence it sufficeth to show the perverseness of his God, even from the praise itself of his solitary goodness. The meekness of the Dove is indeed commendable, but yet sometimes the sting of the Serpent is more praiseworthy. Now this anger is chiefly to be preferred in two respects. First, when others would entice us to sin: secondly, when by others we see sin practised. As for the first, how often hath an angry sadness of countenance, driven away the tempters and seducers unto wickedness: whereas a courteous affability, a kind plausibility hath made them the bolder to give an assault, and hath made the assault stronger in the success of it. 
Aristot. Ethico. lib. 4. cap. 6.  Aristotle therefore speaking of affability saith, Medium illud laudandum, quo quispiam ea quae oportet acceptabit similiter& agree feret, That mean is to be praised, whereby any one shall both accept kindly, and reject with discontentment those things which he ought. Saint jerome reads it in the Proverbs, 
Prov. 6.6. Amb. Hexam. cap. 21.  go to the Bee, O sluggard, But why unto the Bee? Saint Ambrose giveth an answer, who telleth us, Inter mella fundunt apes venena, si fuerint lacessitae, Among hony the Bees do sand forth poison if that they bee provoked: and let him remember this, who is so full of hony in his affability, all whose carriage is nothing but a sweetness of disposition; and let him learn how to cast out the venom of his anger against the enticers and seducers unto wickedness. Secondly, anger also is preferred, when wickedness is committed by others, for how often hath a gentleness of carriage encouraged in wickedness, when a rough temper might easily have stopped it? This was the fault of Heli, said quo contra subditorum vitia tepuit, eo contra ipsum districtio aeterni Rectoris exarsit, But he being only mildly warm against their sins that were under him, it made the wrath of the eternal governor to burn against him, 
Greg. Moral. l. 5. c. 30.  as Saint Gregory speaketh. But here as the same Father speaketh, a double anger is to be considered, Nam alia est ira quam impatientia excitat, alia quam Zelus justitiae format. Illa ex vitio, haec ex virtute generatur, For there is one anger which impatiency stirreth up, another which the zeal of justice frameth. That proceedeth from 'vice, this from virtue. But even in this also a great care must be had, that immoderatenesse do not transport it, and as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. Ibid.  Excitata ipso zelo rectitudinis long a rectitudine aberret, Being stirred by a zeal of rightness, it wander far and err from rightness. It is needful therefore as Isidore Pelusiot● adviseth, 
Isido. Pelusiota lib. 2. Epist.  that a man be angry even with his anger, Quia si fractum& dissolutum inveniat, nullo negotio superat, sui vigilantem ipsi irascentem, quam primum discedit, Because if it find a man to bee remiss and slack, it subdueth him without any difficulty, but if it find him vigilant and angry with itself, it quickly forsaketh him. The latter part of the verse by interpreters is red diversely. And if wee apply the anger against those who entice ourselves to wickedness, it may well bee red as Saint jerome hath, Emendabitur cor, The heart will bee amended; or else as Saint jerome tells us, that Symmachus did red it, Melior fiet animus, The mind will bee made better: which is the translation that Tremellius also doth give it; because anger against such corrupters doth preserve and increase goodness in the heart and mind. Or else if we apply the anger, against those by whom wickedness is committed, it may well be red as the Septuagint have it, corrigitur animus delinquentis, The mind of him that offendeth is corrected. Or else as I conceive it may not amiss bee rendered, Benignum fit cor, The heart is made loving and kind; it being a testimony of a loving mind and heart towards him that is reproved, when an angry countenance reproveth his faults.  
Verse 4. The wise being in the house of mourning, the heart of them is there also: they are truly affencted with it, they do indeed lament their deceased friend. fools being in the house of mirth, the heart of them is there also, they are wholly possessed, transported, ravished with it, 
Olympiodor. in hunc vers.  and in their mirth are most serious. Olympiodorus therefore speaking of the former part of the verse saith, Vir sapiens funebri luctu secum animo deputans se natum de corruptibili carne brevi ex hac vita migraturum; mortales caeteros qui eadem sunt nati conditione affectu pio prosequitur, A wise man by occasion of funeral sorrow considering in his mind that himself also being born of corruptible flesh, is shortly to depart this life, sheweth a pious affection of sorrow towards others that are mortal and born of the same condition. Whereas fools being in the house of sorrow, they are little moved with sorrow, but their heart is in the house of mirth, sporting at least within themselves, when the outward occasion presenteth matter of sorrow unto them. Otherwise was the carriage of Pammachius, 
Paulinus ad Pammach. Epist. 35.  to whom Paulinus writing and commending him for his virtuous sorrow in the burial of his wife saith, Quam non vacuam fletibus, nec vano pomparum inanium honore comitatus, debito ordine primum charo funeri justa persolvens, piis lachrymis,& largo charitatis roar perfusus religiosas exequias honorasti; Whom following without the vain ostentation of empty pomp, but not without weeping, in a due order first paying the duties to her dear funerals by religious tears, thou diddest also honour her funeral solemnities with a large due of charity wherewith thou wert endowed. The same Father in the same Epistle speaking of sorrow for the dead, saith, Bonae lachrymae charitatis, in quibus Pater Abraham matrem repromissionis eluxit: bonae lachrymae pietatis quas joseph justus impendit patri. said quid Sanctorum mortalium praedicem fletus? Flevit& Iesus amicum, hanc etiam passionem de nostra infaelicitate dignatus, ut mortuo infunderet lachrymas, Good were the tears of affection, in which Father Abraham lamented the Mother of the promise: good were the tears of devout duty which righteous joseph bestowed on his father. But what do I set forth the weeping of holy mortal men? Iesus also wept for his friend, and vouchsafing to take this passion also from our unhappiness, he powred out tears for the dead. The council therefore of the son of Syrack is, 
Ecclus. c. 38. v. 16.& 17.  My son, let tears fall down over the dead, weep bitterly and make great moan and use lamentation, as he is worthy. But to look again upon the words of the verse: The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning: his body, in which his heart is set, as it were in a house, being a house of mourning, as well in regard of the sober and sad demeanour of it, is in respect of the tears which he sheds, the sighs that he makes, both for his own sins, and for the troubles of Gods Church, and the miseries of his people. But the heart of fools is in a house of mirth; their body being full of the gesticulations of mirth, as well in respect of their light behaviour, as in regard of the vain talking, ridiculous laughing, both of and at their own sins, as also the distress of Gods Church, the calamities of his people. again the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning: the hearty mourning of the wise is in the house, private, and unknown; it is not in the streets open to the view and notice of the world: for so the command of our Saviour Christ is, When ye fast, 
Mat 6.16.& 17.& 18.  be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. The heart of fools is in the house of mirth: they have all their mirth to themselves, all is in the house, to the feeding, feasting, delighting of themselves, and their own hearts. The heart of others is not made merry by them, either by the works of charity, or the good offices that they do them. It is not abroad that their mirth is seen, within the doors of their own house all is enjoyed. Saint jerome understanding this verse with reference unto that which followeth, giveth this sense of it, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Cor sapientis vadat ad domum talis viri, qui se corripiat delinquentem, ut adducat ad lachrymas,& qui provocet propria lugere peccata;& non eat ad domum laetitiae, ubi doctor adulatur& decipit; ubi non conversionem audientium, said applausus quaerit& laudem. Talis praeceptor plangitur, dives in sermone, non dives in opere, Let the heart of the wise go to the house of such a one, who may reprove him when he offendeth, that so he may bring him to tears, and make him to lament his own sins: and let him not go to the house of mirth, where the teacher flattereth and deceiveth: where he doth not seek the conversion of the hearers, but his own applause and praise. Such a teacher is to be lamented, being rich in speech, but not in the work of the ministry.  
Verse 5. It is better: it may not be sweeter, it may not be so pleasing and delightful, but sure it is better, and there is less hurt, more good that ariseth from it. There is in rebuk a jarring and harsh music, because it opposeth the fault that is committed, it disagreeth with the mind of him that hath committed it: but yet it is a better music then the melodious songs of flattering parasites, who leading on in wickedness, do bring on to destruction. It is storied of Alexander the great, that having had a Philosopher a long time with him, at length said unto him, Recede à me prorsus, consortium tuum nolo, Be gone from me, I desire not thy company. And being asked why, made answer, Quod quum tanto tempore mecum degeris, nunquam me de vitio aliquo increpasti, Because having lived so long time with me, thou hast not reproved any 'vice in me. For either thou hast not observed me to err, which is a great argument of ignorance, because being a man, I know myself to be exposed to many errors. Or else thou hast known me to err, and hast held thy peace, which is a proof of thine unfaithfulness. Surely, it was a great praise of that great Monarch thus to do. But if he were put away, that did not reprove, then much more are fools to be put away, who by their songs do nourish men in their errors, and much better it is to hear the reproof of the wise. Of the wise, who have wisdom to know what it is that they rebuk, who have wisdom to consider whom they do rebuk, who have wisdom to understand how they do rebuk, and that they do it neither furiously nor proudly. First, 
Cassian. Institut. l. 8. c. 5.  not furiously, and therefore Cassian saith, Delinquentem fratrem si necesse est, ita curare festinet, ut dum medelam leviori forsitan febricula laboranti procurat inferret, non semetipsum iratus deteriori morbo caecitatis involvat, Let every one if it be needful, so hasten to cure his offending brother, that while he seeketh to apply a remedy to one who is sick perhaps of a light fever, being angry he do not cast himself into a worse disease of blindness. 
Augustinus Serm. 18. de verbis Dom.  Secondly, not proudly, and therefore St. Austin saith, Neque consentientes sitis malis, ut approbetis, neque negligentes ut non arguatis, neque superbientes ut insultantes arguatis, Neither be ye consenting unto evils, that ye should approve them, neither negligent that ye should not reprove them, neither proud that ye reprove them in an insulting manner. Then for a man to hear the song of fools: a song made to the tune of fools, who neither care what they sing, nor consider to whom they sing it; but onely intend by singing to please, though by pleasing they bring much hurt and mischief. Great is the power of sweet singing; and as theodoric speaketh in Cassiodore, In humana voice varias animi affectiones gravidametra pepererunt, The fruitful measures of the voice, have brought forth many affections of mans mind; and no less is the power of flattering lips in their strange working upon mans heart. So that as in the same place theodoric speaketh of those who heard the Syrens singing; Eligebant suaviter decepti Scopulos incurrere, ne tantam paterentur dulcedinem praeterire, They did choose being sweetly deceived to run upon the rocks, rather then to suffer themselves to pass by so great delight; in like manner, men do rather suffer themselves to fall upon many evils, then not to content themselves with delightful flatteries. But as there also it is said of Vlysses, Cogitavit foelicissimam surditatem,& quam vincere intelligendo non poterant, melius non advertendo superabant, He invented a most happy deafness, and that which his Mariners could not overcome by intending to it, he made them to overcome better by not perceiving of it; so to overcome the power of such deceitful flatterers, the way is to neglect to hear their songs, and rather to listen to the more solemn music of a grave and wise reproof, then to the light and wanton songs of these enticing seducers. Gregorius Thaumaturgus noteth in this verse, 
Greg. Thaumat.  that when the Preacher saith, It is better to hear the rebuk of the wise, the word is there singular, speaking of one wise man, and him to be opposed unto the song of many fools, for there the word is plural. Whereupon he saith, Multo magis optandum sapientis unius objurgationem excipere, quam totius chori improborum& miserorum hominum cantantium auditorem fieri: ille quidem prodest dum corripit, isti vero bellum inferunt dum laudant, It is much rather to be wished, to receive the reproof of one wise man, then to be the hearer of the whole choir of wicked and miserable men singing: for he doth benefit us while that he doth rebuk us, but they make war against us, while that they praise us.  
Verse 6. fools themselves are but thorns, their laughing is but as the crackling of thorns under a pot. Themselves as thorns do grow up to be burned; their laughing as the crackling of thorns under a pot, doth make a great noise for the time, but it is quickly gone. Yea, {αβγδ} Cusuc, the sporting of fools; and as the French translation hath it, La gaudisserie, the merriment of the wicked, all their pleasant delighting of themselves, is speedily vanished away, like the flashing of thorns. For as St. Ambrose speaketh, Spinae dum arde●t sonant, 
Ambros. de hortat. ad virginitatem.  & cito exuruntur, ut nullus caloris sit effectus, thorns when they burn make a noise, and quickly are consumed, so that there is no effect of their heat; so likewise fools, when they are in prosperity make a noise of it, but it is soon gone, and they have little fruit of any comfort by it. Besides, as the crackling of thorns is under the pot, so that though the flamme do lift itself up in an exulting bravery, yet it is kept down and suppressed; in like manner, the laughing and merriment of the wicked is under the pot of manifold troubles and distresses of this life, by which it is suppressed, and whereby the gallantry of it is checked and cast down. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome taketh the fools laughing in this verse to be the fools singing in the former verse, and accordingly applieth unto the pleasing words of a flattering teacher; Vel ad curas saeculi, quae spinae interpretantur, auditores suos cohortantis, vel futuro eos incendio praeparantis, Either exhorting his hearers to the cares of the world, which the thorns are interpnted to be; or else preparing them for the burning which is to come: and whose words though never so sweet to his hearers, are in Gods ears but as Insuavis strepitus spinarum sub olla ardentium, the harsh unpleasant noise of thorns under a pot. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Lyra also taking the two verses to be of a consort, applieth this verse also unto flatterers, and that as thorns Faciunt magnum sonum et inutilem, imo ad sui consumptionem, ita stulti applausus in malo alterius: nocet enim utrique, scilicet adulatori, et ei cvi adulatur, do make a great and unprofitable sound, and that to the consuming of themselves; so a fools applauding of another in his wickedness hath the like effect: for it hurteth both, as well the flatterer as him that is flattered. Saint Bernard saith, Spina culpa est, spina poena est, spina falsus frater, spina vicinus est malus, sin is a thorn, punishment is a thorn, a false brother is a thorn, a bad neighbour is a thorn, and this false brother, this bad neighbour is a flatterer, and therefore fitly here compared to a thorn. And of him it may be said, as St. Bernard also speaketh, attend pessimum germen ejus cvi maledictum est terrae nostrae: quum inquit colueris eam, spinas& tribulos germinabit tibi, Behold the worst fruit of that our earth to which the curse was given, When thou dressest it, it shall bring forth briars and thorns. Saint Ambrose understandeth this verse of a fools unseemly laughing, and that as the crackling of thorns under a pot, Sic est risus stultorum qui sine gratia sonat, et ollam sui corporis urit, So is the laughter of fools which soundeth without comeliness, 
Ambros. de horta. ad virginitatem.  and burneth, disfigureth the pot of his body. The Father addeth, saying, Merità negabat Sarah quia riserat, ne videretur ridendo de effectu promissionum dubitasse coelestium; et tamen ille risus plenus gravitatis et pudoris erat, quem nemo alius testis nisi Deus solus cognosceret, quem occulta non fallunt, justly did Sarah deny that she laughed, that shee might not seem by laughing to doubt of the efficacy of the heavenly promises; and yet that laughing was full of gravity, full of modesty, which no other witness knew but God alone, to whom no hidden things are secret. But how much then is the immodest and unmeasurable laughing of fools to be condemned? And who have as many witnesses of their shane as of their laughing. Their laughing is not secret, but maketh as great a noise as the crackling of thorns under a pot: the pot of their mouths boiling with a froth and scum of their folly. 
Clemens alexander. Paedag. lib. 2. cap. 5.  So that their laughing is as Clemens Alexandrinus speaketh, {αβγδ}, Irridendus risus, A laughing to be laughed at. Let it therefore be the care of every one, so to use laughter, so to enjoy the merriment of this world; that it may not be the laughter, that it may not be the merriment of fools, but of them that are wise; that so God at length may fill their mouth with laughter, and their lips {αβγδ} jubilatione, 
job 8 21. Greg. Mor. l. 8. c. 32.  with shouting for joy, as Bildad speaketh in job. For as St. Gregory noteth upon the words, as justorum tunc risu implebitur, quum eorum corda finitis peregrinationum fletibus aeterna laetitiae exultatione satiabuntur, The mouth of the righteous shall then be filled with laughter, when the tears of their pilgrimage being dried up, their hearts shall be satisfied with exultation of joy. Non autem tunc erit risus corporis, said cordis risus. Risus enim nunc corporis de lascivia dissolutionis, said risus cordis tunc de laetitiae nascetur securitatis, But then it shall not be a laughing of the body, but a laughing of the heart. For now the laughing of the body cometh from a wantonness of looseness; but the laughing of the heart shall then arise from a joy of security. When the servants of God being filled with the joy of a manifest beholding of him, Quasi ad hilaritatem risus exilient in ore mentis, Shall as it were break forth into a cheerfulness of laughing, in the mouth of their understanding. Then their laughter shall not be as the crackling of thorns under a pot, 
job 38.7.  but as the singing together of the morning stars, and as the shouting for joy of all the sons of God. What weeping for our sins can be sufficient to come to this joy? As for the other, what is it but vanity? vanity in all, but in a fool what is it but notorious vanity? And as for flattery, what is it but a silly vanity in him that is pleased with it? What is it but a wicked vanity in him that useth it?   
VER. 7. Surely, oppression maketh a wise man mad: and a gift destroyeth the heart. 
Verse 7. The French translation doth read here instead of oppression, Ce qu' on est trompe, This that they are deceived; maketh a wise man mad; and so the sense of the verse may seem to be referred unto flattery, whereof the former verses speak, and by which when a wise man perceiveth himself to have been deluded, it maketh him even mad with anger against himself. Our translation of oppression may be referred unto the rebuk whereof before the Preacher speaketh; which as coming from the wise, and being just, is worthy to be heard, so being unjust, is enough to make even a wise man mad in vexing of himself. Or else wee may take the connexion thus, that the Preacher having shewed the infirmities of fools, here he sheweth the infirmities of wise men: and first, showing the weakness of a wise man oppressed; secondly, he sheweth the corruption of a wise man oppressing: and of both he sheweth that their understanding is destroyed. Surely, oppression maketh a wise man mad: a wound is there most grievous, where the sense of feeling is most perfect, and therefore a wise man being most apprehensive of the wrong that is done him, and best able to look into it, and to judge of every circumstance of it, that makes him to be the more affencted with it. But yet he that shall be so much moved with the wrong of another, as to loose his own understanding, must needs be onely Sapiens in profectu positus, a wise man that is tending to wisdom, not one that hath attained to it, as St. jerome well noteth, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers. Basilius Epist. 86. quae est ad Bosphorum Episcop.  the wise man here to be. Saint Basil speaking of himself saith, Quo putas animum meum dollar affecit fama calumniae illius, quam mihi offuderunt quidam; non metuentes judicem perditurum omnes loquentes mendacium? Tanto videlicet, ut prope totam noctem insomnem duxerim; ita ipsa cordis mei penetralia concepta moestitia occupavit. At necesse est ut omnia feramus, omnia patienter toleremus, ultionem ipsorum Domino committentes, qui non despiciet nos, With what grief dost thou think did that calumny oppress my mind, which some not fearing the judge, who shall destroy all them that speak lies, did cast upon me? Even so much, that I slept not almost all the night, so had the apprehended sadness possessed the secrets of my heart. But it is necessary, that wee bear all, that wee suffer all patiently, committing the revenge of them to the Lord, who will not despise us. This was a wise man indeed, feeling the force of oppression in making his heart sorrowful, but yet overcoming it by the force of grace. Saint Austin doth well compare a wise man wronged unto the ship wherein our Saviour was asleep: he heareth himself to be slandered, and thereupon is much moved with anger, Convitium ventus est, iracundia fluctus, The slander is the wind, the anger is the wave, and by them being tossed, he is in some danger. But when he studieth revenge, and the desire of that oppresseth his mind, I am navis propinquat naufragio, then is the ship near to a shipwreck. And all is because Christ is asleep in the ship; In cord enim hoins somnus Christi, oblivio fidei, For in the heart of man the sleep of Christ is the forgetfulness of faith. Let the eye of faith be open, 
Augustin. l. 3. contra literas Petil.  and that will tell us, as St. Austin speaketh, Non intuendum esse, quam sit amarum, said quam falsum sit quod audio, That wee must not look how bitter that is which wee hear, but how false it is. That will tell us, Quis quis volens detrahit famae meae, nolens addit mercedi meae, Whosoever he be, that willingly detracteth from my credit, he unwillingly addeth to my reward. 
Paulinus Epist. 14. ad Celantiam.  Indeed, as Paulinus speaketh, Beatus qui tam saint tamque graviter disposuit vitam suam, ut de eo sinistri aliquid ne fingi quidem posset; dum adversus obtrectatorum libidinem pugnat meriti magnitudo, happy is he who ordereth his life so holily, so wisely, that no wrong can be feigned of him; whiles that the greatness of his worth, withstandeth the malice of his slanderers. Or if wee be not so happy, let us be careful, Ne ex nobis scintilla procedat, per quam adversus nos sinistrae famae flamma confletur, That from ourselves a sparkle do not proceed, from whence the flamme of a wrong report, may be kindled against us. Or if wee be not so careful, Nos modo id agamus, ut male de nobis nemo loqui absque mendacio posset, Let us at least do this, that no one may speak evil of us without a lie. And then if any will wrong us, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 26. in Acta apostle.  Rideamus, ploremus, Let us laugh, let us weep, saith Saint Chrysostome. Let us laugh, in comforting ourselves in God; let us weep, as lamenting our oppressors woeful estate. This is the part of a true wise man. To have wisdom to see the wrong that is done, and not to have wisdom to see how to bear it, will indeed soon make such a wise man mad. And a gift destroyeth the heart: Saint jerome tells us, that the Septuagint, Aquila, Theodotio, did read this verse, as himself also reads it, Perdit cor {αβγδ} fortitudinis sieve vigoris ejus, Destroyeth the heart of his strength or vigour. Whereupon it seemeth to me, that they derived the original word here used from the roote {αβγδ} from whence is derived {αβγδ} Cumbi, the loins wherein the strength of man lieth. Now this translation referreth this latter part of the verse to the former part, showing how oppression maketh a wise man mad, by taking away and destroying the light of understanding, which is as it were the heart of it. But St. jerome also tells us that Symmachus did read it, as the latter translators do, And a gift destroyeth the heart: that is, corrupteth it, and maketh it blind, even in a wise man. 
Deut. 16.19. Cajetan. Ibid.  So we read in Deuteronomy, A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Where Cajetane noteth, that Iudges are said to be wise, and to be righteous, whereof the one declareth the perfection of the understanding; the other of the will, and yet that a gift is opposed unto both, as destroying both. Wherefore he saith, Perpende vim munerum contra utramque partem animi, intellectum scilicet& affectum,& quod amplius est intellectum, perfectum sapientia, affectum praeditum justitia, Consider the force of gifts against both parts of the soul, the understanding, and the will, and that which is more, the understanding perfected by wisdom, the will endowed with righteousness. And indeed it is an excellent wisdom which is not taken with the shining countenance of a gift, and which knoweth how to take heed of gifts that are offered. 
Greg. Thaumat. Ser. 1.  Gregorius Thaumaturgus doth teach us this wisdom from a woman, but it is from the perfection of women, he blessed Virgin Mary, to whom when the angel had brought the message, that she should conceive the Son of God, she asketh how shall this be? Neque prius Sanctissima virgo donum admisit, quam quis illud mitteret,& quodnam donum esset, ac quis ferret addidicisset, Neither did the most holy Virgin admit of the gift, until shee had first learned, who it was that sent it, what the gift was, who it was that brought it saying, as it were in her heart to the angel, Vnde sic nobis benedictionem asportasti? Ex cujus thesauris verbi margarita emissa est? Vnde nobis promissum materiam paravit? From whence dost thou so bring a blessing unto us? Out of whose treasure is the pearl of this world sent us? What ground hath this promise that it should be made to us? And surely it is needful that a wise man look well into a gift, and examine it thoroughly, least that it destroy the heart of his wisdom.   

VER. 8. Better is the end of a thing then the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit, is better than the proud in spirit.  
VER. 9. Bee not hasty in thy spirit to bee angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.  
Verse 8. Saint jerome reading the first part of this verse, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  as the Septuagint do, Better is the end of a speech then the beginning of it, giveth divers interpretations unto it; as first, Meliores sunt in dicendo epilogi quam exordium, in his enim dicentis solicitudo finitur, in illo incipit, Better is the conclusion of a speech then the entrance of it, because in that the care of the speaker is ended, in this it beginneth. again, because when a speech is ended, the hearer considereth, of that which hath been said; but when we begin to speak, he hath not as yet gotten any benefit by it. again quia melius sit tacere quam loqui, Because it is better to hold our peace, then to speak. Lastly he saith, that it may bee also understood thus, because while we are in this world; Quod scimus omne principium est, That which we know is all a beginning, but when that which is perfect is come, we shall in the end be made perfect. But to take it as our translation hath it; many reasons also may bee given of it. As first better is the end of a thing then the beginning: because the beginning is for the end, the end is not for the beginning: again because the beginning of a thing is the imperfection of it, the end is the perfection: again, because the end giveth knowledge of a thing, what it is, the beginning doth not: lastly because the end goeth beyond the beginning by many degrees. From whence is to bee learnt, not to judge of things according to the beginning of them, but according to the end. For that may be much better then the beginning, at least wise it will direct much better our judgement of it. And let us also learn not to stop or stay our own good courses in the beginning of them, but to proceed in them unto the end, because to end well is much better then to begin well. And that we may practise these things which we learn, let us be slow or long in spirit, taking time to weigh and consider all things before wee judge, and not proud in spirit, as we know all things and could judge presently. Let us be patient in spirit, and contented to bear the burden of proceeding on, and not proud in spirit, as if in the beginning we were come to the top of perfection. But to consider the words, as they respect the foregoing passage. The Preacher having shewed the infirmity of wise men, when they are oppressed, here prescribeth a remedy against it, by wishing them rather to look to the end, and to the right which in the end God will do them; then to the beginning, and to the wrong which therein is done them. For there is an end to be made, when God will judge all in righteousness, and rewarding the patient, for the oppression they have suffered, will requited the oppressors according to their deserts. The vulgar Latin reading the first part of the verse thus, Melior est finis orationis quam principium, Better is the end of a speech, then the beginning, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Lyra conceiveth it as if it were thus to be rendered, Better is the end of prayer, then the beginning, and thereupon wishing the oppressed to go to God for help, saith, that the end of prayer is better than the beginning of it, Quia incipit a tristitia propter illatam sibi calumnian,& terminatur in consolationem a Deo datam, Because it beginneth from sorrow for the wrong received, but is ended in consolation which is by God granted. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit: the original is longus spiritu, long in spirit, and signifieth such a one who though he be long wronged, yet is still patient. And this is more than to bee slow in spirit. For some at the time when they are wronged, are quiet and patient, and being slow in spirit, do pass it by commmendably: but afterwards calling it to mind, and thinking much upon it, they inflame themselves with the fire of grief, and studying for a means of revenge, Mansuetudinem quam tolerantes habuerunt, 
Greg. Pastor. cu. Par. 3. Adm. 9.  retractantes in malitiam vertunt, Checking the meekness, which in their suffering they had, they turn it into malice, as Saint Gregory speaketh. For it is the cunning of Satan, that being overcome at first by the patient taking of wrong, he maketh his second assault, and often times, Tanto mentem moerore conturbat, ut vir patience illa se aequanimite● tolerasse post victoriam captivus crubescat, he disquieteth the mind with so much sorrow, that a patient man captive after his victory is ashamed to have taken things so quietly, and is grieved that he did not return like for like, and seeketh if occasion may bee offered to return worse. But what is this else, then as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Greg. Ibid.  Per fortitudinem in campo victorem esse,& per negligentiam post modum inter urbis claustra capi, In the field by courage to be victorious, and afterwards by negligence to be surprised within the fences of the City? But he that is longus spiritu, long in spirit, will not only at first be patient, but afterwards also, even so long, until he have forgotten the wrong. It may be noted also, that it is the patient in spirit, that is here commended, inwardly patient, not only in outward appearance; for in vain is rage, and clamour, and reviling suppressed, if within, malice the mother of wickedness bear sway, In cassum foras nequitia ex ramis inciditur, si surrectura mul●iplicius intus in radice servatur, In vain are the boughs of wickedness cut off without, if within it be kept in the roote to spring up much more. This saith Saint Gregory, Tanto deterior fit culpa in conspectu Dei, 
Greg. Ibid.  quanto sibi apud homines virtutis speciem vendicat, Is by so much the greater fault in the sight of God, by how much before men it challengeth to itself the show of virtue. Is better than the proud in spirit: the original is, Elatus spiritu, lifted up in spirit, that is, then he, who is presently flying in his face that doth him wrong, and will not be beneath him in any thing. Our English also doth well express it proud in spirit: for indeed impatiency is nothing but a pride of heart, which maketh men disdaigne to bear with any thing. Besides it maketh men also proud in a vain glorious boasting, Quia dum despici in mundo hoc quisque non patitur, bona si qua sibi occulta sunt ostentare conatur,& sic per impatientiam usque ad arrogantiam ducitur, Because while every one cannot endure to be despised in this world, if that there bee any good things hidden in him, he striveth to make them known, and so by impatiency a man is brought to arrogancy, as Saint Gregory speaketh. Lastly, the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit; Because as he possesseth his soul in quietness and comfort, so he delivereth his soul from many evils, and shall receive a good reward of glory. Whereas the proud in spirit being driven in his rage, whither his own desire doth not carry him, Agit commotus velut nesciens, unde post doleat sciens, Being moved doth that as it were ignorantly, for which he grieves when that he knows it. Or else being carried headlong, Quaedam velut alienatus peragit, vix mala sua postquam fuerint perpetrata cognoscens, some things he doth as it were a mad man, 
Greg. Ibid.  scarcely knowing his own evils after that he hath done them; as Saint Gregory speaketh.  
Verse 9. There is in anger a double rashness, hast, and posthaste. Posthaste is when men run into anger, before they have cause. Hast is when they have cause to be angry, but they run into it, before they have well considered of the cause, and before they have well ordered the passion of their anger. The first is extremity of folly, the second is folly also. 
Seneca de Clement. l. 2. cap. 4.  And as Seneca saith, Illos crudeles vocabo, qui puniendi causam habent, modum non habent, I will call them cruel, who have cause of punishing, but not measure in punishing; so they may well bee called fools, who though they have cause to be angry, yet are hasty in running into it. 
Ambros. de hortat. ad virginitatem  And this it is, which Saint Ambrose understandeth here to be meant, who saith, Noli festinare in spiritu tuo irasci; hoc est, causa sit quae moveat indignationem, non sit festina vindicta, Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: that is, although there be cause that moveth thine anger, yet let not thy revenge be hasty. Be not therefore hasty to be angry, but if thou bee angry bee hasty to put it away again. 
Greg. Mor. l. 5. c. 30.  For as Saint Gregory noteth, anger doth affect men four ways, Nonnullos ira citius accendit, facilius deserit; citiùs flammam faciunt, said protinus in favilla frigescunt: nonnullos tardè quidem commovet, said diutius tenet; accensionem tarde suscipiunt, said accensi semel difficilius extinguuntur: alii citius iracundiae flammas accipiunt,& tardius deponunt: alii vero has& tarde suscipiunt,& citius amittunt; Some, anger doth quickly set on fire, and it leaveth them easily, they are soon in a flamme, and forthwith cooled into embers. Others, it moveth slowly, but it holdeth them long, and they being hard to take fire are also hardly put out; Others do flamme in anger quickly, and are slow in foregoing of it: others are slow in taking it, and quick in leaving it. In which four kinds, Ad tranquillitaetis bonum ultimus plus quam primus appropinquat,& in malo secundum tertius superat, The last cometh nearer to the good of quietness then the first, and in evil the third exceedeth the second. It is the apprehension of the just cause of anger, 
August. in Epist. 149.  which maketh men too often to be too hasty in it: but Saint Austin saith very well, Multo melius nec just cuiquam irascimur, quam velut justè irascendo, in alicujus odium irae occulta facilitate dilabimur. In recipiendis enim hospitibus ignotis ista solemus dicere, multo melius esse malum hospitem perpeti, quam forsitan per ignorantiam bonum excludi, dum cavemus ne recipiatur malus. said in affectibus animi contra est, nam incomparabiliter salubrius est, etiam irae justae pu●santi non aperire penetrale cordis, quam admittere non facile recessuram,& perventuram de surculo ad trabem, audet quip impudenter etiam crescere citius quam putatur, It is much better that we be not angry with any one justly, then that by being angry, as it were justly, we fall to the hatred of some one by the secret facility of anger. For in receiving of strangers we use to say thus, that it is better to suffer a bad guest, then that by ignorance, a good guest should bee excluded, while that we take heed that a bad one be not admitted. But in the affections of the mind it is quiter contrary: for it is incomparably safer not to open the inward doors of our hearts when anger knocketh, then to receive that which will not easily depart, and which from a twig will grow to a beam, for it dareth even impudently to increase faster then is thought. Be not hasty to be angry: the original word here used doth most properly signify indignation: now indignation is, Qua is cvi irascimur contemnitur& vilependitur, quasi indignus à qu● tale quid patiamur. Huic conjunctus est timor mentis quo irascens seipsum extollit,& alteri praefert, That, by which he with whom we are angry is slighted and contemned, as being one unworthy, from whom we should suffer such a thing. And with this is joined a swelling of mind whereby he that is angry lifteth up himself, and prefereth himself before the other. And thus are the two verses well joined together. For the former verse endeth with the proud in Spirit. 
Arist. Rhetor. l. 1. c. 2.  But to take the word as it signifieth anger generally. Let no one imagine anger to be only a heat of passion, for that is only in the sensitive part of the soul, whereas anger is in the will especially, and the definition of it is, Motus animi male volentis alteri ob injuriam acceptam,& doloris ultionem expetens, A motion of the mind ill willed towards another for a wrong received, and through grief desiring revenge. In which respect the Philosopher calleth it, Libidinem ulciscendi, a lust of revenging. Wherefore when the Preacher saith; be not hasty to be angry, it is not so much, be not hasty to give way to the heat of passion, as be not hasty to give way to the desire of revenge. Neither doth he suppress his anger, who suppresseth the violence of his passion, unless he also reject the seeking of revenge when anger resteth. The difference which S. Hier. maketh between fury and anger is this, Furor incipiens ira est,& fervescens in animo indignatio; 
Hieronym.  ira autem quae furore restincto de siderat ultionem,& eum quem nocuisse putat, vult laedere, Fury is anger beginning, and a boiling indignation in the mind; anger is that, which when the fury is extinguished, desireth revenge, and seeketh to hurt him, by whom it thinketh hurt to have been done. The Preacher therefore saith, anger resteth in the bosom of fools: that is the bed wherein the watchfulness of it sleepeth, and therefore Cassian saith, that they who are transported with anger, 
Cassian. Instit. l. 8. c. 1.  Sapientiae participes fieri non possunt, tametsi sapientes omnium pronunciari opinione videantur, Cannot be partakers of wisdom, although they may seem to be pronounced wise by the opinion of all. And Saint Gregory saith, Quum tranquillitatem mentis ira diverberat, 
Greg. Mor. l. 5. c. 30.  dilaniatam quodammodo scissamque perturbat, ut sibimet ipsi non congruat, ac vim intimae similitudinis amittat, When anger beateth the quietness of the mind, it doth so disturb it, as if it did tear and cut it, so that it doth not agree with itself, nor is like to itself. Let him therefore that will not be a fool, observe the Apostles direction, and let not the sun go down upon his wrath, 
Ephes. 4.20.  let not the night of anger destroy the light of wisdom and reason in him. For as Saint Gregory expounding those words saith, 
Greg. Ibid.  Quum menti iracundia confusionis tenebras incutit, huic Deus radium suae cognitionis abscondit, When anger casteth the darkness of confusion upon the mind, God hideth the beam of his knowledge from it.   
VER. 10. Say not thou what is the cause that the former dayes were better than these, for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this thing. 
Verse 10. The Preacher having shewed the impatiency of wise men and therein their infirmity for wrong received from particular persons: here he sheweth and reformeth their impatiency against the general times. For it is the manner and humour of too many, who would bee thought wise to condemn the times in an impatient discontentment against them, especially if themselves do not thrive or be not favoured in the times as they desire or as they think they should be. To express the impatiency of such men, the Preacher maketh them to ask a question, saying: What is the cause that the former dayes were better? For it is the manner of impatiency to bee asking questions, as if no right nor good answer could bee given to them. But the answer which the Preacher giveth to this question, is to forbid them to ask it, because it being a question that cometh not from wisdom, it should not come from them, that would be accounted wise. And surely it cannot bee a thing that is wisely inquired after. For though the question supposeth that the former dayes were better, yet how dost thou know it? Hadst thou lived in the former dayes thou wouldest have said the same of them. And still thou wouldest have commended that most, which thou didst least know. 
Matth. 26.64. Matth. 27.11. Hilarius in Matth. Can. 32.  When our Saviour Christ was asked by the High Priest, whether he were the Christ the son of God, he answered, thou hast said: when Pilate asked him whether he were the King of the Iewes, he answered, thou sayest: whereupon Hilarius saith that answer was given to the High Priest in the tense of the time past, because out of the law he had always said, that Christ was to come; but to Pilate who was ignorant of the law, Christ answered in the tense of the time present, Quia per fidem praesentis confessionis salus gentium est, because it is by the faith of the present confession, that salvation is to the Gentiles. But I note it for this, to observe how well sighted the Iewes were in the times past, and in the prophesies of Christ, and how blind they were in the present times, when Christ the Messiah was present among them. Not unlike to them are many malcontent and impatient spirits, who see the goodness of former times, and extol them, but cannot see the goodness of God in the present times to praise him for it. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome expounding this verse saith, Nec vetus saeculum praesenti praeferas: quia unus utriusque conditor est Deus, virtutes bonos dies viventi faciunt, vitia malos, Neither do thou prefer the old world before the present, because one God is the maker of them both; virtues do make the times good to him that liveth in them, vices do make them evil. And that it is not wisely said to speak so, he sheweth in another place, saying, Stultum est refer ad tempora, quum in nostra sit potestate, 
Hieronym. in c. 6. Amos.  vel bonum diem nobis vel malum facere. Non dies ullus malus est, said unusquisque parrot sibi malum, It is a foolish thing to refer it to the times, when as it is in our own power to make the day either good or evil to ourselves. For there is no day evil, but every one maketh the day evil to himself. Another exposition which Saint jerome giveth of the words is this; Sic debes vivere, ut semper praesentes dies meliores tibi sint quam praeteriti, Thou must so live, that always the present dayes may be better to thee, then the past were: least it be said to thee, as it was to the unwise Galatians, Having begun in the Spirit, 
Galat. 3.3. John 12.35.  are ye now made perfect in the flesh? The saying of our Saviour Christ is, 
John 12.35.  walk while ye have the light, least darkness come upon you: and it is the note of Saint Bernard upon it, Non ambulantem, 
Bernard. supper Cantic. Serm. 49.  said sedentem à mortis tenebris comprehendi periculum est, The danger is not of him that walketh, but of him that sitteth, least the darkness of death come upon him. He that walketh on, and maketh the present dayes still to be better, he is safe: but he of whom it may be said, the former dayes were better, he it is that is in danger of coming to the evil day. 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Lyra out of Bonaventure giveth this exposition of the words; The time wherein the Law was given, was better than the former times wherein men lived after Adams fall, because then many were the benefits which God bestowed on his Church. The time of grace also is much better than the time of the Law, and much greater are the benefits which therein God hath vouchsafed to his Church. And therefore he saith, that to ask why the former dayes were better, is unwisely enquired; Quia talis quaestio supponit manifestè falsum, Because such a question doth suppose that which is manifestly false. But taking the sense of the question, which way any shall think good, Lyra conceiveth the folly of it to be, 
Lyra, Ibid.  Quod illi sic quarentes, propriam malitiam,& suae inconstantiae defectum volebant retorquere in Deum qui est author temporum, Because they who do thus inquire, desire to turn off their own wickedness, and the defect of their inconstancy upon God, who is the author of times: which being a blasphemy, the Preacher saith, Say not &c.   

VER. 11. wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.  
VER. 12. For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.  
Verse 11. It is good that wisdom and wealth are joined together, both in respect of wisdom, and in respect of wealth. In respect of wisdom it is good, because thereby that is enabled to do the more good, and to perform the functions of wisdom with the more benefit: in respect of wealth it is good, because thereby that is the better ordered, and possessed the more happily. The first thing which the devil desireth against job, 
job 1.11.  is, that God would put forth his hand, and touch all that he had, and deprive him of it: the reason of it is given by St. Chrysostome, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 2. de jacob.  Diabolus quandoquidem eum ditescentem eisdem temporalibus divitiis vidit, atque ex eisdem aeternas sibi thesaurare divitias putavit, quoniam eo ditescente ditescebat justitia: tentat eum igitur pecuniis nudare, quod claris eum facinoribus nudet, The devil, for as much as he saw him both rich with the same temporal riches, and also thought him with the same to treasure up for himself eternal riches in heaven, because he being rich, righteousness was rich also: he therefore endeavoureth to spoil him of his wealth, that also he might spoil him of his worthy deeds, which his wisdom joined to his wealth performed. 
Xenoph. de Cyro. c. 8.  Xenophon hath a good passage, who saith, Non eos qui plurimas pecunias possident& custodiunt, foelices duco, nam hoc pacto qui muros custodiunt, foelicissimi forent, quip qui omnia quae sunt in urbibus custodiunt; said qui parare quam plurimas justè possunt,& eis praeclare uti, hunc foelicem arbitror,& pecunias ejus etiam faelices, I do not account them to be happy, who possess much wealth and keep it, for then they that keep the walls should be most happy, because they keep the wealth of the whole city; but I judge him to be happy, who can get much wealth honestly, and having got it can use it worthily; and his wealth I think to be happy also. Now this is he, who hath wisdom and wealth joined together, and in him it is that the good both of wisdom and wealth is joined together. wisdom where wealth doth not set it out, is often despised; wealth where wisdom doth not direct it, is often the cause of much mischief unto many. Fulgentius 
Fulgentius.  speaking of sodom, saith, In saturitate cibi vivens Sodoma cibus ignis effici meruit, sodom living in the fullness of food, was made to be the food of the fire of Gods wrath, and many living in the plenty of wealth, do but heap up unto themselves, a plenty of misery. It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven: even as hard as for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, yet wisdom can make a passage for him. Wherefore Bonaventure saith, 
Bonavent.  Zacheus quum esset Camelus, intravit per foramen acus;& foramen dedit divitibus intrandi in coelum, Zacheus when he was a Camel, entred through the eye of a needle, and by his example made a hole for rich men to enter into heaven. wisdom it was which opened the way for him, and which will open the way for any other. 
Gen. 31.27.  When Laban had overtaken jacob, being departed from him, he  told him that he would have sent him away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp: but Saint Ambrose defending jacob saith, 
Ambrosius Epist. l. 1. Epist. 4.  Non equidem talibus deductoribus ad Ecclesiam Dei pervenitur, ad quem tendebat jacob, It is not by such leaders of worldly contentment that we come to the Church of God, to which jacob went. And yet even by such leaders wee may come to God, if that wisdom lead them. But then it must be a true wisdom, that is, an humble modest wisdom, not a selse-conceited wisdom; for rich men too often imagine themselves to be filled with wisdom, because their bags are full, 
1 Tim. 6.17.  whereof Saint Paul speaking saith, Charge them that are rich in this world, {αβγδ}, non sublime sapere, not to be wise above their capacity. Let it be a true wisdom, and that will teach them not to set their heart upon their riches. And if their heart be not set upon them, 
Cassiodorus in Psal. 61.  Vt in ipsis singularis foelicitas judicetur, profecto necessariae divitiae sunt. ind enim egentibus subvenitur, ind plures ad coelorum regna pervenerunt, so that a singular happiness be not accounted to be in them, riches are indeed necessary. For thence much succour is given to the poor, and thence many have attained to the kingdom of heaven, saith Cassiodore. Saint Bernard asking a reason, why the son of God did give Saint Peter power to walk upon the sea, whereas he divided the sea, that the children of Israel might walk upon the ground, himself giveth this reason; because Saint Peter was light, being poor, and not burdened with the wealth of the world, 
Bernard. l. 2. de Consider.  whereas the Israelites were loaded with gold and silver, and the wealth of the egyptians; and that therefore God gave them a stronger and firmer ground to support them. And surely, it is true indeed, the wealth of the world hath need of the solid ground of wisdom to walk upon, or else it maketh men to fall into many temptations; but if that support it, though it pass through a sea, the way is safe wherein it goeth. The Septuagint do read it in this place, Vtilior est sapientia cum divitiis, wisdom is more profitable with riches, and thereunto our English translation accordeth in the following words, saying, and by it there is profit. 
Estius in hunc vers.  Whereupon Estius noteth, Dicit utilior, non melior: nam sapientia per hoc quod cum divitiis conjuncta est, proprie neque utilior efficitur, neque deterior, neque mayor, neque minor, The text saith, more profitable, not better: for wisdom in that it is joined with riches, is properly made neither the better nor the worse, neither the greater nor the less, although by occasion it may be made either less or more profitable. To them that see the sun: that is, to them that are living: for it is in this life onely that riches are profitable, in the next life they are of no use: here they are currant money, but there they go for nothing. But though this be the plain meaning of the words, yet it seemeth to me that the Preacher should mean somewhat else in this phrase, That see the sun. Wherefore the Hebrew word being {αβγδ} & magis, And more to them that see the sun; I apprehended this meaning in the Preachers words, That as wisdom is good with riches, so it is yet more good to them that see the sun, that is, to them who enjoy the liberty of this life, as being neither restrained from it by sickness, or any other hindrance: which, though wisdom and wealth be joined together, may much impair the good of them. In a moral sense, the application which Saint Ambrose maketh of this verse, 
Ambros. in c. 2. Genes. ad Sabin.  is this. Bona est sapientia cum haereditate, id est, cum fide, quoniam est haereditas credentium in Dominum, Good is wisdom with an inheritance, that is, with faith, for that is the inheritance of them that believe in the Lord.  
Verse 12. That which is translated a defence, in the original is a shadow, but the meaning is a defence or protection, and therefore the Chaldee Paraphrast explaineth this verse thus; 
Chald.  Quemadmodum homo praesidio& velut umbraculis sapientiae defenditur, sic et umbra pecuniarum incolumis degit, eo potissimum tempore quo illas ad justitiam confert. Et sanè dignitas cognitionis sapientiae legis ab ipso sepulchro ad futurum saeculum possessori vitam confert, As a man is defended by the succour and help of wisdom, as it were by a comfortable shadow, so doth a man live safely by the shadow of money, especially, when that he useth his money in the works of righteousness. And indeed the excellency of the knowledge of the wisdom of the Law, even from the grave, doth give life to the possessor of it in the world to come. But this verse depending upon the verse going before, and that ending with these words, To them that see the sun, the shadow here giveth some light to the understanding of it. And therefore wee may take the seeing of the sun, to be the heat of the troubles and molestations of this life, against which money and wisdom are a shadow of shelter and defence. First, wisdom is a shadow, ubi tutum est fugientibus refugium, gratum fessis refrigerium, Where there is a safe refuge for them that fly unto it, and where there is an acceptable refreshing to them that are weary. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  It is a defence, saith Lyra, Contra hostes visibiles& etiam invisibiles, against visible enemies and also invisible. It is a shadow, Et ab aestu carnalium desideriorum,& à fancy impiorum qui bonos affligunt, Both from the heat of carnal lusts and affections, and from the face of the wicked, who afflict the good. It was wisdom that defended Daniel from death, 
Dan. 2.13.  when Nebuchadnezzars decree went forth that the wise men should be slain. A false wisdom was not able to defend the magicians and Chaldaeans, but the true wisdom of Daniel defended himself and them. wisdom therefore is a wall of defence, and money is a hedge. 
Mat. 13.22.  The thorns in the Gospel which sprung up, and choked the good seed, are by our Saviour expounded to be the deceitfulness of riches; but that is when the thorns do grow among the corn, when the love of riches hath placed them in the heart, which is the field, where the seed of spiritual grace ought to grow. Let them be kept out of the heart, let them be esteemed of as they are, outward things, and let them be placed without our affections, then they are as it were a fence, an hedge unto a man, whereby he is preserved from hurt. So they were to job, 
job 1.10.  by Gods providence over them; of whom it is said, That God had made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he had on every side: that God had blessed the works of his hands, and had increased his substance in the land. 
Augustin. in Psal. 103. Conc. 4.  Of which words Saint Austin speaking saith, Repulsus est tentator, observatum est caput ejus, penetrare non potuit ad cor. Muratam civitatem forinsecus oppugnavit, said non expugnavit, The tempter was repulsed, his head was observed, he could not pierce to the heart. He outwardly assaulted a walled city, but he could not enter it. Notwithstanding the original word here being a shadow, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome doth well note upon it, Omnis nostra in hac terra protectio instar umbrae est, sieve sapientiae, sieve argenti, All our protection upon this earth, is but as it were a shadow, whither it be, the protection of wisdom, or else of money; until the day break, and the shadows fly away, 
Bernard. in Cantic. Ser. 73.  and when Omnia occupante luminis plenitudine, nulla pars superesse poterit tenebrarum, A fullness of light possessing all things, no part of darkness shall be able to remain, as S. Bernard speaketh. But the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life unto them that have it: least that the joining of wisdom with money, might seem to be some disparagement unto it, the Preacher here setteth wisdom alone, and giveth it this excellency, that it giveth life, that is, both the life of grace and glory. It is wisdom that doth give it, not riches; 
Greg. Thaumat. in hunc vers.  so saith Gregorius Thaumaturgus, Vita hoins non ex caducarum& fragilium opum collectione,& possessione, verum ex sapientia provenit, The life of man doth proceed not from the gathering and possessing of frail and fading riches, but it cometh from wisdom. Or at least, riches are no way able to give life, as wisdom is able, so saith Lyra, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Sapientia enim sine divitiis tribuere, said divitiae non possunt hoc tribuere sine sapientia, For wisdom doth give it without riches, but riches are not able to give this without wisdom. When God had cast man out of Paradise, that he might not eat of the three of life, he placed at the entrance of it Cherubims, with a fiery sword, and therein not onely shewed his anger against man, but his mercy to him, as not onely keeping him out, but showing him also how he might return in. Wherefore Bachiarius saith, Eousque de ligno vitae, idest, Christi participatione exules fimus, donec ad eum per romphaeam flammeam, id est, ignitam Martyrii passionem, aut per Cherubim Domini, 
Bachiarius Epist. ad Januarium.  qui interpretantur multitudo scientia remeamus, So long are wee made exiles from the three of life, that is, from the partaking of Christ, until wee return to him by a flaming sword, that is, by the fiery suffering of martyrdom, or else by the Cherubims of the Lord, which are interpnted a multitude of knowledge. do but therefore labour for the knowledge of wisdom, and be not wearied in the study of it; that will open paradise unto thee, that will bring thee to the three of life, that giveth life unto him that hath it.   

VER. 13. Consider the work of God; for who can make that strait, which he hath made crooked?  
VER. 14. In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.  
Verse 13. The Preacher here farther exhorteth unto patience from the perfection of Gods work: which therefore he wisheth us to consider, that the consideration of it may be a means to quiet our minds. The anger of a wiseman may be moved against the wrong that is done by man, his impatiency may be stirred up against the imperfections of human proceedings, which either he seeth that he could amend, or else at leastwise thinketh that he could do it. But can any one amend that which God doth? Can any one truly say, that God hath made such a thing crooked, and that himself will make it strait? Now it is by Gods providence that all things are disposed, it is under the government of God, that all things have their course, and therefore let his pleasure in all things make thee patient, who art displeased with that, which men do. Men are often carried in their ways, either with love or hatred, but God is led by neither. He is that good judge, who as Seneca speaketh, 
Seneca de Ira. c. 16.  Improbandos damnat, non odit, condemneth those which are to be blamed, but doth not hate them. Wee read in Daniel of divers thrones that were set or lifted up, as {αβγδ} the original word there used signifieth, 
Dan. 7.9.  but wee read onely of one, the Ancient of dayes that did sit: and what may this signify unto us, but that this judge is as much as all others are, in that he doth exceed all in equity and righteousness. 
Psal. 45.7. Basilius Ibid.  He is one that loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity, as the Psalmist speaketh. Where Basil tells us, by the original word there used, Non tam labour& exercitatione partam dilectionem, quam insitam à natura justitiae offectionem, Not so much to be signified an acquired love by exercise and labour, as an affection to righteousness engrafted naturally. He therefore that loveth righteousness will not himself wrong thee, nor see thee wronged by another without revenging of thee: wherefore in him rest quiet and contented. do not trouble thyself with any thought of mending that which he ordereth, 
Deut. 32.4.  but consider his work, for his work is perfect, as in the song of Moyses wee are taught. Bernard saith, 
Bern. Ser. 3. in die Pentecost.  Tria in magno hujus mundi opere cogitare debemus, quid,& quomodo,& ad quid sit constitutus, There are three things which in the great work of this world wee are to consider, what it is, how it is, and to what end it is. In the being of it is set forth Gods inestimable power, Quod tam multa tam magna tam magnifice tam multipliciter sunt creata, that so many, so great things, so variously, so gloriously are created: in the manner of their being his singular wisdom shineth forth, that these things are placed above, these below, these in the middle, all most comely and orderly: and if thou consider to what end it is made, occurrit tibi tam utilis benignitas, tam benigna utilitas, quae etiam ingratissimos quosque multitudine& magnitudine beneficiorum posset obruere, There meets thy sight so profitable a bounty, so bountiful a profitableness, that it is able to overwhelm any though most unthankful with the multitude and greatness of the benefits. Now who can consider so perfect power, so perfect wisdom, so perfect goodness in the work of God, and yet trouble himself with impatient thinking that he can better order any thing, then it is by God ordered? We red that God having made his work, and looking upon it, he saw that all was good, for as Saint Chrysostome noteth, Quia humana natura imbecillis est, 
Gen. 1.31. Chrysost. in Gen. Hom. 5.  & opera Dei digna laudare non sufficit, divina Scriptura acceptam ab ipso opifice laudem nos docet, Because that human nature is weak, and is not sufficient to praise the worthy works of God, therefore the divine Scripture teacheth us the praise that it had from the maker himself. Now shall any one think of correcting his works, or imagine himself able to do it, whose work he is not able to praise? For as the same Father also speaketh, Talem sortitus est Dominum, qui talia facit, quae à nobis neque laudari satis possunt, Thou hast such a Lord and master, who doth such things, as that by us they cannot be sufficiently extolled. It is true that wicked people do pervert the works of God to their own sinful pleasures and desires, but therein they cease to be Gods works. For as Tertullian speaketh, Quid non Dei est, quod Deum offendit? 
Tertul. l. de. Spectac. c. 2.  said quum offondit, Dei esse desiit,& quum desiit, offendit, What is there that is not Gods, which doth offend God? But when it offendeth it ceaseth to bee Gods, and when it ceaseth to bee Gods, it offendeth. But that which wicked men thus make crooked, God will one day make strait. And as for God himself, he can make nothing crooked, and therefore none can make that strait, which he hath made crooked. Men by their impatiency do but make themselves more crooked, and make the strait rule of Gods justice the more to condemn them. The Septuagint, and accordingly the vulgar latin do red the latter part of this verse thus, Quod nemo posset corrigere, quem ille despexerit, That no one can correct him whom God hath despised, that is, whom God for the hardness of his heart hath rejected. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And therefore saith Lyra, In tali casu cessandum à correctione, In such a case there must be a ceasing from correction. Not but that the public Magistrate ought to correct such an one, Quia ejus correctio non solum ordinatur ad emendationem fratris, said etiam ad bonum communitatis, Because his correcting is ordained not onely for the amendment of a brother, but for the common good of the state. But as for the private correction where it is in vain bestowed, it may be better spared.  
Ver. 14. God hath made the dayes of mans life like the dayes of the year; some be faire, some fowle, some daies of adversity, some of prosperity. And as there is no true almanac but this one, that after faire weather comes fowle, after fowle comes faire; so it is in mans life, after prosperity comes adversity, after adversity follows prosperity. How in either of these dayes we are to behave ourselves, the Preacher here sheweth. In the day of prosperity be joyful: joyful in thankfulness to God, and sing with the Spouse in the Canticles, 
Cant. 2.16.  My beloved is mine, and I am his, Ille mihi quia benignus& misericors est, ego illi, quia non sum ingrata. Ille mihi gratiam ex gratia, ego illi gratiam pro gratia. Ille meae liberationi, ego illius honori. Ille meae saluti, ego illius voluntati; He is mine because bountiful and merciful unto me, I am his, because not unthankful unto him. He is mine, because he hath shewed me grace out of his grace, I am his because I have returned grace and thankes for his grace. He is mine in giving me freedom, I am his in giving him honour. He is mine in working my salvation, 
Bernard. in Cant. Serm. 68.  I am his in serving his will, as Saint Bernard hath it. The original here is word for word {αβγδ} Esto in bono, Be thou in good, as Saint jerome renders it, that is, saith the gloss, In virtutibus& operibus, In virtues, and virtuous works, and let them speak thy thankfulness. 
Greg. Nyss. de opific. hoins.  For as Gregory Nyssene hath it, Manus datae sunt hominibus ut melius loquerentur, sunt enim hoins manus quae pro illo respondent,& rationem reddunt de illo;& dum bruta pedibus respondent calces impingendo benefactori suo, homo extollendo manus in sancta, Domino vere respondet, Hands are given unto men that they might speak the better; for they are the hands of man which answer for him, and give an account of him; and while bruit beasts answer with their heels, by kicking at him, who hath been good to them, man by lifting up his hands unto holy things, doth truly answer the Lord. This therefore let us do in the day of prosperity, that it may not be said to us as it was to the Israelites by the Prophet jeremiah, ye shall be ashamed of your revenues, because of the fierce anger of the Lord: 
Jer. 12.13. Theod. Ibid.  that is saith Theodoret, Quae putatis illustrare vos verbi gratia, opes, potentiam, haec vos pudore perfundent, dum causam agetis apud Deum, Those things which you think do make you glorious, namely your riches and your power, shall make you ashamed, when your cause shall be handled before God. 
Greg. Mor. l. 6. c. 7.  In the day of adversity consider. Consider, for as Saint Gregory speaketh, Qui accepta praditus sit ratione considerat, quod sibi sit impossibile, ut haec peregrinationis suae tempora sine gemitu evadat, He that is endowed with reason, considereth that it is impossible for him, that he should pass these times of his pilgrimage without sighing. Consider, Et si peccator, agnosce pro correctione tua esse quod caederis, si autem justus es ad gloriae tuae probationem intelligas evenire quod pateris, And if thou be a wicked man, aclowledge that it is for thy correction, that thou art beaten, if thou be a righteous man, thou wilt understand, that what thou sufferest cometh to pass for the proof of thy glory, as Gaudentius hath it. 
Gaudentius praefat. ad Benevol.  job was known to bee a righteous man in prosperity, but whether he would continue so in adversity was a thing not known. He was therefore touched, Vt qui notus erat Omnipotenti Deo, notus per flagella fieret& nobis& sibimetipsi, That he who was known to Almighty God, by troubles might be known to us and to himself, as Gregory hath it. 
Greg. Hom. 19. in Ezek.  Consider and behold the great wisdom of God in thine adversity: Vt quum defecerit homo,& subvenerit Deus, dum homo liberatur a Deo, Deus ab homine ut dignum est, honoretur, That when man faileth, and God helpeth; while man is delivered by God, God may be, as is most due, by man honoured. Consider and remember, that Christ hath left us an example, that we should follow his steps, as Saint Peter speaketh. he walked & in pulvere& in sanguine, 
1 Pet. 2.21.  both in dust, and in blood, and we must follow him in the dust of painful labour, in the blood of affliction and misery. God also hath set the one over against the other: it is the saying of nazianzen, Circulus quidem fratres, 
Naz. orat. 7. ad med.  est in rebus humanis, Deus nos per contraria erudit, My brethren, there is a kind of circled in human things, and God doth instruct us by contraries, sometimes by prosperity, sometimes by adversity, now by one, and then by the other. These two God hath set as it were the two opposite scales of the balance, whereby to keep us upright in a due measure. Prosperity doth easily make mans heart too light, and then God by adversity addeth weight unto it. 
Exod. 8.8. Origen. Ibid.  Pharaoh in the prosperity of his kingdom did forget God easily, asking who is the Lord; but as origen noteth, Ante verbera Dominum nescit, verberatus supplicari pro se Dominum rogat, Before he was smitten, he knew not the Lord, being smitten he desireth that the Lord may be entreated for him. Adversity doth some times make mens hearts too heavy, and then God doth ease it by sending comfort, and taking away the weight of it: thus when God had strucken the hardened and rocky hearts of the Israelites with extremity of thirst, then he commanded Moyses to strike the rock, and made that to yield water unto them: thus when God had delivered them into captivity being in the land of Canaan, yet he did it as Saint Austin speaketh, 
August. in Psal. 84.  Non ad interitum, said ad disciplinam, non damnante Patre, said flagellante, not to their destruction, but to their instruction, not as a rejecting, but as a correcting Father, and when they were oppressed with the weight, he sent them still deliverers. To the end that man should find nothing after him: but should be forced to aclowledge that God had set all things before his eyes, which might be the means of his happiness. Wherefore Moses saith, see I have set before thee this day life and death, good and evil. 
Deut. 30.15. Chrys. Hom. Epist. ad Timoth.  And Saint Chrysostome saith, Deus omnia facit, cuncta molitur, ut vota nostra atque desideria transferat ad coelestia, God doth all things, worketh all things, that he may transfer and remove our desires and affections unto heavenly things. The French here to make the sense more plain red it thus; that man might find nothing a redire apres luy, to say after him, or to return as a plea against him. To which sense the Septuagint and vulgar latin do also render it, Vt non inveniat homo contra cum justas querimonias, that man may not find against him just complaints, which cometh in effect to the same sense which I have already given of it. Or else the meaning of the words is, to the end, that man should not know, what shall be afterwards unto him, as whether adversity or prosperity, thereby to make him to commit himself to God, and to depend upon his pleasure.   

VER. 15. All things have I seen in the dayes of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.  
VER. 16. Bee not righteous over much, neither make thyself over wise: Why shouldst thou destroy thyself.  
VER. 17. Bee not overmuch wicked: neither bee thou foolish: Why shouldst thou die before thy time?  
VER. 18. It is good, that thou shouldst take hold of this, yea also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.  
VER. 19. wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the City.  
VER. 20. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doth good and sinneth not.  
Verse 15. It was Salomon who saw more then all that were before him, and all that were to be after him, and therefore it is not much that he saith, I have seen all things. And though he had not seen all things in their particular existence, yet in the general vanity of them he had seen all things. But here it may bee proposed whether a Minister in teaching, as here Salomon doth, may allege his own experience. Whereunto to give an answer, I conceive that {αβγδ} a talking of himself is by a Minister to bee carefully used, and not too frequently. And if he do speak of his own experience, let it be that whereof he is well assured, and so that if need be he confirm by Scripture, seeing he is not inspired as Salomon was. In the dayes of my vanity, he saith, not in the dayes of my life, but of my vanity, as acknowledging that though they were the dayes of so glorious a King, yet not worthy to be accounted a life. Origen considering those words spoken of Elizabeth, 
Luk. 1.57. Origen. in luke. Hom. 9.  that when her full time came, that shee should be delivered, she brought forth a son, thereupon noteth, ubicunque justus nascitur, ibi complentur dies. Ortus justi plenitudinem habet: peccatoris nativitas vanitatem atque inanitatem, Wheresoever a righteous man is born there the dayes are fulfilled: the birth of the just hath a fullness, but the nativity of sinners a vacuity and vanity. But though the dayes of the wicked be more especially vanity, yet the dayes of mortal men, even of the righteous are no better then vanity also. Wherefore St. Austin saith, Dies qui hic sunt, 
August. in Psal. 89.  sunt dies qui non sunt. Illi autem anni& dies non deficiunt, in quibus nec nos deficiemus, said sine defectu reficiemur, The dayes which are here, are dayes which are not. Those yeares and dayes do not fail in which neither shall wee fail, but without any defect shall still bee supplied. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness: there was one that did so, even assoon as there were but three in the world. 
Gen. 4.8. Philo. libro quod deterior insidietur potiori.  Although it be true as Philo noteth, that it was not Abel so much that perished, as Cain himself. And therefore he rendereth the Hebrew word {αβγδ} Et interfecit ipsum, and killed himself, adding upon it, Prima quidem specie Abelem occisum subindicat; sin autem diligentius rem expendas, ipsum Cain occisum à seipso. Proinde sic legendum, Insurrexit Cain& occidit sepisum& non alium, At first sight it seemeth to declare that Abel was slain; but if thou consider the matter more diligently, it sheweth Cain himself to be slain by himself. And therfore it is thus to be red. Cain arose and slay himself and not another. There was another that perished so, even as soon as the second Adam was made of a woman: and the Iewes putting Steven to death, Saint Austin saith of them, 
Aug. Serm. 92. de diversis.  Quum ad lapides cucurrissent, duri ad duros, jactabant in illum pares suos, when they ran for stones, hard went to hard, and they cast at him their own peers and aequals, being like to stones in their hard hearts. For indeed such is the malice of the wicked against the righteous, that there is more mercy in beasts and senseless creatures then in men towards them. Saint Austin noteth it in the three children cast into the fiery furnace, 
Aug. Serm. 240. de Tempore.  of whom he saith, Dum vindicat flamma, impii necantur,& justi salvantur, when the flamme punisheth, the wicked are slain, the just are delivered. Nilus notes it in Daniel cast into the Lions den, and showing the injustice of men, 
Nilus in Ascetico.  the justice of the beasts saith, hoins virtus apud homines invidiae& contentionis, apud feras venerationis& honoris occasio fuit. The virtue of man with men was an occasion of envy and strife, with the beasts of honour and reverence. There is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness: for though long life bee a blessing, yet as Eucherius 
Eucherius.  speaking of the blessings of this life saith, Propterea id Deus largitur etiam malis, ne magnum bonum videatur bonis, Therefore doth God also sometimes grant it to the wicked, that it may not seem to the good, to be a great good thing. But that which I rather note here, is this, that the Preacher saith, I have seen, as showing it to be a thing which he saw with no great wonder or trouble of mind. For what though he saw the righteous to perish in his righteousness? he knew this world to the righteous to be like egypt to the Israelites, and as Eusebius Gallicanus speaketh, 
Eusebius Gallican.  Dum incolitur afflixit, dum relinquitur locupletavit, while it is inhabited it afflicteth them, when it is forsaken it enricheth them. He knew the very perishing of the righteous to bee better than the flourishing long life of the wicked. According as Chrysologus noteth upon that passage in the gospel, 
Chrysologus Serm. 121.  that the Angels carried away poor Lazarus, hell swallowed the rich glutton, saying, Ecce fratres, mors pauperis totam vitam divitis vicit,& elatio sola pauperis totam divitis pompam transcendit& gloriam, Behold brethren, the very death of the poor man excelleth the whole life of the wicked, and the carrying away only of the poor man transcendeth all the pomp and glory of the rich man. What though he saw the life of the wicked prolonged in his wickedness? Yet be knew that this length was but a little while, until God would come to judge him for his wickedness. According as the Prophet Zephaniah speaketh, 
Zepha. 1.14. Ruper. Ibid.  The great day of the Lord, it is near, it is near and hasteth greatly. Where Rupertus noteth, Nec semel contentus dixisse juxta est dies Domini, repetivit juxta est& velox nimis,& vere secundum magnitudinem periculi, Not contented that he had said, it is near, he repeated it, it is near, and hasteth greatly, and so it is truly in respect of the greatness of the danger. he knew that though the wicked live and flourish, 
minute. Faelix in Octavio suo.  yet that as Minutius Faelix speaketh, Vt victimae ad supplicium saginantur, ut hostiae ad poenam coronantur, As sacrifices they are fatted for their punishment, as offerings they are crwoned to their misery. The Poet saith, 
Ovidius.  Gramine pasta Phalisco, victima Tarpeios inficit jcata focos, The sacrifice fed with the grass of the mountain Phascon, being struck coloureth the Tarpeian fire, so the wicked being struck at length by death, colour with their blood the fire of hell. Now the Preacher seeing all this, he saw in it the vanity of this world. But though this bee the plain and more evident sense of the verse; yet to the first part of it Saint jerome, though not in his commentary upon this verse, yet elsewhere giveth another sense, there is saith he, a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, Non quo justus sit, said quo sibi justus videatur, Not that he is just, but that he seemeth to himself to be just, and therefore wee ought not to trust in our own righteousness. Now according to this sense of the former part, wee may also understand the latter; There is a wicked man, prolongans in iniquitate sua, 
Hieronym, in c. 26. Isai.  continuing in his iniquity( for so the original is) not as if it were iniquity, but as thinking it to be righteousness in his own sight. Neither doth this sense unfitly agree with the following verses.  
Verse 16. From the virtues of prudence and patience, the Preacher passeth unto justice; and first he removeth the excess of it. Be not just overmuch: Saint Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. de Poeniten. Cont. Novat. l. 1. c. 1.  Si virtutum finis ille est maximus, qui plurimorum spectat profectum, moderatio prope omnium pulcherrima est, If that end of virtues be the greatest, which respecteth the profit of most, then is a moderation of all things most commendable. For that it is which doth not offend even those whom it condemneth: that it is which the ears of men are willing to hear; that it is which their minds do not abhor; that it is which their hearts do not fear. Certainly, he that desireth to redress the vices or human infirmity, must as it were carry and bear the infirmity itself upon his shoulders, and not cast it away in a rigid severity. The good shepherd in the Gospel is said to have carried the wandring sheep, not to have driven it; and it is not seldom that the carriage of a moderate reproof, doth more good then the fierce driving of severe austerity. For how should he commit himself unto thee to be cured, whom thou hast in disdain, and who knoweth that he shall be despised and not pitied by thee? There is no virtue that doth not consist in a mediocrity, and onely the love of God cannot be too much. For as Bernard speaketh, 
Bernard. de diligendo. Deo.  Modus diligendi Deum est sine modo, the measure of loving God, is to love him without measure. And as Aquinas speaketh of praising the Lord, 
Aquinas.  Quantum potes, tantum aude, quia mayor omnibus Deus, nec laudare sufficis, As much as thou canst, be bold to do, for God is greater then all praise, and thou art not sufficient to praise him; so it is true of loving the Lord, as much as thou canst, thou mayest be bold to do, for he is greater than all love, and thou art not sufficient to love him. But the love of God requireth of us, that we love our brethren also, and that our justice be not bitter against them. Saint jerome saith, 
Hieronim. in hunc versum.  Si quem rigidum& trucem ad omnia fratrum peccata conspexeris, ut nec in sermone peccanti, nec propter naturalem interdum pigritiam moranti debt veniam, hunc scito plus justum esse quam justum est, If thou beholdest any one rigid and fierce against all the offences of his brethren, so that he doth not pardon him that trippeth in his speech, or him who sometimes by reason of a natural slowness tarrieth too long, know this man to be more just than it is just he should be. But as a man may be overmuch just towards another, so may he be overmuch just in himself also. He that will do no more than the Law requireth of him, he that will go no further than he is tied and bound: he that will have all that the Law giveth him; he that will spare and remit nothing of that which is due unto him, may well be sometimes more strict, mor just than he should be. Wherefore Isidore Pelusiota saith, 
Isidorus Pelusiota Epist. l. 3. Epist. 320.  Noli jus tuum severe ac rigid persequi, verum per bonitatem id expura, do not exact thy right severely and punctually, but by thy goodness make it more clear and manifest. Neither make thyself overwise: these two are commonly joined together, and he that is overjust, is usually too well conceited of his own wisdom; and he that makes himself overwise, is for the most part overmuch just, either in standing upon his own right, or else in condemning that which is not right in others. 
Cyprianus.  Saint Cyprian readeth this verse thus; Noli esse multum justus, et noli argumentari plus quam oportet, Be not just overmuch, and do not argue and dispute more than is meet. For that indeed is the manner of them that make themselves overwise. They will always oppose others by reasoning and arguing, and never yielding that themselves are in the wrong, they have never done talking and disputing. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome reads this part of the verse thus, Ne quaeras amplius, seek not farther than is meet for thee. For that is also the fashion of them that make themselves overwise, they are prying into every thing, as if their wisdom were able to judge of it, or were able to redress any thing that might be amiss. But to consider the words as wee read them. 
Isaiah 57.10  The Prophet Isaiah faith, Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; and surely, there are none more wearied, then they that walk in the self-conceit of their own great wisdom. For there is nothing which they will not undertake, though it be a burden never too heavy for them. There is nothing which as they think they cannot go through, though it be never so far from the reach of their ability. 
Hieronym. in& 57. Isai.  Saint jerome tells us, Via regia temperata est nec plus in se habens nec minus: tunc plus sapimus quam oportet sapere, quando pro prudentia callidiatem diligimus, The Kings way is temperate way, neither having too much nor yet too little: then are we wise more then wee should be wise, when that for wisdom wee do love craftiness. And indeed thus to make ourselves overwise, is to make ourselves as the Serpent was, more wise then any beast of the field. Why shouldst thou destroy thyself? One might think, that it were a more direct conclusion for the precedent words, Why shouldst thou deceive thyself, when thou thinkest to be just, in being just over-much, when thou thinkest to be wise in making thyself over-wise? But the Preacher saith, Why shouldst thou destroy thyself? For indeed, overmuch justice doth as it were of itself call for justice to destroy it; and overmuch wisdom doth as it were show itself to wisdom to be punished. Besides, the Preacher useth this conclusion, to give the more force unto his admonition. For as Salvianus speaketh, Nunquid postest cuilibet quicquam scipso proprius, nunquid charius inveniri? Can there be found any thing nearer unto any one than is himself? Can any thing be found dearer? 
Salvian. contra Avaritiam. l. 3.  Wherefore the Preacher saith, Why shouldst thou destroy thyself? And as Salvianus addeth, Nihil planè durius vobis, nihil inhumanius, nihil tam ferum, nihil tam impium dici potest, à quibus impetrari omnino non potest, ut vos ipsos ametis, There is nothing more cruel, than you, nothing more inhuman, nothing so wild, nothing so wicked, from whom it cannot bee obtained, that you would love yourselves; So the force of the Preachers conclusion is; There is nothing more barbarous and hard hearted then thou art, if I cannot persuade thee not to destroy thyself. Thou who art so wise, tell me why dost thou do it? Thou who art so just, tell me, why shouldst thou destroy thyself?  
Verse 17. Be not wicked overmuch: if wee take the words to speak of wickedness in general, Saint Hieromes exposition is very good, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Noli peccatis addere peccata, semel peccasse sufficiat, debemus erigere post ruinam. Si enim juxta eos qui de Physicis disputant, novit hirundo pullos de succo oculare Chelidoniae, cur nos ignoramus medicinam poenitentiae propositam esse peccantibus? do not add sins unto sins: let it suffice to have sinned once: when wee are fallen, wee ought to arise again; when a building is ruinated, it ought to be repaired: for if, as they who writ of natural things relate, the swallow know how to give sight to her young ones with the juice of Salendine, why are we ignorant, that the medicine of repentance is proposed unto sinners? Or else wee may take the exposition of Cajetane, Be not wicked overmuch; that is, 
Cajetan. in hunc vers.  be not careless to fall into any gross sin. He that sinneth least, sinneth overmuch; but yet the goodness of God, doth not think overmuch of it, unless our negligence or wilfulness carry us into some heinous offence. The words of Cajetane are, Ne mortal committas peccatum, commit not a mortal sin. Now though all sins bee mortal in themselves, yet there be degrees in the measure of them, and in the measure of Gods displeasure against them. less sins may stand together both with the state of grace, and with the hope of glory; greater sins cannot, and therefore to fall into them is to be wicked overmuch, seeing the loss by them is so overgreat. Or else if we take these words with reference unto the former verse, and as carrying an opposition unto the sense thereof, then to be wicked overmuch, is to be too little just, or to be unjust, which is indeed a great wickedness, and maketh much overmuch wicked. In the Proverbs Solomon tells us, 
Pro. 20.10.  that divers weights are alike abomination to the Lord, or else as the Hebrew is, a weight and a weight, a weight too little, as well as a weight too great, is abhorred by him. It is the just balance and weights that he appooveth: it is justice in all things that he requireth. Neither be thou foolish: the words also may be taken either with reference to the words next before, and then they show onely the folly of being overmuch wicked, which is indeed a greater folly by far, then is in them who are the veriest fools naturally. For they do foolishly, because they see not how to do better, but to see the greatness of a wickedness now the great danger of it, and to be admonished to keep ourselves from it, and yet to run into it, this is a folly of all follies. Or else the word may be taken in a reference and opposition to those words in the former verse, Neither make thyself overwise; and then, neither be thou foolish, is, neither make thyself to have too little wit, in not being able to discern either what is thine own right, and due to thyself, or what is the right of others, that it may be given to them by thee. Why shouldst thou die before thy time? Cajetane 
Cajetan.  speaking of these words saith, that it is mira sententia, a wonderful sentence: and indeed, many are the expositions that may be given to it. The Hebrew is, Why shouldst thou die in a time not thine; that is, before thine old age, for that is mans time of dying, when the time of living according to the course of mans nature is expired. And this is that curse which God denounced upon the house of Eli, 
1 Sam. 2.32.  That there should not be an old man in his house for ever. To this purpose let me have leave to relate a story out of Saint Bernard, who reporteth that in a city of Catalonia near to Valentia, in his time a young man of eighteen yeares of age being disobedient to his parents, and as overmuch wicked and foolish falling into robberies, for which he came to be hanged: as he hung on the gallows, on a sudden his beard grew out, and that together with the hair of his head was changed to be white, and his face being turned to be full of wrinkles, he appeared a man about ninety yeares of age, the people that were present looking on and beholding this change. 
Bernard. Tom. 2. Quadrages. 2. Dominic. quadrages. Serm. 17.  The meaning of it, the Bishop, as he saith, received by divine inspiration, and taught the people, that the young man should have lived so long, if that he had lived in obedience to his parents. But to return to the meaning of the words. The time for a man to die, is when he is ready for his death; even as when a Steward is ready for his account, then is the time for him to make his account; and therefore be not wicked overmuch, neither be thou foolish, least God take thee away in thy wickedness, in thy folly, and thou be not ready to make thine account. Or else the time of mans dying and going hence is, when heaven is ready and open to receive him; till then he may well wish to tarry here; and therefore take heed of wickedness, least God at once call thee hence, and shut thee out from thence. again, Est tempus morientis,& tempus mortis, There is a time of him that dieth, and a time of death, the time of death is, whensoever that cometh, the time of him that dieth is, when that he hath time to consider of his death, to look unto it, and to prepare himself for it: beware therefore least for thine overmuch wickedness and folly, God take thee away suddenly in a time not thine, and give thee not time to think of thine end. Yet again, that is a mans time in which he provideth, Sibi non suis, for himself and not for the things which he possesseth: now many there are who spend all their time in caring for the things of this world, and have little or no regard unto themselves; wherefore if they die in this time, what do they but die in a time not theirs? Lastly, when the wicked is in the height of his flourishing, and the greatness of his bravery, then is his time that he desireth most of all to live, then he would not die by any means, and yet then doth God many times deprive him of his prosperity, and of his life also. In job, 
Job 18.10.  Bildad speaking of the wicked saith, A trap is laid for him in the way: where Catena Graeca 
Catena Graeca.  noteth, Irruptiones solitudinibus& locis desertis fieri solent; verum impius non indeserta regione, said in media via comprehenditur, hoc est, in summo fortunae splendore subitam subversionem cogitur subire, Assaults of robbers use to be made in solitary places and deserts, but a wicked man is set upon, not in a desert region, but in the midway, that is, in his greatest lustre and splendour, he is enforced to suffer a sudden overthrow. The question of the Preacher in this place, Why shouldst thou die before thy time? carrieth this force: As for God who hath the command of thy life and death, he doth not desire thy death, much less doth he desire it before thy time; wherefore then by thine own wilfulness shouldst thou thyself shorten thine own time, and dying before thy time hasten thy misery?  
Verse 18. It is good: Aquinas tells us, 
Aquin. 1.22. Q. 64. A. 1.  Bonum cujuslibet regulati& mensurati consistit in hoc quod conformetur suae regulae, The good of every thing that is measured and regulated, consisteth in this, that it do agree unto his rule: even as in artificial things, the good of them is, that they are answerable to the rule of art: from whence it followeth, that the evil of them is, in that they differ from their rule. And that cometh to pass two ways, either when they come short of their rule, or else do go beyond it. Now the rule of justice and wisdom, and all the ways of man, is the Law of God, and therefore unto this they must be conformed, so that they do neither exceed it, nor yet come short of it. Wherefore saith the Preacher, It is good that thou shouldst take hold of this; that is, reach forth thy hand so far until thou come unto it, but not to over-reach it. It is good to put forth thy care so far, as to take hold of justice, as to take hold of wisdom, but not to be overmuch just, not to make thyself overwise. It is good also not to withdraw thine hand, or to pull it in too much, but to let it out so far, until it come where it should be. It is good not to withdraw thy diligence in such manner, as that thou be too little just, which is to be overmuch wicked; or else, as that thou have too little wit, which is to be foolish. The work of God is said to be perfect, and the Hebrew word {αβγδ} there used signifieth such a perfection of things, as that when two things are joined together, the one doth not exceed the other. And therefore the work of God is said to be perfect, 
Exod. 32.4.  because therein neither his power doth exceed his justice, nor his justice his power, neither his patience his wrath, nor his wrath his patience. It must bee therefore the endeavour of men in their ways to follow God, and neither to put forth their hand by any excess, nor to pull it back by any defect, but to make them equal to the rule of Gods law. The least erring from the rule, taketh away the goodness of the thing. Saint Ambrose speaking of Adam, saith, In paradiso mandavit Deus Adae ut custodiret mandata, said fortasse non mandaverat custodire minis, et ideo lapsus est, ideo deceptus à serpent, putans quod si in parte aliqua recederet à mandato, 
Ambros. Serm. 1. in Psal. 67.  non penitus errarat; said quia à semita mandatorum recess●t, totam viam deseruit, God commanded Adam in Paradise, that he should keep his commandements, but perhaps he did not command him to keep them exactly and diligently, and hence it was that he fell, hence it was that he was deceived by the serpent, thinking that if he did in some part go aside from the commandement, he should not altogether err; but because he departed from the path of the commandements, he left the whole way. The Hebrew here is {αβγδ} apprehendas in hoc, as implying a thrusting of the hand into it; and from thence it is as I conceive, 
Chald. Costi.  that the Chaldee giveth this exposition of it, Bonus est qui mundi hujus profundis et intimis implicatur, ut bona animo suo rependat, He is good, who entereth into the depth and bottom of the things of this world, and not deceived with the outward show of them, discerneth what in truth they are, and from thence gathereth good unto his soul. Our manner of expressing and translating the original doth import a firmness in goodness, and not to leave it off or to go backward in it. And indeed, we read in the psalms, That the righteous shall flourish as a palm three; 
Hugo Victor. Miscellan. l. 1. ti. 95.  that is, saith Hugo Victorin. justi conversatio tanquam palma plus finiendo peragit quam inchoando propoint; The conversation of the righteous is like a palm three, and in the end performeth more, than in the beginning it proposeth; the palm having but a less roote, 
Laurentius Iustinia.  and a great top. For he that feareth God: Laurentius justinianus speaking of the fear of God, saith, Corona sapientiae, timor Domini: magna enim salutisspes,& maxima in profectu virtutum causa est timor Domini; The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom, the diadem of justice: it is the great hope of salvation, and the greatest cause in the proceeding of virtue is the fear of the Lord. Wherefore it followeth here, He that feareth the Lord shall come forth of them all of all those stops and impediments that would hinder his proceeding. Or else as the Hebrew word more directly is, Progredictur, egredteur ad omnia, Shall go forward, or come forth unto all things, as St. jerome reads it. The Septuagint, as Saint jerome sets it down, and accordingly the Vulgar Latin do read it, Qui timet Deum nihil negligit, He that feareth God neglecteth nothing; he neglecteth not his care in not reaching forth too far, he negleceth not his diligence in not withdrawing his hand a little too much, he considereth a little careless erring to he the losing of goodness. 
Augustin. in Psal. 29.  Saint Austin saith, Praecavisti magna, de minutis quid agis? anon times minuta? Projecisti molem, vide ne arena obruaris, Thou hast been careful of great things, what dost thou in little things? Dost thou not fear little things? Thou hast removed the great pile, take heed that thou be not overwhelmed with the sand. 
Chrysost. in Mat. Hom. 83.  Saint Chrysostome saith, Mirabile quid et inauditum dicere audeo: solet mihi nonnunquam non tanto study magna videri esse peccata vitanda, quam parva& vilia. Illa enim ut aversemur, ipsa peccati natura efficit; haec autem hac ipsa re quia parva sunt, desides reddunt,& dum contemnuntur, non potest ad expulsionem eorum animus generose insurgere; unde cito ex parvis maxima fiunt negligentia nostra, I am bold to delivera wonderful and unheard of thing: it useth to seem to me oftentimes, that great sins are not to bee shunned with so much care as little and poor sins: for that we shun them, the very nature of sin causeth, but these even in that regard because they are little, do make us lazy and careless, and while they are despised, the mind cannot lift itself up generously to the expelling of them; from whence quickly by our negligence, of a little they are made very great. And this is that which Saint Bernard 
Bernard.  teacheth, A minimis incipiunt, qui in maxima proruunt, They begin with little things who break out into great.  
Verse 19. The meaning which our translation seemeth to give to this verse, is to show the strength of wisdom, above the strength of might, and that one wise man is stronger then many mighty men, nay then ten mighty men, that is very many, although they have also the strength of a City joined unto them. wisdom giveth strength unto a fool, and a wise man by his good counsel is able to support a fools weakness, as that he shall resist his enemies. But this excellency of strength whereof the verse speaketh is that which wisdom giveth to the wise, to him that is capable of the force of it, to him that knoweth how to use the strength of it, him it strengtheneth more then else the greatest might is able. 
Ambros. in Psal. 104.  Saint Ambrose therefore describing a wise man in the strength of wisdom saith, Insurgit sapiens quasi victor, debellatis& triumphatis, libidine, timore, ignavia, mastitudine, caeterisque vitiis, donec ea de possessione suae mentis eliminet& omnibus terminis finibusque suis propulset& arceat: quoniam dux cautior novit excursus cavere latrocinantium,& quaedam furta belly, quae iniquissimi ainae nostrae adversarii ignitis saepe pertentant spiculis, A wise man lifteth himself up as it were a conqueror, lust and fear, and sloth, and pensivenesse, and the rest of vices being subdued and triumphed over by him, until that he force them and drive them even from all his borders and bounds; because as a wary captain he knoweth to look unto the incursions of robbers, and to those stealths of war, which the most wicked enemies of our soul do sometimes make with fiery darts. But the original word translated mighty men, being {αβγδ} which properly signifieth Dominatores Governours, according as also generally the word is translated in this place by interpreters: it may seem that here by Governours in a City are understood men of human and worldly wisdom. For as S. Ambrose speaketh, Inconsultis populis sapientes quique adhibentur rectores, 
Ambros. in Psalm. 104. Non long ab initio.  qui plebeiam insipientiam vigore propia regant, wise men commonly are set for Governours over inconsiderate people, that by their own strength as it were, they may rule the plebeian folly. And then we may understand the meaning to be, that true godly wisdom is of more strength then the united force of that which is worldly, though in the kind of it very strong. Behold this in Saint Steven, of whom we read, 
Acts 6.10.  that they who disputed with him were not able to withstand the wisdom and the spirit whereby he spake. Gregory Nyssene setting down the conflict doth thus express it; 
Greg. Nys. Orat. de S. Stephen.  Omnes quibus eruditionis& scientia non nihil in erat in seize convertebat,& ex his qui caeteris praestare eruditione videbantur conspiratione facta, quoddle in phalangas quasdam constipati, sic impetum Stephani sustinere nitebantur. At ille omnibus pariter invictus erat, sieve cum multis solus, sieve cum paucis congrederetur, All in whom there was any learning and knowledge, he turned upon himself; and of them who seemed to excel the rest, there being as it were a foursquare army set thick together, so did they endeavour to sustain the assault of Steven: but he was alike unconquerable to them all, whether he encountered alone with many or else with few. But there is yet another meaning, which the reference of this verse to the following verse doth seem to approve; and that is to understand here a comparison between God and sinful man; so that the Preacher sheweth, that a wise man relying by his wisdom upon God, hath far more strength, then as Lyra here speaketh, Quaelibet potestas humana, any power of man is able to give him. This was the strength on which samson relied when that he pulled down the house upon the Philistines. For though his hair was grown again in which his strength had lain, yet as Cajetan 
Cajetan.  noteth, Non confidebat in auctis capillis qui obsecrat supplex pro robore hac 'vice, he did not trust in his grown hair, who humbly be sought the Lord to grant him strength this one time. 
Chrysost. in Genes. Hom. 25.  Saint Chrysostome speaking of Noah in the ark saith, Ego supra omnia admiror virtutem justi, quod potuerit versari in medio bestiarum, leonum dico& pardorum,& aliarum immitium ferarum, said ob fidem in Deum omnia isti facilia videbantur, I above all things admire the courage of the righteous man, that he could be conversant in the midst of beasts, as Lions, and Leopards and other untamed wild beasts. But by reason of his confidence in God all things did seem easy unto him. 
Greg. Mor. l. 31. c. 13.  Saint Gregory considering those words in the Proverbs, The righteous is bold as a Lion, thereupon saith, justi viri securitas recte Leoni comparatur, quia contra se quum quoslibet insurgere conspicit, ad mentis suae confidentiam redit,& scit quod cunctos adversarios superat, The security of a righteous man is well compared to a Lion, bause when he beholdeth any to arise against him, he goeth to the confidence of his mind, and from thence knoweth that he is sure to overcome all his adversaries. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  One exposition which Saint jerome giveth of this verse, is by the ten men here qui habent potestatem& in urbe consistunt, who have power, and stand in the City, to understand the Angels, Qui ad perfectum numerum pervene denarium, who are come to the perfect number of ten, and do succour mankind. But saith he, if any one consider all the succours that are, the succour of wisdom is greater, that is, of our Lord Iesus Christ.  
Verse 20. For there is not: The reason which maketh the wisdom of man to be weak is sin; and therefore all men being sinners, there can bee no true wisdom in any of them, nor any sound strength from their wisdom. 
1 Mac. 1.21.  We red in the maccabees, that when Antiochus went into the Sanctuary, he took away the light that was burning there; and sin entering into mans soul the Sanctuary of God, that hath taken away the clear light of wisdom that was burning in it. 
Salvianus de proved. l. 5. Psal. 139.7, Chrys. Hom. 1. de penitent. jonae.  Wherefore Salvianus saith, exue nequitiam si vis habere sapientiam, Put away wickedness, if thou wilt have wisdom. And Saint Chrysostome speaking to jonah, when he fled away from God, saith unto him, whither dost thou fly? Hast thou not heard another Prophet saying, whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I fly from thy presence? Who answering himself saith, said tale est peccatum, quod ad multam ignorantiam redigat animam, But such a thing is sin, that it bringeth the soul to a great deal of ignorance. Not a just man: In Scripture a just man is taken two ways, either in respect of God, not imputing his unrighteousness unto him, or else in respect of the righteousness that is inherent in him. By inherent righteousness there is no man perfectly just; by not having his unrighteousness imputed unto him every child is absolutely a just man. And therefore Saint Austin speaking of Christ saith, 
August. cont. julian. lib. 6. cap. 5.  Sanat vitiatum à reatu statim, ab infirmitate paulatim, he healeth him that is corrupted from his guiltiness presently, from his weakness by little and little. Or else a just man is said to be so in respect of the righteousness unto which he tendeth, not in respect of the righteousness to which he hath already attained. Wherefore Saint Austin considering the words of the Psalmist, led me O Lord in thy righteousness, 
Psal. 5.8. Aug. Ibid.  thereupon noteth, Satis hic declaravit in profectione se esse ad perfectionem, non in ipsa perfectione, quum ut deducatur exoptat, He declareth here sufficiently that he was in journeying to perfection, not in perfection itself, seeing he prayeth that he may bee led. Wherefore his exhortation is good, Curramus, intendamus, in via sumus, 
August. in Psalm. 38.  nec tam sis securus ex iis quae pertransisti, quam solicitus pro eis ad quae nondum pervenisti, Let us run, let us be earnest, we are yet but in the way, neither let us bee secure by those things which wee have passed over, as rather careful for those things to which we have not attained. Not a just man upon earth: S. Hier. noteth of the read heifer, whose ashes were an expiation for the sins of the people, 
Hieronym. in c. 3. Lamen. Ierem.  Quod non aliter immolari& offerri ad altar posset, nisi quae terrena opera non fecerit, jugum non traxerit, That it might not be sacrificed and offered upon the Altar unto the Lord, unless it were such a one which had not done the works of the earth, and upon which never yoke had come; which was to signify that works of the earth are sinful, and that there is no man on the earth that sinneth not. While we are on the earth, we have still enemies, Et qui pugnat,& adhuc periclitatur,& aliquando percutitur, etiansi non sternitur. Qui autem non habet adversarium, 
Aug. l. de Natura& gratia.  plena place laetatur,& ipse esse verissime sine peccato dicitur, And he that fighteth is both yet in danger, and also sometimes strucken and wounded although he be not cast down and overthrown. But he that hath not an enemy rejoiceth in full peace, and he it is who most truly is said to be without sin. It is in heaven therefore where full peace to enjoyed, that sin doth not annoy, it is not on the earth. That doth good and sinneth not: it is not a doing good that the Preacher here denieth, but a doing good and sinning not to be joined with it. And yet doth not the Psalmist say, 
Psal. 53.3.  there is none that doth good, no not one? How then doth here the Preacher speak of doing good? 
August. in Psal. 52.  Saint Austin giveth the answer in Gods name, saying, Donavi hominibus been facere, said ex me inquit, non ex se, ex se enim mali sunt. Filii hominum sunt quando male faciunt, filii Dei quando been, I have given unto men to do good, but it is from myself, not from themselves; for of themselves they are evil. And they are the sons of men when they do evil, the sons of God when they do good. It is therefore of the sons of men that the Psalmist speaketh: for so he saith, God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, and saw that none did good. But it is of the sons of God that the Preacher speaketh, saying, There is not a just man, that doth good and sinneth not. That sinneth not, even when he doth good, by the imperfection of his doing of it. 
August. ad Bonifac. l. 3. cap. 7.  Wherefore Saint Austin saith, virtus quae nunc est in homine justo hactenus perfecta nominatur, ut ad ejus perfectionem pertineat, etaim ipsius imperfectionis,& in veritate agnitio,& in humilitate confessio, The virtue which is in a just man, is so far said to be perfect, as that there appertained to the perfection of it, an acknowledgement in truth, and a confession in humility of the very imperfection of if. In which regard, 
Greg. Mor. l. 29. c. 2.  Saint Gregory saith, Quid in hac vita omnes qui vertitatem sequimur, nisi aurora sumus? Aurora enim noctem praeterisse nunciat, nec tamen diet claritatem illa ostendit, said dum illam pellit,& hanc suscipit, lucem tenebris permixtam tenet; sic nos& quaedam jam quae lucis sunt agimus,& tamen in quibusdam adhuc tenebrarum reliquiis non caremus, What in this life are we all who follow the truth, but as the morning? For the morning sheweth the night to be past, but yet it doth not show the clearness of the day; and whiles it driveth the one away, it showeth the other, it possesseth a light mixed with darkness; so wee now do some things which are of the light, and yet wee do not want in some things the relics of darkness. The Preacher doth not here say that a just man cannot but sin, neither doth he say there cannot be a just man; but there is not a just man that sinneth not. It was the cavil wherewith the Pelagians troubled Saint Austin, 
August. de peccatorum meritis lib. 2. cap. 7.  whether it were impossible that by the absolute power of God a just man might not live on earth without sin. But what have we to do with the absolute power of God? Saint Austin saith well, Si quaeratur utrum in hac vita aliquis sit sine peccato, esse non credo: magis enim credo Scripturae, ubi Sanctorum vox est, si dicimus, &c. If it be asked whether in this life any be without sin, I believe not: because I believe rather the sacred Scriptures, whereat is the voice of the Saints: If we say, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. The original word here used is {αβγδ} which signifieth to sin by erring and of ignorance, and therefore is fitly applied to the just man who sinneth not presumptuously and stubbornly. And it is as fitly used to show the imperfection of human wisdom, for where there is an erring and ignorance, there must needs be a defect and weakness.   

VER. 21. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.  
VER. 22. For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth, that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.  
Verse 21 As there is not a just man that sinneth not, so there is none so just, none that sinneeth so little, but his righteousness by slanders is diminished, his sins by false reports are made more and greater than they are. Which partly ariset; h from the envy which is so generally in men, and partly from the nature of slandering, which being done in the absence of them whom it wrongeth, hath the less shane, and is the sooner entertained. For as Saint Bsail speaketh, 
Basilius Ep. 75.  Quis in accusndis vitiis nemine contradicente defecit? Quis deferendo mendacii convictus est, non coram constituto eo quem falso detulit? Who ever was confuted in accusing vices, when no one did contradict him? Who ever in reporting a lie was convicted, he not being brought to answer if of whom it was falsely reported? It is against this therefore the the preacher here instructeth a just and wise man what to do. Also take not heed: not to hear that which is spoken may not be in thy power: for the tongue of a slanderer though it be low in whispering at the first broching of a false report, yet it becometh loud in spreading of it afterward; but though thou dost hear, take not heed unto it. And as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, 
Chrysost. in Acta Apost. Hom. 26.  Nobis ne sit curae, quid multi de nobis sentiant. Deo vivimus, non hominbus; in coelo cives sumus, non supper terram: illic praemia nostrorum laborum jacent; illinc lauds expectemus; catenus curemus homines, ne illis offendiculo& damno simus. Si ego quidem facio quod decet,& alius blasphemat, nihil ad me, said ad illum, Let us not be careful what many think or say of us: we live to God, not to men; we are Citizens in heaven, not upon the earth: there are laid up the rewards of our labours, from thence we expect praises: so far let us care for men, as that we do not wrong them, nor trespass against them. If I do that which I ought, and another slander me, it is nothing to me, but much to him. To the same purpose Saint Austin saith, Non curo vanum calumniatorem, 
Aug. l. cont. Manichae.  quia idoneum tene promissorem, I do not regard a vain slanderer, because I have an able promiser. And accordingly therefore when the Manichees reported of him, that he forsook their sect either for fear or desire, as one that took no heed unto it, he saith, Quod de animo meo verum non saints, facile contemno. Hoc enim saints, quod etsi de me non agnosco, fieri tamen potest ut sit in homine. Ergo etiam si in me erras, non tamen ita erras, ut me de numero hominum eximat tua opinio, quia id de me credis, quod fieri potest in animo humano, etiam si non sit sanctum in animo meo. Nec igitur opus est ut tibi hanc suspicionem magnopere coner auferre, That thou dost not think the truth of my mind I easily despise. For thou thinkest that, which though I do aclowledge to be in me, yet it is a thing which may be in a man. Wherefore although thou errest in me, yet thou dost not so err, as that thine opinion should exempt me from the number of men; because thou dost believe that of me, which may bee in the mind of man, although it be not good in my mind. And therefore it is not needful that I should much labour to take away this suspicion from thee. Take not heed therefore unto such words: but though thou dost hear them, 
Psal. 38.13.  yet be as David was, and as a deaf man that heareth not. Or if thou dost take heed unto them, as there may be just reason in many respects to do so, yet then as the original here saith, Ne apponas cor tuum, set not thine heart upon them, let them not trouble and disquiet thine heart. 
Hieronym. Ep. ad Oceanum.  For as Saint jerome saith, Si aequo animo pensamus, id ipsum quod nobis quis detrahere videtur injust, laudari nos potius, quam accusari probamur, If wee rightly weigh it, even this that any one seemeth unjustly to slander us, doth prove that we are praised rather than accused. Our Saviour Christ was said to have a devil, 
August. in Psal. 99.  and thereupon S. Austin saith, Non opus erat ut Iesu hoc audiret; said te monuit adversus aspera verba; There was no need that Christ should have this spoken of him; but it was to admonish us, that when we are evil spoken of, we take it not to heart. It is not I confess, an easy thing to do it: the Prophet David was touched home with it, 
Psalm. 55.2.& 3.  who saith, I mourn in my complaint and am sore vexed, because of the voice of the enemy. But let us know the Disciples not to be above the master, and let us prove ourselves to bee the Disciples of Christ by following bis example. unto all words that are spoken: regard not all words that are spoken, but consider who speaks them. If they be the servants of God that speak not well of thee, then respect what they say. 
Greg. in c. 2. Ezek. Hom. 9.  For as Saint Gregory speaketh, Debent haberi in metu ac reverentia judicia justorum, quia membra Dei omnipotentis sunt,& hoc ipsi in terra reprehendunt, quod Dominus redarguit è coelo, The judgements of the righteous ought to be had in an awful reverence and esteem, because they are members of Almighty God, and what they reprove on earth he condemneth in heaven. But if they be the words of the wicked, regard them not; 
Greg. Ibid.  for as the same Father speaketh, Stultum est valde, si illis placere quaerimus, quos non placere Deo scimus, It is a very wicked thing, if we seek to please them, whom we know not to please God. Least thou hear thy servant to curse thee: this wickedness of slandering is not seldom in those who are near unto a man, and if a servant do it, perhaps others who are thought to be friends may be guilty of it. Wherefore because this would bee a great trouble to a man that such should wrong him, and because thereby he may also be carried into many mischiefs, as of quarreling and breach of charity, therefore the Preacher adviseth, 
August. in Psalm. 99.  not to harken after what is said, nor to bee willing to hear such things when they are brought unto us. Saint Austin tells us, that when a net is spread for a bide, the manner is to throw stones at the hedge. 
Augusti. in Psal. 99.  Now saith he, those stones do not hurt the bide, for who striketh the bide that casteth them? But the bide fearing this vain sound fals into the net. In like manner, saith he, men that fear and regard the vain sound of all words, what do they but fall into the devils net, whd thereby caryes them captive into much evil, many troubles, and inconveniences? Or else by servants here, wee may understand, any inferior and base people, which are indeed too apt to slander and wrong in their speeches and reports their betters and superiors. But take no heed to all that is spoken, for such take little heed what they speak, and if such things trouble thee, thou mayest have trouble enough quickly.  
Verse 22. For oftentimes also thine owe heart knoweth: thine own heart is thine own conscience; according to the saying, Conscientia est cordis scientia, Conscience is the knowledge of the heart. And indeed the Hebrew hath no other word to express the conscience, but onely {αβγδ} which properly signifieth the heart. Thine own conscience therefore knoweth, for that is as Bernard 
Bernard.  speaketh, Vox virtutis,& radius lucis, a beam of light to discern the truth, and a voice of power to tell it plainly to thee. Thou needeest not any other to show thee thine ill doing; there is one within, Qui secretam gannit in aurem, Who whispereth in thine ear what it is. do but turn thine hearing inward, do but cast thine eyes upon thine own breast; and from thence thou shalt be best informed of thy doings. There is no difficulty for thee there to know them. Indeed, as Saint Bernard 
Bernard.  also speaketh, labour est potius aures obturare, ne audias. Ipsa se offered, ipsa se ingerit, The labour rather is to stop thine ears, that thou do not hear thy conscience. Shee offereth herself, shee thrusteth herself upon thee. Nay, shee will be heard, do thou what thou canst, and make thee know thy sins. Nero after his much bloodshed, may change his bed-chamber, but his fiends ever attend him, ever are with him, and are as parts of himself. If a wicked man could shift from himself, he might have some hope not to hear of his sins; but so long as he hath himself, he hath one that will tell him of his faults. Yea, what if a wicked mn in some sort do run from himself? His soul may fly from his body, but his conscience will not fly from his soul, nor his sin from his conscience, there he shall still have it brought unto his knowledge. That thou thyself likewise hast cursed others: the force of this reason may be conceived three ways. First thus, seeing that thou thyself, as thou knowest, hast cursed others, and wouldest not that they should have heard it, or from others heard of it; be contented therefore in like manner, neither to hear nor to hear of the cursings and evil speakings which others use of thee. So Lyra expoundeth it, saying, 
Lyra,& Glossa Ordin. in hunc versum.  Sicut nolles maledicta tua investigari, sic nee debes aliorum investigare, As thou wouldest not that others should search out thine evil speakings, so the evil speakings of others ought not to be preached out by thee. Thus also doth the Ordinary gloss understand it, applying to this place that common saying, Quod tibi non vis, alteri ne feceris: patere legem quam ipse tuleris, That which thou wouldest not have done unto thyself, do not unto another: suffer the Law which thou thyself hast made. Of which Saint Austin saith, 
Augustin.  that it is a sentence, whereupon all nations under heaven are agreed, and which if wee refer to the love of God, extinguisheth all heinous crimes; if wee refer unto the love of man, banisheth all grievous wrongs. Secondly, wee may conceive the force of the reason thus; seeing thou knowest thyself to have spoken evil of others, and to have cursed them, for which thou mayest justly fear the wrath of God upon thee; therefore take not heed to the words of others that speak evil of thee, but pass them by, and forgive them mildly and quietly, that God may mercifully and graciously forgive thee also: 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  thus Saint jerome seemeth to understand it, saying, Quomodo novit conscientia tua, quod tu saepe aliis detraxisti, sic et aliis debes ignoscere detrahentibus, As thou knowest thyself often to have slandered others; 
Mat. 18.34.  so thou must forgive others when they slander thee. He that in the gospel was cast into prison by his fellow-servant, had not complained of it to his Master, there was no end of that, but instantly the Masters anger was incensed, and he that was so courteous before, was then most severe. And surely, there is nothing that doth more provoke the wrath of almighty God, then when wee being ou rselves spared by him, 
Ambros. in Psalm. 118. Serm. 20.  will not spare others for the same things. Saint Ambrose therefore saith, Necesse est eam formam in te redire judicii quam in alium ipse decernendam putaveris, There is a necessity that the same form of judgement should return upon thee, which thou thyself hast thought fit to be decreed against another. In the Lords prayer wee say, Forgive us our trespasses, as wee forgive them that trespass against us: Where Chrysologus saith, 
Chrys. Serm. 71.  Homo penes te est potestas veniae, in te est indulgentiae jus, tu tibi remissionis author constitutus. Gratis petis veniam qui tibi in alio indulgere contemnis. Homo tu tibi factus es ipse misericoridae mensura, quantum quaris misericordie, fac tantum, Man the power of pardon is in thine own power, the right of indulgency is in thyself, thou art made the author of remission to thyself. In vain dost thou seek pardon, who despisest in another to give it to thyself. Man thou thyself are made the measure of mercy to thyself; as much mercy as thou seekest for thyself, 
Anselmus.  so much show to others. anselm therefore speaketh well unto us, Debetis conservis non negare, quod à bono Domino gaudetis vos percepisse, Take heed, you must not deny unto your fellow-servants, that which you rejoice to have received from a good Master. And a good Writer saith also well, Cum hac obligatione Dei bona in te veniunt, ut à te in proximos proficiscantur, With this obligation do the good things of God come unto thee, that from thee the like may proceed to others. Thirdly, as I understand, the force of the reason may be conceived thus: Seeing thine own heart knoweth, that thou hast cursed others, and in thy speeches detracted from them, thou mayest be sure also that others do the same towards thee. For it is the justice of God, even in this world, to requited men in the same kind that their wickedness was committed. His law is, Thou shalt do to them, 
Deut. 19.19& 21.  as he had thought to have done to his brother, life for life, eye for eye, hand for hand. Although it were not done but intended onely by false accusations, the Lord would have the same to be done to him. Wherefore when thou by false reports wrongest another, thou mayest be assured that God suffereth the same to be done of thee. Saint Austin noteth of the egyptians, 
Augustin. de Temp. Serm. 89.  Percutitur Aegyptus primogeniti affectu, ut ex eo cognoscerent, quantus dolor sit filiorum, qui necaverunt filios Hebraeorum, egypt is smitten with the affection of their first born, that from thence they might know the grief for children destroyed, who had destroyed the children of the Israelites. Wherefore seeing thou who hast spoken ill of others, mayest be sure that others speak ill of thee, to avoid the vexation of it, do not hearken after it, do not look into it. For as Tertullian speaketh, Nihil amarius quam id ipsum pati quod feceris, There is nothing more bitter than to suffer that which thou hast done to others.   

VER. 23. All this have proved by wisdom: J said, J will be wise, but it was far from me.  
VER 24. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?  
Verse. 23. All this have I proved by wisdom: The Preacher had attained unto much wisdom, all this he had proved by it, and all this was nothing near the all which he had proved by it. Wherefore this it was which made him to see the imperfection of his wisdom. For wise men as Saint Gregory speaketh, Dum proximi luci fiunt, 
Tertul. Cont. Marcia. l. 2. Greg. Mor. l. 32. c. 1.  quicquid eos in seipsis latebat inveniunt. unusquisque enim sibi dum tactu veri luminis illustratur, ostenditur,& unde agnoscit, quid est justitia, ind eruditur, ut videat quid sit culpa, While they are brought near unto the light, do find out whatsoever was in themselves hidden from themselves. For every one when he is enlightened with the touch of the true light is shewed unto himself, and from whence he perceiveth what is righteousness, from thence he is taught to see what is wickedness; from whence he discerneth, what is wisdom, from thence he is shewed, what is folly. But they who have not attained to wisdom, Tanto se ei propinquos aestimant, quanto et ejus rectitudinis regulam ignorant, quia siti in tenebris mirari lucis claritatem necesiunt, quam nunquam viderunt, By so much do think themselves near unto it, by how much they do not know the rule of the rightness of it, because being placed in darkness, they know not how to admire the brightness of the light which they have never seen. 
Basilius tractatu de fide.  Saint Basil therefore also speaking of these words, saith, that wisdom is said to be far off, Non quidem quod revera illa fugeret, said quod ii maxim intelligunt quod ea omnem cujusvis ad ipsam comprehendendam captum exuperet, qui Dei beneficio ampliorem ipsi quam caeteri cognitionem sunt consecuti, Not that wisdom itself doth fly away, but because they who by the favour of God have obtained a more ample knowledge of it than others, do especially understand that it exceedeth the capacity of any one to be able to comprehend it. 
Greg. Mor. l. 35. c. 2.  Wherefore Saint Gregory again speaking of wise men, saith, Quanto magis contemplando proficiunt, tanto amplius despiciendo quod sunt, aut nihil aut prope, nihil se esse cognoscunt, By how much they profit in contemplation, by so much despising themselves in that which they are, they aclowledge themselves to be nothing, or near unto nothing. He therefore that shall study wisdom, shall find it to be true which Lyra noteth, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Frequenter contingit, quod homines studiosi circa divina credunt in principio acquisivisse demonstrationes, de quibus postea percipiunt quod sint magis topicae vel sophisticae rationes, Oftentimes it cometh to pass, that men studious about divine things, do believe in the beginning that they have gotten demonstrations, which afterwards they perceive to be onely topical or sophistical arguments. And when they can say, all this I have proved by wisdom, then they are ready to say, all this which I know, I perceive to be no wisdom. I said I will be wise: he saith not, I am wise, but I will be wise; and as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Greg. Mor. l. 35. c. 2.  Qui sapienter quidem locutus hominibus fuerat, sapientius se cognoscit, non esse sapientem, He that had spoken wisely unto men, more wisely doth know himself not to be wise. But yet he said, I will be wise, He had a desire to be, his mind was stirred up to seek after it, and that resolutely and earnestly. 
Gregorius in c. 10. 1 Regum.  For as Saint Gregory noteth, this is the difference between wisdom in this life, and wisdom in the next; Ista quidem cognitio lucis electorum desideria satiare non novit said excitare, illa vero& satiare& excitare. Nam tam jucundares est, ut incessabiliter concupiscatur,& tam plena, ut qui jam semper hanc in magno desiderio viderunt, semper ineffabili plenitudine satientur, That knowledge of the light is able to stir up the desires of the elect, but not able to satisfy them; but this will both satisfy them, and stir them up also. For so pleasant a thing it is, that it may be uncessantly desired, and so full a thing, that they who always see it in a great desire of it, are always satisfied with an ineffable fullness of it. But it was far from me: wisdom flieth, and it flieth upon the wings of the wind, that is, that I may use Saint Gregories words, 
Greg. Mor. l. 17. c. 15.  Volat, quia long in altum ab intellectu nostro se rapit: volat supper pennas ventorum, quia transcendit scientiam animarum, It flieth because it carrieth itself on high far away from our understanding: it flieth upon the wings of the wind, because it transcendeth the knowledge of human souls. Man may say, I will be wise, and so seek after wisdom, and that with the swiftest and greatest pursuit of his endeavours; 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  but as Saint jerome speaketh, Quanto plus quaefierit, santo minus reperiet, said se in mediam demersum caliginem, tenebrisque ignorantiae circundatum agnoscet, By how much the more he shall seek it, by so much the less he shall find it, but shall aclowledge himself to be drowned in the midst of darkness, and to be encompassed with blindness and ignorance. Quanto plus scire coeperit, tanto ei in his quotidie orietur mayor obscuritas, By how much he shall begin to know the more, by so much daily in these things of wisdom shall the greater obscurity arise unto him. The Preacher had said, I will be wise, he had said it secretly in his own heart and mind by his resolute purpose of striving to attain it, but he doth as it were cry out, It was far from me. For as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Greg. Mor. l. 17. c. 2.  Exclamare mens humana in admiratione compellitur, dum altitudine considerationis in requisitionibus suis eo ipso quo latius extenditur, angustatur, The mind of man is forced in admiration to cry out, while that by the height of contemplation, it is even thereby the more straitned in its seeking and searching, by how much it is the more enlarged. The more the Preacher sought, the more he saw that he had to seek, the farther he was gone, the farther he saw that he had to go, the farther he went, the farther he saw that wisdom was from him. Wherefore Saint Gregory expounding these words, saith, Quaesita sapientia longè recedere dicitur, 
Greg. Mor. l. 32. c. 1.  quia appropinquanti altior videtur, wisdom being fought for, is said to be far off; because by him that cometh near it, it is seen to be higher still, then he did or could perceive it to be.  
Verse 24. That which is far off, even so far off that he whose arm is able to break even a bow of steel, is not able to reach it: even so far off, that he who is able to make his nest with the Eagle, is not able to fly unto it: even so far off, that he who could span from East to West, could not comprehend it. That which is exceeding deep, even so exceeding deep, that he who could follow the Leviathan, could not come unto it, that he who could set out the center of the earth, is not able to find it out, and who then is able to attain unto it? wisdom it is that the Preacher speaketh of, and the remoteness of it, the exceeding depth of it, sheweth it to be divine wisdom. For that is so far off, that it is not known, from whence it cometh, nor where the place of it is; 
job. 28.20.  according as Elihu sheweth in the book of job, saying, Whence cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding? That is so deep, that the depth saith, it is not in me, and the sea saith, it is not with me. That is, so far, that the weakness of mans understanding is overwearyed, before it can come unto it, that is, 
job 28.14.  so exceeding deep, that the eye of mans understanding is dazzled to look into it, and mans wit is endangered much by venturing into it, that is, deep and deep, as the original expresseth itself; deep to men, deep to Angels, and exceeding the capacity of both of them. Saint Austin asking the question, what God is? giveth it this answer, 
Augustin. de fide Cont. Arrian. c. 6.  Certè hic est, de quo et quum dicitur non potest dici, quum aestimatur, non potest aestimari, quum comparatur non potest comparari, quum definitur, ipse sua definitione crescit, Surely, it is he, who when he is spoken of, cannot be spoken of, who when he is considered of, cannot bee considered of, who when he is compared to any thing, cannot be compared, and when he is defined, groweth greater by defining of him. It was not the Lord which the Prophet Ezechiel saw, 
Ezek. 1.28.  it was only a vision: in the vision it was not the glory of the LORD which he saw, but the likeness of it; nay it was not the likeness of it, but the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD, that made him to fall on his face, as not being able to behold it. But if this did so astonish the Prophet, who can behold the LORD himself in his glory? In the psalms, 
Psal. 18.10. Greg. Mor. l. 7. c. 15.  the Lord is said to ride upon a Cherub: upon which words Saint Gregory saith, Cherub quip plenitudo scientiae dicitur, proinde supper plenitudinem scientiae ascendisse perhibetur, quia majestatis ejus plenitudinem scientia nulla comprehendit, A Cherub is so called as being a fullness of knowledge: and therefore is God said to ascend above the fullness of knowledge, because no knowledge comprehendeth the fullness of his Majesty. 
Isaiah 6.2.  When we red in the Prophet Isaiah, of the Seraphims standing above the throne of the Lord, that each of them had six wings, and that with twain the Cherub covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly, Origen 
Origen.  saith, Duabus velabant faciem, non propriam said Dei, duabus alis velabant pedes, non proprios said Dei. Operiebant faciem Dei, exordium enim Dei ignotum est, said& pedes: novissimum enim quod in Deo nostro est non comprehenditur: sola media videntur, ex iis quae sunt intelligo Deum, With twain they covered his face, the face of God, not their own, with two wings they covered his feet, not their own feet, but the feet of God. They covered the face of God, for the beginning of God is unknown; but so they did his feet also, for the last that is in our God is not comprehended: only the middle things are seen, and from those things which are, do I understand God. Behold here the remoteness and depth of divine wisdom whereof the Preacher here speaketh: his face is covered, his beginning is unknown there is wisdom far off: his feet are covered, the last that is in God is not comprehended, there is the exceeding depth of it. The Preacher here comprehendeth in two things, 
Eph. 3.18.  that which Saint Paul setteth out in four, the length, and breadth whereof S. Paul speaks, is but the remoteness whereof the Preacher speaketh; the depth and height which S. Paul distinguisheth, is but the depth of the Preacher doubled. Now upon S. Pauls words S. Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. in Epist. ad Ephes.  Quum dicit latitudo& longitude& altitudo& profundum, hoc utique significat, ut sicut in sphaera tanta longitude est, quanta latitudo,& tanta altitudo quantum profundum, ita& in Deo omnia aequalia sunt immensitate infinitatis, when he saith, length& breadth, height and depth, this it is which he signifieth, that as in a sphere, the length is as great as the breadth, and the height as great as the depth, so in God all things are equal by the immensity of an infinity. And this it is which the Preacher signifieth, for showing the extent of divine wisdom to be as great in the depth as it is in the wideness, and both to be incomprehensible, he asketh, who can find it out? Surely as S. Basil speaketh, Etsi omnes omnium mentes unà ad investigandum coirent, itemque ad enunciandum lingua concurrerent, tamen qui assequi posset nemo existeret, 
Basilius tractatu de fide.  Although all the minds of all should join together to search after it, and also the tongues of all should join together to express it, there would bee none that could attain unto it. But yet that wee be not discouraged from the seeking after it, S. Gregory tells us, Qui videri non potest per incircumscriptum lumen aeternitatis, videri potest per quasdam circumscriptas imagines, He that cannot be seen by the unlimited light of his eternity, yet can bee seen by some limited shadows which he casteth from himself. Wherefore when Elihu in job saith, that wisdom is hide from the eyes of all living; S. Gregory understandeth it, Nemo quip eam videt, 
job 28.21.  qui adhuc carnaliter vivit, quia nemo potest Deum simul amplecti& saeculum, No one truly seeth it, who liveth carnally; because no one can at once embrace God and the world. 
1 Tim. 6.16.  And when the Apostles saith of God, that he dwelleth in a light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, the same Father expounding it saith, 
Greg. Mor. l. 18. c. 28.  More suo homines vocat omnes humana sapientes; quia qui divina sapiunt videlicet supra homines sunt, According to his manner he calleth men, all them who savour the things of man, because they who savour divine things are above men. Let us therefore walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, and though divine wisdom bee a far off, yet wee shall come to some sight of it; let us by our heavenly conversation be above men, and though it be exceeding deep, yet we shall come to some apprehension of it, and shall at length be brought to drink of the fountain itself, although we now but taste of some streams of it.   

VER. 25. I apply mine heart to know, and to search and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.  
VER. 26. And J find more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are bands: who so pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.  
Verse 25. There is a threefold wisdom, Sapientia carnis quae inimica est Deo, sapientia mundi quae stultitia est apud Deum, sapientia vera quae est Dei, A wisdom of the flesh which is enmity to God, a wisdom of the world which is foolish with God, a true wisdom which is the wisdom of God, as S. Bernard sets them down. The Preacher therefore having shewed how true wisdom was too far from him, 
Bern. Serm. 9. inter parvos.  too deep for him, as well beyond his sight as his reach, he sheweth how he applied and turned his mind unto the other two. The Hebrew is thus {αβγδ} Circuivi ego& cor meum, I and my heart turned about or made a circled to know, &c. And surely it is well, when a man and his heart do go together. For too many go to many places, whither their hearts go not with them, to mind what they see, what they hear. Many go to God, to the Church of God, but their hearts go not with them, to consider and to apply to their heart, that which is said unto them. Many go to the house of mourning, to the burial of the dead, but their hearts do not go with them, to remember their own mortality in that which they see. Many go many ways, but they take not their hearts with them to make use of those things which they mere with. But the Preacher took his heart with him, he and his heart turned about, he observed things, and his heart looking into them considered of them. I, in the original is expressed with an emphasy, as if it contained as much as I the King, and I the Preacher, and who both had but one heart, which sought the good of his people. Or else we may take the original word, as it signifieth to make a circled; for in seeking of knowledge there is a circled made, and as it proceedeth from the effect to the cause, so it returneth from the cause to the effect. Or else in the Preacher we may conceive the circled to be, the contemplation of his heart, how all things proceeded from the power of God as the efficient cause, and how all things returned to the glory of God as to the final cause. To know and to search and to seek out wisdom: in the placing of which words wee may either observe the order of the Preachers intention, or else of his proceeding. If wee look to the order of his intention, then knowledge is first, and the other two follow, as being but the way to come to his intention. If we look upon the order of his proceeding, then knowledge is placed first, as being that which led him to search farther, to seek for more. And here we may consider the Preacher to speak in Saint Bernards words, 
Bern. Serm. Beatus qui invenit sapientiam.  Vehementer eam considerat anima mea, nec invenisse sufficit si contigerit invenire, My mind doth earnestly seek and apply it, self unto it neither doth it suffice me to have found it, even when I have found it. For even when he knoweth he seeketh and searcheth. Whereby also the Preacher teacheth us, that wisdom is not gotten without searching and seeking. Frustra quaerit qui in lectulo suo quaerit; non enim in terra suaviter viventium sapientia invenitur, He seeketh it in vain, that seeketh it in his bed, for wisdom is not found in the land of them that live deliciously as Saint Bernard also speaketh. wisdom is a field, Fodiamus in eo, thesaurus absconditus latet, effodiamus eum, Let us dig in it, the treasure lieth hide, let us dig it out by searching and seeking. And the reason of things: for he it is that knoweth a thing, that knoweth the reason of it; that is to know any thing clearly, all knowledge else is dark and obscure. The original word here is {αβγδ} supputatio, ratiocinium, a numbering or reckoning, and it may be taken to signify the Preachers care to get the perfect and exact knowledge of human wisdom. For as Saint Austin speaketh; 
Ambros. in Domi. Quadrages.  Nemo numerat nisi quod vult diligentius custodire, nemo nisi qui veretur ne fraudem absque numero patiatur, No one numbereth any thing but that which he will keep very diligently, no one numbereth but that he feareth least he should be deceived, if that he do not number. The Preacher therefore that he might not be deceived, that he might know things truly, did search and seek and cast up supputationem, the account and reckoning of things. And to know the wickedness of folly: As I conceive, wee may not amiss understand this of the sinfulness that is in that folly of man, which is accounted to bee the wisdom of man. For as there is no true wisdom, but the wisdom of GOD, so the very virtues of human wisdom have a sinfulness of folly in them. Saint Bernard saith, 
Bernard. supper. Cantic. Serm. 23.  Frustra hujus saeculi sapientes de quatuor virtutibus tam multa disputaverunt, quas tamen apprehendere omnino nequiverunt, quum illum nescierint qui factus est nobis à Deo sapientia docens prudentiam,& justitia delicta donans,& sanctificatio in exemplo temperantiae continenter vivens,& redemptio in exemplum patientiae fortiter moriens, In vain have the wise men of this world disputed so much of four principal virtues, which yet they could not apprehended, because they knew not him who is made unto us of God, wisdom teaching us prudence, and justice pardoning our sins, and sanctification, living continently for an example of temperance, and redemption, dying patiently for an example to us of patience. What saith he, have ye to do with virtues, who are ignorant of Christ the power and virtue of God? Where is true wisdom, but in the doctrine of Christ? Where true justice, but in the mercy of Christ? Where the temperance, but in the life of Christ? Where true fortitude, but in the death of Christ? They onely who are endued with his doctrine, are to be called prudent, they onely just, who from his mercy have obtained pardon of their sins, they onely temperate, who study to imitate his life, they onely valiant, who in adversity do hold fast the doctrine of his patience. In vain doth any one labour in the getting of virtues, if he hope to have them any other way, then from the Lord of virtues, whose doctrine is the seminary of prudence, whose mercy is the work of justice, whose life is the glass of temperance, whose death is the ensign of valour. Even of foolishness and madness: the Hebrew most directly is, and the foolishness of madness, whereby, as I conceive, wee may not amiss understand the mad folly of wicked people, who yet think themselves in pleasing themselves the wisest of all. 
Augustin. in Psal. 39.  Saint Austin therefore speaking of the sinful contentments of this life, saith, Quae vides, bona putas, falleris, sanus non es, nimia febre phreneticus factus es, Those things which thou seest, thou thinkest to be good things, thou art deceived, thou art not sound in thy wits, thou art made mad with a strong fever. It is but a folly of madness, which such account wisdom. Saint Ambrose readeth this verse thus; 
Ambros. de bono mortis. c. 7.  Circuivit cor meum ut considerarem& quaererem sapientiam& numerum& ut scirem impii laetitiam,& molestiam& jactationem, et inveni eam amariorem morte, My heart went about, that I might consider and seek wisdom and number, and that I might know the joy of the wicked, and their trouble, and their boasting, and I found it more bitter than death. Non quia amara sit mors, said quia impio amara; et tamen amarior vita quam mors. Gravius est enim ad peccatum vivere, quam in peccato mori: quia impius quam diu vivit peccatum auget; moriatur, peccare desinit, Not that death is bitter, but because it is bitter to a wicked man; and yet life is more bitter than death. For it is more grievous, to live unto sin, than to die in sin: because a wicked man while he liveth increaseth his sins, but let him die, he ceaseth to sin.  
Verse 26. And I find: I here is I with a witness. Quod expertus est loquitur, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers. Lyra in hunc vers.  he speaketh that which he had found by experience, saith Saint jerome. More bitter then death: because, saith Lyra, Separat animam à suo creatore, mors autem à solo corpore. Prior autem separatio amarior est, quia separat à bono infinito, It separateth the soul from his creator, whereas death from the body onely. The first separation therefore is the more bitter, because it separateth from an infinite good. Another saith well, Nulla quidem mors est, quae tot amaritudines propinet, tot dedecora inferat, quot infert et propinat una libido, There is indeed no death which reacheth to a man so many bitter draughts, which bringeth him to so many disgraces, as that one wickedness of sinful lust doth give and bring unto him. Or else wee may understand the words in a general sense, as setting forth the greatness of the evil. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  So Saint jerome seemeth to understand it, who writing upon this verse, saith, Nunc ait illud in sua se quaesisse sapientia, quod in rebus humanis malum universa antecedat mala, et quae res impietatis, stultitiae, erroris, vecordiae teneat principatum, Now he saith that he sought in his wisdom, that which being evil in the affairs of men, exceedeth all evils else, and which thing hath the precedency, of all impiety, folly, error, madness. The woman: it is {αβγδ} Illa foemina, The woman, the shane of women, the lascivious woman: And therefore Saint jerome saith, Non putemus temere hanc Solomonem de omni genere mulierum protulisse sententiam, Let us not rashly think that Solomon did pronounce this sentence of all kind of women. Whose heart is as snares: the original directly is, Quae ipsa decipulae, Who is herself snares: herself is but the snares of another. For indeed, the original word is {αβγδ} Decipulae venantium, The snares of hunters, and therefore both the Septuagint and Saint jerome do read it so, Quae laqueus venatorum est, Who is the snare of the hunters. And what are these hunters but the devils? So saith Lyra, Laqueus venatorum, id est, daemonum qui venantur animas,& muliere quasi laqueo utuntur ad eas capiendas, The snare of the hunters, that is, of the devils, who hunt after souls, and do use a woman as it were a snare to catch them. In the Proverbs, Solomon speaking of this woman, saith, Remove thy way far from her, 
Proverbs 5.8.& 9.  and come not near the door of her house: Least thou give thine honour unto others, and thy yeeres to the cruel: that is, saith Rabbi Solomon, Ne des annos tuos, principi gehennae, Least thou give thine yeares to the Prince of hell. Theophylact also saith, 
Theophyl. in c. 15. Luca.  Qui adhaeret Domino unus spiritus fit cum illo, qui vero adhaeret scorto unum corpus fit cum natura daemonum, atque fit totus caro, He that is joined to the Lord is made one Spirit with him, he that is joined to an harlot, is made one body with the nature of the devils, and is indeed made even all flesh. Vpon this verse it is the note of him who is the author Catenae Graecae, 
author Catenae Graecae.  Intellexit insuper malum illud quod hujusmodi omnia operaretur esse diabolum; He understood moreover that evil which wrought all these things to be the devil. And whose heart is nets: So is the original most directly: So that herself is a hunter also as well as a snare, and in her heart shee spreadeth her nets, for there it is that her cunning plots and devices are framed, whereby shee catcheth simplo souls. It is not a net, but nets that her heart is, because shee is full of subtle projects, full of baits to 'allure, and of gins to entrap. Lyra noteth that her heart is said to be nets, 
Lyra in hunc versum.  Quia sicut sagana capiuntur pisces magni parvi et mediocres, sic mulier de quolibet statu hominum decipit plures, Because as in a net are taken, great, little and middle fishes, so such a woman deceiveth many of every state and condition of men. All is good fish that cometh to her net. And her hands are bands: Saint jerome tells us, 
Hieronym. in Epist. ad Fabiolam.  Duplicia sunt in scriptures vincula, There are in the Scriptures two kindes of bands, the one are the bands of God, which are his commandements, the other are the bands of the devil, such as are the bands of this wicked woman. But upon this verse, Saint jerome tells us, that Aquila did render these words, Vinctae sunt manus ejus, Her hands are bound: and thereupon Saint jerome notes, Suadere potest, vim facere non potest, nec ad se nolentes compellere, Shee may persuade but shee cannot enforce, neither can shee compel unto herself those that are unwilling: Who so pleaseth God shall escape from her. The original is as Saint jerome doth render it, Bonus coram Deo eruetur ab ea, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  He that is good before God, that is, he that hath a good and honest heart, which is the thing that God looks upon, he although he may be in danger, yet shall be delivered from the nets of her heart. Or else to take it as wee read it, Who so pleaseth God, shall escape from her, 
Tremellius in hunc vers.  that is, saith Tremellius, as if he said, Abs qua nemo sine singulari ope gratiaque Dei integrum se servare posset, adeo vafra est lenociniorum malorum artifex, From whom no one without the singular help and grace of God, can preserve himself, so subtle is shee in framing of pleasant allurements, and mischiefs. But the sinner shall be taken by her: and to be taken by her, what is it but to be taken by the devil? What is it but to be led in triumph as a slave to sin?   

VER. 27. Behold this have I found( saith the Preacher) counting one by one to find out the account.  
VER. 28. Which yet my soul seeketh, but J find not: one man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have J not found.  
VER. 29. lo this onely have J found, that God hath made man upright: but they have sought out many inventions.  

Hugo Victorinus.  Verse 27. It is the saying of Hugo de Sancto Victore in his annotations upon some part of this book; sermons sapientium& anigmata eorum scrutari, et eam quae intrinsecus abscondita est, sapientiae dulcedinem ad gustum elicere, speciemque ejus in lucem proffer, quis potens est? Quid ergo facimus nos? Tantum ipsis sermonibus persequamur eam,& si fort intentio differatur, pascat interim nos inquisitio illius: Si inventam non possumus, tamen quaesitam doceamus; To search the words of the wise, and their dark sayings, to bring forth to the taste that sweetness which lieth within hidden, and to show forth in the light the beauty of it, who is able? What therefore do wee? Let us onely follow after it with our words, and if the finding of it be not obtained, let the seeking of it content us: and if wee cannot show it found, let us show it sought for. This therefore in this place, as it is some satisfaction to myself, so let it be my excuse to others. For that the meaning of this verse is not unworthy to be sought for, me seems the Preacher tells us, both because he saith, Behold, as presenting it to the view to be looked upon; and because he saith, I have found, as being a thing which himself esteemed of, and lastly, because he addeth, saith the Preacher, as putting his name more especially unto it. Our translation seemeth to import no more than the diligence of the Preacher in his careful seeking, and in his exact reckoning; and so doth Lyra expound it, saying, Id est, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  diligenter investigavi singulis applicando intellectum meum. Per talem modum loquendi dicitur de diligenti investigatore circa multa, talis inquisivit haec& illa, That is, I have preached diligently by applying mine understanding unto every thing. According to this manner of speaking, wee say of a diligent searcher about many things, such a one hath sought these and these things. And surely, it is true, 
Ambros. proem. in luke.  as Saint Ambrose speaketh, Aperit sibi diligentia januam veritatis, It is diligence that doth open to itself the gate of truth. And therefore Qui suscipiet certamina veritatis, He that will take upon himself to strive for the victory in the exercise of truth, must be anointed with the oil of diligence, Pastor ut salvum gregem habeat eum, frequenter numerat, 
Ambros. in Dom. Quadrages.  A shepherd that he may not loose any of his flock doth often number them, saith the same Father; and he that in seeking will not loose the truth, must diligently count one by one to find out the account. Saint jerome giveth this good moral exposition of the verse, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Hoc inquit reperi universa diligenter eventilans, quod paulatim peccando,& ad unum delictum aliud apponendo, grandem nobis summam efficimus, This saith he, have I found sifting all things diligently, that by going on in sinning by degrees, and by adding one sin to another, we make unto ourselves a great sum of sins, even so great that we can make no account unto God for them, we cannot answer him one for a thousand. Now as Saint Austin saith, Quid interest ad naufragium, 
Aug. Epist. 108. ad Seleucia.  utrum uno grandi fluctu navis obruatur& operiatur, an paulatim subrepente aqua in sentinam,& per negligentiam derelicta atque contempta impleat navem atque submergat? What difference is there in respect of the shipwreck, whether the ship be covered and overwhelmed with one great wave, or whether the water sinking by little and little into the bottom of the ship, and being there left by negligence as a thing despised do come to fill it and drown it? Take heed therefore of many littles, they make a great deal at last. 
Tremel. in hunc vers.  Tremellius who reads the verse thus, Vide, hoc inveni inquit Ecclesiastes semel atque iterum quaerendo assequi ratiocinium, See this have I found, saith the Preacher, by seeking once and again to find out the account; referreth the thing found to that which the Preacher saith of a naughty woman in the former verse: and of the account he saith, Est ratiocinium improbitatis quae est in impura ista muliere, It is the account of the wickedness which is in that impure woman. But the difficulty of the sense lying as I conceive in the original words {αβγδ} which our translation rendereth counting one by one, but are directly translated, as Saint jerome rendereth them, unam ad unam, One to one, or as Arias Montanus readeth them, unam ad alteram, ●ne to another; it seemeth to me that the verse may have this sense. This have I found, saith the Preacher, that to find the account of things by wisdom, one thing leadeth to another, and as the Philosopher speaketh, Ex notioribus pervenitur ad ignotiora, From things that are more known, things unknown are discerned. Or else the meaning of the verse may be taken thus, This have I found, saith the Preacher, that to find out the account of things in wisdom, and knowledge, contraries opposed one to one, and compared one with the other do open well the way, and bring a man the better on toward it. Is it not so even in the knowledge of virtue and wickedness, whereof the Preacher here speaketh? He that hath lived in wickedness, and by Gods grace is called to an amendment of his life doth much the better know the baseness and danger of the one, the comfort and happiness of the other, and thereupon hateth the one more earnestly, and embraceth the other more eagerly. 
Gregorius in evang. Homil. 34.  Saint Gregory therefore saith, Qui nullis se oppressos peccatorum molibus sciunt, stant quidem in via justitiae, said tamen ad coelestem patriam anxiè non anhelant, tantoque sibi in rebus licitis usum praebent, quanto se perpetrasse nulla illicita meminerunt. Et plaerumque pigri remanent ad exercenda bona pracipua, quia valde sibi securi sunt, quod nulla commiserint mala graviora. At contra nonnunquam hi qui se aliqua illicita egisse meminerunt, ex ipso illo dollar compuncti inardescunt in amorem Dei, seseque in magnis virtutibus exercent,& quia se errasse à Deo considerant, damna praecedentia lucris sequentibus recompensant, They who know themselves to be oppressed with no weight of sins, do stand indeed in the way of righteousness, but they do not strive so carefully towards their heavenly country; and by so much do give themselves the more liberty in lawful things, by how much they know themselves to have committed no unlawful things: and oftentimes are indeed dull and slow to the exercise of the chiefest good things, because they are very secure in themselves, that they have committed no grievous sins. On the other side, oftentimes, they who know themselves to have done unlawful things, being stirred up from their own grief do burn the more in the love of God, and do exercise themselves in great virtues, and because they consider themselves to have wandered from GOD, they recompense the former losses with following gains.  
Verse 28. Which yet my soul seeketh, &c. The Preacher though he had found the way to find out the account of things, yet he had not found out the account. Or though he had sought diligently, counting one by one, yet he was still to seek. There is a place in Wiltshire called Stonage, for divers great stones lying and standing there together: of which stones it is said, that though a man number them one by one never so carefully, yet that he cannot find the true number of them, but that every time he numbers them, he findeth a different number, from that he found before. And this may well show the erring of mans labour in seeking the account of wisdom and knowledge. For though his diligence be never so great in making the reckoning, he will be always our, and not be able to find it out. One man among a thousand have I found: the Preacher in seeking to find wisdom, sheweth what help he found, it was but one of a thousand among the many thousands that were under him, among the thousands that attended upon him, it was but one of a thousand that he found faithful in true wisdom to him. The rest either feared to displease him, or desired to humour him, or regarded not either what he sought, or what he found in it. Or else the man which the Preacher speaketh of is to bee taken generally for a good man, and he it is who is, dignus viri nomine, 
Hierom.  worthy the name of a man, he it is who being one of a thousand is worthy to be chief of the thousand. But though Solomon found but one, yet it may be that God found more: for when Eliah said, I, even I onely am left; God  told him, 
1 King. 19.10.& 18.  I have left seven thousand in Israel which have not bowed the knees unto Baal. Howsoever this is certain, that the number of the good in respect of the bad, is very little, even as one to a thousand. When the Syrians came up against Israel in the time of Ahab, it is said, 
1 King. 20.27.  that the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids, but the Syrians filled the Country, and so indeed are the good, they are but like two little flocks of kids, but the wicked fill the world. The godly are but like the three hundred men of Gideon, 
judge. 7.  the wicked are as the Midianites, and are upon the earth like grasshoppers for multitude. But a woman among them all have I not found: among them he had found none to help him in the finding of wisdom, Omnes enim me ad luxuriam& non ad virtutem deduxerunt, For all of them did draw me to wantonness and not to virtues, as Saint jerome maketh him to expound his words. Or else more generally his meaning may bee taken thus, that having found out a very bad woman, he looked to find a good woman also, but he could not find any. Not that he did not simply find any good, but that he found not any so good as shee was bad. Or else he saith, that he found none, because saith Lyra, in respect of men, they were few: 
Lyra in hunc versum.  or else in respect of themselves, they are said to be none, because they were so very few. For as the Philosopher speaketh, 
Aristot. 2. Physicorum.  Illud quod modicum est, quasi nihil computatur, That which is little is esteemed as nothing. Indeed a woman is in herself the weaker vessel, and too often a strong instrument of the devil to entice men unto wickedness. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome noteth, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 38. in Epistol. ad Corinth.  that when the devil spoyled 〈◇〉 of his substance, and children, and health, yet he left his wife un●o him, Quia putavit multum eam sibi confer ad Sanctum expugnandum, because he thought that shee would be a great furtherance unto him to conquer that Saint of God. The same Father is elsewhere bitter in speaking of women, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 6. ex imperf. in Matth.  as saying, Quid est aliud mulier, nisi ineffugabilis poena, necessarium malum, naturalis tentatio, desederabilis calamitas, domesticum periculum, delectabile detrimentum, boni colore dilecta? What is woman, but a punishment that cannot be driven away, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, one beloved for a colour of good? But he tells us also, 
Chrysostom. Homil. 15. ex variis in Matth.  Sermo est de muliere mala, non de bona. Novi enim multas ad omne opus bonum promptas, My speech is of a bad woman, not of a good. For I have known many ready to every good work. Wherefore he also tells us, that though jezabel was so bad, that shee would have taken away the life of Eliah, when he had restored life to her and all Israel, by taking away the famine, yet that the poor widow of Zarephah was so good, as that shee was ready to give him food, when shee had no more left to feed herself and her child. The Scripture is full of the examples of good women; and Saint jerome having reckoned up divers of them, writing to a Virgin, 
Hieronym. Epist. ad Principiam virg.  he concludeth, Haec breviter perstrinxi, ut nec te poeniteat sexus, nec viros nomen suum erigeret, in quorum condemnationem foeminarum in scriptures sanctis vita laudatur, These have I briefly passed over, that neither thou mightest repent of thy sex, neither might men be lifted up in regard of their sex, to whose condemnation the life of women is praised in the sacred Scriptures. Let it cause modesty in women, that shee was the first sinner, and who having cast man down in Paradise, did cast him out of Paradise. Let her weakness make her the more careful in looking to herself, 
Basilius de vera virgin. ad Letorum Episcopum.  and the better to keep herself from danger. Longissime arcere illecebras mali,& aurem quidem intus castissima cogitatione, oculos vero cautissima aversione munire, To drive away far the allurements of evil, and to fence her ears with most chased thoughts within, her eyes by a most wary turning away from it, as Saint Basil adviseth. But in a tropological application of this verse; as the Italian saith, that words are women, and deeds are men; and therefore that they must be married together: 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  So Saint jerome tells us, Possumus& cogitatus pro viris accipere, mulieres pro operibus,& dicere quod difficile cogitatio alicujus pura inveniri posset: opera vero quia per corpus exercentur, aliquo semper error commixta sunt, Wee may here take our thoughts for men, women for our works, and say that hardly can the thought of any one be found pure: as for our works, because they are performed by the body, they are always mixed with some error.  
Verse 29. The Preacher having spoken much of the vanity that is in men and women, and of the badness of them, least hereupon any blame might seem to accrue to God, who was the maker of them, here he wholly cleareth God. lo this onely have I found: The original word here translated onely, and so generally by Interpreters is {αβγδ} and most directly signifieth Seorsim, apart. So that it, seemeth to me, that the Preachers meaning may be, that he severing in the consideration of man, the works of God, and the works of man, he found the works of God to be right all, and that it was man himself, who had made himself and his works to be perverse and crooked. And surely, who so ever will rightly judge of man and his ways, he must consider them apart, as they proceed from God, and apart, as they proceed from himself, that so in all things God may be justified, and man himself may bear his own condemnation. Or else to consider the words, as generally they are red. lo this onely have I found: that is, this as a most manifest, most sure and undeniable truth. That God hath made man upright: Let a right line be extended never so far, let it be extended infinitely, it will be right still; now God is rightness itself, and he being extended into his works, they are right all. But of man who is the chiefest of his inferior creatures, it is said, that God made him in his image, and after his likeness. Now as Saint Bernard speaketh, Oportet id quod ad imaginem est, cum imagine convenire, It is necessary that he who hath an image, should agree with his image. And therefore it being said of God, Great is our Lord, and great is his power; 
Psal. 147.5. Psal. 92.15. Bern. Sup. Can. Serm. 80.  the Lord is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in him: Saint Bernard also addeth, Ab isto recto& magno Deo, habet imago ejus ut ipsa recta& magna sit; Eo magna est quo capax aeternorum, eo recta quo appetens supernorum, From that upright and great God, his image also hath it to be upright and great; great, in that it is capable of eternal things, right, in that it desireth heavenly things, and things that are above. Aquinas speaking of these words, that God made man upright, 
Aquin. 1. Q. 95. Ar. 1.  saith, Erat rectitudo secundum hoc quod ratio subdebatur Deo, rationi vero inferiores vires,& ainae corpus. Prima autem subjectio erat causa& secundae, et tertiae. Quamdiu enim ratio manebat Deo subjecta, inferiora ei subdebantur, The uprightness was in this respect, that reason was subjected unto God, the inferior powers unto reason, and the body to the soul. The first subjection was the cause of the second and of the third. For so long as reason remained subjected unto God, the inferior faculties were subject unto it. It is a question proposed by Aquinas, and it is generally handled by the Schoolmen, Vtrum primus homo fuerit creatus in gratia, Whether the first man was created in grace, that is, whether in the act of creation there was given unto him onely a rightness of nature, or else a rightness of grace also. That a rightness of grace was given to Adam before his fall, is a thing agreed upon, because by his fall he was deprived of it, but whether at the instant of the first creation it were given to man, that is their question. But if it were given to man afterwards before his fall, why not at first? And indeed what need of such questions? The reading of the latter part of this verse according to the Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin, Et ipse se infinitis miscuit quaestionibus, and he entangled himself with numberless questions, should teach them to avoid such fruitless speculations. From this distinction of man, in puris naturalibus, in his pure natural condition, and in the state of grace, some of the Schoolmen have looked too far after Pelagius. Let it suffice, as the Preacher saith, that God made man upright; and Aquinas thinketh that this is sufficient to prove, that man even in the first instant of creation, was made in the state of grace. But the original word which the Preacher here useth in the end of the verse being the same which he hath used before in the five and twentieth, and seven and twentieth verses {αβγδ} signifying computationes& ratiocinia, reckonings and accounts: let me consider here God as a true and just accountant, and making all things strait and right. When he made man he brought all things to a true account, he did cast up his body to a right temper, he did cast up his senses to a right obedience to reason, he did cast up his will to a right desire, he did cast up his mind to a right understanding; the general sum of all, he rightly made to be the true happiness of man. There was not the least error in all his account. But they, that is, men have sought out many reckonings: which first must needs be wrong, because many, seeing the right in all things can be but one. And secondly, they are wrong because men have sought them out, who going out of the way in wrong paths, can there never find the right way. They cast up many reckonings, and many are the things which every one according to his humour and fancy maketh reckoning of. In the body they reckon upon nothing but sensuality, in the senses upon nothing but voluptuousness, in the will upon nothing but pleasing itself, in the understanding upon nothing but vanity and folly. The general sums, to which they reduce all their reckonings are three, either pleasure, or profit, or honour. And whereas the Psalmist saith, 
Psal. 20.7. Augustin. in Psal. 19.  Some trust in horses, and some in Chariots, that is, saith Saint Austin, Hi volubili successione temporalium bonorum,& hi superis praeferuntur honoribus,& in his exultant, Some are drawn with the voluble success of worldly benefits, others are set above their fellowes in height of honours, and in them do prance and rejoice. But howsoever, men may now make their accounts, they shall in the end see the falsehood of them, when they shall find the fruit of them, no way to answer to the cost and pains and time, which they have laid out upon them. But to consider the words also as wee do read them. But they have sought out many inventions: me seems that men herein are like unto some busy heads and working minds, which being left in a good estate, and having well to live, by their inventions and devices are not quiet until they have brought all to nothing, and cannot at last device how to help themselves. For so man being by God made in a good estate, it was the devils invention, to set him on work to find out good and evil, and ever since his mind being set upon inventions, the seeking of them bringeth him to misery. Wherefore Saint Bernard 
Bernard.  readeth the latter part of this verse thus, Ipse autem se implicuit doloribus multis, but he hath involved himself into many troubles. Or else wee may take the inventions of men to be fictions, like the invention of Poets: for indeed, whatsoever men conceive of them, they are no better than imaginary fictions, having no reality of truth and substance in them. And therefore Philo saith well, Is qui fictus est homo, 
Philo. l. 1. Legis Allegoriarum.  differt ab eo quem Deus fecit, That man which is feigned differeth from him which God made. Man is made of himself a feigned man, consisting in the feigned inventions of his own ways, but as he was made by God, he was made in the truth of uprightness.    

CHAPTER VIII.  
VER. 1. Who is as the wise man? And who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A mans wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall bee changed. 
Verse 1. PHilo speaking of wisdom saith, Quis bonum istud indagans inveniat? Quae maria tranans? Quas penetrans insulas? Quas terrarum oras adiens? Quasnam apud gentes? 
Philo de nomini mutatione.  Who by searching can find out that good? What seas must he pass over? What Islands must he pass into? To what wares must he go? With what nations is shee to be found? And this the Preacher having shewed in the latter part of the former Chapter, by setting forth the difficulty of attaining wisdom, the rarity of a wise man, he beginneth this Chapter with the excellency of him, saying, Who is as the wise man? Who, though never so rich in estate, who though never so great in power, who though never so high in honor? Nay who is rich in estate, who is great in power, who is high in honor but a wise man onely? Philo therefore speaking of wise men saith, Qui soli veri reges, who alone are the true Kings. And in another place speaking of them he saith, 
Philo de Agricul.  Sunt aliqui quos Deus altius promovet,& evolantes suprà omnes species omniaque genera propè seipsum collocat sicut Mosi quoque dicit, tu vero hic sta mecum, There are some whom God promoteth highly, and these flying above all degrees and ranks, he placeth nere unto himself, 
Exod. 34.5. Philo de sacrifice. Abelis& Caini.  saying unto them as he said to Moses, but do thou stand here by me. Wherefore he noteth that when Moses was to die, he did not die as commonly others do, but only left this world at the command of his word, by whose word the world was made, 
Phili de nomini mutatione.  Ut discas quod sapientem illum eodem quo mundum honore Deus dignatus est, That thou mayest learn, that God did grace that wise man with the same honour that he did the world. The same author therefore gives this honour to a wise man, saying, Sapiens Dei comes est, A wise man is the companion of God. But to consider the manner of the Preachers words; they being set down as a question do show as it were, that he could onely admire him, and could not judge of him; and is as if he said, as Philo speaketh, De sapientia, quae non me tantum said toto mundo est antiquior, non est fas quenquam judicare nisi Deum aut aliquem sincerum purum germanumque amatorem ipsius sapientiae, 
Philo de Charitate.  To judge of wisdom, which is more old not onely then myself, but the whole world, it is not lawful for any except God himself to judge, or else some sincere pure and very true lover of wisdom itself. S. jerome tells us, that the Septuagint did red these words thus, {αβγδ} Quis novit sapientes? who hath known wise men? whereupon he addeth, Et reverâ quum multi sint qui sapientiam repromittant, difficile invenitur, qui discernere queat sapientem, ab his qui videntur esse sapientes. Et quum sint plurimi qui scripturarum occulta dicuntur posse solvere, rarus qui veram inveniat solutionem. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  And indeed seeing there are many, who do promise wisdom, he is hardly found, who is able to discern a true wise man from them who seem to bee wise. And whereas there are many who are said to be able to resolve the hidden things of the Scriptures, he is a rare man that findeth a true resolution. And who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? The French readeth it, Et qui scait queen veulent dire less chooses? And who knoweth what the things would say? For there is a speaking by things as well as by words, and it is by them as well as by his word that God speaketh to us, yea the things themselves, do speak in their silent language; which he that is wise understandeth, and is able to give the interpretation of it. Wherefore when the Preacher saith; and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? he meaneth, who but a wise man, of whom the words before speak. The Septuagint and S. jerome do red it, Quis novit solutionem verbi? Who knoweth the solution of a word, the answer of a question? And then it may bee noted, as S. jerome hath it, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Quod obliqne de se loquitur, quia nemo fuerit ita sapiens,& nullus sic fecerit problematum solutiones, That the Preacher indirectly speaketh of himself, because none was so wise as he was, none did answer and resolve problems and hard quaestions as he did. Amans wisdom maketh his face to shine. That is, saith Tremellius ipsum gloriosum& illustrem reddit, Synecdochicè, doth make him glorious and famous, the face being taken Synecdochi cally for the whole man. But to consider the words as wee find them, 
Tremellius in hunc vers.  in the face the wisdom of man is not a little discerned, and well may it bee said to make the face to shine; seeing as Philo speaketh Habent sapientes, 
Philo quod dater. potiori insidietur,  purificatum visum, examinatum auditum,& sic caeteros sensus. Habent sermonem quoque immaculatum; Wisemen have their seing purified, there hearing cleansed, and so their other senses. They have also a spotless speech. And here also S. jerome tells us that the Preacher doth obliquely speak of himself, whose wisdom, Non solum intrinsecus latebat, said& in superficie corporis& speculo vultus elucebat, ultraque omnes homines prudentiam mentis in fancy suâ pinxerat, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  Not only did lie hide within, but shined also in the outside of his body, and in the glass of his countenance, and above all men he had the wisdom of his mind painted in his very face. Or, if it shall bee thought good, wisdom may bee said to make a wise mans face to shine, because his very countenance though he say nothing giveth light, and directeth men in a right way. Or else wisdom may bee said to make the face to shine, because from the face, and from the mouth placed in it, it casteth forth a light, which maketh the understanding of things to appear. And the boldness of his face shall bee changed: interpreters here are troubled. The original word here used and translated boldness is {αβγδ}, which properly signifieth strength. S. jerome reads it, Fortis faciem suam mutabit. The strong shall change his face. The vulgar Latin also Potentissimus faciem suam mutabit, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  The most mighty shall change his face, and then Lyra expoundeth it, In resurrectione quando sibi dabit gloriosam faciem, In the resurrection, when God shall give unto him a glorious face shining as the sun in heaven. The French readeth it, Son regard farouche, His rough and wild aspect; the Septuagint as our English did take it for boldness, but then they red it as S. jerome tells us, Et impudens vultu suo odietur, And an impudent man shall be hated by his countenance, as if the Preacher did show the difference between the countenance of a wise man, and of an impudent man, declaring how pleasing the one was, how hateful the other. And indeed as the countenance of a wise man is never impudent, so the countenance of an impudent man is hateful to all that are wise. Or else to take boldness in a good sense, there is nothing that doth beter set the assure, and make confident the countenance of a man then wisdom doth. That giveth such boldness unto it, that oftentimes the very countenance of a wise man striketh terror into the wicked and foolish. But let me have leave to give the words another meaning, and to refer the face here mentioned not to the face of a wise man, but to the face of the thing, whose interpretation a wise man findeth out. His wisdom therefore maketh the face of the thing to shine, and to show itself. For as Philo speaketh Lumen ainae solari similimum est scientia, 
Philo de congress. quaerend. erudition. gratia  Knowledge the light of the mind is most like unto the solar light; and as that maketh things to appear to the eye what they are, so doth the other make things appear to the mind, and sheweth the interpretation of them. As the one taketh away the dark visage of things, so the other taketh away, and changeth the hard visage of questions and problems, and prevailing over the strength of them, maketh the meaning of things easy to be seen.   

Ver. 2. I counsel thee to keep the Kings commandement, and that in regard of the oath of God.  
Ver. 3. Bee not hasty to go out of his sight, stand not in an evil thing, for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him.  
Ver. 4. Where the word of a King is, there is power, and who may say unto him, what dost thou?  
Ver. 5. Who so keepeth the commandement, shall feel no evil thing and a wisemans hart discerneth, both time and judgement.  
Ver. 2. I counsel thee: the original saith no more then I; and he that shall find out the meaning of the place need to bee such a one as the former verse speaketh off, and that knows solutionem verbi, the resolution of a problem, the interpretation of a thing. Let my boldness bee excused, and I will show my thoughts. It seemeth to me, that I standeth here, as it were an answer to the quaestions of the former verse, wherein the Preacher speaketh as it were softly and with a still voice, as if he would not bee heard, saying no more then I. And he speaks also in a dark obscure manner, as if his modesty did cast a veil over it. Neither doth he speak it, until that first asking the quaestions, the answer of all men did in there harts prevent him, and say that it was he. Our translation to make up the sense followeth Pagnine, and as he saith, Ego moneo te, I admonish thee; so that saith, I counsel thee: I who have obtained wisdom and am able to counsel thee, I counsel thee, I who require obedience from mine own subjects, do counsel all subjects to give obedience to their Kings, I who am unwilling to punish thee for not keeping the Kings commandement, do counsel thee to keep it. To keep the Kings commandement: The Hebrew is, to observe the mouth of the King, which is but one and the same. For as Philo speaketh; Regis officium est jubere quae oportet fieri,& vetare a quibus abstinere decet: caeterum jussio faciendorum,& interdictio cavendorum propriè ad legem pertinet. Atque ita consequitur, ut Rex animata lex sit, lex vero sit rex justissimus. 
Philo de vita Moysis.  The office of a King is to command those things which ought to bee done, and to forbid those things which ought to be avoided. But the command of things to be done, and the forbidding of things not to bee done properly belongeth to the law. And so it followeth, that a King is a living law,& the law is a most just King. Now keep the Kings commandement, as thou wouldest the commandement of thy Father. For as Philo also speaketh parents locum obtinet ac vicissim, tanquam à germanis filiis reverentiam postulat. Sunt autem principes( ut verum fatear) publici parentes civitatum& gentium, quotquot boni sunt, nec cedunt pietati naturalium. For he holdeth the place of a Father, and in a mutual respect requireth reverence as from natural children. For Princes,( that I may confess the truth) are the public Fathers of cities and people, as many as are good, 
Philo de creatione Principis.  neither do they yield in affection to natural Fathers. And that in regard of the oath of God. Tremellins reads it, said pro ratione juramenti Dei, but with regard unto the oath of God, as if the meaning were that the King is so to bee obeied, as that God is not to bee disobeyed, and that the oath made to the King were so to be kept, as that the oath made to God bee not broken. For there is nothing more sure, then that God is rather to bee obeied then man. But to consider our reading, by the oath of God, may bee understood the word of God: for as Philo speaketh, Ipsa Dei verba sunt juramenta, 
Philo l. 2. Legis Allegoriarum.  legesque divinae& jura sacratissima; The very words of God are oaths and divine laws, and most sacred statutes. And then the meaning would bee no other then this; that we are to keep the commandements of the King, because God doth command it, and that wee are to do it not only for fear of wrath but also for conscience sake. 
Roma. 13.1.& 5  But the oath of God here more directly is the oath which is taken in the name of God, and whereof God is made to bee a witness. For so an oath properly taken is by Philo defined to bee that, 
Philo de Planta. Noe.  Quod est fidei signum firmissimum conjunctum cum Dei testimonio, which is the most firm sign of faithfulness joined with the testimony of God. As for the beginning of an oath S. Chrysostome seemeth to conceive that until after the dayes of Abraham, there was not any used. For saith he, Qui fuerunt tempore Abrahae multa faedera fecerunt, victimasque mactarunt,& obtulerunt sacrificia, 
Chrys. Homil. 26. ad populum.  necdum erat juramentum, They who were in Abrahams time made many covenants, killed many sacrifices, sacrificed many offerings, and as yet there was not an oath. Indeed the first oath that wee red of was that between Abraham and Abimelech at Beersheba, 
Genes. 22.31.  from whence the place had its name. But as for the oath of subjects taken to their King, and which wee call the oath of allegiance, as far as I know, this is the first place that any mention is made of it. Among the heathens, 
Plin. in Panegy. ad Trajan.  I find in Pliny that it was a thing done in Trajans time, who did swore unto his people, and had his people sworn unto him. 
Cassiod. var. l. 8. ver. 3.  And in Cassiodore I find that Athalicus King of Italy did likewise take an oath unto his people and took an oath from them. But that which here is to be noted is the regard of an oath, and which is called the oath of God as due to him to bee performed, as well as unto him to whom it is made. According as our Saviour Christ saith perform thine oath unto the Lord. 
Matth. 5.33.  It is storied of Alexander the great that being resolved to destroy Lampsacum, as he was going about it, Anaximenes the Philosopher and his Master came to meet him, and to entreat him for the city, which being foreseen by Alexander he swore that he would not do, that which Anaximenes should ask him. Whereupon Anaximenes  told him, that which I desire is that thou wouldest destroy Lampsacum. Now Alexander being so taken by his word, for the reverence of his oath did not destroy the place. Most Noble, it was in this King to keep his oath, and most necessary it is to keep thy oath that is made to the King. For as Philo speaketh: Est jus-jurandum non exiguum negotium, tametsi contemnitur propter consuetudinem, 
Ph●lo de Decal.  videlicet testimonium Dei de rebus dubiis Deum autem citare testem mendaci {αβγδ}. An oath is not a light business, although it bee despised because men are accustomend here unto: namely being the testimony of God concerning doubtful things. Now to city God as a witness of a lie, is a foul wickedness; would any one come unto his friend and say, I pray you do a wickedness for me, for my sake do something that is against right and reason? would not his friend abhor him that should do it? would he not suddenly break off all friendship with him? Et quod non audes ab amico petere, ad id Deum vocas? And that which thou darest not to ask of a friend, dost thou call God unto it saith Philo? Dost thou say to him give false witness for me, be a partner with me in my villainy and treachery, Et quum sis Deus optimus servias scelesto homini,& when thou art God the perfection of goodness serve the turn of a wicked man. What can this be but horrible iniquity? The same author therefore giving direction for an oath, saith, Juraturus debet omnes rei circumstantias diligenter perspicere, quanta sit, quam vera, quam benè à se percepta, tum seipsum considerare, num purus sit animâ, corpore, linguâ: nefas est enim per as quo profertur nomen illud sanctissimum, quicquam turpe progredi: quaeratur etiam tam loci quam temporis opportunitas. he that is to swear ought diligently to look into all the circumstances of the thing, how great it is, how true, how well perceived by himself, then he ought to consider himself, whether he be pure in mind, in body, in tongue. For it is not well that any naughty thing should proceed from that mouth by which that most holy name is uttered: let also a fit opportunity of time and place bee sought for.  
Ver. 3. The water here is not so clear, that it is easy for the sight to piece into it. Be not hasty to go out of his sight. The Hebrew is, Nesis festinus, à fancy ejus abibis, Bee not hasty, thou shalt go away from his face. According to which reading let me propose what hath come into my mind. First then as I conceive the sense may bee taken thus. Bee not hasty, not hasty to come into the presence of the King, that may bee the way to have thyself put away quickly from it. 
1 Sam. 18.1. Gregor. Thaumat. Oratione in Origen.  Gregorius Thaumathurgus observeth, that it is not said that the soul of David was knit to the soul of Jonathan, but that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. And surely it is better when the favour of a Prince doth call any one into his presence, then when the ambitious desire of any one doth hastily thrust himself into it. Stand not in an evil thing, if thou dost not go away from the sight of the King, but standest before him, stand not in an evil way, that will at lengh be thy fall, when the sight of the King hath found it out. For he doth whatsoever pleaseth him: the original saith onely whatsoever pleaseth, and seeing I conceive it to bee spoken of a good King, I understand the sense, as if it were supplied with whatsoever pleaseth God. And therefore when a good King findeth thy ways to displease God, they will displease him also, and thou shalt not stand in his sight. Or secondly, the meaning of the verse may bee conceived thus. Bee not hasty in the sight of the King, neither in thy words or actions, for so thou mayest hasten thyself to bee gone out of his sight. But if thou hast been hasty and run into some error, do not stand nor persist in it. For as S. Bernard speaketh, Alioquin non erit humanum peccatum, said obstinatio diabolica. Nam perseverare in malo diabolicum est,& digni sunt perire cum illo, quicunque in similitudinem ejus permanent in peccato, Otherwise it will not bee a human sin, 
Bernard. de Advent. Dom. Serm. 1.  but a devilish obstinacy, and worthy are they to perish with him, who in a likeness to him persist in any sin. For he doth whatsoever pleaseth him: It shall not bee as thou wilt, neither mayest thou do, whatsoever thou pleasest, but it is he that is King, it is his pleasure that is done in all things. But to consider the reading of our translation. Be not hasty to go out of his sight, if thou hast offended him, bee not hasty to bee gone from him, do not presently forsake his service and attendance: such hast, may increase his displeasure against thee. But if thou dost stay, stand not in an evil thing, stand not to justify thyself if he will have it evil, thou must not think to make it good, For he doth whatsoever pleaseth him: whatsoever it bee which thou hast done, whether good or evil. He bestoweth his favours as his own mind is, whatsoever thou pleadest for thyself. Or else bee not hasty to go out of his sight, that is saith Tremellius, Ne ab obsequio illius te subducito animo perturbato, 
Tremel. in hunc vers.  Do not withdraw thyself from thine allegance to him in a discontented mind. Stand not in evil: that is perturbatione& rebellione quae tibi malum allatura est; In discontent and rebellion, which will bring evil to thee. For he doth whatsoever pleaseth him: God doth enable him to have his will upon such treacherous subjects in the destruction of them: when Zedekiah had rebelled against nabuchadnezzar and broken his oath, the Babylonian Monarch coming with his army and burning Jerusalem, S. chrysostom saith of it, 
Chrysostome Homil. 19. ad Populum.  ubique ignis grassabatur barbaricus juramento ignem ducente,& flammam passim circum agent. The barbarian fire everywhere spoiled, the violated oath leading the fire; and carrying the flamme about from place to place. And surely the fire of Gods wrath doth still pursue rebellion, wheresoever it be. It behoveth an honest heart so to reverence a crown, as not to dare to touch it in any undutiful respect. 
Damian. Ep. 12.  The Amalekite who coming unto David  told him that being desired by Saul he stood upon him and slay him, because he was sure that he could not live, and that he took the crown that was upon his head, no sooner had ended his speech, then David commanded him to bee slain, and ended his life also. But what was his offence? was it because he yielded to the Kings request, and killed him who was already killed and could not live a very little longer? Or was it because he took away the crown? Damianus speaketh unto this purpose, saying Amalecites ille, qui gloriatur seperemisse Saulum, dum non se galeam, 
2 Samuel. 7.  said diadema bellantis abstulisse confingit, gladio Davidis percussus occubuit, that Amalekite who gloried to have slain Saul while he maketh a tale, that he took from the head of the warrior not his helmet but his crown, fell down slain by the sword of David. As if there could bee no excuse, no pretence, why any one should unpunished offer violence to the crown, or do wrong to the dignity of a King. Lippomannus well observeth, although Moyses and Aaron had a commandement from God to deliver and free the Israelites from the tyranny of Phaaroh, and that although Phaaroh were of all Kings the most wicked, and condemned by the Lord in express words, 
Lyppomannus in Exodum.  yet they did not arm the Israelites against the King the lawful magistrate over egypt, they did not kill the tyrant with the sword said continent seize,& obsecrant Phaaronem obedienter, but they contain themselves and beseech the King obediently. S. jerome applying this verse unto the King of heaven and earth, from whose commandements wee must not hastily depart, and in the breach of whose law wee must not persist, expoundeth the last part of the verse thus, 
Hieronim. in hunc vers.  Quod si perseveraveris, rex vitiorum& peccati diabolus operabitur perditionem in te,& faciet quodcunque volverit, If thou shalt persevere, the King of vices and sin the devil, will work perdition in thee, and he will do whatsoever he pleaseth. Lyra who expoundeth also this verse of the heavenly King, saith, Bee not hasty to go from his sight, transgrediendo praecepta affirmativa, by breaking his affirmative commandements: stand not in an evil thing, transgrediendo negativa, by transgressing his negative precepts. For he doth whatsoever pleaseth him: that is, saith he Quia tantae authoritatis& potestatis est, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  quod non potest ei resisti, because he is of so great power and authority that he cannot be resisted.  
Vers. 4. Where the word of a King is, there is power: the Venetian translation expressing the sense, some what more forcebly reads it thus, Est in verbo regis potentia quaedam, There is in the word of a King a kind of power. Indeed it is most true of God, voluntas opus efficit,& praebet sermo virtutem, His will effecteth his work, and his word giveth power; and God having Kings his deputies, in some sort hath communicated the same unto them. The saying is, that the requests of Princes are commands, and one noting it upon that passage of our Saviour, when entering into Symons ship he prayed him to thrust a little from the land there tells us, 
Lu. 5.3.  Quaelibet Jesu verba ex majestate personae in praecepta transibant, All the words of Jesus from the majesty of his person were made to bee commands. And surely it is from the majesty which God hath given Kings, that all their words haue so much power. Of David it is said when he was but elected to bee King, 
1 Sam. 14.7.  Confregit David viros suos verbis David did break his men with his words, as Cajetane and Pagnine do translate the place: and therfore how powerful are the words of those who hold the sceptre, and sit upon the throne? The people of Israel acknowledging and promising their obedience to Joshua, do it in these words, 
josh. 1.18.  as the original hath it, Qui rebella verit ori tuo moriatur, He that shall rebel against thy mouth, let him bee put to death, as if( saith one upon it) Tanta esset authoritas hoins, ut vel labiorum ejus motus habeatur ut praeceptum, cvi contradici non potest sine supplicii metu, As if the authority of the man were so great, that even the very motion of his lips should bee had for a command which might not bee opposed, without fear of punishment. But how careful therefore ought Princes to bee of their words, and that by them they do not give power to any thing to which God doth not give his approbation. Let there words command that which Gods word commandeth, and then it is a happy power, which from God is given them. Yea therein to make their words most powerful, let them add their own example also: For as Cassiodore speaketh, Non potest authoritatem habere sermo, qui non juvatur exemplo, 
Cassiod. Var. l. 11. Var. 8.  dum iniquum sit bona jubere& non eadem facere, Speaking cannot have so much authority, which is not strengthened by example: seeing it is a sinful thing, to command good things, and not to do the same. And who may say unto him, what dost thou? The same it is which Elihu saith in Job, Is it fit to say to a King, thou art wicked, 
Job. 34.18.  and to Princes ye are ungodly? King Theodoric in Cassiodore speaking of himself, and in himself showing the right of Kings saith, Hac sola ratione discreti, 
Cassiod. Var. l. 6. Var. 4.  quod alteri subdi non possumus, qui judices non habemus, In this respect are wee distinguished from others, that wee cannot bee subject to another, who have no judges over us. Kings have no judge upon earth over them, they have there own judge God alone in heaven. Wherefore Eucherius saith, Quia rectores habent judicem suum, magna cautela subditorum est non temerè vitam judicare regentium, Because Governours have their own judge, it must bee the great care of subjects not to judge rashly the lifes of them that do govern them. Neque enim frustra per semetipsum aes nummulariorum effudit,& cathedras vendentium columbas evertit; nimirum significans, quia per magistros quidem vita judicatur plebum, said per semetipsum examinat facta magistrorum, 
Eucher. lib. 1. in lib. pag.  For it was not without cause that the Lord by himself did cast out the money of the money changers and overthrew the tables of them that sold doves, namely signifying thereby, that by the governours is judged the life of the people, but by himself he examineth the doings of the governours. And indeed it was the fault of the Priests, of the governours of the Temple, which by this action our Saviour Christ reproved, and condemned. S. Chrysostome gathereth the same from the Ark of God, which being shaken by the oxen that drew it,& Uzzah putting forth his hand to hold it, he was there smitten for his rashness, and dyed by the ark of God, whereupon he noteth, videre licet quomodo subditum procul a sacerdotum correptione abbess oportet. Nam quum aliquando arca reduceretur, 
2 Samuel 6.7.  & subditorum aliqui ad lapsum inclinantem videntes erigerent, eo ipso loco paenam dederunt, It may bee considered how far it beehoveth a subject to bee from the reproof of his superiors, For when sometime the ark was brought back, 
Chrysostomus Homil. in locum ex. cap. 16. ad Rom. de colendi● sacerdot.  and some of the subjects seeing it inclining as likely to fall did but set it up, they were punished in the same place. There is no doubt but that as the Ark was shaken& likely to fall, so Kings& governours are not only likely to fall, but do fall often. Notwithstanding it is not for them that are under them, to say unto them, what do ye? For as S. Chrysostome also noteth Insurrexerunt adversus Aaron post vituli formatam effigiem, Core, Dathan,& Abiron, quid ergo? nonne illi periere? It was after that Aaron had sinned foolishly and heinously in making the calf, that Corah, Dathan and Abiron rebelled against him, 
Chrysost. Homil. 2. in Epist. 2. ad Timot.  but what then, did not they perish? yes, they did, and that was to show, that although the governor might bee wicked, it was not for them who were under him, to take upon them to correct him. Philo 
Philo.  saith, Nihil molestius quam majores ab inferioribus& magistratus a subditis accusari, There is nothing more grievous then for superiors to bee accused by their inferiors and magistrates by them that are under them. God therfore is pleased to ease them of this grievance, and to forbid subjects to do it. But let this therefore make Princes and governours to bee the more careful of doing well, least God reprove them the more sharply, because he will not suffer men to bee their reproovers. Let them hear God both in his word, and in their own consciences saying unto them, what dost thou? 
Ambros. 2 Apolog. David c. 3.  although they do not hear it from their subjects. The ill carriage of them that have command doth too much herein shane themselves, and incense the wrath of God against them. And therefore S. Ambrose saith, Quem mihi in hujusmodi reperias virum, qui in potestate constitutus id quod per justitiam non licet, per potestatem non licere agnoscat? 
Ambros. 2. Apolog. David c. 3.  What man canst thou find out among such, who being placed in authority, doth account that to bee unlawful for him to do by his power, which is unlawful for him to do by justice? And therefore how great cause have they to praise God, whose graciousness is pleased to set such over them, as do set him in all their ways before them? How great cause have they in all respects to honour them, who ruling them in goodness do rule themselves by goodness? Long may such live and rule with glory and renown.  
Ver. 5. The Preacher having shewed that the pleasure of a King in his displeasure is not to be resisted,& that the faults of a King by his subjects are not to bee corrected, here in this verse gathering his discourse, as his manner is to a head and conclusion, he giveth comfort for the one, and direction for the other. His comfort is in these words, who so keepeth the commandement shall feel no evil: his direction in the other words. Who so keepeth the commandement, that is, is careful to do that which he ought, for that is the commandement which serveth for all men, of what rank or quality soever, that is the commandement which respecteth all estates and conditions, that is the commandement which is to bee observed in all seasons and occasions, who so therefore keepeth the commandement and doth that which he ought, shall feel no evil thing. Perhaps he may not keep the favour of the King, but if he keep the favour of God, he hath lost nothing. The Hebrewes shall know no evil thing, and surely howsoever he may know what is the displeasure of a Prince, yet knowing the good pleasure of God to bee towards him, he need not to bee too much grieved for it. The Hebrew word {αβγδ} here used doth signify a careful knowledge, as when it is said the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, that is, is careful to keep and preserve them in it, and certanily he that knoweth this, 
Psal. 1.6.  though evil may come unto him, yet he shall not so know it, as too much to care for it. Our translation readeth it very well, he shall feel noe evil, for though he find it to bee evil, yet he shall not much feel the evil of it. Baronius reporteth of Constantine the great, that being spoken to by many to punish some who had thrown stones at his image, saying, that with the stones they had wounded all his face, he wiping his face with his hand& smiling with his countenance, gave them this answer, Ego vero nusquam vulnus in front factum video, said sanum quidem caput, 
Baron. Tom. 3. Anno Christi 324.  sana vero& facies tota, I do not feel any where any hurt done me or any wound made in my face, but my head is sound, and all my face is well, and whole likewise; plainly so it is with them that keep the commandement, and the evil which is done them, is but like an evil done to their pictures, they feel it not. For how should they feel evil, 
Rom. 8.28.  to whom all things work together for their good? How should they feel evil to whom God is good: Sicut enim illo offenso nihil est quod nobis valeat suffragari, ita eodem propitio nulla nobis nocebit adversitas: For as he being offended, there is nothing that can favour us, so he being gracious unto us, there is no adversity that can hurt us, as lo speaketh. The exposition which Lyra and the gloss give of these words is this, They shall feel no evil, 
lo Serm. 6.  in futuro in the time to come: and Lyra addeth, Minus dicit& plus significat, he saith little and meaneth much for though he saith he shall feel no evil, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  he meaneth that he shall find much, good for the evil which he suffereth. For the evil, as it is an exercise of his patience, so it is the increase of his glory. The original according to the words soundeth thus, Non cognoscet verbum malum, shall not know an evil word, or as S. Ambrose readeth it verbum nequam a naughty word: 
Ambros. Enarr. in Psal. 41.  as if wee might take the meaning of the place to bee this, he that keepeth the commandement and feareth God, is so far from rebelling against his Prince, so far from taking upon him to correct him, that he knoweth not how to speak an evil word, either of him or against him. And a wise mans hart: the opinion of the Jews was, whereunto accordeth the phrase of the sacred Scripture, that in the hart especially the soul did hold her residence and as it were her royal court, and that there, were principally exercised the noblest operations of the understanding, invention, judgement, and other the like excellencies of mans most glorious soul. But the more received opinion in the world hath been to place the working of these chiefest faculties in the head rather, and to leave unto the hart the passions only and affections, as grief, joy, anger, love, wherewith mans soul aboundeth. In which diversity of opinions to make a reconciliation the matter is not difficult: for the Scripture speaketh not of those fruitless speculations which trouble and rack the brain with discourse or disputation only, and which as the Philosopher speaketh may thrive in a wicked man as well as in a good, seeing the passions have no power upon them. But the Scripture respecteth the practical actions of men, which testify the goodness or badness of their lives, and which because God commandeth to bee lively, burning, hearty, and likewise because in them the passions of the hart are of great force and strength, either by hindering or helping their virtue and efficacy( for experience daily teacheth, how much the moderation of our passions helpeth in good works, and how much the unruliness of them provoketh unto wickedness, and stoppeth from goodness) hereupon the Scripture ascribeth to the hart also those practical operations, seeing that by the passions of the hart they are either spoiled or bettered in man. Discerneth both time and judgement: It is not to bee conceived that Princes may not hear of their doing amiss, or that they may not bee  told of their faults, but it must bee done by one that hath a wise hart, and which is able to discern his time when to do it, and who knoweth how to do it with judgement. Et dum apertâ invectione feriri nequeunt, 
Gregor. Moral. 13. c. 2.  quasi honore tegminis velare, and whereas they may not bee strucken at with open inveighing, as it were under the honour of a vail to cover what he saith, as S. Gregory speaketh. That which our translation hath rightly according to the original, judgement, the French rendereth, Le moyen q'on doit tenir, the means and manner that ought to bee used and observed. For indeed these two things the time and the manner are principal things that ought to bee regarded in the office of reproving. And therefore a wise man as S. Gregory speaketh, Aliquando malis& quasi parcens non parcit, aliquando vero quasi non parcens parcit, Sometimes in evils as it were sparing he doth not spare them, and sometimes as it were not sparing he doth spare them. Sometimes he no sooner seeth evil done then he is ready to reprove it, and to reprove it sharply where he knoweth that he may be bold, and that his speaking shall bee welcome. And what doth he then but spare not sparing? Quia dum correptionis verbum non distulit, citius hunc à culpâ liberavit, Because while he deferred not the word of reproof, he did the sooner free him from his fault. Liberè enim arguens non pepercit, said in eo quod correxit, pepercerat: For in that he repooved freely he did not spare, but in that he amended him, he did spare him. At other times a wise man heareth or seeth evil, and saith nothing, but seeketh and waiteth for a time, when he may best reprove it, as knowing Nisi sustineat, quando congruè proffer correptionem posset, auget in eo malum quod insequitur. That unless he tarry for a time when he may best bring forth his reproof, he doth increase the evil in that he seeketh to suppress it, as S. Gregory hath it. So likewise for the manner of reproving, a wise man discerneth, that sometimes it may bee done in a particular manner, but that sometimes it must bee done generally in a common speech of admonition, which he maketh for the good of all the hearers, and wherein he mentioneth those faults, which he knoweth him to have committed who is present to hear them, though he may not bee pointed at or distinctly noted. 
Greg. Ibid.  Et quum generaliter contra culpam invectio intenditur, correptionis verbum libenter ad mentem ducitur; quia potens pravus ignorat quod sibi hoc specialiter dicatur, And when the inveighing is directed generally against the fault, the word of reproof is willingly admitted into the mind, because the great person offending doth not know that this was spoken specially against him. And is not this by sparing not to spare? Quum specialiter correptionis verba offendenti non intulit, ut tamen vulnus illius sub communi admonitione percussit, when as the reprover doth not cast his words particularly against him that hath sinned, and yet did strike his wound under a common admonition as S. Gregory also speaketh. The original word here used is {αβγδ} and most properly signifieth judgement, the judgement that is given by the judge, and if wee take it so, wee may give the words this sense. That he who walking in Gods commandements meeteth with evil, doth as it were not regard it as not feeling it: and if it come from him, who hath not a judge upon the earth, so that here he cannot look for right, then as Lyra speaketh, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Attendit tempus judicii, ubi oportet de omnibus reddere rationem, A wise man expecteth the time of judgement, when God coming to judge, all must give an account of all that they have done.   

Ver. 6. Because to every purpose there is time and judgement: therefore the misery of man is great upon him.  
Ver. 7. For he knoweth not that which shall bee: for who can tell him when it shall bee.  
Ver. 8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit, to retain the spirit; neither hath power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.  
Ver. 6. Because there is: The reason why the heart of a wise man seeketh after time and judgement, is, because there is a time and judgement, that which is not, he seeketh not for. A time there is, which judgement must discern, and a judgement must fit and further time, both must go together, to accomplish every purpose. To every purpose, to the purpose of God, to the purpose of the devil, to the purpose of the good Angels, to the purpose of men. God himself observeth time, who cannot bee without an exact and perfect judgement, wherefore God is said to bee adjutor in temporibus, 
Psal. 9.9.  a helper in times, a refuge in times of trouble. Where Theodoret tells us, that Aquila did render it, In tempus opportunum, 
Theodoret. Ibi.  at a fit time; and that Symmachus did render it, opportunè, fitly, opportunely. And in dead it must needs be understood of a fit time. For as Philo 
Philo.  speaketh, Quid aliud esse tempus potest, quam tempus rei been gerendae? What else can time be, then the time of well doing any thing? Besides the original word is {αβγδ} which signifieth an opportune time. again what are the times of troubles, but Gods fit times? For mans necessity is Gods opportunity, and as Saint Austin speaketh, Ubi defecit humanum consilium, 
Augustin. Serm. 89. de Tempor.  ibi intercedit divinum auxilium, where human counsel faileth, there cometh in the divine help. When our Saviour Christ himself was apprehended, he spake for his disciples, that they might be let go, 
John 18.8. v. 9.  that the saying might be fulfilled, of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none. But what doth this mean? Had they been lost, if they had been taken? Were they not afterwards taken and put to cruel deaths? 
Philip. abbess Epist. 114.  An ancient writer answers it, Ex iis quos ad salvandum ei pater dederat quempiam non amisit, quia occidi eos tempore immaturo non permisit, Of those which his Father had given him, he did not loose any, because he did not suffer them to be slain in a time that was not seasonable. When they had received the Holy Ghost, and by that heavenly fire were brought unto a ripeness, then the time for it being ripe also, he feared not any death for them. Secondly to the purpose of the devil there is a time and judgement, and he hath his opportunities, his occasions to draw men unto wickedness. And indeed great is the power of them upon men, and therefore it must be our care to shun and avoid them. When Eve had  told the Serpent, the charge which God had given them, 
Gen. 3.3.  shee delivers it thus, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, least that ye die, but in Gods charge set down in the former chapter, wee do not find these words, 
Gen. 2.17.  Ye shall not touch it; wherefore Lyra saith, that she did add these words out of a dislike which she had of the precept, 
Lyra. Ibid.  because he who disliketh a precept, in relating of it, doth easily add unto it, to make it seem more grievous. But it may be well, as others conceive, that God also did use those words, and that to this end, that the occasion of sinning might be avoided: for being once touched, it was not far to bring it to the mouth. 
Luke 9.59.  When our Saviour Christ said to one, 
Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. 6.  follow me, and he said, Suffer me first to go and bury my father. Saint Austin asketh, why our saviour Christ would not suffer him to do it; the business being so good? The answer which by some is given, is, that our Saviour did it to keep him from the occasions of being drawn away from him, because going to his friends, they might have persuaded him to follow still the world. 
Matth. 13.30.  Thirdly to every purpose of the good Angels there is a time and judgement: in the Gospel we red, that the servants are not forbidden to sever the tares from the good corn, but they are commanded to expect the time of harvest. Whereupon one saith well, Ubi sedges matura sit ad messem, nullum ibi malum timetur, licet tunc accedat asperitas falcis, sola immatura asperitas nociva est, quae autem tempore opportuno exhibetur semper salutaris, For where the corn is ripe for harvest, there no hurt is feared, although the sharpness of the sickle be used, it is only an immature sharpness that is hurtful, that which in due time is used, at all times is found profitable. Lastly, 
Levitic. 16.21.  to every purpose of men there is a time and judgement: the Scape-goat which was to be let go into the wilderness, was to be sent away by the hand of a fit man, as we red in the law. The Venetian translation reads it, Opportuni hoins; of an opportune man: the Tigurine translation reads it, Tempestivi hoins, of a seasonable man, and it is such a man that rightly ordereth his affairs in this life. 
Rom. 12.11.  In the Epistle to the romans where wee haue it, bee fervent in spirit serving the Lord; divers do red it, Ferventes spiritu, servientes tempori, Fervent in spirit observing the time, and S. Ambrose reading it in that manner giveth this note upon it, 
Ambr. in Epist. ad Roman.  Quoniam dixerat spiritu ferventes, ne hoc sic acciperent, ut passim& importunè verba religionis ingererent tempore inimico, per quod forsan scandalum excitarent, statim subjecit tempori servientes, ut modestè& cum honestate& locis& personis,& apto tempore religionis fidem loqueretur, Because he had said fervent in Spirit, least they should take this so, that they should importunely thrust the words of religion upon any in a contrary season, whereby perhaps they might raise a scandal, he added forthwith, serving the time, that modestly, and with due regard they should speak the faith of Religion, in fit places, to fit persons, and in fit time. Therefore the misery of man is great upon him: 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome tells us that the Septuagint and Theodotio did red it, Because the knowledge of man is great upon him; and he conceiveth the difference to arise from the likeness of the two Hebrew words {αβγδ} and {αβγδ} the one signifying misery, the other knowledge, especially seeing ו and ר which are the onely different letters in these two words, are so very like also in the form of them. The reading of the Septuagint applieth the words unto the wise man, who observing time and judgement in things, sheweth his knowledge to be great. The reading, which we have, applieth the words unto a foolish man, who not observing time and judgement, which every purpose hath, thereupon doth bring much misery upon himself. For as Philo saith, Sicut corporibus nostris interitum morbus, 
Philo de Temulentia.  incolumitatem affert sanitas; itidem animas prudentia servat, quum sit ipsa mentis sanitas, imprudentia vero interimit, quum sit morbus earum insanabilis, As sickness bringeth unto the body destruction, health safety; in like manner, wisdom preserveth the soul, seeing that is the health of the soul, but folly destroyeth the soul, being an uncurable disease of it.  
Vers. 7. Although I conceive this verse to have reference to the former, yet I do not take the original word {αβγδ} here to be causal, but as it were copulative only. For he knoweth not that which shall bee. Great is the misery of man in that he knoweth not the things that are to come upon him. For as the Poet speaketh, Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae, Ignorant is the mind of man of that which shall befall him, and of that condition which shall come unto him. And as Saint jerome addeth, Aliud sperat, aliudque evenit, de altero loco expectat hostem, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  & alterius jaculo vulneratur, He hopeth for one thing, and another cometh to pass, he expecteth an enemy in one place, and he is wounded with the dart of another. The Prophet David therefore, praising God saith, For thy words sake, and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these things, 
2. Samu. 7.21.  to make thy servant to know them: where Cajetane noteth, 
Cajetan. Ibid.  Prius gratias egit de beneficio affirmato, modo gratias agit denotificatione tanti beneficii, Before he gave thanks for the benefit established unto him, now he thanketh God for making known unto him so great a benefit. And surely it was a great blessing to the people of Israel, that God did sand Prophets among them, who did foretell things to come. The want of this blessing the Psalmist lamenteth, when he saith, we see no signs, 
Psal. 7.4.9.  there is no more any Prophet, that is, saith the Chaldee Paraphrase, Non est Propheta Domini qui sciat quod futurum est in homine, There is not a Prophet of the Lord who knoweth, what is to come in man. 
1. Kings. 18.  It was the careful goodness of Obediah, that when Jezebel persecuted the Prophets of the Lord, he hide a hundred of them by fifty and fifty in a cave, feeding them with bread and water: and Theodoret speaking of it, saith, Prophetis sufficientem cibum offerebat Abdias, illorum salutem propriae saluti praeferens,& vitam quae sine illis transigenda esset mortis loco duceus; Obediah ministered to the Prophets sufficient nourishment, 
Theodor. Ser. 18 de Provident.  preferring their welfare before his own safety, and accounting that life which should be spent without them, to be but as it were death. Whereby he seemeth to signify, that Obediah did so esteem of the knowledge of things to come, which by the Prophets was enjoyed, that he thought it better not to live, then to live without it. Indeed wise men may, and do, think and consider of things that are to come; David telleth Nabuchadnezzar, As for thee, O King, thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, 
Theod. in Danielem.  what should come to pass hereafter, and as Theodoret expounding it addeth, Cogitabas an esses victurus semper, an vero humanae naturae lege moriturus, Thou didst think whether thou shouldst live always, or whether according to the law of human nature thou wert to die also. Notwithstanding, though wise men may, and do think and consider of things that are to come, it is not the wisest that knoweth that which shall be, and who can tell him when it shall be? But this verse may be referred either to a fool, or else to a wise man. First to a fool, who hath no purpose to look unto the time and judgement that is for every purpose: but as the misery of man is great, that he knoweth not, what is to come, so he maketh his misery much the greater, by not endeavouring to know it in some kind as he can, by thinking, forecasting and considering of it. Wherefore Tremellius expounding these words. And who can tell him when it shall be? saith Quis ex insipiente facere posset sapientem? Who of a fool can make a wise man? It was the scandal that the devil would have put upon our Saviour Ghrist, to whom they said, 
mat. 8.29.  Art thou come to torment us before our time? But it was themselves in truth who were doing before their time; for as Chrysologus very well noteth, Sepelit vivos crudelitas immatura,& de tempore, queritur, quasi antè tempus habere debuerit, 
Chrysolog. Serm. 16.  Overhasty cruelty buryeth among the graves of the dead them that were alive, and yet complaineth of time, as if it ought to have them before the time. This untimely proceeding is also in all sinful fools. They are before time in making the vain pleasures of this life to be the happiness of man, and in placing their rest and contentment in them. They are after-times, as not thinking of the things that are to come afterwards, but as passing them over, as never to be, are so gone beyond in them, in their little regard of them. When goliath said to David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? 
1. Sam. 17.43.  Saint Chrysostome showing him to be worse then a dog, saith, Si canis fuisses, nunquam dimicantem contrâ te Dominum provocasses said ut canis interitum futurum,& dignum supplicium metuisses. Pejores cane, qui nec virgam metuis, nec lapidem quo moriturus es, If thou hadst been a dog, thou wouldest never have provoked the Lord fighting against thee, but as a dog thou wouldst have feared thy destruction, that was at hand to come, and thy deserved punishment. Thou art worse then a dog, 
Chrysost. Homil. de David& Gol.  who neither fearest the staff, nor yet art afraid of the ston by which thou art to die. And surely sinful fools are worse then the very beasts, for they have some presage divers times of that which is to come. Secondly this may be applied unto a wise man, who lamenting the misery of man in not knowing the things that are to come unto him, and finding no where any one that is able to tell him, is thereby stirred up to look the more carefully into it, and by the circumspection of his judgement so to consider things, and the fit time of things, that as much as may be he may prevent the uncertainty of them. For as Saint Ambrose speaketh, Illud ingenii, si quis potest vigore mentis praevidere quae futura sunt,& tanquam ante oculos locare quid posset accidere;& quid agere debeat si ita acciderit definire, interdum dvo,& tria simul volvere animo, quae conjiciat, 
Ambros. de office. l. 1. c. 38.  aut singula conjuncta accidere posse,& aut singulis aut conjunctis disponere actus quos intelligat profuturos, That is wisdom, if any one can by the strength of his mind foresee the things that are to come, and as it were set before his eyes that which may happen to come to pass, and can define what he ought to do, if that it happen so to come to pass. Sometimes turning over two or three things in his mind together, of which conjecturing that either all may come to pass jointly, or this or that severally, or whether they fall out jointly or severally, can by his understanding so order his actions, as that they shall be profitable to him. Moreover a wise man considereth, that although divers things come to pass, and that he cannot know what is to come to him, notwithstanding that all things are by God made and done for the good of men, and that they are not disposed without his Providence. For as Philo speaketh, Semper author curam gerit operis sui, communi necessariaque lege naturae; quemadmodum& parentes curant suam progeniem, 
Philo de mundi Opificio, fine libri.  always the author of any thing taketh care of his own work by the common and necessary law of nature, even as parents take care for their children. Now because the Providence of God disposeth all things with judgement in their fit times; therefore doth a wise man by labouring to judge rightly of all things, and by endeavouring to find out the fit times of them in some sort ease the misery of mans condition, by getting some kind of knowledge of what is to come, and by being able in some measure to tell when it shall bee.  
Vers. 8. The Preacher having shewed the power of a King, here he sheweth his weakness also to him; thereby to make him the more careful in using of his power, thereby to make them the more patient that shall be wronged by it. There is no one that hath power over the Spirit. Aquinas applies these words unto the Holy Spirit of God, 
Aquin. 2. 2. Q. 189. A. 1.  to show his power in man; and thereupon citeth Saint Gregory, who speaking of the Holy Spirit, saith, Implet citharaedum puerum& Psalmistam facit, implet pastorem armentarium,& prophetam facit, implet abstinentem puerum, 
Greg. in Evang. Homil.. 30.  & judicem senum facit, &c. O qualis est artisex iste Spiritus, nullâ ad discendum morâ agitur in omne quod volverit; He filleth a young man being a Harper, and maketh him a Psalmist, he filleth a herdman and maketh him a Prophet, he filleth an abstinent child, and maketh him a Judge of old men, &c. O what a workman is this Spirit! there is no delay in teaching any thing which he will have learned. But it is the Spirit of man, the Spirit of life in man, whereof the Preacher speaketh, showing that he who hath power over many that are under him, hath not power over his own spirit, over his own life. That is a thing which though he do possess, yet he is not master of it. Homo vitae commodatus est non donatus, Man is but lent to his life, not given unto it, and the greatest King being but a man, must resign his possession when the spirit leaveth him. It is the property of the law of nature, that it is common unto all; could striketh all, heat troubleth all, grief assaulteth all, a power over the Spirit is denied all. To retain the Spirit, it was a fable among the ancients in former time, that God appointing unto every thing his office and function, he appointed unto death, to take away the lives of men, and that death refused that employment, because it should be by every one accused; but yet at length it did undertake it, because God did promise that it should be by all excused. For so indeed it is: of one wee say that he dyed because he was an old man, of another, because he was intemperate in his diet, of a third, because he was careless of his health, and so seeking in all to excuse death, wee do as it were closely make show that we are able to preserve from death, to retain the Spirit. But as Saint jerome speaketh, Nihil prodest ora concludere,& vitam retinere fugientem, It is to no purpose to shut our mouth to keep in our breath, and to stay life flying away from us. When the spirit is to be gone, no hands can hold it, no force can stay it, no persuasion can prevail to make it to tarry, no command can retain it. He that can forbid things by laws in his kingdom, cannot forbid the Spirit to depart by any law he can make. Neither hath he power in the day of death: it is storied of Alexander, that having heard of Paradise, and that it was upon the earth, he was very eager in seeking of it out, and to that end coming into the East part of the earth, an old man meeting with some of his souldiers, bid them to tell Alexander, that he sought Paradise in vain, for the way to Paradise was the way of humility, which he did not take. But saith he, take this ston, and carry it to Alexander, and tell him, that from this ston, he shall perceive what himself is. Now the ston was a precious ston, and of such a quality, that whatsoever thing was weighed with it, that was still the heavier, only if it were covered with dust, then it was as light as a straw. The meaning of the thing did easily appear, as showing Alexander and all Princes, that though in their lives they overweigh others, by the greatness of their power, yet that in death their power is nothing, and that then they weigh as light as any other. And there is no discharge in that war. The original word here translated discharge, signifieth nothing else but a sending, and therefore in this place, which speaketh of war, it may imply either a sending out of forces to withstand death, or else a sending forth of ambassadors to make peace with death. But all is bootless in this war. He that can sand out never so great forces to withstand his enemies, hath no forces that will resist this enemy. The word which this warrior bears upon his shield, is, Nemini parco, I spare none. Poverty spareth the rich, pain spareth the healthy, shane spareth the honourable, death spareth none, for no means that can be used against it. And therefore there is also no peace to be made with it. The Prophet Isaiah speaketh of some, who said, 
Isaiah. 28.15. vers. 1.  they had made a covenant with death: but in the beginning of the chapter, he sheweth who they are, namely the drunkards of Ephraim. For what is it but the voice of a drunken man, a fool, or a mad man; so to speak? And therefore Saint jerome saith, Quum interitus inimicus vitae nostrae advenerit, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  inducias accipere non possumus, When destruction, the enemy of our life cometh, there is then no truce to be had. Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it: wee red in the psalms; of violence and wickedness that are in the city, and that day and night they do go about it, upon the walls thereof. Where Saint Austin expoundeth it, supper muros ejus, id est supper munimenta, supper nobiles ejus, 
Psal. 55.9. v. 10.  upon the walls thereof, that is, upon the fortresses thereof, upon the nobles thereof: and it is not seldom seen, that such do make wickedness to be their wall, whereby to defend themselves. But what defence soever this may be in their life, it shall be none unto them at their death, it shall not then deliver them. Lyra expoundeth these words, of those wicked, Qui aliquando mortem differre per artem magicam vel aliquâ superstitione credunt, who hope to put off death by magic art, or else by some other superstitious way. But that which is rendered wickedness, according to the original, may also be rendered inquietudo, unquietness. For generally none are more unquiet then fierce and swaggering Princes are. What are they but tumbling seas, whose boiling, swelling, overflowing waves bring terror and trouble to all that are near them? But God hath said unto them all, Hither shall ye come, and no further, and here shall your proud waves be stayed, 
Job 31.11.  here death doth arrest you. It is related of Alexander the Great, that as he went to his conquest, coming near some wise men, he called them unto him, and upon asking them some questions, finding them to be wise men indeed, he bid them to ask some gifts of him, and they should have them. Whereupon the Philosophers said, Wee desire certain immortality of thee: at which Alexander laughing, said, I accounted you to be wise men, but now I perceive you to be ignorant, I cannot give that to myself, and how then can I grant it unto you? Are you mortal, then say they unto him? I am said he. Then replied they, Why then dost thou disturb the whole world, seeking the dominion of it, as if thou wert immortal. Lastly, wee may take the unquietness here spoken of, to be nothing else but the unwillingness of people to die, especially of great persons, and their much striving with death, and the great ado they make against it, all which is not able to deliver them from it.   

Ver. 9. All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.  
Ver. 10. And so I saw the wicked butted, who had come and gone from the place of the Holy, and they were forgotten in the city, where they had so done: this is also vanity.  
Ver. 11. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily: therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil.  
Ver. 12. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his dayes be prolonged; yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him.  
Ver. 13. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his dayes which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.  
Ver. 9. As in the creation of the world wee often red, that God saw what he had done, and made; so in the consideration of things which are done by men in the world, the Preacher often saith, I saw. But that which God saw was always good. For as Saint Ambrose speaketh, 
Ambros. Hexa. l. 2. c. 5.  Facit filius quod vult pater, laudat pater, quod facit filius, The son doth that, which the Father will have done, the Father praiseth that which the son hath done: whereas that which the Preacher saw was always vain and nought. And as God is said to see the goodness of his works to set it forth the more; for as Saint Ambrose also speaketh, 
Ambros. Ibid. l. 1. c. 9.  Plus est quod probetur aspectu, quam quod sermone laudetur: suodenique utitur testimonio, non alieno suffragio, It is more that a thing is approved by sight, then that it is praised by speech; because it useth its own testimony, not the suffrage of another; so it setteth forth more the badness of worldly human things, that the Preacher saith he saw them, as showing that upon sight and consideration they manifested themselves to be vain and nought unto him. He had applied his heart unto them, to look nearly on them, that he might the better see and judge of them as they were. It is also to set out the badness of them, that he saith, every work which is done under the sun: for Philo speaking of the sun, saith, Opino quod Sol& Luna perpetuo lumen ministrat: semel jussi in rerum primordio,& divinum mandatum indesinenter faciunt, non aliam ob causam, 
Philo de mundi Opificio.  quam quia malitia procul terminis caeli exulat, I think that the sun and moon do always give their light. and being once commanded in the beginning of the world, uncessantly do keep the divine commandement, for no other reason, than because wickedness is far banished from the bounds of heaven. And for the same reason the Preacher here being to speak of wickedness, saith, that he saw it under the Sun. There is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt: and when is this time? namely when being set in the place of a ruler, he is not careful for to rule well. For as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. in Evang. Hom. 17.  Ad paenam nostram ut video episcopi vocamur, qui honoris nomen, non virtutis tenemus, It is to our punishment I see that wee Bishops are called, when wee hold the name of the honour, but observe not the duty. When is this time? namely, when he that is above another in command, is beneath him in goodness. 
Greg. Regist. Epist.  For as Saint Gregory also speaketh, Quum elevatur, dejicitur, qui honoribus proficit,& moribus cadit, He is cast down, that is lifted up, who riseth in honours, and falleth in manners. But as I conceive, the meaning of the Preacher doth most directly aim at the ruling of Kings. And surely there is a time when they do rule to their own hurt, namely when by the wickedness of their government they provoke the wrath of God against themselves. Josephus notes it in the Kings of Israel, of whom he saith, that for their iniquity and injustice, Alter supper alterum irruentes multi parvo tempore perierunt, 
1. King. 15. Joseph. Antiq. l. 8. c. 12.  & eorum genus exterminatum est, One rushing upon another, many in a short time perished, and their race was rooted out: whereas Asa for his goodness and godliness lived to a long and happy old age, and when he had reigned one and Forty yeeres, died a good death. When it is said of Elijah, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, 
2. King. 2.12.  Lyra noteth, Currus qui ducitur ponitur primo& auriga qui ducit secundo, ad ostendendum quod ille been ducit regendo, qui primò fuit ductilis in obediendo; 
Lyra. Ibid.  The charet which is drawn is set down first, and the horseman that drives it, is set down afterwards, to show that he doth well led in ruling, who hath been first ready and willing to be led in obeying. And surely he it is that doth rule for his own good, as well as for the good of those that are under him, who is ready to be ruled by obedience unto Gods law. Wherefore Saint Bernard saith, Praesunt principatus& regunt, 
Bernard de considerat. l. 5.  said reguntur& ipsi; ita ut regere non norunt, ubi regi desierint, They who are in authority are set above others, and do rule over them; but so as that themselves are ruled also; and do not then know what it is to rule, when that they cease to bee ruled. They may rule still, but it is to their own hurt, to the increasing of their punishment, which he will inflict, who ruleth all things. S. jerome readeth the latter part of the vers thus, Dominatus est homo homini, ut affligeret eum, Man ruleth over man, that he might afflict him: and the reading is well enough admitted by the original; but though there be such among inferior rulers, yet it is far from the name of a King that he should be such a one. 
Psal. 47.2. Chrysost. Ibid.  The Psalmist having said, The Lord most high, is terrible, why doth he add, he is a great King over all the earth? Saint Chrysostome answereth, Sic Propheta dicit orbis salutem, So the Prophet speaketh, showing the salvation of the world, and as it were mitigating the terror of the Lord with the name of a King. Prosper speaking of queen Hester, 
Prosper. Par. 2. de Promissi. c. 38  saith, Sic se pro suis opponit periculis, sic datis in mortem suis laboribus vitam conferendo ministrat, utpote regina, So doth she oppose herself to dangers for her people, so doth she minister to them, who were appointed to die, by her labours giving life unto them, because a queen. It was emphatically spoken by the thief on the cross, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom; which Cyrillus Hierosolomytanus thus expresseth, Non dico ut aliter mei memineris, quam quum veneris in regnum. Quae te virtus illuminavit o latro? 
Cyril. Hierosolo. Cap. 13.  Ideo& just audit confided, non quod opera tua digna sint confidentiâ; said quia rex adest qui gratiam confert; I say no otherwise that thou remember me, then when thou comest into thy kingdom. O thief, what virtue hath enlightened thee? Wherefore he justly heareth, be of good cheer, not that thine own works are worthy to cheer thee, but because a King is present, who sheweth grace and favour. The speech of King Theodorus, as it is worthy of a King, so it sheweth what belongeth to a King, Among the glorious cares of the common wealth, which by the assistance of God, our thoughts continually do meditate upon, 
Cassiodrr. var. 3. var. 30.  Cordi nostro est levamen humilium; the relieving of the afflicted goes unto our hearts, that wee may set up the obstacle of goodness against the power of the proud, and that there may bee nothing done out of presumption upon us, whose resolution is to beat down proud things.  
Ver. 10. They are the words of Hugo de sancto victore commenting upon the beginning of this book of the Preacher, 
Hugo de Sancto vict. in Eccles. Hom. 3.  and may be much more mine, Nos quid sumus tenebrae ad lucem, ut comprehendere cogitemus, quae abscondit Deus ab oculis hominum? What are we darkness to light, that wee should think to conceive those things which God hath hide from the eyes of men? But shall I not therefore meditate upon Gods word? Shall I not endeavour to find the meaning of it? When man meditateth, God enlighteneth, and it is to mans endeavours, that God giveth his blessing. Much obscurity there is in this verse, and much variety in the translating of it. But first to consider to whom to apply it, by reason of these words, from the place of the holy ones, Saint jerome applies it to spiritual Magistrates, Qui quum viverent putabantur digni esse ecclesiae principes& templo Dei, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Who when they lived were accounted worthy to be Princes of the Church, and worthy of the temple of God. Tremellius applies the verse to the temporal Magistrate, and to the throne of Judgement, Quae functio& seeds Dei est, 
Tremellius in hunc vers.  which is the function and seat of God: Lyra applies it unto both, saying, Sicut sacerdotes& principes mali qui tenant in terris locum Dei, isti in spiri tualibus, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  & illi in temporalibus, As evil Priests and Princes, who on earth do hold the place of God, the one in spiritual things, the other in temporal things. Now for the translation of it, the Septuagint, and accordingly the Uulgar latin, red it thus, Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam quum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, laudabantur in civitate quasi homines justorum operum, I saw the wicked buried, who when they were yet alive, were in the holy place, and were praised in the city, as men of righteous works. Upon which reading S. Gregory saith, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 25. c. 30.  Multis enim peste propriae pravitatis obsessos sub nomine Christiano ipsae tranquilitas Ecclesiasticae pacis abscondit, quos tamen si levi persecutionis aurâ pulsaverit, mox extra aream velut paleas tollit, for many who are encompassed with the pestilence of their own wickedness, the tranquillity of the peace of the Church hideth under the name of Christians, upon whom if a small air of persecution beat, it driveth them like chaff out of the floor. Multi sunt qui rem virtutis intimae ad decorem sumunt visionis externae; Many there are who take the matter of virtue, which is a most inward thing, only for the beauty of an outward show. Saint jerome reads it thus, Et tunc vidi impios sepultos, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  & venerunt,& de loco sancto egressi sunt,& laudati sunt in civitate quia sic fecerunt. And then I saw the wicked butted, and they came and went forth from the holy place, and they were praised in the city, because they had done so: which himself expoundeth thus, I have seen the wicked dead, and so butted, with such an opinion of them, as that they were esteemed holy on the earth. And these often after death are praised in the Church; and publicly are commended, either by their successors, or by the people as blessed in those things, which in probability they have not done. Or else wee may take the meaning which Lyra giveth, who saith, That when they were dead, then they were called wicked, but when they were living, were praised either in flattery, or else for fear. Both these translations do seem to have red in the original {αβγδ} which signifieth to praise, whereas the original word which now is red, 
Tremel. in hunc vers.  is {αβγδ} which signifieth oblivisci, to forget. Wherefore Tremellius reads it thus, For I observed those that had so ruled, being wicked, to be buried after that they were departed, and they departed from the place of the holy, and to be forgotten in the city in which they did so, As if the Preacher shewed, that though they were on high while they lived on the earth, yet that being dead, they were laid under the earth, and that as if the place of their authority had been but a place of memory, to keep them in mind for the time, when they were gone from them, their memory was gone also in the city. The french Translation hath it thus, And then I saw the wicked buried, and afterwards returned; and them who were gone and come from the place of the holy, who had well done to be forgotten in the City; as if the Preacher did compare together the wicked, and the righteous after death, as showing how the one though dead, yet did return and live as it were again in the memory that was retained of them, but that the other though they had lived holily, and done virtuously, yet that they were forgotten quiter and dead, in the memories of men, as well as in respect of their own lives. Our translation hath it, as you have it set down before; As if the Preacher did set forth hypocrites in religion, who came to, and went from the Church of God with a great show of holinesse: but that being dead they were forgotten, having left no works of goodness behind them whereby to be remembered. But to take the original as itself speaketh directly thus, & then I saw the wicked butted,& they came& they went from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city that they had done so; which is Saint Hieroms translation, only that he saith Praised, where the Hebrew saith now, forgotten. The sense which I gather from the foregoing, and following verses, is this, that as the Preacher had seen the lives of wicked rulers and governers, so he had seen and considered their deaths, and that though they had judged others with violence and oppression, yet that themselves were then judged rightly, that they bcfore whom others came to be judged, came then themselves before God to be judged, and that he being a Judge, cvi tacendo quisque se non potest celare, quem negando non potest fallere, From whom no one by holding his peace can conceal himself, whom no one by denying can deceive, as Saint Gregory speaketh, by him being condemned for their wicked lives, they went away from the holy place, from the glory of heaven, 
Gregor. in Evangel. Hom. 17  from that blessed Sanctuary, into which no unclean thing can enter. This followed them with God after their death; with men after their death, that which followed them, was, that they were forgotten in the city, and that they whose power and greatness made them before to be talked of, and feared by all, were then remembered by none. The Chaldee paraphrase speaking of the Preacher, as if he spake of himself, saith, Ecquis quaeso vel in sententiâ legis vigilantior, vel circa summiillius judicis venturi diem solicitus magis quam ego, 
Chald. in 2. Ecclesiatis.  Is there any I pray you more vigilantin the sentence of the Law, or more solicitous concerning the day of that highest judge that is to come, then I am? And surely if Princes and Governours, would be watchful in these two things, it would make them to do better in all things that belong unto them. If they would consider, Quanta illud edictum sequentur lamenta, 
Cyprian. Serm. de Ascens.  quomodo in proprio adipo frixae libidines ebullient: How great lamentations will follow that decree, how the lusts of men fried in their own fat shall then boil, they would not rule by oppression, they would take heed how they did rule to their own hurt. This is also vanity this, to make the inward substance of virtue ashadow of outward beauty. This, to have an opinion of holinesse, and to be praised for it, but not to deserve it. This, to be flattered or feared alive, to bee hated being dead. This, being present to bee remembered, being absent to be forgotten. This, that to be forgotten which should be remembed, that to be remembered which should be forgotten. This, to bee Church Christians, the guests of hell in life and conversation. This, for a while to rule in pride and oppression, and for ever to be slaves to misery and torments.  
Ver. 11. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily: Indeed the patience of Almighty God is exceeding great, and the reason of it by Rupertus is set down to be twofold, Ut omnis paenitens, 
Ruper. l. in Naum.  id quod saluatur debere se sciat expectantis patientiae,& nullus impaenitens in damnatione suâ derogare ei valeat quasi festinantis impatientiae. That every penitent, 
Hierony in hunc vers.  might know that he owes it to Gods patience that he is saved, that no impenitent in his damnation might derogate from him as if he were of an hasty impatiency. But the chief end of Gods patience is to invite and draw men to repentance. And therefore S. jerome saith, Differt paenam dum expectat paenitentiam, he differeth the punishment while he expecteth repentance. Should God strike as soon as wickedness is committed, who should go to heaven? 
Romans. 2.4.  Wherefore by the Apostle God is styled to be rich in forbearing, that is( as we may say) his riches, because indeed it is that which doth gain souls, it is that which doth make him rich in souls, which is the riches that God desireth, that God laboureth for. Tertullian saith, Erroneam ovem patientia pastoris inquirit& invenit: 
Tertullian l. de patientia.  nam impatientia unam facile contemneret, It is the patience of the shepherd that seeketh the wandered sheep, and by which it is found: for impatiency would easily contemn one. But patience undertaketh the labour of seeking, and moreover as a patient bearer, he lays it on his shoulder, and so brings home that which was lost. Illum quoque prodigum filium patientia patris& recipit& vestit& pascit,& apud impatientem fratrem excusat: That prodigal son also the patience of the Father, receiveth, clotheth, feasteth, and doth also excuse him to his impatient brother, as Tertullian also addeth. But let it bee marked in these words, that it is the execution only that is deferred: the sentence against every evil work is already given, and it is a sentence of condemnation. Neither is it a secret sentence which though given is concealed, but it is as the original here speaketh {αβγδ} enarrata sententia a published and declared sentence: So that it is only a repreive of mercy which a wicked man hath. But though the sentence of condemnation bee fully known, and though it bee only the patience of God that spareth the execution, and that to this end that repentance may wholly prevent it, notwithstanding the heart of the sons of men, that is saith Lyra, Illorum qui sunt nutriti in carnalitate& sunt filii hominum, non Dei, of them who are nourished in carnal sensuality, and are the sons of men, not of God, the heart of such turneth all to an increase of wickedness. Chrysologus observing the plea of the Devils, who say why art thou come to torment us before our times? thereupon noteth Agnoscit Deum, judicem profitetur, clamat judicium esse debere,& de tempore praescribit, He acknowledgeth God, he confesseth the Judge, he crieth out that judgement is due, but he prescribeth concerning the time. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And so it is with wicked men, who acknowledging the judge, and the sentence to be given, yet because the execution of sentence is so long delayd, from thence do pled as it were a prescription of impunity, and persuading themselves in a manner, 
Chrisalog. Serm. 16.  that the execution which is so long put off, will never be laid on them, from thence are emboldened and made worse in their sinful courses, and therefore their heart is fully set to do evil, there full strength is set unto the doing of it. The original is their heart is full to do evil, full of evil purposes, full of evil desires imaginations, devices for the bringing forth of evil works. Their heart is so full, that there is no room for the fear of Gods wrath, no room for the consideration of their own danger no room for the apprehension of the foolishness of wickedness, whereby to retain them in any measure, but they run with a full stream into the works of iniquity. The Catena Greca giveth this exposition of the words, 
Catona Graeca.  Quoniam Dei providentia propter immensam intolerandis malis clementiam non statim in improbos grassatur, nec paenas scelerum expetit, ideirco vir nequam quasi impune laturus peccandi sibi licentiam diutius persuadet, Because the providence of God through infinite clemency in bearing with evils, doth not forthwith fall upon the wicked, nor presently punish their wickedness, therefore a wicked man, as if he should go without punishment persuadeth himself that he shall be longer licensed in sinning. As for the execution of justice which is to come they behold it as a thing that is afar off,& that makes it to seem a little thing unto them. For as the stars though in themselves very great, yet being seen afar off, seem to bee little; so wicked people considering of the day of judgement as a time to come long hence, they are little moved by it. 
Ezek. 12.22.  Thus it was with the israelites concerning their temporal destruction, their proverb was, the dayes are prolonged, and the same is the thought of wicked people, it is a long time to the last day, and thereupon they spend their dayes in wickedness. But if God be so patient, how then is God said, 
Psal. 7.11.  to be angry with the wicked every day, as the Psalmist speaketh? St. jerome answereth, Pulchre ait infrendens omni die qui enim propter patientiam suam ita delicta non punit, quasi iratus& comminatus diem ultionnis expectat, wisely doth he say that God is angry every day; 
Hieronym.  for he who through his patience doth so not punish offences, doth as it were threatening and angry expect a day of revenge. And therefore as St. Gregory hath it, Quos diu ut convertantur tolerat, non conversos durius damnat, 
Gregor. Hom. 13  Those whom he suffereth long that they may be converted, being not converted, he condemneth the more severely. And yet sometimes also God punisheth the wicked forthwith, that thereby others might fear least he should do so always. 
Levit. 10.12.  The two sons of Aaron offered strange fire before the Lord, and there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them; in quibus non judicium tantum said praesens judicium, Deus ostendere volvit, nec prius peractum est facinus peccantium, quam ulciscitur paena peccatum, upon whom God was pleased to show not only judgement, but present judgement, neither was the sin of the offenders sooner committed, then punishment revenged the sin, 
Salvianus de Guber. Dei. l. 1.  as Salvianus speaketh. And why may not the same just and angry God, as soon punish any wicked doers as he did them? St. Heirome reads the first part of the verse thus, Quia non est contradictio facientibus malum citò, Because there is not forthwith contradiction to them that do evil: 
Cassian. Coll. 2. C. 11.  and Cassian also reading it in the same manner; Abbot Thuon giveth this exposition of it, because wickedness is not forthwith checked, blamed, and opposed in them that do evil, either by themselves or others, therefore is the heart of the sons of men filled in them, that they do evils.  
Ver. 12. The Preacher having in the verse before shewed the patience of God not to be hasty here he shows it to be very slow, so that although a sinner do evil an hundred times, that is, very much; yea although he do the same evil over a hundred times, yet he forbeareth him, and in the lengh of his patience prolongeth his dayes, 
Exod. 34.9.  it may be to an hundreth yeares. When Moses saith unto God, O Lord let my Lord I pray thee go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people, the exposition which some give of it is this, such is the perverseness and stubbonrnesse of this people, that thy patience, thy mercy, thy goodness is needful to go among them, and a long with them. For though Moses himself were a most meek man, as the Scripture testifieth, yet he acknowledgeth his own patience not to bee sufficient, but it is Gods patience which he confesseth to be most fit for them, which in the daily sufferance of grievous sinners is continually manifested. But to give the meaning of the whole verse, that which our translation as I conceive importeh, is this, that though the wicked who abound in sins, are not punished for them, but live at ease, and in prosperity, whereas they who fear the Lord and shun iniquity are full of troubles and sorrows; notwithstanding that it is not the wicked but the Godly who have cause of comfort and joy. Indeed the fool that looketh on the wicked thinketh him to bee happy, 
Prov. 17.24.  because as a fool he hath his eyes in the ends of the earth, as in the Proverbs the Preacher speaketh, his sight reacheth not beyond the earth, to those things which shall bee after death. A fool looketh upon a godly man under trouble and sorrow, and thinketh him to bee unhappy, 
Aug. in Psal. 91  because as a fool, Attendit quid patitur,& non attendit quid illi servetur, He attendeth what he suffereth, and doth not attend what is reserved for him as S. Austin speaketh. wherefore the same Father saith, Noli gaudere ad piscem, qui in esca sua exultat, nondum traxit hamum piscator, Do not rejoice at the fish, which rejoiceth at his bait, the fisher hath not yet pulled his hook: boni laborant quia flagellantur ut filii, mali exultant quia damnantur ut alieni, The good are troubled, because they are chastised as sons, the wicked rejoice because they are condemned as aliens and strangers. The prayer therfore of Origen is, 
Orig. Hom. 8. in c. 20. Exod.  Oro te, flagella me quoque,& nolime reservare cum his qui non flagellantur: I entreat thee O Lord, chastise me also, and do not reserve me with them which are not chastised. For as he also saith, Hoc est terrible, hoc extremum quum jam non corripimur pro peccatis, This is terrible, this is extreme, when wee are not now corrected for our sins. Saint jerome readeth this verse thus, Quia peccator facit malum centies,& elongat ei Deus, ex hoc cognosco ego, quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui timent a fancy ejus, Because a sinner doth evil an hundreth times,& God doth lengthen his dayes unto him, from hence I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before his face. And himself giveth the meaning of it to be this; from hence that God giveth to him space of repentance who sinneth very much( for that doth an hundreth times signify) and doth not forthwith punish him in his wikednesse, but tarrieth that he may be turned from his wickedness; I understand how merciful and gracious God will be towards them, who have a fear of him, and tremble at his word. The same Father in the same place tells us that Symmachus did red the former part of the verse thus. Peccans enim malus mortuus est, longa aetate concessa ei, 
Hieronym. in hunc versum.  An evil man sinning is dead, a long age being granted to him, which as he saith was expounded thus, That he who doth evil& sinneth is dead, dead in sin, although his dayes be prolonged, and that he live to old age. And it seemeth by Saint jerome, that not onely Symmachus, but Aquila and Theodotio also did translate the Hebrew word {αβγδ} mortuus dead, as if it came from {αβγδ} which signiffies to die, whereas other translations which render it centies a hundredfold do take it as if it came from {αβγδ} which signifies centum. But according to the reading of Symmachus, I conceive the meaning to be, that though a wicked man be spared long, yet at lengh he is dead, and at last is brought to judgement; and then he findeth, that his sparing so long was not his good, but the cause of his greater evil, that it was not the favour of God, but his anger against him. Wherefore S. Austin saith, vis nosse, nulla paena, quanta sit paena? wilt thou know, how great a punishment no punishment is, consider a wicked man not punished, for it is the greatness of Gods anger against him, that he doth not punish him: magna est ira ejus, 
Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. 37.  parcendo saevit,& just saevit, Great is the wrath of God, in sparing he is cruel, and justly is he cruel. His sparing is in the life, but after death cruel are the torments, which his justice inflicteth. On the contrary, he that feareth God, in this life suffereth grief and cares, but it is he that shall be comforted after death, it is he that shall be full of comfort, at the last judgement, then it shall be well with him. When our Saviour Christ ascended into heaven, and his Discipes amazed with sorrow stood gazing after him, the Angels say unto them, 
Acts. 1.11.  why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have see him go into heaven: but is this the comfort which they gave to the Orphan Disciples? Is this the consolation which they have for his absence, that he shall come again to judgement? shall not his coming to judgement be full of terror and horror? yes to the wicked. But to them that fear God, 
mat. 25.34.  to them that fear before his face, it shall be a day of gladness, and joy, a day of lifting up their heads. For then they shall see him face to face, before whose face they have feared, then they shall hear the joyful sentence of, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world. Of this time Job speaking, and of his reedemers coming at this time, saith, Whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold him; for myself, 
Job. 19.27.  that is saith Vatablus bono meo for my good, as showing the meaning to be, that he should see him for himself, and not against himself, for himself to his unspeakable joy and comfort, not against himself to his condemnation. Oh how well will it then be with him that feareth God? The doubling of the words in the end of the verse, With them that fear God, which fear before him; I conceive to signify a double fear, the first signifying that fear, Qui timet iram Dei, which feareth the wrath of God, the other that fear, qui timet offensam Dei, which feareth the offending of God: the one feareth him, the other feareth before him, as being before him in the ways of godliness, and fearing to depart from them. The Hebrew is, feareth before his face, that is, enjoying the gracious look of his favour and countenance feareth to loose it, and to be deprived of it. And though it be not so well with the other, as it is with him that thus feareth, yet it shall be well with him also, when by a servile fear he is brought from it into a filial fear.  
Vers. 13. Saint jerome, and the Uulgar latin begin the verse thus, Et bonum non sit impio, And let not good be unto the wicked: which Saint jerome expoundeth to be an imprecation against them, who have not the fear of God, and that the Preacher wisheth that they may not be delayed long in their punishment, but that being forthwith taken away by death, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  they may receive the torments which they have deserved. And whereas Saint jerome addeth, Quae quomodo clementer dicta sint requirendum est, which things, how they be mercifully spoken, is to be looked after; 
Lyra. in hunc vers.  Lyra sheweth, that the hastening of their punishment is a lesning of it, because thereby their sins are the fewer, which by the delay of their punishment would be multiplied, and so would multiply the greatness thereof. Wherefore the mercy of the words is, that he desireth a less measure of torments for them. And to view the words so rendered, Let not good, that is, not the good of this life( saith the Ordinary gloss) because it is no other good that they seek for, Let not good be to the wicked, because he doth abuse it, saith Lyra. But to follow rather our reading, which is according to the original, as also according to the Septuagint, It shall not be well with the wicked: how well soever either themselves or others may imagine it to be now with them, it shall not be well with them. Among those things which almighty God shewed to the Prophet Ezekiel in the Temple, 
Ezek. 41.18. c. 19.  wee red, and it was made with Cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm three was between a Cherub and a Cherub, and every Cherub had two faces, so that the face of a man was towards the palm three on the one side, and the face of a young lion towards the palm three on the other side, Now what doth a Cherub import, but a fullness of knowledge? And is it not Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge? 
Colos. 2.3.  Is not he the very wisdom of God? He it is therefore, who hath two faces, the one like the face of a man, courteteous and mildred; the other of a lion, fierce and terrible, with both it is said, 
Hesychius sup. c. 23. Levitici.  That he beholded a palm three. Now a palm three in the Scriptures, as Hesychius tells us, useth to signify justice. Wherefore Christ beholdeth justice, both with a mans face, and with a lions face: with a mans face in this life, which is a time of mercy, and wherein he spareth the wicked, expecting their amendment. But when the fullness of the time of this life is come, and that the wicked are called to judgement, then he looketh upon justice with the face of a lion, with the fierceness of his wrath, and then it shall not be well with the wicked. Then as the Prophet Esaiah speaketh, 
Isai. 30.27.  his lips shall be full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire, sending the wicked by his sentence into that fire, of which Saint Austin speaking, 
Augustin.  saith, Ignis iste noster licet qualis fornacis Babyloniae sit, igni illi inferni comparatus, est velut ignis depictus, This fire of ours, although it be such as was in the furnace of Babylon, being compared with the fire of hell, is but a painted fire. Neither shall he prolong his dayes: Saint jerome expounding these words, saith, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Non enim hi qui multo tempore vivunt, prolongant dies suos, said qui grandes eos faciunt honorum operum magnitudine, For they who live a great while, do not prolong their dayes, but they who make them to be great by the greatness of their good works. Wherefore, saith he, 
Gene. 47.9.  Jacob confessing his sins, saith, Few and evil have been my dayes. But the Preacher speaking of the time to come, meaneth, as I conceive, That though the dayes of the wicked may be long in this life, whereof in the verse before he speaketh, yet that in respect of the next life, which shall be endless, 
Psal. 102.11.  they shall be very short. Wherefore when the Prophet David complaineth, I am withered like grass, Saint jerome expoundeth it, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Non quod longam vitam quaesierit in presenti, said quod de futuro timeat, ne longitude vitae ipsius, ubi vera est vita brevietur, Not that he desired a long life in this present world, but because he feared of that which is to come, least there the length of his life should be short, where true life is. Saint Austin therefore speaking to one who is troubled at the prosperity of the wicked in this life, saith, Attendis ad dies tuos paucos,& diebus tuis paucis vis impleri omnia. Quae omnia? ut damnentur omnes impii,& coronenter omnes justi. Istis diebus tuis vis haec omnia impleri? Implet ea Deus in tempore suo. Quod tibi videtur longum, breve est, omnia ista cito transeunt,& qui florent ad tempus intereunt in aeternum, Thou dost attend unto thy few dayes, and in thy few dayes thou wouldst have all things to be fulfilled. What all things? That all the wicked be condemned, and all the godly be crwoned. Wouldest thou that all these things should be fulfilled in thy dayes, they shall be fulfilled by God in his time. That which seemeth long to thee, is but a little while: all those things quickly pass away, and they who flourish for a time, 
Augustin. in Psal. 91.  do perish for ever. Which are as a shadow: the Hebrew is no more then, as a shadow, and so the words may be referred either to that which goeth before thus, Neither shall he prolong his dayes, as a shadow: for a shadow is prolonged when the sun is going down, and then is longest when the sun is lowest, and nearest to a setting; but so shall not the dayes of the wicked be prolonged. For when their sun cometh to set, their temporal life to end, then the length of their eternal life shall quiter be cut off; and not a day of comfort for ever shall be afforded to them. Or else these words, as a shadow, may be referred unto that which followeth, and so Cajetane doth refer them, 
Cajetanus in hunc vers.  who expounding these words saith, He compareth a man that doth not fear in the sight of God, unto a shadow, because as a shadow is not his true body, whose shadow it is, but only some representation of it, Ita non timens conspectum divinum non est homo said hoins umbra, So he that feareth not the divine look, is not a man, but the shadow of a man. He is not I say a man according to the use of understanding, but a shadow of a man: for the use of mans mind dependeth upon the fear of the divine sight, as it were upon the first rule. And indeed the Original seemeth to favour this exposition, which saith, Qui non ipse timens a faciebus Dei, as if the sense were, who being not himself, feareth not before God, and that the negation did deny as well himself as his fear. Saint Gregory therefore speaking also of the wicked, saith, Ideò peccasse se nesciunt, quia homines se non attendunt: nam si considerarent se homines, citius agnoscerent, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 24. c. 6.  quantò infrà homines peccando cecidissent, Therefore do they not know themselves to have sinned, because they do not mark themselves to be men: for if they did consider themselves to be men, they would acknowledge how far by sinning they had fallen below men. Because he feareth not before God: that is, because he feareth not to come before God at the judgement day. But because he feareth so little now, when the time cometh, he shall fear and tremble beyond all imagination. 
Matth. 24.29.  Our Saviour in some sort describing that time, saith, that then the powers of heaven shall be shaken: and Saint Austin expounding it saith, De angels hoc dicit, timor en. illos apprehendet, magnus timor; He speaketh this of the Angels, for trembling and great fear shall surprise them. 
Augustin Serm. in far. 6. Paras.  But if the Angels shall tremble at the horror of that day, who being guilty of no sin, shall not then be judged, how shall the wicked tremble, whose judgement and condemnation shall then be pronounced. Holcot 
Holcot.  telleth a story of two souldiers, that coming to the valley Jehosaphat, in Judaea; and one saying to the other here shall be the general judgement, wherefore I will now take up my place, where I will then sit, and so taking up a ston he sate down upon it, as taking possession before hand. But being sate, and looking up to heaven, such a quaking and trembling fell upon him, that falling to the earth, he remembered the day of judgement with trembling ever after. This fear may give some remonstrance of that which then shall be felt; but the feeling of it will be greater then can be apprehended now.   

Ver. 14. There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there be just men unto whom it happeneth, according to the work of the wicked; again there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.  
Ver. 15. Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, then to eat, and drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the dayes of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.  
Ver. 14. This verse speaketh of two things which fall out in the world, the misery of the just; the prosperity of the wicked, and unto each the Preacher addeth a several vanity, to make it the better noted. This is saith he a vanity which is done upon the earth: for it is while the just are upon the earth, that this vanity cleaveth unto them, and that they have sins and corruptions in them, which by the evils of affliction are prevented and pared a way, that so they may not diminish their glory in heaven. 
Chald. Poraph.  The Chalde Paraphase therefore writing upon these words expoundeth them thus, Vidi in Spiritu sancto quòd malum accidit justis in hoc saeculo ad removendam ex eis culpam levem ut, sit merces eorum integra in saeculo venturo, I have seen by the holy Spirit that evil happeneth to the just in this world, to remove from them less faults, that so their reward may be whole and perfect in the world to come. Saint Austin considering that answer of the Spouse, when her beloved called her, I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? 
Cant. 5.3.  I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? thereupon saith, O grande misterium! ergone timet inquinare pedes remeando ad eum, qui discipulorum pedes lavit? Timet certe per quia terram venit, O great mystery! 
Augustm. tract. 57. in Johann.  what doth shee fear the fouling of her feet by going unto him, who washed his disciples feet? Shee feared indeed, because shee goeth upon the earth. For while the righteous go upon the earth, though with great earnestness and speed they even run to God, yet such is the vanity of this life, that their feet are defiled, and affliction is needful to wash the dirt away. Saint Bernard saith, Nobis fratres semper putationis est tempus, sicut est semper est opus: Scrutemur vias nostras& studia nostra,& eo se judicet quisque profecisse, non quum non invenerit quod reprehendat, said quum quod invenerit, reprehenderit, 
Bernard. Ser. 58. in Cant.  Brethren there is to us alway a time of pruning as it is always needful: let us search our ways and our endeavours, and herein let every one judge himself to have profited, not when he cannot find that which he may reprehend, but when he reprehendeth that which he findeth. The other vanity in this world whereof the Preacher speaketh, is the prosperity of the wicked, and whereof the Preacher saith, I said this also is vanity. A vanity it is the world, and maketh oftentimes even the righteous vain in their imaginations, when they think upon it. So that as Saint Austin speaketh, some one in his troubled mind is even ready to say, Deus, puto mali tibi placent,& bonos odisti; amas eos qui faciunt iniquitatem, O God I think that the wicked please thee, and that thou hatest the good, thou lovest those that work iniquity. Another as the same Father speaketh, considering himself to be cast into prison, and there to be careful to do the works of righteousness, while he that did cast him into prison, though living in wickedness, rejoiceth and aboundeth in the pleasures of the earth, from hence his disquieted heart is even ready to say, 
Augustin. psal. 91.  Deus quare tibi servio, quare obedio verbis tuis? O God why do I serve thee, why do I obey thy words? Now indeed whereas the Psalmist saith, O Lord how great are thy works? And thy thoughts are very deep, it is Saint Austins note upon it, Nullum mere est tam profundum quam est ista cogitatio Dei, ut mali floreant,& boni laborent, 
Augustin. Ibid.  There is no sea so deep as is this thought of God, that the wicked do flourish, and the good are troubled. And in this very place Saint Hierom tells us, that whereas we red it, There is a vanity which is done, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Symmachus did red it thus, est difficile cognitu quod sit supper terram, It is hard to be understood that which is done upon the earth. Hard it was to Solomon who therefore confesseth, I said that this is also vanity. Hard it is even to those who living justly, and knowing God to be just, do think with themselves, Decet eum meliora dare melioribus, It behoveth him to give the better things to them that are better. But let me say to every such one, as Saint Austin doth. Esto tranquillus& intelliges: 
Augustin. in psalm. 91.  nam perturbaris& in cubiculo tuo obscuras tibi lucem. Radiare tibi vult Deus Aeternus, noli tibi facere nubilum de perturbatione esto tranquillus in te,& vide quid tibi dicit, Bee pacified and thou shalt understand, for thou art troubled, and dost darken the light to thyself in thine own chamber. The eternal God is willing to shine in unto thee, do not make thyself a cloud from thine own perturbation: be quiet in thyself, and see what he saith unto thee: Quia Deus aeternus est modo parcit malis adducens eos ad paenitentiam, 
Psal. 92.132.  flagellat bonos erudiens illos ad regnum coelorum, Because God is eternal, he spareth the wicked leading them unto repentance, he chastiseth the good bringing them up and instructing them to the kingdom of Heaven. It is good therfore in all things to praise the Lord, and to give thanks unto him, to show forth his loving kindness in the morning, and his faithfulness every night as the Psalmist speaketh. Now as Saint Austin hath it, the morning is, when it is well with us, when we have comfort: 
Augustin. in psal. 91.  the night is, when we are in heaviness and sorrow: what therefore is it that wee are briefly taught? But in our prosperity to praise the mercy of God, in our adversity to praise the righteousness of God, who layeth no more upon any, then while they are upon the earth, their sins do deserve though they be just and godly. For he praiseth the righteousness of God, Qui non accusat Deum, quia patitur aliquid mali, said tribuit illud peccatis suis,& emendationi ipsius, who doth not accuse God because he suffereth any evil, but ascribeth it unto his own sins, and to God amending of him. As for the flourishing of the wicked, the same Father speaketh also very well, Nolite seduci prosperitate impiorum, nolite attendere florem faeni, nolite attendere ad tempus beatos, in aeternum miseros, Suffer not yourselves to be seduced with the felicity of the wicked, regard not the flower of the grass; regard not them who are happy for a time, and eternally miserable.  
Ver. 15. It is a common received opinion, that in this book the Preacher often speaketh under the person of others. And that he doth so, Saint Gregory proveth, because in the end of the book he saith, Finem loquendi omnes pariter audiamus, let us all hear together the conclusion, or as wee red it, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. 
Gregor. Dialog. l. 4. c. 4.  For saith he si in libro eodem per locutionem suam personas multorum non susceperat, cur ad audiendum loquendi finem secum pariter omnes admonebat, If in the same book, by the manner of his speech he had not taken upon him the persons of many, why doth he admonish all together with himself to hear the end of the speech. Wherefore going on he saith, there are are somethings in that book which are moved by way of enquiry: other things which give a reason by way of satisfaction Alia quae ex tentati profert animo,& adhuc hujus mundi delectationibus dediti: alia in quibus ea quae sunt rationis affert, atque animum à delectatione compescit, Other things which he produceth from the mind of one that is tempted, and as yet is given to the delights of the world: other things in which he discourseth according unto reason, and withdraweth the mind from delight. Gregory Nyssene speaketh doubtfully of this point and saith, Anne autem dicat, quasi ea reverà fecisset, an fingens propter utilitatem nostram, ut consequenter ad scopum ducat orationem suam, 
Gregory Nyssen in Eccles. Homil. 3.  non possum asserere: liceat volenti quam velit ea de re facere conjecturam, Whether he speaketh, as having done these things indeed, or else as framing his speech in this manner for our profit, that he might the better bring it to his proposed scope, I cannot affirm: let it be lawful for him that will, to conjecture of it as he will. The reason of this opinion is, because that there are divers passages of this book, Quae qui virtutem sibi proponit non libenter adsciverit, which he that proposeth virtue to himself would not willingly allow of as Gregory Nyssene speaketh. But that is as things are understood. In this verse, when some do red it, fort convivia meditantur, calices praeparant, tempus rosarum expectant, They meditate of feasts, they prepare cups, 
Augustin in Ps. 99.  they expect the time of roses, as Saint Austins words are upon the like occasion. And then the Preacher must be concieved to speak in the person of a carnal man, who mindeth onely the things of this life. But let it be free for me, to take the Preacher here as speaking from himself, and so to speak of a cheerfulness of heart, which is a thing not only pleasing unto God, but graceful in man. For the Preacher having spoken of the oppression of the wicked, and of the troubles of the righteous, here he sheweth a good remedy against them, and an excellent carriage in them. Then I commended mirth; when he had considered the troubles of mans life, then he commended cheerfulness, he commended it as a thing worthy of praise in itself, he commended it unto men, as a thing bringing much good unto them. And this it is which the Prophet David commendeth, 
Psal. 100.2.  saying, Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing. Although it be a service of misery and labour, in which thou art, yet pass through it with a merry and glad hart: do not murmur at it, do not fret, chafe, vex thyself for it. Non id agunt murmura tua ut non servias, 
Augustin. in Psal. 99.  said ut malus sis servus, Thy murmurings do not make thee not to serve still, but onely to be a bad servant in it, as S. Austin speaketh. But mark also, what the Prophet addeth, Come before his presence with cheerfulness; for it is no great matter to be cheerful outwardly, but do thou bee cheerful in the presence of God, Non valdè lingua exultet, said conscientia exultet, Let not thy tongue be very merry, but let thy conscience be cheerful: be glad and merry in the sight of the Lord, because a man hath no better thing under the sun. But above the sun there is far better, there is such mirth as here can not be conceived, Ibi totum negotium nostrum erit non nisi laudare Deum& frui Deo: 
Augustin. in Psal. 86.  hoc uno beati erimus otioso negotio, There all our business will be nothing, but to praise God, and to enjoy God: by this one quiet business we shall be blessed, as Saint Austin speaketh. While we are here there is nothing better then to be cheerful, which maketh comforts to be much more comfortable, and maketh troubles to be much less trouble some. Then to eat and to drink and to be merry: although it be the bread of sorrow that thou eatest, although it be the cup of affliction that thou drinkest, eat it, and drink it merrily. Because oppression eats thee, do not thou forbear to eat thy meate; because afflictions swallows thee up, do not thou forbear to swallow down thy drink, but do both merrily, which will make thy meate and drink to do thee the more good. Or else we may take these words as an expression of inward cheerfulness, by the outward manner of the world. Thus saith S. Austin was holy Crispina cheerful, 
Augustin. in Psal. 137.  Gaudebat quum tenebatur, quum ad judicem ducebatur, quum in carcerem mittebatur, quum ligata producebatur, quum in catastâ levebatur, quum audiebatur, quum damnabatur. In his omnibus gaudebat,& eam miseri miseram putabant, quae coram angels gaudebat, She was merry when she was apprehended, when she was lead to the Judge, when she was sent into prison, when being bound she was brought forth, when she was lifted up in the cage, when she was heard, when she was condemned. In all these things she rejoiced, and they who were miserable thought her to be miserable, who rejoiced before the Angels. Of this cheerfulness Gilbertus speaking saith, Quis dabit hortulo meo hanc aquam? Quis dabit, ut tota hortuli mei facies irigua sit laetitia,& lucis rivulis nihil in eo aut sterile sit, aut quadam indevotione trust? vicina sterilitati videtur operatio tristis,& spiritualis gaudii carens irrigatione, Who will give into my little garden this water? who will cause that the whole face or plot of my garden may be watered with cheerfulness, so that by the rivers of light somnesse, there may be nothing in it either barren, or else sad by a kind of indevotion. For a sad working, 
Gilbert. Serm. 34. in Cantu.  and wanting the watering of a spiritual cheerfulness, seemeth to be nere unto barrenesse. For that shall abide with him of his labour: and make him to abide and continue though troubles assault him never so much. Hoc comitabitur eum in labour, this shall abide with him, keep him company in his labour, saith Arrias Montanus, and make him able to a bide his labour: Saint jerome adds, Et ipsum egredietur cum eo de labour suo, And that shall go with him out of his labour, as leading him also the sooner and the better out of it. The dayes of his life. The Hebrew is the dayes of his lifes, and though it be an hebraism yet we may take it, as speaking of the two kinds of mans life, either in trouble or in comfort, and of his dayes in both. When the Prophet David saith▪ Every day will I bless thee, 
Psal. 145.2.  Saint Austin noteth upon it, Non mirum est si laeto die tuo benedicis Deum tuum, 
August. in Psal. 144.  It is no marvel if in thy cheerful day thou dost bless thy God with cheerfulness: but if a sad day come, if troubles fall upon thee, and then thou bear them with a cheerful hart, then thou be cheerful in praising the Lord, this is that which David saith that he would do, this is that which the son of David here would have thee to do. Which God giveth him under the sun: The dayes of man being under the sun, their course is like unto the sun, and as the sun sometimes shineth, sometimes is clouded, so the dayes of man are sometimes clear, sometimes dark. Under the sun they are, but yet given by God who is above the sun: from his providence come both good and bad dayes unto us. There were three dayes before the sun was made, and that was to show, that God is the author, and not the sun, of the day unto us. And surely he it that is the Author of the goodness or badness of our dayes unto us. And therefore let us still be cheerful, as thankful for his favour, as resting in his providence, as contented in his will, as obedient to his pleasure.   

Ver. 16. When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth( for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes.)  
Ver. 17. Then I beholded all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yea further though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not he be able to find it.  

Psal. 1.2.  Ver. 16. The Prophet David speaking of a blessed man saith, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night: where there is first a delight, there followeth such an earnest meditation, as that it ceaseth not day nor night. And so here where the hart to is applied to know wisdom, there is such a seeking of it, as that neither day nor night he seeth sleep with his eyes. But as Saint Ambrose noteth, that he meditateth day and night, In quo non tàm continua legendi postulatur intentio, quàm servandae legis affectus. Ille enim plenè meditatur, qui sibi ipsi lex, 
Ambros. in Ps. 1  scriptum in cord suo opus legis intendens, In whom there is not required so much a continual eagerness of reading, as an earnest affection to the keeping of the law. For he meditateth fully, who is a law to himself intending the work of the law written in his hart. In like manner, the study of wisdom night and day is not so much to beate and break the brains in the apprehension of it, as rather to make a right use of it, by the application of the hart unto it. Meditetur ergo legem vita nostra; meditetur conversatio, meditetur actus, Let our life therefore saith S. Ambrose meditate the law, let our conversation meditate it, let our actions meditate it;& so let me say, let the government of our ways study wisdom, let the framing of our works study it, for that is to apply the hart to know wisdom. But what is the wisdom which the Preacher is so earnest to know? To see the business that is done upon the earth, that is to see the wisdom of Gods providence in ruling and ordering the affairs of the earth. And indeed as the glorious wisdom of God doth therein shine unto us, so it is needful to observe it, and to look into it. Seneca observeth it with wonder in the use of the winds, which suffer not the air to wax muddy, said continuâ vexatione utilem reddunt vitalemque tracturis, But by a continual vexation tossing and taring of it, do make it to be useful and vital unto them that draw it in; which, that the fruits may be gathered, blow away those superfluous things which are mixed with them, Et latentem fructum, ruptis velamentis suis( quae folliculos agricolae vocant) adaperit, 
Seneca l. 5. Qu. natural c. 18. & openeth the hidden fruit by breaking the coverings of it, which husband-men call the husck or hose of the corn, which nourish plants and trees, and by shaking of them serve to ripen those things which they bear, drawing up the nourishment unto the top, which else might stay and be stopped: and which lastly give commerce to people divided far a sunder, and make man to know those things, whereof his own countty would have left him ignorant. Seneca doth again observe it, in the miseries of some, the ease and quietness of others. For saith he a fresh soldier feareth the suspicion of a wound, but he that hath been long in the warres, boldly looketh on his blood, as knowing that often he hath won the victory, when he hath lost his blood; Hos itaque quos Deus amat, probat, indurat, recognoscit exercet, 
Sene: l. de Divina Provident.  eos autem quibus indulgere videtur molles ventuis malis servat, Those therefore whom he loveth, he proveth, he hardeneth, he knoweth, he trieth, but those whom he seemeth to spare, he keepeth them tender, for evils to come. It is needful also to look into the wisdom of Gods providence, thereby to be the better able to answer fools who make objections against it. Some of them are proposed by Saint Austin, as Qualis inquiunt providentia, Getulia sitit,& mere compluitur? Et quare aliquando percutiunt montem fulmina,& non percutiuut latronem? What a providence say they is this, Getulia is dry and thirsty, and the sea is rained upon? And why sometimes do the lightnings shriek the mountaines, and not strike the robbers which are upon them? As for the sea, the Father answereth, that there are creatures living in it, which have need of of fresh waters, and which therefore do often come into the fresh rivers for them. And whereas the objection going further saith, Quare pisci pluit& mihi non pluit aliquando? Why doth it rain for the fish and not for me sometimes? The Father answereth; Ut cogites te in regione esse deserti,& ut amarescat tibi vita praesens, futuramque desideres, That thou mayest consider thyself to be in a desert region, and that this life being bitter to thee, thou mayest desire that which is to come. As for Getulia he answereth, that in other places where corn can not be kept long, but is quickly corrupted, 
Augustin. in Psal. 148.  there it raineth every year, and every year corn groweth: ibi quia raro,& multum datur,& diu servatur, There where it raineth more seldom, much corn is given at once, and it will also be kept a long time. Lastly as for the lightnings he saith, Majores majora noverint,& debt vobis Deus plus sapere quam dico, They who are more learned know more, and God grant that you may understand more then I say: but let me say what I consider, Ideo aliquando percutitur mons, qui non timet, ut mutetur homo, qui timet,& tu quum das disciplinam, terram feris, ut infans expavescat, Therefore sometimes is the mountain strucken, who can not fear, that man who feareth may be changed by it: thou thyself also, when thou reprovest thy child, dost sometimes strike the ground that the child may fear. To conclude this meditation, it is needful to look into the providence of God, that seeing his infinite majesty, goodness, love, power, wisdom, we may know him the better, and be stirred up to love him the more. For as Saint Austin speaketh in his meditations, Quisquis Domine cognoscit te, diligit te, obliviscitur se, 
Aug. in meditationibus.  & amat te plùs quàm se, relinquit se,& venit ad te, ut gaudeat de te, whosoever, O Lord, knoweth thee, he loveth thee, he forgetteth himself, and he respecteth thee more then himself; he forsaketh himself, he cometh to thee, that he may rejoice in thee.  
Vers. 17. Then I beholded all the work of God: he beholded all to be the work of God, all the world to have been made by him, all things in the world to be ordered by him. For as Saint Austin speaketh, Quicquid hic accidat contrà voluntatem nostram, 
Aug. in Psal. 148.  noveris non accidere nisi de voluntate Dei, de providentiâ ipsius, de ordine ipsius, de nutu ipsius, de legibus ipsius, Whatsoever here cometh to pass, against thy will, know that it doth not come to pass but from the will of God, from his Providence, from his disposing, from his pleasure, from his laws. That a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: where, to find out the work, is to find out the reason of the work, and the manner of it. For the work itself is offered to the sight, but the reason, the manner of it, is that which cannot be discovered by man. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome considering those words of Saint Paul, When I was a child, &c. saith, 
1. Cor. 13.11.  Quamvis puer, plura videat, audiat,& loquatur,& sapiat quidem, nihil tamen integrè; 
Chrysost. Hom l. de Incompreh. Dei natura.  ità more pueri ego quoque& scio complura, modum tamen eorum ignoro, Although a child see, hear, and speak many things, and be wise also, yet it is not perfectly; so like a child, I know many things, but I am ignorant of the manner of them. For it is most true, 
Cyprian de Card●n. operibus Christi.  as Saint Cyprian speaketh; Non patitur ad liquidum se videri divinitas, quam utique investigatio fidelis aliquo modo adorat vel sentit, The Divinity doth not suffer itself to be discerned plainly, which yet a faithful searching in some measure adoreth, or perceiveth. A faithful searching perceiveth so much, as to adore God for that which man cannot perceive, and dareth not in any thing to blame that which is done by him. He that cometh into a workmans shop, and seeth many tools there, Si non habeat peritiam artificis,& habeat saltem considerationem hoins, quid sibi dicit? If he have not the skill of the artificer, yet if he have at least the consideration of a man in him, what doth he say to himself? Surely these things do not without cause lye here: the workman knoweth why, though I know not. In officinâ non audet vituperare fabrum,& audet in mundo reprehendere Deum, In the shop he dareth not to reprehend a workman, and shall any one dare in the world to reprehend God, 
Aug. in Psal. 148.  saith Saint Austin. But if a man know not the work that is done under the sun, much more doth he not know that, which is done above the sun. The counsels of God are much more hidden from him, if that which the sun shows him yet be concealed from him. Because though a man labour to seek it out: the labour of man by seeking findeth much, but this it cannot find; in this saith Saint jerome, Nihil aliud proficit, nisi in suâ tantùm quaestione torqueri,& disputationem pro tormento habere, nec tamen invenire quod quaerit, It profiteth nothing else but to be tortured in its own rack, to be tormented with its own disputation, and yet not to find that which it seeketh. 
Chrysost. Dei Incomp. Dei Nat. Hom. 3.  The Uulgar latin reads it; Et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniet, And by how much the more it shall be labour to seek, by so much the less it shall find it. For as Lyra noteth, ex tali curiosa inquisitione, frequenter aliquis in errorem incidit, From such a curious seeking oftentimes a man falleth into error. Yea, indeed the ways of God are such, that not onely being sought they cannot be found, but that they cannot be sought also. Wherefore when Saint Paul saith; that God dwelleth in light, which no man can approach unto, Saint Chrysostom noteth, Diligentiae Pauli attend, non dicit lucem incomprehensibilem, said lucem inaccessibilem, quod long amplius est. Quod en: inquisitum& investigatum comprehendi non potest, id dicimus incomprehensibile esse, quod autem neque investigandi ullo modo operam patitur,& ad quod nemo proprius accedere potest, id inaccessibile est, Observe the diligence of Paul, he doth not say a light incomprehensible, but a light inaccessible, which is much more. For that which being sought and preached for, cannot he comprehended, we say is incomprehensible, but that which suffereth not by any means the labour of searching after, and which no one can come near that is inaccessible. Yea, further, though a wise man think to know it, yet he shall not be able to find it out: a wise man thinketh with himself, that he can know much, and he resolveth with himself that he will know much, but let him think of himself what he can, let him resolve with himself what he will, his thoughts in his kind are vain, his resolution fruitless, he cannot find out the ways of Gods Providence. But as Saint Cyprian speaketh, Quantumlibet ad cor altum homo ascenderit, exaltatur Deus, 
Cyprian de Cardin. Operib. Christi.  to how high a heart soever a man ascendeth, God is still exalted above him. Saint jerome, and the Vulgar Latin red it here, etiansi dixerit sapiens se cognoscere: Although a wise man shall say that he knows it, yet it is but idle talk, for he cannot find it, that is, saith Lyra, Non poterit verbis explicare, ex quo patet eum se falso jactasse, He shall not be able to express it in words, from whence it is evident, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  that he did falsely brag and boast of himself. Yea, saith Saint jerome, Quum haec dixerit se cognovisse; tunc ignorationis principium habet,& in profundo versatur error, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  When he saith that he knoweth it, then hath he the beginning of ignorance, and then is he fallen into a deep error. Wherefore such a wise man, can be but such a one as among men seemeth to be a wise man. Notwithstanding the words here imply, that there is a reason of the things that are done, and that there is a right way in the doing of them, although they be in secret, and cannot be found out by man. Wherefore let man be contented, and leave the works of God to God. For as Saint Cyprian considereth very well; If that I be ignorant of mine own soul, and am not sufficient to understand what it is, Si ignota est mihi ratiò, quare ipsa delectetur corpore persecutore suo, if the reason be concealed, and unknown unto me why my soul is delighted to be in the body which is the persecutor of it, Patienter me far oportet, si Deum operatorem Universi non intelligo, qui in minimis operarum ejus: particulis meam profiteor ignorantiam, I ought to bear it patiently, that I understand not God the maker of the Universe, 
Aug. in Psal. 148.  who in the smallest particles of his works, do profess mine ignorance. Let us therefore conclude with Saint Austin, Si nos non intelligimus; quid, quare fiat, debeamus hoc providentiae quod non fiat sine causâ. If we understand not, what, why it is done, let us owe this duty to Gods Providence, to be assured that it is not done without cause.    

CHAPTER IX.  

Ver. 1. For all this I considered in mine heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works are in the hand of God, no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him.  
Ver. 2. All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner: and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.  
Ver. 3. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all, yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.  
Vers. 1. THe method of the Preachers proceeding, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Lyra setteth down to be this: that having before shewed the happiness of man, as it is begun in this life by the exercise of virtues and good works, here he proceedeth to reprove the pride of mans heart, which oftentimes ariseth from virtue and goodness. And this, saith he, the Preacher doth two ways, Primo ex incertitudine humani status, secundo ex facilitate casus; first from the uncertainty of mans standing, and that in this chapter, secondly from the facility of mans falling, and that in the next chapter. In this chapter he conceiveth the Preacher to set forth the uncertainty of human standing four ways, 
Lyra in hunc Versi.  primo circa bonum gratiae, secundo circa bonum fortunae, tertio circa bonum naturae, quarto circa bonum gratitudinis humanae, first concerning the good of grace, from the first verse unto the eleventh, secondly concerning the good of fortune in the eleventh vers, thirdly concerning the good of nature from the eleventh verse unto the thirteenth, lastly concerning the good of human thankfulness from thence to the end of the chap. The first part beginneth thus, For all this I considered in mine heart: he that will rightly consider of any thing had need to consider of many things: all that do concern it, all that may give light unto it, had need to be looked into. All this therefore saith the Preacher I considered in my mind, the original is, dedi in cord meo; I put in my hart, 
Prosper de Voca. Gen. l. 2. c. 24.  or else as Prosper hath it, dedi in cor meum, I put into my hart; to which purpose Tremellus also reads it Condidi in cord meo, I laid up in my hart, there often to consider it and to look into it. Even to declare all this: it is a right end of seeking wisdom and knowledge, when any one seeks it, that he may help others to find it, and when having found it himself he shows it and declares it unto others, which do not see it, nor perceive it. But yet I do not think this to be the meaning of the Preacher in this place. For the original word here used it {αβγδ} and signifieth, ad expurgandum ad purificandum, to cleanse, to purify; so that the meaning is, that he considered all this to cleanse and purge his hart of doubts and difficulties, and to clear and purify his mind in the right understanding of things. Wherefore S. jerome tells us that Symmachus more plainly did translate it, 
Hierony. in hunc versi.  Ut ventilarem haec universa, that I might sift and winnow all these things: for it is not a little tossing, and tumbling, and turning of the thoughts, that is required to search out truth. That the righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: the wise and the righteous are joined together, because none is truly wise but he that is righteous, and he that is righteous is truly wise, whatsoever the world may think of either of them. They and their works are joined together, for they are both of them for the most part working: they are their works also that do bring them into Gods hand, and do find a place there for them. By there works God weighs them in his hand, and accordingly judgeth of their weight and worth. The original word here used is {αβγδ} Servitia eorum, the offices of their service and ministering are in Gods hand, and they, who as the eyes of a maiden do wait upon her mistress, so do wait upon God in the obedience of their lives, they and their services are in the hand of God. Neither they nor their services are forgotten, but there they are kept safe in the hand of God, and that hand which now keepeth them, will at last reach forth a glorious reward unto them. In the mean while, there they are, and by that hand are ruled, ordered, guided and disposed of. Prosper citeth this verse to prove that the righteousness of the righteous, the wisdom of the wise, 
Prosper de vocat: Gen. l. 1. c. 24.  they and their works are from Gods hand, and from his grace working in them: & tantum in studiis suis proficiunt, quantum ille donaverit, and so much do they profit in their endeavours as he giveth to them. S. Ambrose citeth also these words to the same purpose, saying, Unde in Ecclesiastae libro legimus, quod corda& opera justorum in manu Dei sint,& tantum in studiis suis proficiant quantum ille provexerit: 
Ambros. Epist. l. 4. Si non sit etiam Prosper, Epistola.  From whence wee red in the book of the Preacher, that the harts and the works of the righteous are in the hand of God, and that so far do they go forward, as he doth advance them, and carry them on. No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him: Aben-Ezra referreth this love and hatred unto men, and taking love for the thing loved by them, hatred for the thing hated by them, that is, for things of adversity, and things of prosperity, giveth this sense of it, 
Aben Ezra.  that no one knoweth which of these shall befall him, and therefore that he should not vex and disquiet himself about them, but to commit himself into the hand of God in whose hand he is. But the more general opinion is to refer this love and hatred unto God: in whom then, they are no way to be taken and understood as they are in man, passions of corruption. For as Tertullian speaketh, Corrumpi per haec homo potest, 
Tertullian. de Trinita. c. 5.  quia corrumpi potest per haec Deus non potest, quia nec potest corrumpi. Man may be corrupted by these because he can be corrupted, but God cannot be corrupted by these, because he neither can be corrupted. If therefore wee understand them of God, wee must understand them in a divine manner. The Papists do understand these words with reference unto God in this sort, as if any one in this life could not tell whether he be in the favour or else in the displeasure of God. But as Chemnicius well noteth, 
Chemnici Exam. 1. council. Trident. de fide justifican.  if a righteous man cannot tell whether he be in the favour of God, cannot a wicked man tell whether God be displeased with him or no. For it is both whereof the words speak, and therefore that they have that meaning is more then I conceive. It may seem that S. Bernard did sometime understand them so, who speaking of this verse, saith, Terribilis est iste locus,& totius expers quietis, totus inhorrui, si quando in eum raptus sum, illam apud me replicans cum tremore sententiam, nescit homo utrum amore an odio sit dignus, It is a terrible place and void of all quietenesse, 
Bernad. Ser. 23. in Cant.  I have been full of quaking when I have fallen upon it, repeating with myself that sentence, a man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred. But in another place he gives it this exposition,& speaking of these words he saith, Hic jam planè fidem nobis subvenire necesse est: hic oportet succurrere veritatem, ut quod de nobis latet in cord patris, nobis per ipsius Spiritum reveletur& spiritus ejus testificans persuadeat Spiritui nostro quod filii Dei sumus. Here now it is needful that faith do come to help us: 
Bernard. Ser. 5. de dedication.  here the truth must succour us, that what lieth hide concerning ourselves in the hart of the Father, may be revealed by his spirit to us, and let his spirit witnessing persuade our spirit that we are the sons of God. The full testimony of the spirit herein is not always granted to us: and in respect of that S. Bernard says also very well, 
Bernard. supra Cantic. ser. 22.  Heu rara hora,& parva mora. Alas it is a rare hour, and a spare stay. But yet the servants of God have that which is sufficient for them, and though not a certanity of security, yet a certanity of confidance, whereby they rely upon the promises of God. To grant then the words to be referred to God, the meaning of them is best shewed by him who hath delivered them. The next verse therefore he beginneth thus. All things come alike to all, and thereby declareth his meaning to be, that by the things of this life which come alike to all, no one knoweth either the love or hatred of God towards him. This our translation expresseth, by reading the conclusion of the verse thus, by all that is before him; And though the word By, be added to the original, yet take we the original words as they are, the sense is the same: All is before them, that is, both are before them, as well prosperity which the world taketh for the love of God, as adversity which the world taketh for the hatred of God, all is before them, and they meet with both in this life.  
Ver. 2. All things come alike to all: here saith Lyra, praedictae incertitudinis ponitur ratio, the reason is set down of the uncertainty, whereof the former verse speaketh. For the unrighteous sometimes prosper in this life, so do the righteous sometimes, as the unrighteous sometimes are afflicted in this life, so are the righteous sometimes, Et ideo non potest distingui acceptus Deo, ab eo qui non est acceptus per aliquid quod contingat hominibus, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And therefore he that is accepted of God cannot be distinguished from him that is not accepted of him, by any thing which happeneth unto men. So that from hence he was even forced to give the right meaning of the former verse; although in expounding of it he went the common way of the Church of Rome: The following oppositions whereof the verse consisteth Lyra distinguisheth thus, To the righteous and to the wicked, quantum ad ea quae fiunt circa proximum, in respect of those things which are done towards our neighbour: to the good and evil as the vulgar Latin addeth, in respect of that, Quod respicit virtutem& vitium, which respecteth virtue and 'vice: to the clean and unclean, in respect of that Quod respicit honestatem& inhonestatem which respecteth honesty and dishonesty: to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not, in respect of that, Quod respicit erga Deum devotionem& indevotionē, which respecteth devotion& indevotion towards God. And so Tremellius saith, Colenti Deum,& non colenti, to him that worshippeth God, and to him that doth not worship him, a part of Gods worship being used for the whole. S. jerome saith that these are to be taken spiritually, as when it is said, The sacrifice of God is a broken& contrite heart. As is the good, so is the sinner: that is saith Lyra, Quantum ad bonitatem& malitiam operis generaliter, In respect of the goodness& badness of the work generally. And he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath: in respect of the government of the mouth and speech, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  which in using and shunning an oath is not a little shewed. But note by the way, how by swearing the wickedness of the mouth is signified, 
Psal. 51.17.  thereby to teach us how great a wickedness swearing is. And note again that the opposite to this wickedness is not not to swear but to fear an oath. For some may not swear by education as having been used to the contrary or other the like occasion. But it is he that feareth an oath that shuneth the wickedness of it. And so it is in other things also. But that it may be the better understood how these persons being so different the one from the other, yet that all things should come a like unto them, 
Aquin. 1. 2. Qu. 114. Ar. 10  Aquinas saith well, omnia aequè eveniunt bonis& malis, quantùm ad ipsam substantiam bonorum vel malorum temporalium, said non quantùm ad finem, quia boni per hujusmodi manu ducuntur ad beatitudinem, non autem mali, All things come alike unto the good and bad, in respect of the substance and matter itself of temporal good things, but not in respect of the end: because by these things the good are lead on to blessedness, but the wicked are not. But is it not the property of a reward not to come a like to all? 
Exod. 1.21.  And how then can the temporal good things of this life come to all a like, seing in the Scriptures they are set down as a reward? For are not temporal good things promised to the Israelites for a reward, as wee red in Deuteronomy? And is it not said of the egyptian midwifes, 
Deuteron. 28.  who spared the male-children that were born to the Israelites, 
Exod. 1.21.  contrary to Phaarohs commandement, and it came to pass, that because the midwifes feared God, that he made them houses? whereupon St. Gregory noteth, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 18. c. 2.  Quod benignitatis earum merces, potuit in aeternâ vitâ retribui, said culpa mendacii terrenam mercedem accepit, That the reward of there kindness might have been given them in eternal life, but the fault of their lying received a temporal recompense. To the first, concerning the temporal promises made unto the Israelites, St. Austin. answereth, that in them were the figures of those future spiritual blessings, which in the Gospel are accomplished. For a carnal people did stick to the promises of this temporal life, & illorum non tantum lingua, 
Augustin. cont. Faustum l. 4. c. 2  said etiam vita prophetica fuit, And not only their tongue, but their life was prophetical. To answer the second, and generally to show a resolution of the doubt, the nature of a reward containeth in it the consideration of some good thing, and therefore according to the good of man, so is the reward of man. Now the good of man is twofold, either that which is simply and absolutely good, or that which is good in some regard. That which is simply the good of man, is only that which is the last end of all his desires, of which the Psalmist saith, 
Psal. 73.28.  it is good for me to draw near to God. This therefore and consequently all those things which serve and conduce to this end have simply the nature of a reward in them. That which is the good of man not simply but in some regard, is that which is good unto him now and then, and therefore is not also simply but now and then a reward: wherefore then if temporal things be considered as they are serviceable unto the works of virtue, by which we are brought unto eternal life, so they have in them the nature of a reward; as the increase of grace after the first grace bestowed upon us, and all other things by which we are helped on to attain unto happiness: wherefore as temporal things are so given unto men whether good or bad, so they are a reward simply: but as temporal things are considered in themselves, so as they are not the good of man simply, but only in some respect, so neither are they a reward simply, but only in some respect, In quantum scilicet homines moventur à Deo ad aliqua temporaliter agenda, in quibus suum propositum consequuntur Deo favente, namely so far as men are moved by God, 
Aquin. 1. 2. Qu. 114. Ar. 10  to do some things temporally, in which God favouring them, they obtain that which is proposed and desired by them, 
Ezek. 29.18. v. 19.  as Aquinas speaketh. Thus egypt is said to be the wages of the army of the King of Babylon, and a reward to nabuchadnezzar; not in regard of their proud and insolent intention, but for as much as God was pleased to give success unto the army, and to make Nebucadnezzar victorius over that kingdom. The resolution then is, that as temporal things are a reward simply, which maketh them to have the nature of a reward in them, so they do not come a like to all, but as temporal things are only a reward in some regard, so although they be a reward, yet that they may come a like to good and bad.  
Ver. 3. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun: many are the evils which are done under the sun, many things which are seen and known to be evil, but this is an evil the like whereunto is not seen nor known among many, this is an evil the like unto which is not found among all. And therefore Saint jerome, the Vulgar Latin, Tremellius, do all red it, hoc est pessimum, this is the worst evil. The adding of under the sun, sheweth that he speaketh of an evil of vanity to which this life is subject. That there is one event to all: and so it is often, so it is in very many things, but yet not so always, not so in all things. For in his Proverbs the Preacher telling us, the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good, thereupon Salvianus saith, Ecce habes praesentem, ecce intuentem, ecce in omni loco curâ ac providentiâ vigilantem. Idcirco enim& bonos ab eo& malos considerari dixit, ut probaret scilicet nihil ab eo negligi, quem ostenderet universa rimari, 
Salvian. de Gub. Dei l. 2.  Behold thou hast God present, behold thou hast him looking on, behold in every place watching with care and providence. For he affirmeth the good and the bad to be considered by him, namely that he might prove nothing to be neglected by him, whom he sheweth to search into every thing. And as God beholdeth them who are not a like, 
Psal. 33.15. v. 16  so he beholdeth them in a manner not a like. For as the Psalmist speaketh, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears open to their cry: and let me ad as Salvianus doth, quam beati essemus omnes, si quam promptam erga nos Dei audientiam legimus, tàm promptè ipsi Deum audire vellemus, how happy should we be, if we would hear God so readily, as we red God to be ready in hearing of us. On the other side the Psalmist in the same place tells us, the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 
Salvean. eod. liii.  So that as Salvianus addeth, Intelligis generalem quidem esse in omnes Domini visionem said meritorum fieri disparilitate diversam, boni quip aspiciuntur ut conserventur, mali ut disperdantur, Thou understandest the sight of God to be general upon all, but to be made different by the diversity of their deserts: for the good are beholded that they may be preserved, the wicked that they may be destroyed. It is not therfore always that there is one event to all; was there one event to Lot and the Sodomites; Lot cum affectibus piis ab urbe educitur, urbs cum habitatoribus impiis concrematur; Lot with his good affections was brought out of the city, the city and the wicked inhabitants of it are burned together. Was there one event to Pharaoh& the Israelites? Pharaoh with his army pursueth them, castris jungitur, tenebris separatur, siccatur pelagus, Israel graditur, officiosâ undarum patientiâ liberatur, Pharaoh sequitur, mere supper eum volvitur, fluctu operiente deletur, his camp is joined to them, by darkness he is divided from them, the Sea is dried, Israel goeth on, and by an officious patience of the waters is delivered; Pharaoh follows, the Sea returneth upon him, the overflowing waters cover him. Was there one event to churlish Nabal, and courteous David? Did not Nabal die in the midst of his plenty? Did not God not only relieve Davids necessity but revenge his injury? Et quia se ipse ulscisci distulit, ultionem statim Deo executore percepit. And becamse he deferred to revenge himself, he had God forthwith to execute revenge for him. But yet it is true, as the Preacher here hath it, that commonly under the sun there is one event to all, Quae quidem quâ ratione patiatur Deus, neque humanae est imbecillitatis plenâ indagine cognoscere, neque nunc temporis disputare, which things for what reason God suffereth to be so, 
Salvia. de Gub. Dei lib. 1.  neither is human imbecility able by a full search to know, neither is it now seasonable to discourse of as Salvianus speaketh. But from hence it cometh to pass that the heart of the Sons of men is full of evil: from hence it is that from the heart of men velut font prorumpunt malarum passionum flumina, lateque exundant, 
Ambros. de Noe& Arca c. 5.  as it were from a fountain rivers of evil passions do break forth, and overflow every where. Hence it is that madn sse is in their heart, that is, a mad running after the pleasures of sin, a restless giddiness in the pursuing of them. For as Philo noteth, voluptas non est quiescentium& stantium, said commotorum& perturbatione plenorum; at sicut flamma continuò movetur, ità flammae more hic affectus in animâ excitus non sinit eam quiescere, 
Philo Legis Alleg. lih. 2.  Pleasure is not a thing belonging unto them who are quiet and stand still, but to those who are tossed and tumbled and full of disquietness; and as a flamme is continually moved, so like unto a flamme this affection being stirred up in the soul doth never suffer it to rest, but rather like a madness caryes it uncessantly from one thing to another. Far is the mind of voluptuous sinners from any consideration or knowledge of what they do: for as Philo also speaketh, Non sunt in rebus, dvo tàm contraria quàm voluptas carnalis& scientia, 
Phil. lib. quod Deus Immutab.  There are not in things, two things so contrary, as carnal pleasure and knowledge are. While they live, and after that they go to the dead: that is, they say within themselves, Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die; while we live let us take our pleasures, death cometh, and there is an end of all. For because they see the like event to come to all in this life, therefore they think that there is nothing to come after this life. But though under the sun things go so, yet when the sun shall be darkened, and the moon turned into blood, when the powers of heaven shall be shaken, there will be then a righting of those things, which in the vanity of this world are so much out of order. And indeed there is nothing that doth prove more forcibly, that the event of things will be otherwise at last, then that now, there is one event to all, both to good and bad. Wherefore, seest thou all things to fall out here alike, from hence be assured, that there is another world to come, in which the wicked shall have the reward of their wickedness, the good of their righteousness, and that things are here suffered to be alike unto them. For as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, Si justus est, dignis quod dignum est reddit, si fortis, etiam post mortem reddit( hoc enim fortitudinis est) si patience est, ne tumultuemur, neque dicamus quare non hic invehitur? If God be just, he giveth unto every one that which is due unto him, if strong, he giveth it even after death( for this is the part of strength) if patient, let us not tumultuously murmur, neither let us say, Why is not his justice shewed now?   

Ver. 4. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope; so a living dog is better then a dead lion.  
Ver. 5. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward: for the memory of them is forgotten.  
Ver. 6. Also their love and their hatred, and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.  
Vers. 4. They of whom, the verse before speaketh, namely the sons of men, whose heart is full of evil, are they who here do speak, and in the two following verses. They who there are mad with the love of sinful pleasures in this life, do here commend this life in regard of them. They say, to him that is joined to all the living there is hope, or there is trust, that is, as Tremellius doth well expound it, Praesentia sunt bona quibus homo confidenter utatur, ac non futurorum expectatione seipsum lactet. They are the present good things, which a man may confidently use, and let him not feed himself, let him not deceive himself with the expectation of things that are to come after death. And if I may note the words, in that it is said, joined to all the living, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  it may be conceived that the Preacher speaketh of a freedom of life, and a liberty to go where he pleaseth, for he it is, who hath this, that enjoyeth the pleasures of this life. But to consider the original Hebrew, there wee read thus {αβγδ}, Quis qui eligatur; Who is it that is chosen to all the living? But the Masoreths tell us, that in stead of {αβγδ} Eligatur is chosen, it must be red {αβγδ} associatur, Who is it that is joined to the living? This reading it is that our English translation followeth, only that it doth not red it as a question. But if wee take that reading which we find in the Hebrew, who is it that should be chosen to all the living? I suppose that it may have this meaning, who is there that needeth to be chosen into the number of all the living, and doth not rather choose it and desire it of himself? For a living dog is better then a dead lion: that is, he that is alive, though in the worst condition, is better then he who hath been of great account on the earth, but is now dead. For it is the manner of Scripture, by a dog to signify a most vile thing, and by a lion to express excellency. But though this be the judgement of voluptuous sinners living on the earth, 
Revel. 14.13.  Saint John heard a voice from heaven, saying, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. Wherefore Saint jerome comparing Vigilantius with Saint Paul, 
Hieronym. advers. vigilant. Epist. 53.  Meliorque erit vigilantius canis vivens quam ille lo mortuus? Shall Vigilantius, a living dog, be better then that lion which is dead? Nay the poorest that is dead, and dead in the Lord, having lived in his fear, is better then the bravest lion that is alive on earth. The last part of the verse being a proverbial sentence; there are many expositions that are applied unto it. One which Saint jerome giveth is this, Peccator vivens potest esse melior justo mortuo, si volverit in ejus transire virtutes. A wicked man living may be better, then a righteous man dead, if that he will change himself into his virtues. Another which he giveth is this, by the lion to understand the people of the Jews, of whom Balaam prophesyeth, He couched, 
Numbers 24.9.  he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion, who shall stir him up? By the dog he understandeth the Gentiles, as our Saviour Ghrist speaking to the woman of Canaan saith, It is not meet to take the childrens bread, 
mat. 15.26.  and to cast it unto dogges: the application he maketh thus; that the people of the Jews being forsaken, and so dead, the Gentiles, who are living, and enjoy the favours of God, are better then they. Saint jerome also tells us of another exposition, which his Hebrew master said that the Jews did give of it, which was by the dog, to understand any ordinary teacher; by the lion, 
Hieroni. in hunc vers.  Moses, or any other of the Prophets, and so the application to bee. Utiliorem esse indoctum,& eum qui adhuc vivat& doceat, praeceptore perfecto, qui jam mortuus est, him to be more profitable, although unlearned, who liveth and teacheth, then a perfect teacher, who is dead and gone. The exposition which Lyra giveth of it is this, Per canem mordacem,& leonem voracem intelliguntur homines mali, secundum tamen magis& minus, sicut lo est cane magis nocibus;& sic Solomon hic loquitur metaphorice; 
Lyra in hunc vers.  sicut& jam communi sermone, homo iracundus canis dicitur: est igitur quod peccator vivens est melioris conditionis quam est mortuus. By a biting dog, and a devourig lion, are understood wicked men; but yet with a difference of less and more wicked, as a lion is more hurtful then a dog. And so Solomon here speaketh metaphorically, as also in common speech wee say, that an angry man is a dog: the sense thereof is, that a sinner yet alive, is in better condition then a sinner that is dead. And the reason is given by Saint jerome, Quia viventes metu mortis possint bona opera perpetrare, 
Hierony. in hunc vers.  mortui autem nihil valent ad id adjicere, quod secum semel tulerunt a vita, Because they who are living, may by the fear of death be brought to do good works, but they who are dead can add nothing unto that which they have once taken away with them out of this life. The Arabian translation doth red this proverbial sentence thus, Canis ille vivas prestantior est leone mortuo, that living dog is better then a dead lion: as if the sentence did point at some dog more especially. And thereupon another exposition which I find applied to the words, is this; by the dog to understand such a one as barketh at strangers, and being undaunted, reproveth boldly the enemies of virtue& religion: by the lion to understand him, who though great in power, place and dignity, yet being silent and dumb, in not reproving the wickedness of such as are great in the world, in that respect is as it were dead, and so the living dog, though of meaner condition, to be better then he; This is the praise which nazianzen giveth to Hieron, Adesdum canis, non impudentia, 
Nazianz. Orat. 23.  sudoris libertate, non ingluvie, said quia in diem vivis, non latratu, said bonis custodia, vigilisque pro animarum salute susceptis, atque etiam quia virtutis quidem familiares ac domesticos mulces, alienis autem oblatras, Come hither thou who art like a dog, not in impudency, but in the freeness of thy speech, not in ravenous feeding, but because thou takest that which the day affordeth; not by barking, but by a keeping of the good, and by the watchings undergone for the salvation of souls, as also because thou makest much of those who are the domestiks and familiars of virtue, but barkest at strangers. And surely this doth so commend a dog, who is thus alive, that in respect of him, a lion is despicable, who is so dead as that he holdeth his peace when the shane of wickedness crieth aloud.  
Ver. 5. The description of an Atheist is here set forth by four marks. First by a careless knowledge of death, secondly by denying the immortality of the soul, thirdly by denying the judgement to come, fourthly by denying God himself. The living know that they shall die; here is their careless knowledge, they know it must be, and therefore care not though it shall be: it is a thing say they, that doth befall all, and therefore need not to trouble any, wherefore though they know it, yet it is as if they know it not, for they think not of it, they do not consider of it; to reap a benefit from that which they know. St. Basil showing the Devils policy, saith of him, furtim demit mortis timorem, 
Basil. Seleuc. Orati. 3.  ut legis munimenta depraedetur, He secretly stealeth away the terror of death, that so he may spoil the fortification of Gods law. For where that is lost, there is a headlong running on into all wickedness. We observe commonly in the recovery of King Hezekiah, the miracle that was wrought; but it is worthy the observing that as God added to his life, so he  told him the time of his death. This Cyrillus Alexandrinus noteth saying Terminos vitae adjectae designat, ut finem intuens,& se prorsus penitusque moriturum sentiens, 
Cyrillus Alex. l. 3. in Isa.  morbum superbiae non sineret in animum introduci, God setteth down the term of his increased life, that looking upon his end, and knowing that certainly he was to die, he might not suffer the sickness of pride to get into his mind. And indeed the knowledge of death carefully and wisely apprehended is a strong bulwark against the temptations of sin. But it is a slight knowledge of death which the wicked have, and because there is in their speech a kind of reproach which they cast upon human nature, as it is the work of God, 
Rom. 5.21.  let me tell them that their knowledge is not so certain as they take it to be. For the living that do live righteously shall not die, though themselves living wickedly do both die and perish. St. Chrysostome considering those words of St. Paul, that sin hath reigned unto death, thereupon tells us; that sin was as it were a King, 
christ. Ihi. Homil. 10.  and death as it were a soldier fighting in the army under sin, and being armed by it: wherefore saith he, if sin arm death, then righteousness, which cometh by grace and destroyeth sin ( non solum mortem armis spoliat, said& illam de medio tollit) doth not onely spoil death of his arms, but taketh them quiter away also. And therefore St. Basil speaking of the godly saith, Non jam mortui sunt, plantata nanque cruce somnus mors est, ante crucem formidabilis, post crucem despicabilis. They are not now dead; for the cross being as it were planted, 
Basil. seulenc. Orat. 23.  death is a sleep; that which was precious fruit before the cross formidable; after the cross, is made to bee despicable. The living therefore know, that they shall not die, and they know it to Gods glory, and their own comfort, being the children of God as well as the living know that they shall die, and know it with carelessness in themselves, with reproach to God, not being his servants. But the dead know not any thing: here they deny the immortality of the soul; for as Aquinas proveth the immortality of the soul from the knowledge of it, thus; every thing naturally desireth to be in his own kind: now desire in things that are endued with knowledge followeth their knowledge: sense then knoweth the being of any thing, only as it is existent in this place, or at that time, but understanding apprehendeth the being of a thing absolutely and in respect of all time: 
Aquin. 1. Qu. 75. A 6.  wherefore every thing that hath understanding naturally desireth always to be: but a natural desire cannot be in vain, every substance therefore that is intellectual, incorruptible. In like manner the Atheist here proveth the soul not to be immortal, because the dead do not know any thing. But though the dead do not know any thing that is done upon the earth themselves being gone from the earth, for as St. Gregory speaketh sicut hi qui adhuc viventes sunt, 
Gregorius.  mortuorum ainae quo loco habeantur ignorant: ita mortui vitam in carne viventium postea qualiter disponatur nesciunt, quia& vita spiritus long est à vita carnis,& sicut corpora& incorporea diversa sunt genere, ita etiam distincta cognitione, As they who are yet living do not know in what place and condition the souls of the dead are so the dead do not know how they that are living in the flesh are, disposed of in there lives after themselves are gone; because the life of the spirit is fare different from the life of the flesh, and as coporeal and incorporeal things are divers in their kind and nature, so are they in their knowledge. Notwithstanding the wicked being dead do know the torments which they suffer for their misspent lives, they know the happiness which they have left by the ill spending of them; they know how false it is, that being alive they thought the dead not to know any thing. Neither have they any reward: here is their denial of the last judgement, and that it is which because they would not have to be, they say shall never be, and this it is to which a custom of sinning doth often bring wicked men at last. For as an ancient writer noteth, 
Caesarius Arelat. Hom. 29  habet hoc infelix peccandi consuetudo, ut quantò amplius unusquisque peccaverit, tanta minus peccata ipsò intelligat,& tantò eum plus peccare delectet:& quando subrepit peccandi delectatio, statim futuri judicii diem abscondit oblivio, The unhappy custom of sinning hath this in it, that by how much the more any one sinneth, by so much the less he understandeth his sins, and by so much the more is delighted in sinning: and when a delight of sinning is crept into any one, forthwith forgetfulness hideth the day of judgement that is to come. But let every one take heed of this; for as St. Austin speaketh, Irremediable periculum est, it is a remediless danger for any one so to give the reins unto his vices and lusts, that he remembreth not that he must give account to God. 
Augustin. de Temp. Ser. 120.  Puto quod magna sit jam peccati poena, metum ac memoriam futuri judicii perdidisse, I think that it is a great punishment even now of wickedness, to have lost the fear and the remembrance of the judgement to come. For the memory of them is forgotten: here they deny God himself to be, and because the memory of the dead is forgotten with men, therefore they think that there is no God, by whom they are remembered. And this it is indeed, which incenseth the wrath of God against the wicked, For as St. Bernard speaketh ( wherein doth the wicked provoke God) wherein doth he make his anger to be bitter against him? 
Bernard.  Not for his fornications, not for his incests and sacrileges, but because he hath said in his hart; Non requiret, he will not require it, and as the Psalmist setteth it down, 
Psal. 10.13.11.  God hath forgotten it, he hideth his face, he will never see it? This it is which maketh God to make his arrows drunken in their blood. For as Rupertus also speaketh, Non ex quo quisque peccat, 
Rupar. l. de yet. c. 16.  said ex quo tibi resistit peccator, ira tua vim suam exercet quae non potest portari, Not because any one sinneth, but that he resisteth thee, therefore doth thy wrath show that force which cannot be born. It is true that God doth not so remember the wicked when they are dead, as to have any compassion on them, or to sand them any comfort. For as S. jerome speaketh; quia neque ipsi meminerunt quae scire debuerant, 
Hieronym.  neque illorum jam Dominus recordatus est. Because they did not remember those things which they ought to have known, therefore neither doth the Lord now remember them. In mercy he doth not, but to their torment and confusion, he will remember them for ever.  
Ver. 6. S. jerome applying these words unto the wicked, 
Hieronym. in hunc. vers. Psalm 139.12  understandeth their love of their feigned love towards God, their hatred of their professed hatred against sin. So that they are ready to say with the Psalmist, do I not hate them O Lord that hate thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred, I account them mine enemies. That which wee have translated envy, he rendereth zeal, and understandeth it of their pretended zeal towards goodness, as if it were as great as that of Phinehas. Lyra also applying these words unto the wicked, understandeth their love to be that, which they have towards the wicked, as being like themselves their hatred and envy to be that which they bear against the good. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  But though these words be spoken by the wicked, yet are they spoken of all men generally, and is a farther description of them when they are dead. For as the verse before speaketh of them being dead in respect of themselves, so this verse speaketh of them in respect of others, showing how their love and hatred and envy are then perished, in regard of which they have noe portion in any thing that is done under the sum. Now as for love it is that which is common unto every thing, 
Aquin. 1. Qu. 60. Ar. 1.  for as Aquinas speaketh, est hoc commune omni naturae, ut habeat aliquam inclinationem, quae est appetitus naturalis vel amor, This is common unto every nature, that it hath some inclination, which is a natural appetite or love. But this inclination is diversly found in divers natures, and in every one according to the manner of it. Thus in the intellectual nature is found a natural inclination, according to the will, in the sensitive nature according to the sensitive appetite, in nature which is without knowledge, secundum solum naturae ordinem in aliquid, according only to the order of nature unto something as Aquinas speaketh. The love then of man is his will, and his will being guided by a right understanding as it ought to be, it is goodness that should be loved as the means, and God as the end to which he is carried. Secondly hatred is that which is contrary to love, Unde tantum habet odium de ratione mali, 
Aquinas 2.2. Qu. 34. Ar. 3.  quantum amor habet de ratione boni; So that hatred hath so much of evil in it, as love hath of goodness, as Aquinas hath it. Now love is due unto God simply, unto man it is due only according to nature and to grace. For in respect of that which a man hath either from himself, or from the devil, that is in respect of sin, and the defect of righteousness, so it is not due unto him. And therefore it is lawful to hate sin in man, and whatsoever else appertaineth to the defect of divine righteousness: But either the nature or the grace of any man, another cannot hate without sin. Whereas this very thing that any one doth hate in another, either wickedness or want of goodness, is indeed rather a loving of him. For it is the same thing to desire the good of another, and to hate that which is evil for him. And therefore to speak simply of the hatred of another, it is always with sin. Thirdly envy is a sorrow for the good of another as it is esteemed to be his own evil, and a diminishing of his good in whom it is. Wherefore when S. Paul saith, 
2 Cor. 2.15.  that he was unto God a sweet odour in Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish, Anselmus saith of it, Some did love S. Paul, others did envy him, they who did love him did live by the sweet odour, they that did envy him did perish by the sweet odour; 
Anselmus.  Ideo pereuntibus non malus odour said bonus erat ind en: magis invidebant quia tam bona gratia praevalebat, To them that did perish he was not a bad odour but a good: for therefore did they envy him the more, because the good grace of God was so strong in him. But the good of one is apprehended to be the evil of another two ways. First, when one is sorry for the good of another in respect of the danger of some hurt, which from thence hangeth over himself: as when a man is sorry for the advancement of his enemy, fearing least he should do him hurt. 
Aristotel. Rhetor. l. 2. c. 9.  Now such a sadness is not envy, but rather an effect of fear, as the Philosopher saith. Secondly the good of one is esteemed to be anothers evil, in regard that it diminished his glory and excellency: and thus is envy sorry for the good of another. And therefore men for the most part do envy those good things, in which is glory, and in which men love to be honoured and reckoned of, as the Philosopher also sheweth. But that which wee may farther note in this verse, is that the love, hatred, and envy of wicked men do not perish until themselves perish and die: while themselves have a part in any thing that is done under the Sun, these have still a part in them. For indeed these things are of a tenacious nature. Love is pondus ainae, the weight of the soul, as one calleth it, and draweth not only the will, but the memory, the understanding of man to that which is loved: quia nihil aliud vel meminisse vel cogitare valet, nisi illud cujus amore fervescit, Because he can neither remember nor think of any thing but only of that with the love whereof he is inflamed. 
Ezekiel. 32.27.  Hatred also is so hardly removed that it is sometimes spoken of as continuing after death. The Prophet Ezekiel speaketh of some, who are gone down to hell with their weapons of war, and they have laid their swords under their heads. And surely such is the deadly hatred of some, that when they die, they may seem to carry it with them. Chrysologus noteth of the rich glutton who would have Lazarus to bee sent unto him, that being still cruel towards Lazarus, he would have him to be sent, 
Chrysolog. Serm. 122.  Ad infernum de gremio, de solio sublimi ad profundissimum chaos, ad tormentorum stridorem, de Sancta quiet beatorum, to hell from the bosom of Abraham, to the bottomless gulf, from the high throne of glory, to the gnashing and grinding of tormens, from the holy rest of the blessed. Lastly envy sticketh so close to the hearts of the wicked, that as Cassian noteth, Usque adeo incurabilis est ista pernicies ut blandimentis exasperetur, infletur obsequiis, muneribus irritetur: quanto en: alius amplius aut humilitatis subjectione, aut patientiae virtute, aut munificentiae laud profecerit, tanto ille majoribus invidiae stimulis incitatur, 
Cassian. Collati 18. c. 12.  So incurable is that corruption, that by courtesies it is provoked, by offices of respect it is blown up, by gifts it is increased: for by how much another profiteth either in the lowliness of humility, or the virtue of patience, or the praise of bounty, by so much the more is an envious man stirred up with the spurs of envy. Lastly, as for the Phrase, under the sun: Aquinas telleth us, Ea dicuntur esse sub sole, quae secundum motum solis generantur& corrumpuntur, those things are said to be under the Sun, 
Aquinas 1. Qu. 103. Ar. 5.  which are generated and corrupted according to the motion of the Sun; and therefore the dead having past both these, are said to have no portion in the things under the Sun.   

Ver. 7. go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.  
Ver. 8. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment.  
Ver. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the dayes of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun all the dayes of thy vanity▪ for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.  
Ver. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whether thou goest.  
Vers. 7. Some understand these words to be still spoken by the wicked, and to be delivered by the Preacher in their person, and then to give the meaning of them in S. Hieromes words, it is as if they said, O homo quia ergo post mortem nihil es, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  & mors ipsa nihil, audi consilium meum, dum vivis in hâc brevi vitâ fruere voluptate, utere dapibus, vino curas opprime,& intellige quoniam à Deo nobis data sunt ad utendum. O man because therefore after death thou art nothing, and death itself is nothing, follow my counsel, enjoy thy pleasure, use danity meats, drown thy cares with wine, and understand that the things of this life are given us of God to be used by us. But I conceive that the Preacher here doth rather resume the speaking to himself, and therefore so to consider the words, perhaps at a sudden view the words may seem to say no more then the common saying hath, Inter caenandum hilaris esto, be merry at meate. But doubtless more serious and deep were the Preachers thoughts. Neither do I think that it is only a moderation in eating and drinking that is here prescribed: although it be well noted by Saint jerome, 
Hieronym. Ibid.  Quod non habeat veram laetitiam& cor bonum qui creaturis suprà modum abutitur, 
Hieronym. Ibid.  that he hath not true joy nor a good merry hart, who by excess abuseth the creatures. But this may be noted here, that it is not an eating to beget joy, nor a drinking of wine to breed a merry hart that is spoken of by the Preacher. For though fullness of bread may strengthen the spirits, and though wine may cheer them; according as Clemens Alexandrinus sheweth, who saith that wine being drunk maketh a man sibi ipsi aequum& clementem, convivis suavem, 
Clemens Alexa. Paedag. l. 2. c. 2.  famulis mitiorem, amicis jucundiorem, favourable and gentle to himself, delightful to them that are with him, mildred to his servants, pleasant to his friends notwithstanding it is but a poor mirth that is so gotten; vanishing with the fumes of the wine, and followed many times by sadness that comes after it. That therefore which is here spoken of, is an eating with joy, a drinking of wine with a merry hart, so that the joy and the mirth do as it were prepare the stomach, thereby to make the nourishment to do the more good, and to make him that receiveth it, the more forward and hearty in blessing and praising God for it. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  In a spiritual sense, Saint jerome tells us, that these words, go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry hart. Ejus Ecclesiastae vox est, 
John. 7.37.  is the voice of that Preacher, who in the gospel saith, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink: and who in the Proverbs saith, 
Proverbs 9.5.  Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mingled. It is also a good spiritual meaning which Lyra giveth to the words, who taking them to be spoken to the righteous man saith, go thy way that is vade just, go thy way thou righteous man, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry hart, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  that is, vive in jucunditate mentis ex testimonio bonae conscientiae procedente, live in cheerfulness of mind proceeding from the testimony of a good conscience. But to give that meaning to the words which I apprehended them to carry. The Preacher having spoken much of the confusions and outrages that are in this world, and drawing this matter to a conclusion wisheth us not trouble our minds with the care of those things: but rather to use things present with cheerfulness and quietness and as for those things, which fall out in this life, to let them go as they come. More particularly to show the connexion of this verse, to that which is immediately before it. The Preacher having before shewed how wicked men from the consideration of death, did in rheir lives set themselves wholly to the enjoying of sensual and sinful delights, in a voluptuous using of the creatures, here he sheweth that a cheerful delight is not forbidden unto men, nor is a comfortable use of the creatures by God denied them. And therefore he saith go thy way, take the one, use the other, eat thy bread with joy, drink thy wine with a merry hart. For seeing that God accepteth thy works, there is nothing that needeth to trouble thee, or to make thee sad. What though the world may set itself against thee? what though malicious enemies may be thy persecutors? what though the devil fighteth against thee? there shall no hurt come unto thee: and therefore let not any thing make thee to eat thy bread with sadness, or to drink thy wine with heaviness. Let him refuse his meate, or take it with care, let him drink his wine with anguish of hart, that liveth wickedly and whose ways do not please God: but let him whose works are accepted by God, ever be merry, ever cheerful. It is the fashion of many to be merry and glad, when there works are accepted by men, and that by them they are well thought of: but this is a faint and not a solid mirth. Then there is true joy and a hearty mirth, when God accepteth the works that are done, and is well pleased with the doers of them. Moyses putting his hand into his bosom took it out Leprous, putting it again into his bosom he took it out clean. This is a right emblem of that which befalleth man. For the hand is the instrument of working, and the works of men are sometimes Leprous and unsound, sometimes healthy and good. And this proceedeth from the bosom, from the hart of man. For if they proceed from a sincere and honest hart, which God approoveth, then are they sound and healthy; if they come from a corrupt hart, and be done for the pleasing of men, then are they Leprous and unsound. Now it is an healthy and sound body that is fittest for mirth and freest in mirth, it is a healthy and sound body that eateth and drinketh most cheerfully. Wherefore seeing where God accepteth thy works, there is health and soundness, let there also be freeness of joy and mirth. In the law the Priest was first to flay the sacrifice, and to pull off the skin of it, and then to wash the entrails, and so to offer it unto God. Now this did show, 
Levit. 1.6.9.  how man was to make himself an acceptable sacrifice to God, the skin is first to be pulled off, our sins are first to be confessed and laid open unto God; and them the inwards are to be washed, our harts are to be cleansed from the foulness of hypocrisy, our understanding our will and affections are to be washed from those stains that stick unto them; and so they being offered to God, then may he eat his peace offering with joy, and drink his wine with a merry heart, for now God accepteth his works, now God is pleased with his works of joy and mirth, when that the works of his life do please God. The Swan is of a white faire colour and a goodly bide to look upon, being of no small account with men; but yet it was by Gods law to the Jews forbidden to be eaten. 
Levitic. 11.18.  The reason of it is given to be, because whereas the feathers are so white and comely, the flesh under them is black and hard. For such things were forbidden to the Jews to signify unto them how they should keep themselves from sin which those things did represent. Now such are they who in the outward show of their lives do please men, but are not in their works accepted by God. And surely such as themselves are, such is the joy and the mirth that they have, it doth but make a faire show; the bread that they eat, the wine that they drink is but like the flesh of a Swan in the stomach, and hard to be digested. There is a black sadness within, though outwardly the whiteness of mirth appeareth. He singeth the Swans song, his joy is sweet even when death appeareth, the inward sincerity of whose heart maketh his works to be accepted by God: let him therefore while he liveth eat his bread with joy and drink his wine with a cheerful heart. This the wicked seek for, this they desire to do, who have little reason for it: this is offered to the Godly, and none have such good cause to embrace it.  
Ver. 8. Some do also understand this verse to be delivered in the person of wicked voluptuous and carnal livers. 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  And therefore Tremellius reads it, Sint vestimenta tua nitida, let thy garments be neat and spruise and brave, and as he expoundeth it, Curato te molliter, be dainty in decking and trimming of thyself. Or as Saint jerome expresseth that sense, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Candidis vestibus ornatus incede, unguentis spiret caput tuum, walk up and down adorned with gay and glittering apparel, and let thine head with ointments breath out a sweet perfume. But to consider it, as I have the former verse, and as the Preachers own counsel, Let thy garments be always white: by the garments I understand the affections of the soul, which being ill ordered, Saint Paul bids us to put off, saying, put off all these, anger, malice, wrath: which being well ordered the same Apostle bids us to put on saying, 
Caloss. 3.8. v. 12  put on therefore, as the elect of God holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. The meaning therefore of the Preacher is, let thine affections be always white, that is always cheerful, for white is a cheerful colour: yea let them be so always, even when persecution is hottest upon thee, and most cruel against thee. This was the disposition of the Apostles, 
Acts. 5.41.  of whom being beaten wee red, that they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shane for the name of Jesus. And this hath been the disposition of many glorious martyrs, who with cheerfulness of affections have laid down their lives for Christs sake: when their garments have been stained with their own blood, they have still kept white the garment of cheerfulness in their affections. Whereupon Saint Ambrose saith, Quam bonus est Dominus pro quo dulces& injuriae& grata mors: 
Ambros. de h●rtat. ad Virg.  & benè grata quae acquirit immortalitatem, How good is the Lord for whose sake even wrongs are sweet, and death is acceptable: and well is it acceptable which obtaineth immortality. And let thine head lack no ointment: they are the words of Saint Gregory upon occasion of another passage of Scripture, where he mentioneth also these words, Quid per caput nisi ea quae principal unius cujusque actionis est mens ipsa signatur? 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 2. c. 26.  what by the head is signified but that which is the principal thing of every action, the mind itself? wherefore as in the former part of the verse, by the garments I understood the affections, so here by the head I understand the thoughts of the mind. As for the ointment Saint jerome, tells us, sciendum est naturam hanc esse olei, 
Hierony. in hunc vers.  ut& lumen alat,& fessorum resolvat laborem. It is to be known that the nature of oil is this, that it nourisheth the light, and refresheth, the labour of the wearied. By ointment therefore a cheerfulness also is set forth unto us, for that is lightsome and giveth light to the mind, that refresheth the mind wearied with study and meditation. So that the meaning of the Preacher is, let there be wanting no cheerfulness in thy thoughts; but anoint thy thoughts with a joyful and thankful remembrance of Gods mercies towards thee, anoint thy thoughts with a glad consideration of the gracious promises of Gods goodness, which in their good time shall be accomplished. But because the word always may seem to be to general it may be noted, that the original word is {αβγδ} so that it is in omni tempore opportuno, in every fit time, as often as fitly it may be let thy garments be white, let thy disposition be cheerful, let thine head lack no ointment, let not comfortable thoughts be wanting to thy mind. But the verse being delivered in Metaphoricall terms, divers are the expositions that may be applied unto it. 
Hierony. in hunc vers.  As first Saint jerome saith, let thy garments be white, that is, habito corpus mundum have a clean body. So saith Saint Gregory, let thy garments be always white, that is, sint membra corporis a sordidis actibus munda, Let the members of thy body be clean from sordid and foul actions. For saith he, Quid vestimenti nomine nisi hoc terrenum corpus exprimitur, quo induta anima tegitur, ne in subtilitatis suae unda substanta videatur? what is expressed by the name of a garment, but this earthybody, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 9. c. 19.  where with the soul being clothed is covered, that it be not seen in the naked substance of the subtlety of it. In another place Saint jerome applies this whiteness unto virginity, where speaking of those words he saith, candour vestium sempiternus virginitatis est puritas, 
Hierony. adver. Joviniani. l. 1.  the continual whiteness of garments, is the purity of virginity. And so doth Saint Ambrose apply them, who having cited these words saith, Quid candidius virginitate? Quid nitidius intacti vestimento pudoris? 
Amb. de hortat. ad virginitatem  Bona quidem castitas conjugalis,& castitas viduitatis, munda omnis castitas, said fortè non omnis candida, aut non candida in omni tempore. De virginitate ergo pulchre dicitur, in omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida, what more white then virginity? what more shining then the garments of untouched chastity? wedlock chastity is good, and so is the chastity of widowhood. All chastity it clean: but perhaps all is not white, or else it is not white always. Of virginity therefore it is well said, Let thy garments always be white. Another application which Saint jerome makes of this whiteness is, Non sit tempus in quo candida non habeas vestimenta, cave nequamdo pollutis vestibus induaris: populus quip peccator in fuscis vestibus luxisse describitur, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Let there be no time in which thou hast not white garments, take heed that at any time thou be not clothed with polluted garments: for a sinful people is described to mourn in dark and dusky garment. Rabbi Salomon 
Rabbi Solomon.  saith here; that this is like unto a King inviting one unto a feast, and not telling him the set time; and therefore that he who is invited, if he be wise doth so fit and adorn himself that at any time he may be ready. Now God calleth the elect to that feast, which is to come, and doth not tell them the certain time, which is the time of death, then which nothing is more uncertain, and therefore a man must be always ready that he may be admitted unto that feast. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And this readiness is by a virtuous& Godly life which is here signified by the white garments as Lyra addeth. The latter part of the verse; 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  let thine head lack no ointment, Saint jerome briefly applieth thus, esto miserecors be thou merciful. And so Saint Gregory, oleum in capite est charitas in mente,& deficit oleum a capite, quum charitas discedit à mente, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 2. cap. 29.  ointment on the head is charity in the mind, and there is ointment lacking on the head, when charity departeth from the mind. Let therefore thine head, that is thy mind,( which is said to be the head, as Lyra noteth, quia caput est in viribus ainae, because it is the head and principal faculty among the faculties of the soul,) let thy mind study where help and charity may be wanting, let it study how to show charity in the best manner, and for the most good. For it is usual in Scripture by oil or ointment to signify a merciful charity, in respect of the softness and the sweetness of it. But how do the parts of the verse stand together? how can the garment be white, if the head be anointed with oil? Especially if there be much oil, as the words, lack no ointment may seem to signify. For then it may well run down upon the garments, and running down it cannot choose but stain them, for oil or ointment is a very staining thing. It is true that a material oil is so; but the oil of a merciful charity is of another nature, that doth not stain, but cleanseth and taketh away the stains of our sin. God being ready to give unto them, who are ready to give unto the poor, the graces of his Holy Spirit, whereby to make them penitent of their sins, and to keep them from sin.  
Vers. 9. Some do likewise understand this verse, as if it were the carnal counsel of wicked voluptuous livers; and so Saint jerome reading the words thus, Live joyfully with the woman whom thou lovest, expresseth the sense thus, Quaecunque tibi placuerit faeminarum ejus gaude complexu,& vanam hanc& brevem vitam, 
Hierony. in hunc vrrs.  vana& brevi voluptate percurre, Whosoever among women shall please thee, rejoice in her embracing, and run over a short and vain life, with a short and vain pleasure. But to take the words, as being the counsel of the Preacher himself, they are a farther commendation of the cheerful use of the comforts of this life, Live joyfully with the wife: Saint jerome reads it, vide vitam, See life with the wife; as if it were to be understood of a mans seeing his life continued and preserved by the benefit of marriage, when himself shall be gone, in his children and posterity: But the Vulgar latin reads it well, perfruere vita, enjoy life, for it is not an enjoying of life, where there is not a comfortable cheerfulness, and it is not a little comfort which from a wife mans life receiveth. Saint Ambrose observeth that when God had made man out of the earth, it is not added: as to other things, and God saw that it was good, and he giveth the reason of it, Quia si dixisset illic bonum esse, 
Ambros. a● Parad. c. 10.  inveniretur esse contrarium quod postea dixit, non est bonum solum esse hominem, because if he had said there, that it was good, it would have been found contrary, which afterwards he said, it is not good for a man to be alone. No, it was the joining of woman to man that made up the good, the comfort, the joy of man. Wherefore the same Father, noting that God is said to have built the rib which he took out of man into a woman( for so the Hebrew is) thereupon saith, It is well that the making of a woman is expressed by a building, 
Ambr. ibid. c. 11  Quia in viro& muliere domus videtur quaedam plena esse perfectio, because in a man and a woman there seemeth to be, as it were, the full perfection of an house. Qui sine uxore est, quasi sine domo est, He that is without a wife, is, as it were, without a house. 
Genes. 2.24.  Whom thou lovest: when God saith, therefore shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, the word which there is used in the original is {αβγδ} which signifieth a cleaving, 
Genes. 34.3.  out of a most ardent affection, such as that was of Sichem unto Dinah, where the same word is found. Properly the word is said to signify the cleaving of the skin and flesh, and bones together, as when Job saith, 
job. 19.20.  My bone cleaveth to my skin, and to my flesh: In Greek the word is rendered unto us by {αβγδ} which is used when two things being glued together, are made to be as it were one thing. How therefore should this so great nearness cause a great measure of love and affection between them. And indeed it is the love of one to the other, that maketh their life to be joyful: according to the measure of the one, so is the measure of the other. All the dayes of the life of thy vanity: when man had first life given him, it was then a life of solidity, of stability, and then his wife was given to him, as the Fathers speak in officium, for the office of nature; but afterwards by sinning, mans life being made a life of vanity, then his wife was given to him, as the Fathers also speak, in remedium, for a remedy. And this is that which Saint Austin saith of marriage, Quod sanis est ad officium, aegrotis ad remedium, 
Augustinus.  to them that are sound, it is for a duty to be done, to them that are sick, it is for a remedy to be received. The Preacher therfore would have this remedy to be used with cheerfulness. For as physic doth the more good where it meeteth with a cheerful disposition, so this remedy is the more comfortable to man, where it is enjoyed with cherefulnes of heart. Which he hath given thee under the Sun: the word, which, as I conceive by the Original, is to be referred unto wife, for it is God indeed, who was the Paranymphus, the friend of the bridegroom, that gave the first wife unto man, it was God who married them, and joined them together, and it is God who still giveth the wife unto her husband, It is added, under the Sun, because the Sun being the common cause of generation, under the Sun, the husband& the wife are the immediate causes of it, according to the saying of the Philosopher, Sol& homo generant hominem, The Sun, and man do beget man. 
Ambros. de paradise. c. 11.  All the dayes of thy vanity: this sheweth that though there be a rejoicing in a wife, and a rejoicing not only allowed, but commended unto man, yet it is but in the dayes of his vanity, and therefore but a vanity of rejoicing. S. Amb. considering those words, that God did cast a sleep upon Adam, when he formed woman out of him; thereupon saith, Quis est iste sopor? What is that sleep? but that when the mind is intent to the work of marriage, we seem, as it were to bend down our eyes to a kind of sleep of this world, & paulisper obdormire divinis, and for a time to be asleep to heavenly things, while that we rest in earthly and worldly things. But that which I gather from Adams being asleep, is this, that it shewed the rejoicing which is in the wife, to be but as a dream that pleaseth,& as a vanity, in the dayes of mans vanity. For that is thy portion in this life: but if that be the portion, the part of man in this life, thē it is not the part of a man, at least of a religious man, to speak of marriage,& to slight it, as some of the Church of Rome do. One saith, Moysen quia conjux fuit non potuisse ingredi terram promissionis; 
Marullus citatus a Chemnicio, council. Trident. Exam. p. 3. ses. 8.  Josuae vero propterea quia caelebs fuit hoc datum fuisse. That Moses, because he was a husband could not enter into the land of promise& that therefore this was granted to Joshua, because he was not married. In that which is not due the C. of Rome is very free in giving honor unto marriage, by making it a Sacrament; but in giving it that honor which it should have, there it is most sparing. As if they could not honor virginity unless they did dishonour marriage. But in this point Epiph. speaketh very well, Sancta Ecclesia virginitatem cum humilitate admiratur& glorificat, viduitatem laudat,& nuptiarum castum vinculum honorat& suscipit, The holy Church with humility admireth and glorifieth virginity, 
Epiphan. l. 2. Haere. 48.  praiseth widowhood, honoureth,& approoveth the chast bond of mariarge. And in thy labour which thou takest under the sun: 
1. Cor. 7.28.  as there is rejoicing in marriage, so there is labour also. Saint Paul speaking of married people saith, such shall have trouble in the flesh. And it is therefore that the Preacher doth exhort thee the rather, to live joyfully with thy wife, that the labour may be the less irksome unto thee. But while thou art under the Sun, thou must be under the burden of labour, and in marriage thou must take care of breeding thy children, in governing thy servants, in ordering thine affairs. Of him that doth abstain from marriage to avoid the labours and troubles of it, Clemens Alexandrinus saith, peccat contra charitatem, 
Clemens Alexa. storm. 3.  that he sinneth against charity. The Jews in this verse by the wife do understand wisdom, and so likewise doth Saint jerome apply it, who saith, sequere sapientiam& scientiam Scripturarum,& hanc tibi in conjugium copula, follow wisdom and the knowledge of the Scriptures, and join that unto thee as it were in marriage. And well doth the Preacher admonish us, that in the dayes of the life of our vanity, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  we should seek true life by the marriage of wisdom. Haec enim pars nostra est& hic laboris fructus, for this is our portion, and the fruit of our labour, if in this shadow of a life we be able to find out true life as Saint jerome addeth. And in this application of the words to wisdom, Lyra saith also, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  that is thy portion, ista tecum portabis de praesenti vitâ,& non temporalia bona, those things shalt thou carry with thee out of this present life, and not thy temporal goods.  
Ver. 10. This verse some do take to be set down as the adverse of carnal sinful men& in that kind Saint jerome expresseth the sense of it thus, Nihil extrà haec habebis amplius quàm frui quodcunque delectare potest, festinus carp nepereat. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Neque enim frivola debes formidare commenta, quod singulorum operum vel bonorum, vel malorum, apud inferos tibi reddenda est ratio. Non est enim in morte aliqua sapientia, nullus post dissolutionem vitae hujus sensus, There is nothing more to be had, then to enjoy whatsoever may delight, take it quickly, least it be lost. For thou must not fear those frivolous devices: that there is after death an account to be given of every work, whither good or bad. There is is not in death any wisdom, after the dissolution of this life there is no sense of any thing. But in this verse I conceive the Preacher, to show, that as the wicked from the consideration of death do excite themselves to a diligent and earnest pursuing after the pleasures of this life; so from the same consideration the virtuous should be stirred up to a careful diligence in doing of that which is needful to be done. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do: the hand findeth that which is within the reach of it, or else within the grasp of it, and therefore whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, is whatsoever thou art able, whatsoever thou hast means to do. do it with thy might: do it according to thy might, thy strength and ability, and let the measure and termination of thy working be the possibility of that which is to be wrought by thee. Saint Gregory considering these words, saith, quia ergo& venturae mortis tempus ignoramus,& post mortem operari non possumus, 
Gregor. in Evang. Homil. 13. sine.  superest ut ante mortem tempora indulta rapiamus. Sic enim, sic mors ipsa quando venerit, vincetur, si priusquam veniat semper timeatur, because therefore we know not the time of death to come, and because after death we shall not be able to work, it remaineth that before death we snatch at the time that is allowed to us. For so it is that death when it cometh shall be conquered, if before it come it be always feared. The diligence which the Father would have us to use, is to catch at every occasion, and to snatch at every opportunity of time which is continually lying before us, and not to let go any thing that may be laid hold of. Saint Bernard therefore complaining of those, who while they live are negligent in working, and whose manner is to say, come let us talk together to pass away the time, with grief of spirit saith: O donec praetereat hora, O donec pertranseat tempus, quod tibi ad agendam paenitentiam, ad obtinendam veniam, 
Bernard. Serm. de tripl. custod.  ad acquirendam gratiam, ad gloriam promerendam miseratio conditoris indulsit, O until the hour be gone, O until the time be past, which the mercy of thy maker hath bestowed upon thee to perform repentance, to procure pardon, to gain grace, and to obtain glory. For there is no work, no outward work to be done, no work of charity towards others. This is that which our saviour saith, 
John 9.4  the night cometh when no one worketh. It will be a time hereafter when every one shall be judged according to his works; now is the time wherein we must work to find mercy, wherefore when the Psalmist saith, 
Psal. 101.1.  I will sing of mercy and judgement, unto thee O Lord will I sing, Saint Austin conceiveth that it may be not without cause that the words are so ordered and placed, and that it is said mercy and judgement, and not judgement and mercy, for saith he, Si per tempora distinguamus haec dvo, fortè inveniemus modo esse tempus miserecordiae, 
Augustin. in Psal. 100.  futurum autem judicii, If wee should distinguish these two according to several times, perhaps wee find now to be the time of mercy, but that which is to come to be the time of judgement. Nor device, no inward working of thy mind to accomplish thy desire; or else as I conceive the original word {αβγδ}, may here well be rendered, no business of dealing reckoning, trading. For this life is as it were a Faire, and while the Faire lasteth there is to be bought in it any thing that is necessary. 
Nazianz. in Sentent.  But as nazianzen speaketh, Quod si nundinarum tempus fluere sinas, nullum aliud es habiturus, if thou suffer the time of the Faire to slip away, thou wilt not have any other. Nor wisdom, whereby to make use of any divine comforts, which in Gods word are set forth, in respect of Gods mercy. For as Saint Gregory speaketh, Quem nequaquam modo miserecordia eripit ab irâ, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 8. c. 12.  post praesens saeculum justitiae addicit, whom now mercy doth not deliver from wrath, after this world justice delivereth up to wrath. Nor knowledge, whereby to employ any human means for thy good. It is storied of Alexander the great that when he came to besiege any place, he caused a burning light to be set up, and by a crier published, that so long as the light burned, so long he gave them time to seek for mercy by surrendering themselves and the place; but if within that time they did it not, he made it known unto them, that the sword should destroy them all. Now what is mans life but a burning light, and so long as this light continueth to burn, God giveth us time of making our peace with him, and of providing for our safety: but this light being once extinguished, there is no more any light of knowledge, which may afford any comfort to us. In the grave whither thou goest: the vulgar Latin reads it, Quo te properas, whither thou hastenest, for indeed it is a speedy going a hastening whereby mans life passeth away. The exhortation of Saint Paul is, redeem the time because the dayes are evil: where they are said to be evil because they are short, 
Ephes. 5.16.  quum enim ens& bonum convertuntur, for seeing that to be and to be good are things convertible, and do infer mutually one the other, by how much the less time any thing continueth to be, by so much the less is the goodness of it, wherefore redeem the time because the dayes are short, and seeing the dayes do quickly go away, make use of them before they be gone. Saint Gregory tells us that they who do not consider the solidity of an eternal life, exilium patriam, tenebras lucem, 
Gregorius.  cursum stationem putant, do think a place of banishment to be their country, darkness to be light, a going or running to be a standing still. But whatsoever such may think, they are all still going on to their grave,& being once lodged in it, there is no more time of thinking of any thing which may be for their good. While thou art going there is still time for thee to establish thy comfort, and now one day, one hour may do that for thee, which afterwards eternity will not be able to procure thee.   

Ver. 11. I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all.  
Ver. 12. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.  
Vers. 11. The Preacher keeping himself unto his main argument, which is to show the vanity of the things of this world, saith, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  I returned and saw under the Sun, that is saith Lyra in habitatione hominum, in the dwellings of men. For God is said to have placed his tabernacle in the Sun, but men have their tabernacles under the Sun. That the race is not to the swift. Which in a fuller and plainer manner is well set down by Olympiodorus, who saith, Aliud contemplatus sum, quod vincere in cursu, non sit cujusque levis& expediti adcurrendum, neque omnium qui potentes sunt egregios ac invictos se praestare in praelio, neque ad prudentes sapientesque viros atque industrios divitiis devolvi, said nec eos qui multa noverint, 
Olympiodor. in hunc vers.  gratiam consequi, I considered another thing that to overcome in running is not the glory of every one, who is light and nimble in running, neither is it the triumph of all, who are mighty to make themselves victorious and conquerors in war, neither is it the happiness of prudent wise and diligent men that riches are cast upon them, neither is it also the success of those who know many things to find grace and favour. The drift of the Preacher is to show that all the providence of man is uncertain, and that after all care taken, much watching used, and all things made ready, yet when it comes to the point, even he that is most mighty, he that is most circumspectly findeth that he hath not some thing that is necessary. And it is as if the Preacher had said, gather into one even all the gifts of human nature, whether speed, or valour, or wisdom, or industry, together with ability of all the arts and sciences, all these will fail when there is occasion of them, all these will confess that they have not that which they are. And when it should appear, what they are, the most swift shall not have the race, the most valiant shall not have valour, neither shall art science or diligence have their use and benefit. Surely he is a fool, who in the providence of man doth not see even those things which are most certain and most ready to miss of their mark. And indeed from hence especially is shewed the providence of God, and that it is that alone which hath at hand all things necessary, and which therefore never faileth in the proposed end. When wee red of the samaritan, who traveling by the way, and falling upon a wounded man, being moved with compassion bound up his wounds, and powred wine and oil into them. Doth it not seem much that being but a traveller and passing on the way he should have wine and oil in readiness with him? 
luke. 10.  Suppose that he might carry wine with him, yet whence should he have oil? Or suppose he might also carry oil with him, because wee red that Jacob traveling by the way, and erecting a pillar powred oil upon it: yet where had he things needful for ligatures to bind up the wounds? Surely this samaritan was not man but God, and that is plain even from this alone that he had all things needful for the cure prepared and in readiness: whereas in the pinch of time either all things or many things would have been wanting unto human Providence. 
Origen. Homil. 34. in luke.  Atleastwise as origen speaketh, Ut scias quod secundum providentiam Dei Samaritus iste descendit ut curraret eum qui inciderat in latrones, manifestè doceberis ex eo, quod secum habebat alligaturas, secum oleum, secum vinum, that thou mayest know that it was by Gods providence, that the samaritan came down for the curing of him who fell among thieves, thou shalt be taught it manifestly from hence because he had in readiness by him bindings, in readiness oil, in readiness wine. But time and chance happeneth to them all: that is saith Olympiodorus, incerti rerum eventus, nihilque est hominibus tanquam satis, nihil undique perfectum, nihil aequale, omniaque fear dissimili sine terminantur, the events of things are uncertain, 
Olympiod in hunc vers.  and there is nothing unto men that is as it were sufficient, there is nothing every way perfect, nothing that goeth on in an equal and like course, but all things almost in the issue have an end unanswerable to the beginnings& proceedings. But here Aquinas noteth two things, first that this is not so spoken, quod omnia quae in eis fiunt sint casualia, said quia in quolibet eorum aliquid casuale inveniri potest, not that all things which are done in them do happen by chance, but because in every one of them there is something of chance which may bee found. Secondly he noteth, 
Aquinas 1. Qu. 103. Ar. 5.  quod ad ostendendum casualia secundum ordinem alicujus superioris causae provenire non dicit simplicit er quod vidit casum in omnibus esse, said dicit tempus& casum quia scilicet secundum aliquem ordinem temporis casuales defectus inveniuntur in rebus, that to declare casual things to come to pass according to the ordering of some superior cause, he doth not simply say, that he saw chance in all things but he saith time and chance, namely because it is according to some ordering of time, that casual events are found to bee in things. And the reason also why casual events are found in things is well given by Saint jerome who saith, Haec autem fiunt quia incerto statu feruntur omnia, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  & non est in praesenti retributio meritorum, said in futuro, but these things are done, because all things are carried on with an uncertain condition, and because it is not in this world, but in that which is to come, that there shall be a reward of worth and desert. So that by chance the Preacher intendeth nothing else but the disposing of things by God, wherein man is uncertain altogether and ignorant what they will be in a more hidden sense which Saint jerome calleth, secundum {αβγδ} according to the anagogall meaning, the same Father explaineth the verse thus; he that is bound with chains of iron, and loaded with weights of led( for iniquity is a talent of led) is not fit for the race of which the Apostle speaketh, I have finished my course. 
Zach. 5.7.  
2 Tim. 4.7.  I have kept the faith. But he that is light, and whose soul is not burdened, notwithstanding he is not able without God his helper to attain to the goal. And whereas there is a battle to be fought against opposing powers, even he that is strong shall not be able to overcome by his own strength. He also that is perfect and wise among the Sons of men, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  yet cannot have the heavenly bread of life, unless it be by wisdom exhorting and calling him, come eat of my bread. 
Proverb. 9.5.  And because there be not riches wanting, of which the Apostle saith, be rich in good works; 
Tim. 6.8.  and else where, ye are rich in all uterance, and in all knowledge, it must be known that a wise man cannot get these riches, unless he receive them from the Lord, whose riches they are. Favour also unless it be accompanied with knowledge and granted by God, although he be a learned man, he shall not be able to find it. Lastly it is a thing unknown to man, when the time shall come, in which the various event and end of all things shall be.  
Vers. 12. For man also knoweth not his time: the septuagint and the vulgar latin red it thus, Et quidem nescit homo finem suum, and truly man knoweth not his end. Now that is a time indeed on which the welfare of man doth principally depend, and for which he ought carefully to be always ready, seeing he doth not know the time when it shall be. Wherefore Saint Bernand saith, Miser quare omni hora te non disponis? 
Bernard. Serm. 26. in Cantic.  Cogita te mortuum, quum scis de necessitate te moriturum, O miserable man, wherefore dost thou not dispose thyself every hour for thine end? Think thyself to be dead, who knowest that of necessity thou must die. And to stir up the same care in us Saint Gregory saith, 
Gregorius.  nemo in hujus vitae itinere torpeat; ne in patria locum perdat. Quod eum adhuc hody licet been agere scimus, utrum cras liceat ignoramus, let no one be negligent in the journey of this life, least he loose his place of abode in his country. For we know that we may do good, while it is yet to day, but we know not whither we shall be able to morrow. But to consider the reading of our translation, which is according to the original. The ignorance of man in not knowing his time is more then of beasts. 
Jeremy. 8.7.  For the Prophet Jeremy saith, the stork in the heaven knoweth his appointed times, and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe there coming. In Cassiodore King Theodoric showing the same saith, Mergi quibus nomen est ex facto, cohabitatores piscium, aquatiles volucres futuras tempestates naturaliter praevidentes sicca petunt, stagna derelinquunt, The Mergi,( we take them for the Cormorant) who have their name from their dead, the cohabitants of fishes and water fowles; for seeing naturally tempests that are to come, leave the lakes and get to dry places. 
Cassiodorus Var. l. 3. Var. 48.  He speaketh also of the Echini: a kind of fish, who are as he describeth them, mella carnalia, constatilis teneritudo, croceae delitiae divitis maris, dum futuras tempestates agnoverint loca mutare cupientes, quia illis prae levitate corporis nandi nulla fiducia est, lapillos quibus pares esse possint complexi, quadam anchorarum ponderatione librati; scopulos petunt, quos fluctibus vexandos esse non credunt, a fleshy hony, a firm softness, the saffron delights of the rich sea, when they perceive tempests to be coming, desiring to change their places, because they trust not to their own swimming in regard of the lightness of their body, they take unto them little stones, such as they may be able to rule and master, and being poised by them as it were by the weight of anchors, they get unto the rocks, which they believe the waves will not be able to disquiet. Thus these creatures herein may seem to excel man, who is a creature far more excellent then they. But the reason why man knoweth not his time, is, that he may aclowledge God to be the ruler of his time, and may depend rather upon his providence then upon his own strength and circumspection. 
Psal. 31.14.15.  Wherefore the Prophet David saith, I trusted in thee O Lord, I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hands. Which is as if he said, it is not in my carefulness, not in mine inventions, not in the projects of the discourse of my mind, that the event of mine affairs, my good and happiness are placed: but in thy hands O Lord, thy will, thy judgement for these are the hands of the Lord, by which he worketh. As the fishes that are taken in an evil net: first the net is said to be evil, because evil for them, as the French translation addeth to make the sense plainer. And so doth Tremellius expound it saying, Damnoso sibi& calamitoso, a net evil and hurtful and dangerous to themselves: But it may be also called an evil net, as being a net of deceit and prey, and as showing those things to be evil in men. Secondly by their speech the Preacher hath reference to what he had said before in the former vers: for fishes are swift in their course of swimming, but meeting with a net are stopped in their way, so that the slow paced worm doth often out go them, even as he that is swift in running meeting with some accident that he knew not of, leaveth the race to him that in swiftness came behind him. And as the birds that are caught in the snare: this also hath reference unto the former verse. For as birds whose wings are ready to carry them on high meeting with a snare are kept below and hindered in their flight, so that the butterfly gets up higher then they; even so men of skill are forward by their skill to fly into favour, but meeting with some event not thought upon by them they are kept below and out of favour, when some others of less skill have more favour then then they. So are the sons of men snared in an evil time: Philo shows it in them who are strong and win not the battle saying, athletae robore freti& bona corporis habitudine, dum certam sibi pollicentur victoriam, vel exclusi sunt è certamine, vel victi ab adversariis: alii ne secundam quidem palmam sperantes primam coronam reportaverunt praemium wrestlers furnished with strength and enjoying a good disposition of body, while they promise themselves a certain victory, are either excluded from the game or conquered by there adversaries: 
Philo de Joseph.  others who did not so much as hope for the second garland, have carried away the first crown as their reward. He shows also that riches are not to men of understanding, quidam negotiatores certa lucra sibi proponunt, securi de periculis; alii de damno soliciti magnum fecerunt operae pretium, Some merchandising dealers propose unto themselves by their understanding certain gains, and are secure of dangers, which yet they fall into: others are much troubled with fear of their losses, who come to great gains. When it falleth suddenly upon them: that is unlooked for, unthought of, unknown altogether. For as Philo speaketh, qui vigilant, quantum ad incertam perceptionem attinet nihil a dorminentibus differunt, seipsos fallendo, dum seputant rerum naturas clear perspicere, they who are watchful, for as much as pertaineth to an uncertain apprehension, do not differ any thing from them that are asleep, by deceiving themselves, 
Philo. Ibid.  while they think themselves to perceive certainly the nature of things. again he saith, proinde tanquam altum dormientes erramus, non valentes quicquam ratiocinatione vel penetrare vel certo comprehendere, quando cuncta umbris spectrisque sunt similia, wee are therefore like those that are a sleep, not being able by reasoning to pierce into any thing, or certainly to comprehend it, when all things are like to shadows and fantasies. But this ignorance of man in not knowing his time, and this uncertanity of human events, must make him in wisdom to provide even for those things which he doth not feae nor look for. 
Cassiodor. l. 3. var. 48.  Wherefore King Theodoric in Cassiodore saith, providentiae est cavere, etiam quae non putantur emergere. Munitio tractanda est semper in otio. Quia tunc male quaeritur quando necesse indicitur, It is the part of providence to take heed of those things which are not thought to come to pass. Fortifying is to be done in quietness. Because it is then ill sought for, when it is commanded as necessary. And this it is also which Seneca adviseth. 
Senec. l. 2. Epist. Epist. 18.  In ipsâ securitate animus ad difficilia se preparet,& contra injurias fortunae inter beneficia firmetur, In security itself let the mind prepare itself for troubles, and against the injuries of fortune let it be stengthned even in the midst of favours.   

Ver. 13. This wisdom have I seen also under the Sun, and it seemed great unto me.  
Ver. 14. There was a little City, and few men within it, and there came a great King against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.  
Ver. 15. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the City, yet no man remembered that same poor man.  
Ver. 16. Then said I, wisdom is better then strength; never the less, the poor mans wisdom was despised, and his words not heard.  
Ver. 17. The words of wise men are heard in quiet, more then the cry of him that ruleth over fools.  
Ver. 18. wisdom is better then weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.  
Ver. 13. The Preacher having shewed the insufficiency of human wisdom, that thereby the providence of God might be the more glorified,& thereby man might be made the more carefully to seek unto him, the more faithfully to trust in him. Least hereupon there might be some disesteem of the worth of wisdom, or some neglect in the painful getting of it: the Preacher here also sheweth, the excellent use and the glorious benefit of it, and with all the remarkable Providence of God in blessing of it. This wisdom have I seen also: he doth at once both show it to others, and look himself upon it. He shows it to others as commending it to them, he looks upon it himself, as being a thing which he sees with admiration. He both shows it and looks upon it as being a rare thing in the world. 
Ecclesiastes 1.  For as the vulgar Latin hath it before in this book, stultorum infinitus est numerus, of fools there is an infinite number. How many notorious fools are there, who spend all their time care pains in getting of riches, and neglect that one thing which is necessary, the salvation of their souls? How many shameful fools are there, who having great riches, and might with a little of them laid out in charity purchase the glory of heaven, do by their wickedness spend their means to sell themselves to destruction? How many silly fools are there, who think a little crying, God pardon me, to be repentance enough, and that they can make their peace with God, when and how they will, as if the Father had left times and seasons in their power and not in his own? Indeed who can number the follies of men, and the fools that are among men? One saith, si ad mores hominum respicias, mundum universum stultorum domum judicabis, if thou beholdest the manners of men, thou wilt judge the whole world to be a house of fools. But to find a wise man, to see wisdom is a rare thing and that maketh the Preacher to look upon it. But what is wisdom? Philo tells us vulgus prudentem exstimat eum, 
Philo legis Alleg. lib. 1.  qui mores ophistarum inventione& locutione pollet plurimum, The most part think him to be a wise man, who after the manner of Sophisters is, able to find out devices, and with fluency of words to set out, what he would say. But himself tells us, that wisdom non est verbis sapere said opere spectatum esse actionibusque ad virtutem compositis, is not to be wise in words, but to be approved in deeds and in actions composed to the rule of virtue. The wisdom whereof the Preacher here speaketh, is that which S. Ambrose describeth, vivacitate ingenii, mentis vigore atque autoritate posse praesentia solvere pericula, prospicere futura, denuntiare imminentia, argumenta expedire, remedium far in tempore, by a lively quickness of wit, 
Ambros. de office. lib. 2. c. 8.  by a strength and command of understanding, to be able dispel present dangers, to foresee them when they are to come, to declare them when they are at hand, to dispatch businesses, and in time to bring help. Have I seen under the Sun: wisdom under the Sun, but it is from above the Sun, 
James 1.5.  that it is gotten. Saint James therefore saith, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraydeth not, and it shall be given him. And Cassiodore saith well, sapientia à Domino Deo est,& cum ipso fuit semper& permanet in aeternum: qua propter toto nisu, toto labour, totis desideriis exquiramus, ut ad tale tantumque munus Domino largiente parvenire mereamur, 
Cassiod. Divin. lection. c. 28.  wisdom is from the Lord God, it hath been with him always, and remains with him for ever: wherefore with all our endeavour, with all our labour, with all our desires let us strive and seek, that the Lord bestowing it upon us, wee may be thought worthy to obtain such and so great a gift. Under the Sun the Preacher saw this wisdom, and it was as another Sun on earth, under the Sun of heaven. For as the Sun excelleth among the planets and stars of heaven, and is as it were the eye of the world; so wisdom excelleth among all the gifts of the soul, and is as it were the inward eye of the little world man. For as Philo speaketh visus mentis nihil aliud est quam prudentia, 
Philo lib. de Abrahamo.  the sight of the mind is nothing else but wisdom. And it seemed great unto me: the vulgar Latin saith, maxima very great, even so great is the beauty of it upon the earth, as the glory of the Sun in heaven. For as Philo speaketh, Pretiosa prudentia, 
Philo legis Alleg. lib. 1.  & inter opes divinas citra controversiam pulcherrima, precious is wisdom and among the divine riches, without controversy the most beautiful. Most beautiful it is among the divine riches, most needful it is among human blessings. For as the same writer speaketh, sicut nostris corporibus interitum morbus, incolumitatem affert sanitas; it idem animas prudentia servat, quum ipsa sit mentis sanitas; imprudentia vero interimit quum sit morbus eorum insanabilis, as sickness bringeth destruction to our bodies, 
Philo de Temulentia.  health safety; in like manner wisdom preserveth our souls, seeing that is the health of the mind, but folly destroyeth them, seeing it is the incurable disease of them. Moyses speaking to the Israelites concerning their going into the land of Canaan, and saying when ye shall come into the, land and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, 
Levitic. 19.23.  thereupon Philo noteth, that while they stayed without that land, they were not able to plant such trees. And he according to his manner fetching out a mystical sense from it addeth upon it, donec enim in sapientiae viam mens intrat non progreditur, said errabunda vagatur, sylvestres tantum modo curat arbores, quae vel in totum steriles sunt, vel fructum ferunt ad cibos incommodum. said quando ingressae viam sapientiae, per decreta ejus ascendit,& incepit in his omnibus decurrere; tum mites& mitium fructuum colit feraces pro illis sylvestribus, tranquillitatem pro perturbationibus pro ignorantia scientiam, pro malis bona, 
Philo de plantatione Noe.  for until the mind entereth into the way of wisdom, it doth not go forward, but gadding wandereth up and down, planteth only wild trees, which either are barren, or else bring forth that fruit which is not good to eat. But when it is come into the way of wisdom it ascendeth up by the rules thereof, and beginneth to run a course according to all these rules, then it planteth better trees, and such as bring forth better fruit, instead of those wild trees, quietness instead of perturbations, knowledge instead of ignorance, good things instead of evil. Lastly the Preacher saith, unto me it seemed great: for it is the wisdom of another that the Preacher speaketh of, it is not his own. Gregory saith Omnis cvi sapientia recta est, plurima non est, 
Gregor. Morab. lib. 17. c. 11.  every one whose wisdom is right, doth never think it to be great being his own, if it be right, it never seemeth to be great unto him; but the wisdom of another he seeth to be great. Unto me saith the Preacher it seemed to be great; and as it seemed to him, so it seemeth to every one that hath wisdom and understanding, though perhaps others may slight it, a fool may despise it.  
Vers. 14. Rabbi Solomon saith Lyra expoundeth this verse, tanquam sic fuerit ad literam, as if there had been some such City on the earth, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  and that it was so besieged, so delivered, as here it is set down; but he sheweth not either how the City was name or how the King was called. It matters not for the scope of the Preacher, whether it were so or no, there being Cities on the earth great and little, and enemies that do besiege them with great forces, this is sufficient ground for that which is said. But when we speak of Cities and of citizens, it is not amiss to remember, that this is only according to the speech of man, and in respect of them, of whom as they are compared one with another, some are said to be of one City, some of another, some are said to be citizens, some are not: whereas in truth as Philo speaketh, Solus Dominus Deus civis est, omnis autem creatura inquilinus& advena; 
Philo lib. de Cherub.  qui vero dicuntur cives per abusum nominis magis quam verè sic appellantur, the Lord God alone is a citizen, every creature is a foreigner and stranger, they that are called citizens are so termed, rather by an abuse of the name, then properly and truly. For indeed the whole world and all things therein, as they are the works of God, so they are his possessions, which he lendeth unto men, because himself hath not need of them. But he that doth use them, doth not possess them, because there is one owner and master of all, who rightly saith the whole earth is mine, and ye are strangers and sojourners in it. And this is not onely most true, but most useful for comfort. For because men do think the things of the earth to be their own, therefore are they full of sorrow, when they are taken from them: whereas did they think themselves to be strangers to them, the loss of them would be the lighter to them. But to consider the City here spoken of. This verse sheweth the great odds, that is between the defendants and the assailants; for that is the baseness of oppression, that it always worketh upon great inequality. There was a little City, Et ideo poterat de facili obsideri, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  and therefore it might be besieged easily: and few men in it,& ideo male poterat defendi, and therefore it could be hardly defended saith Lyra; yea the few men that were in it, were but {αβγδ} weak sickly men as the original is. For the word is derived from the roote {αβγδ}, which signifieth aegrum esse to be sick and diseased. And there came a great King against it, not only a King, but a great King, great in his dominions, and being a King of many countreys, he came against one, and that one a little city. And besieged it, besieged a few men with a great army, with very many men, and encompassed them round, that at least they might perish by famine. And built great bulwarks against it: bulwarks as great as the little city, and even little cities in themselves, being built as habitations for the souldiers to dwell in: These were the uneven terms upon which the war was made, and what greater disadvantage could a poor little city have. But taking the Preacher to speak metaphorically, the application which the Jews make of it, is by the little city, here to understand man as Saint jerome saith, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  to understand the body of man, as Lyra saith, By the few men in the city, to understand, as Saint jerome saith, membra de quibus ipse homo contexitur, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  the parts of which man is composed; to understand the members of the body, as Lyra saith. By the great King that came against it, to understand, as Lyra saith, Ipsum fomitem ad malum inclinantem, qui rex magnus dicitur, eo quod multi obediunt ei, the corruption of man which inclineth him to evil, which is said to be a great King, because many do obey it. I have noted this difference between Saint jerome and Lyra, in relating the exposition of the Jews, because thereby is perceieved how Lyra would draw the Jews to maintain the doctrine of the ancient School-men, who placed original corruption principally in the depravation of the sensitive part which is seated in the body. 
Philo de sacrif. Abel.& Cain.  But that Saint jerome relateth the opinion of the Jews, more truly appeareth from Philo, from whose ground, it may be that the exposition is taken; for he saith, in uniuscujusque nostrum civitate quae constat ex animo& corpore, pro firmissimo propugnaculo sunt cogitationes amicae prudentiae, in the city of every one of us, which consisteth of a soul and a body, a most firm and strong tower are those thoughts, which are the friends of wisdom. The application, which Christian writers make of the passage of Scripture metaphorically taken, 
Luk. 12.32.  is, by this little city here to understand the Church of Christ, which our Saviour himself calleth a little flock. For as Saint Bernard noteth, in the Scripture a city, a spouse, and sheep do signify one and the same thing: and that the Church is said to be civitas propter collectionem, sponsa propter dilectionem, oves propter mansuetudinem, a city in regard of their unity and gathering together, a Spouse in respect of the love of Christ towards her, and sheep in regard of meekness and mildness. 
Bernard. Sup. Cant. Ser. 76.  And wouldst thou know, saith Saint Bernard, a city and a spouse to be the same thing? Behold what Saint John saith, 
Revel. 21.26.  and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The Church then is the city of God, 
Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. 11. princ.  Cujus cives esse concupiscimus illo amore quem nobis illius conditor inspiravit, Whose citizens we desire to be by that love which the builder of it hath inspired into us, as Saint Austin speaketh. According to this exposition, by the few men in it, are understood the faithful members of Christ, which in respect of unbelievers are indeed a very few. By the great King coming against it, and which besieged it, is understood the devil and his warfare against the Church of Christ. Who is said to be great, non quod magnus sit, 
Hierony. in hunc vrrs.  said quod magnum se esse jactitet, Not because he is great, but because he boasteth himself to be great, as Saint jerome speaketh. But perhaps more agreeably to the Preachers meaning in this place, we may apply this city unto virtue, which though of great worth, yet is of little command. This city it is, which as Saint Austin speaketh, doth not glory in itself, but glorieth in the Lord: this city it is, which doth not seek her own glory, but whose glory is God in the testimony of a good conscience; this city it is, which doth not in glory lift up her own head; 
Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. 15.  but saith unto God, Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of my head, this is that city, quem non fecit amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei, said quem fecit amor Dei usque ad contemptum sui, Which is not built by a love of a mans self, even to the contempt of God, but by a love of God, even to a contempt of mans self. The few within this city, are the few lovers, and followers of virtue. The great King which cometh against it, is 'vice, the greatness of whose dominion is extended far and wide, and which besiegeth virtue, with the bulwarks of affronts& temptations, which it raiseth up against it.  
Vers. 15. Now there was found in it a poor wise man: Saint jerome reads it, and so the Hebrew is, et invenit in ea, and he found in it, as if it were to be referred to the great King, and did upbrayd him, that when he came with so great an army against so little a city, he found one man in it to be able to withstand him, and to defend the city against him. The original word here used for a poor man, is, {αβγδ} and signifieth him, who of his own is so unable to help others, that he needeth help from others: which is here elegantly used, as showing, that he who was not able to help others with his riches, yet was able to help them with his wisdom, and as implying, that though he needed the help of others for his relief, yet that they needed his help for their deliverance. For though he were a poor man, yet he was a wise man. Philo showing the judgement of the world, saith, 
Philo de Nominum mutatione.  Stultus omnis existimat pecuniis abundantem, externisque facultatibus affluentem, statim conspectum& prudentem esse; atque ut summatim dicam, prudentiam in re fortuita collocat, quum contra fortuitum in prudentia statuendum esset. Aequum est enim ut quod instabile est a stabili regatur, Every fool thinketh him who hath store of money, and aboundeth in outward estate, to be forthwith a prudent and a wise man: and that I may speak briefly, placeth wisdom in that, which is a thing of chance, whereas things of chance ought to be placed in wisdom. For it is just that that which is uncertain, should be ruled by that which is settled. But indeed, there is none that can be a wise man, unless he be a virtuous man: for all the virtues being linked together, and wisdom being the bond in which they are tied, a wise man and a virtuous man cannot but be joined also, wherefore that which Saint Ambrose saith of the just man, is true of the wise man, 
Ambros. de Abel& Cain. l. 2. c. 3.  quam beata civitas quae plurimos justos habet, quam celebrabilis ore omnium, quomodo benedicetur tota de parte,& beatus atque perpetuus ejus status existimatur? How blessed is that city which hath many righteous people in it, how famous is it in the mouths of all, how is the whole blessed from a part, and how happy and established is the state of it accounted to bee? One such righteous man, one such wise man, is able in danger to deliver a City, for so it followeth. And he by his wisdom delivered the city: In Plautus, Seragastio, a servant asking another, ut munitum tibi visum est oppidum? 
Plautus ex Persa.  How doth the town seem to thee to be fortified: The answer which is given, is, si incolae been sint morati pulchrè munitum arbitror, if the inhabitants be well governed and good, I think it to be well fortified: and then reckoning up many vices, he concludeth, haec nisi ind aberunt, centuplex murus parum est servandis rebus, unless these things be absent, a hundred walls are but little for the preservation of it. And this it is which Saint Austin saith, who speaking of the evils of mans mind, the evils of his life, the evils of his manners, addeth, 
Aug. de Civita. Dei. l. 2. c. 3.  Quae ita magna sunt, ut his doctissimi eorum viri etiam stantibus urbibus respublicas perire confirment, Which are so great mischiefs, that by them the most learned among the heathen do prove common-wealths to be ruinated, even while the cities are standing. Saint Ambrose also saith, Periturae urbis, aut malorum iminentum, vel futurae labis hoc primum indicium, 
Ambros. de Abel& Cain. l. 2. c. 3.  si decedant viri consultores, the first sign of a city ready to perish, or else of evils that do hang over it, or of destruction coming to it, is this, if wise men, who are able to give direction and counsel do leave it, and by death depart from it. But one wise man, though a poor man, remaining in it, is able by his wisdom to deliver it; Yet no man remembered that same poor wise man: one would have thought that all should have rewarded him, yet such was their ingratitude, that there was no man that remembered him. No man that remembered the necessities of his want and poverty, who in their necessity had delivered the whole city: no man that afforded him relief and succour out of that which he had, who by his wisdom had preserved unto all, all that they had: no man that honoured him, and gave unto him his due respect for it. Now what could be more unworthily done? What could show people more shamefully wicked? For as Saint Ambrose speaketh, Nemo debet invidere alteri laudem, 
Ambros. Ibid.  quae sibi prosit; utque improbus quisque redemptorem suum dum suspicit frequenter imitatur: certe veneratur, plerumque diligit, No one ought to envy anothers praise, which is his own profit, and every wicked person, while he respecteth his deliverer, often imitateth him; at leastwise honoureth him, and oftentimes loveth him. But some as being more then wicked, are so puffed up in pride with the conceit of their own wealth, that even their safety bestowed upon them, by a poor man is not regarded; and such also is the hard condition of poverty, that the good, which a poor man doth, is not respected, not remembered. To apply now the applications, which were made of the former verse, unto this verse also. They who expound the city to be the body of man, expound this poor man to be synderesin& dictamen rationis, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  the prescript and rule of reason inclining unto goodness, as Lyra setteth it down, and which saith he is said to be poor, quia pauca obediunt ei, because they are few that do obey it. They who expound the city to be the whole man, expound this poor man to be the inward man, who is indeed poor in spirit. And he it is that is not remembered by the outward man, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  nec subdit se consiliis ejus, said rursum fruitur sua libera voluntate, neither doth subject himself unto his counsels, but taketh again liberty to do, as he will. They who expound the city to be the Church of Christ, understand the poor man to be Christ himself who for our sakes was made poor, and is not only wise but wisdom itself. He it is who delivereth his city his Church by his wisdom. How often saith Saint jerome have we seen the lion with the forces of the world coming against the Church, and strongly besieging it, pauperis istius sapientia corruisse, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  by the wisdom of that poor man to have failed in his enterprises, and to have been lost in them? But as the Father goeth on, when this poor man hath so prevailed, and peace hath been restored to the city, vix aliquis ejus meminit, vix aliquis illius mandata considerat, there is scarcely any one that doth remember him, scarcely any one that considereth his commandements, but giving themselves to pleasures and luxury seek after riches, which help not in the time of need, and in danger do not deliver. Lastly if we expound the city to be virtue, we may expound also, the poor wise man to be wisdom itself, which is indeed the preserver of the virtues, and which is said to be poor because of the humility of it, whereby it seems to itself always to be little. This poor man among the virtues themselves is many times forgotten when many, pleasing themselves with the good thing that is done, are not careful to do it wisely, whereby the goodness of it is lost and overthrown.  
Ver. 16. Then said I: he that hath proved any thing may be bold to affirm it, and therefore in the verse before, the Preacher having shewed wisdom to be better then strength, here he is free to say it. But the Hebrew word( J) being set down with an emphasis it implieth that whatsoever others may or do say, or whatsoever their opinion and judgement may be, I said, wisdom is better then strength. The original word {αβγδ} translated strength, may be taken either for courage as it is a virtue of the mind, or else for the outward force of the body, and other outward might and power. In both acceptions it is true that wisdom is better. For wisdom is the chief of all the moral virtues, and whereas it is commonly said, that there are four cardinal or principal virtues Aquinas saith, 
Aquin. 1.2.  quod prudentia sit simpliciter principally omnibus, said aliae ponuntur principales, unaquaeque in suo genere, that wisdom is absolutely the more principal then all the rest; and that the rest are set down as principal in their kinds every one. The reason of it also is set down by him: for seeing the good that is in human actions consisteth in this, that they are regulated and ordered by the due rule, it is therefore necessary that human virtue, which is the spring of good actions be placed in a drawing near unto the rule of human actions: Now the rule of human actions is twofold, God and human reason. God is the first rule, and by him human reason is also to be regulated. Hence therefore it is that the divine virtues, which consist in attaining unto that first rule, because God himself is the object of them, are more excellent then either moral or intellectual virtues which consist in attaining to the second rule of human reason. Hence it is also that among the divine virtues, faith, hope, charity, the chief of these is charity because that doth respect God in a nearer manner then the other do. For faith and hope do respect God, secundum quod ex illo provenit nobis vel cognitio veri vel adeptio boni, as from him proceedeth unto us either a knowledge of some truth, or else the obtaining of some good: but charity respecteth God, ut in ipso sistat, non ut ex eo aliquid nobis proveniat, that it may rest in God himself, not as from him is derived any thing to us. Hence therefore it is also that wisdom which respecteth human reason, as in itself it is, is better then the rest of the moral virtues, which respect reason as from thence is taken, that which is the mean in human actions and affections. As for fortitude in particular, as Saint Ambrose saith of it, quod fortitudo sine justitia est iniquitatis materia, quo enim validior eo promptiorest, ut inferiorem opprimat, 
Ambros. de office. c. 1. c. 35.  that fortitude without justice is but the matter of iniquity, because the stronger it is, the more ready it is to oppress inferiors; so it may be said that fortitude without wisdom, is but the matter of folly; because the stronger it is the more apt it is by folly to run into mischief. But in this place I conceive to be understood rather an outward force and might, then which, a virtuous wisdom is by far better, and not seldom prevaileth over it. That which is said to Rebecca concerning the twins that were in her womb, 
Genes. 25.23.  according to the original may be taken that the greater should serve the less, and Saint Austin taking it so, 
Augustin.  affirmeth it to be true in the case of virtue. For though virtue appear to be less, more vile, and despicable, at length it shall triumph over the most mighty, and subdue them under her command. How little was David in power, when he fled from jerusalem? How great was the might of Absalom? What therefore was it that made Cushi rather to join himself with David then with Absalom? Saint Chrysostome saith, that having considered both sides in his mind, he found Davids side although little yet to be stronger, because justice was with it. Absaloms side though great, yet to be weaker because it was unjust. 
Chrysostm. in Psal. 7.  And that therefore standing, non ubi multitudo hominum, said ubi virtutis praesidium, opem Dei ad se traxit, not where there was a multitude of men, but where was the defence of virtue, he drew unto himself the assistance of God. The admonition of the Father is, that we would do the same, and always stand with them with whom standeth right, although they be never so many that do withstand it. For as he concludeth, vitium etsi secum habeat universum orbem terrarum est omnium maxim imbecillum, virtus autem etsi sola sit est omnium potentissima, 'vice although it have the whole world with it, is of all things most weak; virtue though it be alone is of all things the strongest. nevertheless the poor mans wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard: Saint jerome reads it according to the original most directly thus, & sapientia pauperis quae despecta est,& verba ejus quae non sunt audita, and the wisdom of the poor man which is despised, and his words which are not heard. According to which reading the sense is; wisdom is better then strength, yea even the despised wisdom of the poor man, and his words which no man vouchsafeth to hear. The septuagint and the Vulgar Latin red it, Quomodo ergo sapientia pauperis contempta est,& verba ejus non audita? How therefore is the wisdom of the poor man despised, and his words not heard? As making a wonder and a strange thing of it. The French translation readeth the latter part of the verse thus, The wisdom of the poor man is despised and there is nothing heard spoken of his deeds: which as the Hebrew admitteth, so it answereth to the conclusion of the former verse, where it is said, and no man remembered that same poor man. To consider our translation; it seemeth to me to of a poor Prophet or minister, for poverty is commonly the companion of such. And too often it is that his counsel is despised, although it be taken from Gods word, which is of such excellency, that as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, 
Chrysost. Homil. 2. ad populum.  Multis saepe unum verbum sufficit hinc excerpsisse ut totius vitae principium habeant, oftentimes it sufficeth to many to have taken one word from thence, that they might have a beginning for the ordering of their whole life. Too often it is, that his words are not heard? or if they be heard, it is only for the delight of them. Whereas Sainth Chrysostome saith, 
Chrysost. Homil. 2. ad populum.  non est theatrum ecclesia ut ad delectationem audiamus, auditores hinc recedere oportet lucratos amplius, the Church is not a theatre that we should hear for delight, the hearers must go hence as having gained something.  
Vers. 17. Saint jerome most directly according to the original readeth the verse thus, Verba sapientium inquiete audiuntur, plusquam clamour potestatem habentis in stultis, The words of the wise in quietness are heard rather, then the cry of one that hath power among fools. And as for the meaning of them, I conceive the Preacher to go on still in showing wisdom to be better then strength or power, and as before he shewed it in the deeds of wisdom, so here he shows it in the words of wisdom. For he saith, that the words of wise men in quiet, that is being delivered in softness and quietness of voice, and coming from a quietness and meekness of Spirit, which is not disturbed either with pride or fury, yea though they proceed from them, who live in the privatenesse and quietness of a low and mean condition, yet are heard sooner, and being heard prevail more, then in fools words that are. uttered with a loud cry of the voice, with a strong passion of fury in the heart, with a domineering insolency of speech, yea though they come from one, who for his place hath command and authority over them to whom he speaketh. The words of wise men are like the river Indus, of which Minutius Foelix speaking saith, Indus fluvius& serere Orientem dicitur& rigare, the river Judus is said both to sow the East and to water it; for so it may be said of the words of the wise that they are both semina& flumina, both seeds and rivers, seeds because they sow goodness in their hearers; 
Minutus Foelix in Octavio.  rivers because they water that which is sown and make it to grow in them. But the cry of fools is like a violent torrent, which washeth away that which it soweth, and doth not suffer it to continue in the ground. Saint Gregory speaking of a perverse Preacher saith, fortitudo ejus est elata scientia locutionis, qua inflatus caeteros despicit, atque in contemptu omnium quasi singulariter apud se peritus intumescit, his strength is a lifted up knowledge of speaking, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 17. c. 3.  by which being exalted he despiseth others, and swelleth in a contempt of all, as if in himself he were singularly learned. And what is the cry of fools being in authority? What is the greatness and power of their words, but the same vain glorious pride, and which is despised by the hearers, as much as they despise them to whom they speak? By application wee may consider the truth of this in the Preachers of the Church whereof some, like wise men, deliver their words in quietness, in the quietness of a well composed speech and mind, and graced with the quietness of a well ordered life. Now these are they whose words are heard, for what is their voice but as Gillebertus speaketh, vox Domini, 
Gillebertus in Canti. Ser. 14.  vox intimae inspirationis mentis auribus suaviter illata, the voice of the Lord, a voice of most inward inspiration sweetly sliding into the ears of the mind? Of these Paulinus speaking saith, Ubique ancupemur verbum Dei, de omnium fidelium ore pendeamus, quia in omnem fidelem Spiritus Dei spirat,& necesse est à minimo Dei servo velguttam caelestis sapientiae distillare, quae ariditatem mei cordis irroret,& mihi supra omnium saeculi sapientum flumina, ad portum utilitatis exuberet, Let us seek every where after the word of God, 
Paulin. Epist. 4.  let us hang upon the mouths of all his faithful ministers, because the Spirit of God breatheth on every one that is faithful, and it cannot be but that from the least servant of God, some drop of heavenly wisdom should distil to bedew the dryness of my heart and to abound unto me into the haven of my profit, above all the rivers of the wise men of the world. Others there are, 
Hieronym. in hunc ver.  who as Saint jerome speaketh, in clamore vocis suae& populi acclamantis, in the cry of their own voice, and of the people applauding them, do please themselves, and are pleasing to the ears of others, but are not heard in their hearts, do not work upon their consciences. For though their voice cry aloud, yet it is the cry of fools, their lives being dumb and themselves not practising that which they teach. Whereas Saint Chrysostome saith, habeat vita tua claram vocem,& licet as tuum obstruxeris, vel tuba clarius personabis, let thy life have a clear voice, 
Chrysost. in Psal. 49.  and then though thou stop thy mouth, thou shalt sound more clearly then a trumpet. And to the same effect Saint Gregory saith, praedicator quisque plus actibus quam vocibus insonet,& been vivendi vestigia sequentibus imprimat, ut potius agendo quam loquendo quo gradiatur offendat. Let every Preacher sound aloud rather by his actions then by his words, 
Gregor. Pastor. Curae p. 3. c. 6.  and by his well living let him imprint steps for others to follow him: So that he show them rather by his living, then by his speaking, whither they must go. The Septuagint and the vulgar Latin red the verse thus, Verba Sapientium audiuntur in silentio, plusquam clamour principis interstultos, the words of the wise are heard in silence, more then the cry of a Prince among fools, where Lyra noteth, that it is said in the plural number, the words of the wise or of wisemen, as showing those words to be spoken of, quae procedentia ab ore sapientis proposita sunt sapientibus, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  which coming from the mouth of a wise man are delivered to wise hearers. For by them saith he they are heard in silence that is, attent, attentively and carefully. Or else their words are said to be heard in silence, because saith the gloss, in silentio audientium, in the silence of the hearers, which is the same in effect. So that according to this reading the meaning of the Preacher is: that the words of wise men have more command over wise hearers then the proclamations of Princes have over fools. Wherein is shewed as well the folly of not obeying the command of governours, as the power of wisdone in commanding wise hearers. And this seemeth to be the meaning of our translation. 
Tremedus in hunc vers.  Tremellius read's the verse thus, verba Sapientium submissorum audienda esse potius quam clamorem dominantis cum stolidis suis, the words of wise submiss men are to be heard rather, then the cry of a foolish ruler, as he expoundeth himself. The French translation reads it thus, the words of the wise ought to be heard more quietly, or as the margin varieth it, the words of the wise who keep themselves ought to be heard rather, then the cry of him that ruleth among fools. The first reading suposeth the meaning to be, that the words of the wise ought to cause more attention, then the cry of him who for his crying beareth rule among fools. The latter reading supposeth the meaning to be, that wise men, who keep themselves quiet from tumult sedition and faction, are rather to be heard, then they, who by their factions and tumultuous crying and shrieking have great authority and power among fools, whom they led after them.  
Vers. 18. wisdom is better then weapons of war: the Preacher here seemeth to me to answer an objection. For though it would be granted, that wisdom in war is better then strength, in respect of fore seeing dangers, and in regard of providing against them, and of preventing of them, yet it might be questioned, whether, when it came to the push, when it came to the joying of the battle or combat, strength then were not more to be preferred. For though in the disposing and ordering of things wisdom might have the precedency, yet it might seem that in the acting and executing of them strength should have the upper hand. To take away therefore this objection, the Preacher saith that wisdom is better then the instruments of war, which serve for the acting and executing of it. And indeed the original word here used to signify war is {αβγδ} which properly signifieth congressum& conflictum, the joining and conflict of a battle of fight: So that the Preacher shewed even in this also wisdom to be better then strength. 
Amhros. de office. lib. 1. c. 35.  Saint Ambrose noting of King David that in his war and fighting prudentiam fortitudinis comitem habuit, he had wisdom the companion of his valour, sheweth it in this, that when he was to fight with goliath in single combat, he refused the armor and weapons of war with which he was burdened: virtus enim suis lacertis magis quam alienis integumentis nititur, for virtue relieth more upon his owne-strength then upon outward defence. Indeed goliath as the same Father else were speaketh, sub munitionibus undique circumseptus fuit, under the fortifications of his armor was every where walled in; 
Ambros. Serm. pro Comm. martyam.  but David, nec operitur galea, nec praecingitur gladio, nec lancea utitur,& fortissimum illum armatum inermis occidit, is neither covered with an helmet, nor girded with a sword, nor useth a spear, and being unarmed slayeth that mighty armed man: because by his wisdom which is better then weapons of war, he trusted in God who is the Lord of hosts, what was it but a stratagem of wisdom which Gideon used against the Midianites? They were not weapons of war wherewith he armed his souldiers, but a trumpet was in every mans hand, with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers, by which means, in trecentis viris de ingenti populo& acerbo host revexit triumphum, 
Ambros. de office. lib. 1. c. 40.  even with three hundred men only he triumphed over a mighty people& a cruel enemy, as S. Ambrose also speaketh, But one sinner destroyeth much good: which S. jerome expoundeth with reference to the former part of the verse thus, quod si unus insipiens fuerit, quamvis parvus aut nihil sit, crebro tamen per illius stultitiam opes magnas divitiasque subuerti, if there be one unwise man although he be mean and of little account yet often by his folly great wealth and riches be overthrowen. The vulgar Latin reads it as the Septuagint, Qui in uno peccaverit multa bona perdet; he that sinneth in one thing shall loose many good things: according to which sense Saint jerome also saith that the Hebrew may be rendered. But then I conceine this one thing to be wisdom, for he that transgresseth in wisdom overthroweth what good soever there is else in him. 
August. pe lib. arbit. lib. 1. c. 13.  Saint Austin defineth wisdom thus, est appetendarum& vitandarum rerum scientia, it is the knowledge of things that are to be embraced, and that are to be shunned: for indeed nothing can be embraced, nothing shunned as it ought to be unless that wisdom give direction in it. Wherefore the tenet of the schools is, that there can be no virtue in man without wisdom, and hereupon it is that wisdom is most necessary in the life of man. Aquinas sheweth it thus, been vivere est been operari, to live well saith he is to do well: now that any one may do well, it is not only required that he do what he should, but that he do it as he should, which is to do it out of a good consideration, and not of passion only. The consideration then of choice is in those things, which do respect the end, and therefore the rightness of this consideration requireth two things. The first is a due end, the second is that which is conveniently ordered for the due end. Now to the due end man is fitly disposed by virtue, whose object is a good end: but for that whereby a man is rightly disposed towards the due end, this is done by the right ordering of reason, because to consider and to choose are the actions of reason. 
Aquin. 1.2. Qu. 57. A. 5.  Wherefore it is needful that in reason there must be some intellectual virtue by which reason may be perfected in this regard, and this virtue is wisdom, which is therefore most needful for to live well. In a more general acception of the latter part of this verse, it may betaken to show the same unto us, 
James 2.10.  which Saint James doth, who saith, whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all: that is saith Aquinas, 
Aquinas.  factus est omnium reus, quia pro uno ac si pro omnibus peribit, he is made guilty of all, because he shall as well perish for one, as if he perished for all. For though he shall suffer greater punishment, that comnitteth more and greater sins, yet as for the losing of the glory of heaven, and as for being cast into the torments of hell, he that breaketh one commandement shall find this to be his portion, as well as he that breaketh all. This was shewed in the law by a leper, 
Levit. 1.3.  for as he that had the spot of leprosy in any one part of his body was accounted a leper, although all the rest of his body were sound and whole; so he who hath the spot of the leprosy of sin in any one thing, thereby is deprived of the society of the Saints and of Gods people, though otherwise he may not be unclean. The same was also shewed by the sacrifices: for that which was to be sacrificed to God, was to be without any blemish; because the blemish of any one commandement broken, taketh away the acceptance of all the rest that is done, and maketh it to be unpleasing to God, unprofitable to man. Saint Chrysostome 
Chrysostom.  shows it in a harp thus: as in a harp to make the music good and harmonious, it is not enough that all the strings be rightly tuned except one: so, that the harmony of our life may be good music in the ears of God, it is not sufficient, that nine of the strings of the Psaltery of Gods law be sound and well, if that one string of obedience be wanting. The command therefore of our Saviour Christ is, take my yoke upon you; 
Math. 11.29.  it is not said take it in your hands, or take it upon your shoulders, or else upon your head, but take it upon you, upon all of you, all over you. The words of this verse, Aquinas expoundeth thus, be that sinneth in one looseth many good things, that is, 
Aquinas.  he that hath not charity which is the perfection of all virtues and graces, looseth them all, because they are inseparably united unto it. Wherefore Saint jerome saith, Ubi est charitas quid est quod posset abbess? ubi non est charitas quid est quod posset prodesse? 
Hieronym.  Where there is charity, what is there that can be wanting? where there is not charity what is there that shall not want the profit of it?    

CHAPTER X.  
Ver. 1. Dead flies cause the ointment of the Apothecary to sand forth a savour; so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 
Ver. 1. THe original admitteth divers translations, and accordingly divers senses: that which our translation expresseth, as it is agreeable to the Hebrew text, so it is pithy in itself. Lyra giveth the same meaning to it, but he fetcheth it about another way: and telling us that {αβγδ} the original word here used, and commonly signifying pretiosum precious, doth sometimes signify ponderosum heavy, he reads the latter part of the verse thus, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  ponderosior est quam sapientia& gloria, stultitia parva, a little folly is more weighty then wisdom and glory. And he explaineth it, that a small defect in manners, which is here said to be a little folly, is more weighty then wisdom and glory: quia frequenter facit eam vilescere in persona aliqua notabili, because oftentimes it maketh that to be despised in some person of note. But whether it be a defect in manners, or otherwise, the truth is the same. Wherefore the shunning of this hath been the cause of much mischief in the world. For hence hath risen the Popes infallibility, the impeccancy of his judgement in matters of faith. For the Church of Rome being famous in the world and worthily glorious for those blessed lights of the Christian Church which anciently had been Bishops in it, to prevent the blemish, or at least to maintain the credit of it against any occasion that might arise, this invention was set up, that a Bishop of Rome by erring could not be blemished. Hence it is also that many learned men have defended their own errors, and that their followers have justified their masters in them. For that a small folly might not diminish the greatness of their famed, they have laboured to make even folly to be wisdom. Whereas this it is indeed which hath been the dead fly that hath made the ointment of their renown to sand forth a stinking Savour. For as saint Gregory saith, musca nimis insolens& inquietum est animal: in qua quid aliud quam insolentes curae desideriorum carnalium designantur? A fly is a very insolent and troublesone creature, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 18. cap. 28:  in which what else is signified then the insolent affections of carnal desires. Let a fly be driven away many times he still comes again, and will not be kept away, he returneth to the ointment until he be drowned in it, and then makes it to give a stinking savour; even so it is with the affections of men, which although their understanding see them to be placed amiss, and doth as it were drive them away, yet they pressing upon them, until they sink into them and fasten in them, do then make the credit even of learned and famous men to be defiled and blemished. Wherefore the Chaldee 
Chald.  expounding this verse saith, appetitus malus qui moratur ad portas cordis sicut musca, adducit mortem in saeculo, eo quod faetere facit sapientem in eo tempore quo peccat,& disperdit nomen bonum, quod simile erat oleo unctionis, quod confectum est aromatibus, an evil lust, 
Chald.  which abideth as it were at the gates of the heart like unto a fly, bringeth death in this world, because it maketh a wise man even to stink in that time wherein he sinneth, and destroyeth his good name which was like unto the anointing oil that was made of spices. But why should any man be ashamed to aclowledge his errors, to confess his imperfections, seeing there is no man without errors, without imperfections? 
Hieronym. advers. Pelag. l. 2.  Saint jerome expoundeth the last part of this verse unto this sense, saying, muscae mortuae demoliuntur atque corrumpunt suavitatem olei; quis mortalium aliquo error non capitur? Dead flies destroy and corrupt the sweetness of the oil; what mortal man is there that is not taken with some error? 
Isa. 7.18.  And in his comment upon this verse saith, muscae quae secundum Isaiam principantur in parte fluminis Aegypti perdunt olei suavitatem; in unoquoque credentium relinquentes immunditiae suae adorem& vestigia, the flies which according to the Prophet Isaiah abound in some part of the river of egypt destroy the sweetness of the oil leaving in every believer the sent and footsteps of their uncleanness. Another exposition which he giveth of the first part of this verse is this; 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  quod sic malus commmixtus bonis contaminet plurimos, quomodo muscae si morantur in unguento perdant odorem illius& saporem, that a wicked man mixed among good defileth many, even as flies, if they die in ointment, destroy the sweetness and the savour of it. The last part of this verse Saint jerome a greably also to the Hebrew readeth thus, pretiosa est supper sapientiam& gloriam stultitia parva, a little folly is more precious then wisdom and glory; and he giveth it this meaning, that because oftentimes wisdom is joined with craftiness, and prudence hath naughtiness in it, he exhorteth therefore that we seek after simplo wisdom, which is joined with the innocency of doves: let us be wise to that, which is good, and simplo to that which is evil. Or else the meaning may be expressed thus, that a simplo and down right wisdom being no way crafty and vain glorious, which generally in this world is accounted for foolishness, is more precious then wisdom and glory, that is then a vainglorious and ambitious wisdom, which is the wisdom of this world, being impatient of injuries under pretence of credit and honour, and given to ambition under a show of virtue and of doing good. The Chaldee also reading this last part of this verse in the same manner, thus delivereth the sense of it, quam gloriosus& decorus est magis quam sapientia sapientium, 
Chald.  & divitiae divitum, vir cujus insipientia est parva& modica? how glorious and beautiful is that man above the wisdom of the wise, and the riches of the rich, whose folly is little and small? that is, as I conceive, the wisdom of the wise in this world, being indeed no wisdom, though in their own apprehension it may seem never so great; and the glory of the rich being indeed no glory though in their own eyes it seem very bright, and dazzle the sight of others: it is he who knowing that he cannot attain unto true wisdom laboureth to make his folly as little as he can, that excelleth them both. Saint Bernard reading the first part of the verse as Saint jerome doth, muscae moriturae exterminant suavitatem olei, dying flies drive away the sweetness of the ointment, or which is indeed rather a mixture of the translation of Saint jerome and of the vulgar Latin, by allusion he applieth it unto the oil of Christs blood, 
Bernard. Serm. Feriae 4. Hebd. panosae.  saying, absit quod mucsae moriturae exterminent suavitatem unguenti; quod de corpore tuo fluit, God forbid that dying flies should drive out the sweetness of the ointment, which floweth from thy body; because in thy blood is mercy, and there is plenteous redemption. Dying flies are the blasphemies, dying flies are the insulting mocks, which a wicked and provoking generation did cast upon thee: but thou didst pray for them, saying, Father forgive them.   

Ver. 2. A wise mans heart is at his right hand: but a fools heart at is his left.  
Ver. 3. Yea also when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.  
Ver. 2. A wise mans heart is at his right hand: that is, in him things are placed and ordered contrary to the course of depraved nature, he doth not make that, his guide to led him in his ways, he doth not follow the courses of it; his wisdom sheweth the corruption of it. A fools heart is at his left hand: that is, as nature inclineth him so is he carried, he doth not strive against the corruption of it, that is his leader, after which he goes, and as a fool thinketh his way to be right because he follows that. Or else thus, a wise mans heart is as his right hand, and he doth that in his actions, which his heart thinketh, his works and his heart are near together: but a fools heart is at his left hand, he thinketh this and that, but he doth it not, or if he do it, it is with the left hand very untowardly. Or else thus, a wise mans heart is at his right hand, that is, carried rightly unto the right object of it; for though the heart be placed at the left hand, yet in respect of the object which standeth as it were opposite and contrary unto it, it may be said to be at the right hand. But a fools heart is at his left; the object at which he loooketh is not placed right before him, and he looketh as it were aside and awry in his desire, by which he is carried to it. To this purpose Lyra expoundeth it, who saith, the heart of the wise is at his right hand, quia dirigitur ad bonum moris per dextram designatum, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  because it is directed to that which is good in manners signified by the right hand: and the heart of a fool is at his left hand, because he tendeth always to evil, which is signified by the left hand. Or else thus, the heart of a wise man is at his right hand, that is, he worketh nothing but that which is right, his actions as they come from his heart, so they come from a right heart intending good by them, and they are done in a right manner, a right heart being careful so to order them and to perform them. But a fools heart is at his left hand, and though his action may be good in itself, his heart is not good from which it cometh; or though his heart, his meaning may be good, yet that which he doth is spoiled and overthrowen in the handling and doing of it: or else his heart being nought, his hand, his works and actions are nought also. For according to the pattern in the heart, so is the work of the hand made. To this purpose doth Tremellius expound it, saying, Sapientem nihil nisi cogitate agere,& cum animo suo prius expendere quàm dextram adopus admoveat, a wise man doth not do any thing without premeditation, but first he considereth it in his mind, before he putteth his hand unto any thing. But a fool is carried on without consideration, & rationem& sapientiam a se depellere, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  ut quae aversantur homines fear sinistra depelluntur, and doth put away reason and wisdom from himself, as for the most part those things which men dislike are put away with the left hand. For so the manner is of fencers, who with the right hand assault there adversaries, and with the left hand defend themselves, and keep off those things which would hurt them. Saint jerome expoundeth it that the heart of a wise man is said to be at his right hand, because he hath no left. For saith he justus sinistram non habet in se, said totum in eo dextrum est, 
mat. 5.39.  a righteous man hath nothing in himself that is left; but all in him is the right. And to confirm this he allegeth the speech of our saviour in the Gospel who saith, resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also. Where Saint jerome noteth, non jubemur sinistram genam praebere percutienti, said alteram dextram, we are not commanded to yield to him that smiteth the left cheek, but the other right cheek. Or else Saint jerome expoundeth it, that a wise mans heart is said to be at his right hand &c. because he that is wise doth always think of the world to come, 
Hieron. in hunc vers.  and which leadeth to the right hand, for there the sheep shall be placed: whereas the fool mindeth the present world, which is placed on the left hand for there the goats shall stand. To this purpose the Father allegeth the verse of the Poet, dextera, quae magni Duis sub maenia ducit, hac iter Elysium nobis: at laeva malorum exercet poenas& ad impia tartara mittit, there is the right hand which leadeth under the walls of great Pluto, this way we go to the Elysian fields: but the left hand bringeth to the torments of the wicked, and sendeth them into cruel hell. But to make use of the original, which may be translated the right side as well as the right hand, then if we red it A wise mans heart is at his right side &c, in respect that the side of a man is that whereon he resteth, we may give it this sense, that the heart of a wise man resteth on those things, which are at the right side that is on better things, in them taketh delight, in them placeth his confidence: but that the heart of a fool restest on those things, which are at the left side, that is, on worse things, upon them setteth his affections, in them placeth his affiance. Or lastly we may conceive that a wise mans heart is said to be at his right side, because it is joined in affection to things that are virtuous, to heavenly and spiritual things, but the heart of a fool is said to be at his left side, because it is joined in affection to things of pleasure, profit, honour and the earthly contentments of this life. But how few such wise men are there? 
Hiero. ad Demetriad. Vig. Ep. 1.  how many such fools? Saint jerome complaineth, In omnibus mundi studiis profectu non satiantur homines, in virtute tantum caepisse sufficiet ferventissimi in terrenis, frigdissimi in caelestibus sumus,& summam in rebus parvis exhibemus alacritatem, ad majora torpescimus, in all the labours of the world men are never satisfied with going on, in virtue it shall suffice to have begun only: we are most fervent in earthly things, most could in heavenly, and in the prosecution of small matters we show great alacrity, but unto greater things, and things of importance we are quiter dull. Saint Austin also complaineth of the same, saying, piger es ad faciendum ante te opus bonum,& strenuous es ad transeundum mere: quia avaritia imperat, servis, quia Deus jubet, 
Augustin. in Psal. 128.  odisti; thou art slow to do a good work which lieth before thee, so that thou mayest reach forth thine hand unto it, but thou art valiant to pass over the sea, for thy profit: because covetousness commandeth, thou dost serve it, because God commandeth thou dost disslike it. The reason of it is, because the heart of men is not at their right side, as the heart of wise men is; but at their left side, as the heart of fools is. For so Saint Austin telleth us vis desideriorum facit tolerantiam laborum& dolorum,& nemo nisi pro eo quod delectat, sponte suscipit far quod cruciat, 
Augustin. l. de patientia.  it is the force of desires that breedeth a quiet suffering of labours and pains, and no man doth willingly endure that, which tormenteth, unless it be for that which delighteth. But if we be such who have turned our heart to the right side, and are going on the way that leadeth to the right hand of glory, then as Saint Bernard saith, Pudeat nunc negligentius in vitam, quam prius in mortem ire,& minori study salutis acquirere quam perditionis augmentum, nam ut omnino simus in excusabiles in via vitae, quo citius eo facilius curritur,& leave salvatoris onus quo crescit amplius eo portabilius est, 
Bern. Epist. 341  let us be ashamed to go on more negligently towards life, then before we went on towards death, and with less care to seek the increase of salvation, then of perdition; for that we might be altogether in excusable in the way of life, the faster it is run, the more easily it is gone, and the light burden of our saviour by how much greater it grows, by so much it is carried the more lightly, and is the less troublesone. Thus the words being metaphoricall, they may be taken and expounded divers ways.  
Vers. 3. The fools heart in the verse before is said to be at his left hand, either because it is not carried unto the right object, or else because it proceedeth not from a right beginning of due consideration: and in both these respects it is, that when he walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him. For first when he is carried to the wrong objects of this world, to the honors, profits, pleasures thereof, either he doth not attain them, and so his wisdom faileth him; or else if he do attain them, he doth not find that good, that contentment in them, which he proposed and promised to himself, and so his wisdom failing him he shewed himself to all to be a fool. Secondly when his heart doth not proceed from the beginning of a due consideration, then also when he walketh by the way, when he is going on, his wisdom faileth him, he is not able to bring to an end that which he hath begun, he is not able to perform that which he hath taken upon him, and so saith to every one that he is a fool. This is that folly which our Saviour speaketh of, saying, which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, 
Luk. 14.28, 29.  and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. Least happily, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it, begin to mock him saying, this man began to build, and was not able to make an end. Another way we may take the meaning of the verse thus: that a fool hath not so much wit, as to conceal his folly, and seeing he cannot show his understanding, to hid the want of it; but even when he walketh by the way, when he is in public, his wisdom faileth him, and doth not keep him company, and he saith to every one that he is a fool: He saith it, and speaks plainly, although he say nothing, by that which he doth. And though he says it to every one, yet to himself he says it not, but thinketh himself to be very wise, and much wiser then they are, who see him to be a fool. Tremellius expoundeth the verse thus, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  that walking by the way, he is said to say to every one that he is a fool, Quia ipso vultu, gressu,& signis omnibus clamat stoliditatem suam, because by his very countenanc, gate, and all signs he proclaimeth his stoliditie. But all these expositions refer He unto the fool himself, when wee red, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. Whereas according to the original, the word He may be referred also to every one. So doth Saint jerome refer it, and therefore saith, that this is the meaning of it, Stultus ut ipse peccat, sperat omnes peccare similiter, atque ex suo ingenio universos judiea, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  A fool, as he sinneth himself, so he hopeth that all others do sin likewise, and he judgeth of every one according to his own disposition. And the father shows us; that Symachus did so translate the verse, as that he made this to be the meaning plainly. he therefore reads the verse thus, 
Aristot. Polit. l. 3. c. 6.  said& in via stultus quum ambulat, ipse insipiens suspicatur de omnibus, quod stulti sunt; but also a fool when he walketh in the way, being himself unwise, thinketh of all others that they are fools. For as the Philosopher saith, qualis quisque est, tales existimat alios, 
Aug. in Psal. 118. Conc. 12.  such as every one is, the same he thinketh others to be; the lascivious man, thinketh others to be lascivious, the covetous person, thinketh others to be covetous, the fool thinketh others to be fools. According as Saint Austin also saith, hoc proclivius suspicatur homo in alio quod sentit in seipso, that doth a man readily suspect of another, which he findeth in himself: 
Exod. 32.17.& 18.  When Moses and Joshua were coming down from the mountain, and heard a noise in the camp, Joshua said there is a noise of war, but Moses said, The noise of them that sing do I hear. Here was great difference in their judgement: but the reason was, That Joshua being a warre-like man, and addicted to arms, he therefore judgeth the noise to be a noise of war; but Moses being a man of peace, and given to peace, he judgeth the noise to be a noise of peace, 
2 Cor. 10.12. Aug. in Psal. 118. Conc. 12.  each judgeth according to his own disposition. To this purpose Saint Austin also allegeth that place of Saint Paul, when he saith, But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. As if the meaning were, That they thinking others to be as themselves, and so measuring themselves by them, and comparing themselves with them, did therein show themselves to be fools both in their judgement of themselves and others. Neither is this the manner of fools only, but sometimes of wise men also. Joshua being himself a simplo honest man; true in his words and deeds, he thought the same of others, and so was deceived by the Gibeonites. When the brethren of Joseph, 
Genes. 37.32.  having sold him to the Ishmaelites, brought his garment to their Father, stained with the blood of a kid; although Jacob knew the great hatred which his brethren did bear him, yet he never suspected what they had done unto him: for being himself a virtuous godly man, he could not suppose that any such villainy should be committed by them. But that any one may not suspect evil of another, which is the too common fashion of people, it is good to observe the rule which Saint Austin giveth, 
Aug. in Psal. 118. Conc. 12.  and that is, non videre quod latet, non invidere quod eminet, not to take upon us to see that which is hide, not to see that with an envious eye, which by the eminency of it appeareth plainly. But as the word He in the last part of the verse is referred to every one, so Lyra giveth another meaning of it: when a fool, saith he, walketh by the way, that is in wickedness and sin, for that is his way, his wisdom faileth him, being therein, in truth, a very fool. He saith to every one, that goeth not in his way, that followeth not his courses, that he is a fool, quia non sequuntur delectabilia hujus mundi, quae sola reputat bona, because they do not follow the delightful things of this world, which alone he esteemeth to be good things. And this is indeed the judgement which careless sinners have of them, that are religious and godly, they esteem them no better then fools, thinking it strange that they run not with them into the same excess of folly, speaking evil of them. 
1. Pet. 4.4.  And indeed this exposition agreeth well to the original, which speaketh of the way {αβγδ} secundum quod stultus ambulat, according to which, or wherein a fool walketh, as showing that he gave his judgement in respect of the way. But it is in the way only that a fool hath this judgement, when he cometh to his journeys end, he will then be of another mind, and then he will confess himself, and all that follow him to be fools, and them only, to be wise, whom he accounted fools. For the end shall teach even fools wisdom, and then they shall wish that they had been wiser, who when they might have been, despised to embrace it.   
Ver. 4. If the Spirit of the Ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place, for yielding pacifieth great offences. 
Vers. 4. The Preacher having declared the nature of wisdom and folly, he delivereth next the effects of wisdom, and that in most important and necessary things. If the spirit of the ruler rise against thee: if the ruler be offended with thee, if angry at thee, if the flamme of his wrath rise up high, as being great against thee, leave not thy place, that is, saith Tremellius, modest te in statione tua teneto, nec rebellato, keep thyself modestly in thy station, and do not rebel against him. Or else as I conceive, the original words {αβγδ} may be rendered, do not persist in thy place, do not stand to make good, and to justify that wherein thou hast offended him: and unto this, the following word of yielding agreeth very well. Wee red of Jacob, how he went into another country, when his brother was angry with him, which Saint Ambrose setteth down thus, Jacob fratri indignanti pie cessit, 
Ambros. de Offi. l. 1. c. 21.  & Rebecca id est patientiae instructus consilio abbess maluit& peregrinari quam excitare fratris indignationem,& tunc redire quum fratrem mitigatum putaret; Jacob religiously gave way unto his brother, being angry, and instructed by the counsel of Rebecca, that is of patience, had rather be absent, and in a strange country, then to provoke his brothers wrath, and then to return when he thought his brother to be pacified. And surely it is wisdom in such a case not to stand to affront anger, but to go aside a little out of sight, or at leastwise by yielding to give place unto it. Saint Ambrose reading the words as our translation hath them, and as they are red generally, ne relinquas locum tuum, leave not thy place, thereupon saith, Locus tuus patientia est, locus tuus sapientia est, locus tuus ratio est, locus tuus sedatio indignationis est, 
Ambros. Ibid.  thy place is patience, thy place is wisdom, thy place is reason, thy place is the pacifying of anger; leave not therefore these, in which thy welfare is placed. For yielding pacifieth great offences, concerning the original word {αβγδ} which is rendered yielding in our translation, Saint jerome tells us, that generally in Greek it was translated {αβγδ} curatio aut sanitas, curing or healing, and so indeed it signifieth most properly, himself also therefore doth so translate it. But he tells us that Symmachus did translate it, quia pudicitia comprimit peccata multa, because modesty appeaseth many offences. The French translation reads it la douceur, meekness and mildness. But the word properly signifying healing or curing: I conceive that here it is used as importing a desire to make amends, a care to redress what hath been ill taken, or ill done, an endeavour to recover the favour that is lost. And this is said to pacify, or to make to cease great offences, both in respect of him who is angry, and in respect of him with whom he is angry, 
Tremel. in hunc vers.  as Tremellius noteth. First in respect of the Ruler that is angry, because it stayeth his anger from running into the sin of revenge, or some other the like, according as we red, that the wise carriage of Abigail stayed David, 
1. Sam. 25.18.  when he was highly angry with Nabal. Secondly in respect of him with whom he is angry, because it maketh his offences though great, to be pardonned, and freeth him from the hurt that he feareth by them. But the ancient Fathers generally expound this verse in a spiritual sense. And the beginning of the verse being red thus by them, Si spiritus potestatem habentis, if the spirit of him that hath power, they understand this Spirit to be the devil, wherefore Saint jerome saith, the Scripture here signifieth the Prince of this world, and the ruler of this darkness, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, 
Ephes. 2.2.  as Saint Paul speaketh of him. If he therefore ascend into our heart, and that our mind have received the wound of an evil thought, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  wee must not willingly give place, but wee must fight against this evil thought, and strive to be freed from this sin, so that the thought do not proceed into action. And in another place, the same Father speaking of this verse, saith, Quasi in procinctu,& acie stamus semper ad pugnam, 
Hieron. ad Demetr. Epist. 8.  vult nos loco movere hostis& de gradu recedere: said solidanda sunt vestigia& dicendum, statuit supra petram pedes meos, We are as it were ready, and stand always marshaled in battle array, the enemy would have us to leave our place, 
Psal. 40.2.  and to remove from our station, but our steps must be settled, and wee must say unro him, He hath set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Thus Saint Gregory speaking also of this verse, it is, saith he, ac si apart dicat, si tentatoris spiritum contra te in aliquo praevalere consideras, humilitatem paenitentiae non derelinquas. Qui quod locum nostrum humilitatem paenitentiae dixerit, verbis sequentibus ostendit dicens, quia curatio faciet cessare peccata maxima. Quid est enim humilitas lamenti, nisi medicina peccati? as if he plainly said, if thou perceivest the Spirit of the tempter to prevail in something against thee, leave not the humility of repentance. For that he meaneth the humility of repentance to be our place, he sheweth by the following words saying, that healing maketh great sins to cease. 
Gregor. Moral. l. b. 3. c. 13.  For what else is the humility of lamenting, but the remedy of sinning? Wherefore in general he saith, malorum locus est superbia, sicut est contra humilitas locus bonorum, the place of sinners and evil men is pride, as on the the contrary the place of penitents and good men is humility. Beda also having cited this verse addeth, quod est apart dicere, si principis mundi id est diaboli tentatio tibi fort institerit, caveto solcitus, ne à bona operatione cvi insudabas, 
Beda in cap. 27. Proverbiorum.  desistas if the temtation of the Prince of this world that is the devil shall press upon thee, be diligently careful that thou desist not from that good working wherein thou didst painfully labour. Lyra saith that the verse may be understood of the devil, but himself applieth it fomiti peccati, to the original corruption of human nature, saying if the spirit, that is impulsus the strong inclination potestatem habentis, of that which hath power, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  that is of natural corruption, which is said to have power, because many do obey it as having power over them, shall rise up against thee, by pressing thee to sin leave not thy place, leave not thy steadfastness in virtue, in which a man ought to remain as in a firm place. The reason follows, because healing will make great sins to cease, for though by resisting natural corruption it be not wholly taken away in this present life, yet by such a resistance the power of it is diminished,& virtue both settled& increased, which is said to be a kind of health to the soul, and therefore by consequence a curing from infirnity. And this maketh sin to cease, into which our natural corruption would carry us, unless there were this healing or curing. He that is the Author of the Commentary on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Epesians, which is found amongst Saint Hieromes works, following the general exposition of this verse, doth thus express the meaning of it, Ille superbus& temerarius vult ascendere, said etiansi te oppressum putaverit,& se extulerit, ne tu dederis locum, potestas enim diaboli non in temeritate illius atque jactantia, said in tua est voluntate, he, that proud and bold spirit, will rise up against thee, 
In c. 6. Epist. Ephes.  but though he think thee to be overcome, and do lift up himself, do not thou give place, for the power of the devil is not in his boldness and bragging, but in thy will. Another exposition which I meet with of this verse is this, Si dominandi cupiditas animum tuum invaserit, locum prioremne facile deserueris, qui enim compescit in hujusmodi cupiditatibus animum suum multa vitabit& gravia peccata, if the desire of having power and ruling, 
Chald. Paraphr.  that is the spirit of ambition shall assault thy mind, be not hasty in leaving thy former place and condition. For he that subdueth his mind in these desires shall shun many and great offences. For indeed they are many sins into which this desire carrieth men, and it is not an easy matter to overcome it, when it riseth up. 
Ambros. lib. 4. in Lucam.  Wherefore Saint Ambrose saith, oftentimes those, whom no vices led aside, those whom lust cannot move, whom covetousness cannot overthrow, facit ambitio criminosos ambition maketh to be great offenders.   

Ver. 5. There is an evil which I have seen under the Sun, as an error, which proceedeth from the ruler.  
Ver. 6. Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.  
Ver. 7. I have seen servants upon horses, and Princes walking as servants upon the earth.  
Vers. 5. There is an evil which I have seen under the Sun: it is still in hoc mundo subsolano in this world under the Sun that the Preacher seeth evil, 
Ambros. in Psal. 37.  it is where frail man ruleth, it is not as Saint Ambrose speaketh, Supra solem ubi sanctitas caelestium potestatum, above the Sun where is the holinesse of the heavenly powers. As an error: Saint jerome reads it quasi ignorantia as it were ignorance, and he tells us that the Septuagint, Aquila, and Theodotio did red it {αβγδ} quasi non spontaneum as a thing unwillingly done. Which proceedeth from the ruler: the ruler here some do understand to be God, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  who as Lyra saith in truth can no way err, but yet according to the judgement of foolish men he is supposed to err: for they from the promotion of wicked men to dignities and honours do not seldom say that God is a sleep, or is deceived for want of judgement: whereas it is according to the dispensation of his wisdom and justice concealed from us why he sometimes suffereth the wicked to be exalted, the good to be cast down: & ideo non hic dicitur per errorem principis absolutè said quasi per errorem, and therefore it is not here said by the error of the Prince absolutely: but as it were by the error of the Prince because it seemeth so to fools and simplo ones. Others here understand the ruler to be the devil, who ruleth under the Sun, and thereupon they infer this admonition as Saint jerome sets it down, ne simus itaque tristes si in hoc saeculo humiles videamur, scientes a fancy diaboli stultos sublevari,& divites dejici, servos insignia habere dominorum& principes servorum ingredi vilitate, let us not therefore be sad, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  if in this world we seem to be in low degree, as knowing that it is from the favour and countenance of the devil, that fools are exalted, and they who are rich in wisdom are cast down, that servants do enjoy the privileges of masters, and Princes for worth do walk in the baseness of servants. Lastly others by the ruler understand them, who rule by authority and command in earthly government, and who have power and means to advance others to rule and command. Now if such a one do err being a man, what marvel can it be? Moyses therefore being near unto his end, and praying unto God, let the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation, Philo noteth upon it, 
Numb. 27.16.  that Moyses himself durst not to commit the government to another, least perhaps he should be deceived in his judgement, and therefore not relying upon human judgement and so not trusting to himself, 
Philo l. de Charita▪  he prayed unto God that he would choose a fit governor for his people. And it may be farther noted how he prayeth, Let the God of the spirits of all flesh &c. As if he had said, thou O Lord who peircest every man into the inwards of the spirit, and who seest not as man seeth, looking only upon the outward appearance do thou choose a man. But although the ruler as being a man be a subject to error as well as other men, yet it must be his care to err as little as possible he can. Saint cyril observeth that in the law, whereas if others did sin God appointed a sacrifice and remedy for them, whether they sinned through ignorance or else with knowledge, in the sin of the high Priest there is not appointed any sacrifice for him if that he sinned by ignorance, 
cyril. l. 2. in Levit.  quasi nullo modo in praelatis sit admittenda ignorantia aut defectus sapientiae ad suum munus requisitae, as if by no means there were to be admitted in them that do rule, ignorance or defect of wisdom required to their place. Besides there had need to be a great care in the ruler, that shall choose others to rule and command, because it is a hard thing to discharge it. nazianzen saith, difficile est homini imperare, difficillimum homines instruere& docere. 
Nazianz. Orat. 1. Apolog.  Ars quidem artium& scientia scientiarum mihi esse videtur, hominem regere animal omnium maxim varium& multiplex, it is a hard thing for a man to rule, a most hard thing to instruct and teach men. It seemeth to me to be an art of arts, a science of sciences to rule man who is of all creatures most various and changeable. To the same purpose Saint Chrysostome saith, 
Chrysost. Homil. 15. in 2. ad corinth.  imperium tenere non dignitas tantum est, said ars etiam,& quidem artium omnium praestantissima, to have rule and government is not only a dignity but an art also, and of all arts the highest and most excellent. But that this care of not erring, by the ruler is not always observed nazianzen also sheweth, who complaining saith, Uno die sanctos fingimus, 
Nazianz. Oratione. 10.  eosque eruditos& sapientes esse jubemus, qui nihil didicerunt& qui ad sacerdotium nihil prius tulerunt quam velle, in one day we make men holy, and command them to be wise and learned, who have learned nothing, and who bring nothing before hand with them to the Priest hood, but a will only. And surely it would be a great help to the ruler for not erring, if they who are unworthy would not ambitiously seek for authority and command, and by a violent importunity even thrust themselves into it. Cicero saith well, Suum quisque noscat ingenium& exactum se judicem honorum& vitiorum praebeat, ne scenici plus quam nos videantur habere prudentiae, hic enim accommodatissimas sibi eligunt fabulas, 
Cicer. Offi.  let every one know his own ability and faculties, let him make himself a strict judge of honours and defects, of the honours that he seeks, of the defects that he hath, least that stage players appear to have more wisdom then we, for they do choose unto themselves the fittest parts for themselves.  
Ver. 6. Folly is set in great dignity: he saith not that a fool, but that folly is set in great dignity; either as showing how exceeding foolish they are, who sometimes are advanced in worldly honour, even as foolish as folly can make them; or else as showing, that when a fool is advanced, it is not so much himself as his folly that is set on high. For then his folly shows itself, himself as a fool is despised still. Saint Bernard complaining of this promotion of fools in the Church, saith, scholares pueri& impuberes adolescentuli promoventur ad Ecclesiasticas dignitates,& de sub ferula transferuntur ad principandum praesbiteris, laetiores interim quod flagella evaserint, quam quod meruerint principatum, nec tam illis blanditur adeptum quam ademptum magisterium, 
Bern. Epist. 42.  school boyes, beardless youths are advanced to ecclesiastical dignities, and from being under the rod they are translated to be over the clergy, in the mean while being more glad in themselves that they have escaped the whip, then that they are come to honour, and the mastership that is taken from over them doth more please them then that which is gotten by them. Saint Basil complaineth of the same in the common wealth, saying, non item eum eligunt, qui est dignus, said domesticum ac familiarem; neque ille eligitur qui salutaris esse posset reipublicae, said qui in sua gente ac familia vi facultatum praepollet, 
Basilius in c. 3. Isaiae.  they do not also choose him that is worthy but some one that is domestic to them, or familiar with them: neither is he chosen who may be for the good of the common-wealth, but he who in his kindred and family aboundeth in possessions. And to this purpose he applieth the words of the Prophet Isaiah, who saith, 
Isai. 3.6.  a man shall take of his brother of the house of his Father, saying, thou hast clothing be thou ruler over us. And the rich sit in low places: the rich in this place expositors generally understand to be those, qui divites sunt sermone& sapientia, divites etiam operibus bonis, who are rich in utterance and wisdom rich also in good works as Saint jerome declareth them. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  And indeed these are they who are truly rich. Saint Austin. marking those words of Saint Paul, 
1 Timot. 6.9.  they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish lusts which drown them in destruction and perdition, thereupon noteth, qui volunt divites fieri, qui volunt non qui sunt, nam qui sunt, divites sunt in bonis operibus, they that will be rich, 
Augustin. Serm. 205. de Tempore  they that will be, not they that are, for they that are, are rich in good works. Saint Bernard therefore saith, filii Adam genus avarum& ambitiosum audite, quid vobis cum terrenis divitiis& gloria temporali, quae nec verae nec vestrae sunt. Si enim vestra sunt haec tollite vobiscum. Vere ergo divitiae non opes sunt said virtutes, quas secum conscientia portat ut in perpetuum dives sit, 
Bernard. Ser. 4. adventus.  ye Sons of Adam a covetous and ambitious generation hear this, what have ye to do with earthly riches and temporal glory, which are neither true riches, nor your riches? For if they be your riches, take them with you when ye go hence. Riches therefore truly, are not wealth but virtues, which the conscience caryes with it, that it may be rich for ever. 
Chrysost. Homil. 11. in 1. ad Tundli.  Saint Chrysostome speaking in the same manner, saith, quid parva ista miraris? quid ad ista quae abjectissima sunt inhias? quamdiu inops eris? quamdiu pauper esse persistes? in caelum animum intend coelestesque divitias animo versa, aurum irride, why dost thou stand amazed at those small things? why dost thou look so earnestly after those most base things? how long wilt thou be a beggar? how long wilt thou continue to be poor? fasten thine eyes upon heaven, and let thy mind be busied about heavenly riches, despise gold. The spirit of God here calleth them rich, who abound with these riches. And Saint Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. l. 3. Epist. 10. ad Simplic.  solum illum Deus divitem novit, qui sit dives aeternitati, qui non opum said virtutum fructus recondat, it is he only that God acknowledgeth for a rich man, who is rich unto eternity, and who layeth up the reveneus of virtues not of wealth. But to give some reason why the Preacher in this place expresseth the worthy in wisdom and virtue by this name rich, I conceive it to be, as showing that God did honour them, and esteem of them, though in the world they were not honoured nor esteemed, and that he had advanced them in glorious riches, though in the world they did sit in low places. Saint Basil saith, 
Basil. Se leuc. Oratione 15.  placet sibi Deus abstrusum in despecto corpore margaritum conspicatus, God pleaseth himself beholding a hidden pearl in a despised and disrespected body. Or else the Preacher useth here this word, as showing, that although they did not receive from others honour and dignity, yet by their own pains they had gotten to themselves wisdom and worth, and that although the other were kept from them; yet that this could not be taken from them. The French translation doth red this word rich, ceu qui out de quoi they that have wherewith: as if the meaning were that fools are set in high places, in dignities and honours, who have not wherewith, and are not of ability either to order their places, or to order themselves in their places: whereas they who have wherewith, who have wisdom and knowledge, as well to honour high places and dignities by their well discharging of them, as they should be honoured in them, are left to continue in a low rank, Saint Bernard speaking of the Knight rollers saith, persona inter eos non accipitur, defertur honor meliori, 
Bernard. ad milites Templi c. 4.  among them there is no accepting of persons, honour is given to him that is most worthy of it. And where it is so, in the temple and state, that time is come again, of which Seneca saith, aureum saeculum erat, in quo honores melioribus dabantur, the golden age was, 
Seneca Epist. 91  in which honours were bestowed on them, that best deserved them. When a fool is set in dignity, it is as when an handful of hay is set up to give light, which with smoke and smell offendeth all that are nere it. When as the worthy sit in low place, it is as when a goodly candle, that on a table would give a comfortable and comely light, is put under a bushel.  
Vers. 7. I have seen: and with what look do we imagine that the Preacher beholded it? how angry was his eye? how ashamed his countenance? would it not be a strange thing to see some beast ruling a man with a bridle, and at his pleasure to turn him and guide him which way he would? Surely no less strange sight it is, to see servants as Princes upon horses, and to see Princes as servants walking upon the earth. The meaning of the verse, Saint Gregory delivereth thus, Equi nomine dignitas temporalis accipitur,& quum omnis qui peccat, servus est pecati; servi in equis sunt, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 31. cap. 10.  quum peccatores praesentis vitae dignitatibus efferuntur. Principes vero quasi servi ambulant, quum multos dignitate virtutum plenos nullus honor eriget, said summa hic adversitas velut indignos deorsum premet, by the name of a horse, is understood temporal dignity, and seeing every one that sinneth is the servant of sin, servants are upon horses, when sinners are advanced in the dignities of this present life. But Princes walk as servants, when no honour exalteth many who are full of the worth of virtues, but that great adversity doth press them down, as if they were unworthy men. S. jerome expresseth the meaning of it thus, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  quod hi qui servi sunt vitiorum atque peccati, sieve tam humiles ut servi ab hominibus computentur, subita a diabolo dignitate perflati vias publicas mannis terant,& nobilis quisque vel prudens paupertate oppressus gradiatur itinere officioque servorum, that they who are servants to vices, and sin, or else are so base, that by men they are accounted of as servants, being blown up by the devil, with some sudden dignity, do wear out the streets, and high ways with their nags,& he that is noble or wise, oppressed with poverty, goeth along the way afoote, and waiteth as a servant. So that the difference not only is, that the one rideth, the other is afoot upon the earth; but also that the one sitteth at his ease, the other walketh with pain and labour. But though the foolish, the wicked be upon horses, they are servants still: and though the virtuous and the wise walk upon the earth, they are Princes still. Yea, how many servants are there more free then their masters, 
Ambros. de Jos. Parariarcha. c: 4  si in servitute positi a servilibus putent operibus abstinendum. Servile est omne peccatum, libera est innocentia, if being placed in servitude, they be careful to abstain from servile works. Every sin is servile, righteousness is free, as Saint Ambrose speaketh. 
Psal. 105.22.  Joseph was sold into egypt for a servant; but how was he a servant, who did bind Princes at their pleasure, and did teach Senators wisdom? How was he a servant, who bought the whole land of egypt, and made all the egyptians servants unto pharaoh? Even when he was the servant of Potyphar, he disdained not obsequium sedulitatis, the obedient readiness of diligence, but he kept still the height of virtue, he preserved still the freedom of righteousness, the authority of innocency. The selling of him could not take away this from him. Money is no prejudice unto this, which oftentimes hath bought masters unto them, who have been the disturbers of it: nihil tabulae auctionales, the deeds of bargain and sale do no ways hinder this, by which many times the buyer hath been condemned unto bondage. There have been many who have bought faire damosells, to whom by a lustful affection, they have been subjected in a shameful thraldom. Wherefore as Saint Ambrose speaketh, non ille solum liber qui dominum licitatorem non pertulit aut tollentem digitum non vidit, said ille magis liber qui intra se liber est, It is not he only that is free, who hath not a master to set a price upon him, whose eye feareth not the finger that is lifted up against him, but he is rather free, that is free within himself. 
Aug. in Psal. 104.  Non ista est libertas quam manumissus accipit,& palma lictoris donatus acquirit, that is not a liberty which he receiveth, upon whose head, his master putting his hand, and therewith putting him away from him, hath said unto him, Liber esto, be thou free: that is not a freedom which he hath obtained, to whom the sergeant hath given a branch of the palm three; but that is freedom which virtue, which wisdom bestoweth. He that is a fool, he that is wicked, though a Prince, is but a servant, he that is virtuous, he that is wise, though a servant, is a Prince. Saint Ambrose sheweth them both, who speaking of the first, saith, Stulto& imperare servitus est,& quod pejus est, quum paucioribus praesit, pluribus dominis& gravioribus servit, 
Ambros. Ibid.  to a fool, even to reign is a bondage, and that which is worse, whereas he reigneth over a few, he serveth many and most grievous masters. For he serveth his passions, he serveth his lusts, whose dominion over him he is not able to shun, neither night nor day: for he hath his masters with him, and within himself suffereth this unsufferable servitude. Of the other, he saith, he that will be free, let him be a servant of the Lord, ea enim parte qua participamur servitute, participamur& regno, for so far as we are interested in this service, so far we are interested in a kingdom: yea it is the kingdom of heaven, which is within us, as our Saviour speaketh. 
Luk. 17.21.  There is no little servitude in the Princes of the earth, even as they are Princes, and therefore Philo noteth, that it is well said of Joseph, that he was sold into Egypt, because he that ascendeth into a place of dignity, of a free man, is made a servant, 
Philo de Joseph.  propter honores quos videtur accipere innumeris se dominis subjiciens, for the honours which he seemeth to receive subjecting himself unto numberless masters. For it is not one that is master of them, who rule in the government, but even the multitude of the people. But if unto this servitude, the servitude of wickedness be joined also, how grievous is it made? Now it were well, if they who condemn the evil of the world, when servants be upon horses, and Princes walk upon the earth, would be but careful not to suffer the same in themselves. For when the flesh ruleth over the spirit, is not then a servant on horse-back? and lifted up in honour? Is not then a Prince subjected, and made to go on foot? Saint Austin expresseth this perverted course by a fit similitude, saying, qualis est in oculis hominum, 
Aug. Serm. 5. ad fratres in Eremo.  qui inversis pedibus& capite deorsum ambulare videtur, talis est in oculis Angelorum cvi propria caro dominatur, such a one as he is in the eyes of men, who is seen to walk with his feet turned upward, and his head downward, the same is he in the sight of the Angels, whose own flesh beareth rule in him. Who therefore should not be ashamed of it? 
Seneca Epist. 65.  And if Seneca perceiving the shane of it, said of himself, mayor sum& ad majora genitus, quam ut mancipium sim mei corporis, I am of more worth, and born to better things, then that I should be the slave of my body, how much more should a Christian be moved with the shane ●f it? How much more would his resolution be the same, and how careful should he be to perform it?   

Ver. 8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.  
Ver. 9. Whoso removeth stones, shall be hurt therewith: and he that cleaveth wood, shall be endangered thereby.  
Ver. 8. The consideration of the former verses, wherein the Preacher speaketh of the advancement of the unworthy, the low estate of them that are worthy, induceth me to understand this verse of him, who that he may exalt his own unworthiness, diggeth a pit by plots and devices, and secret suggestions, whereby to keep others down, and of him whose ambitious desire, that he may get up on high, careth not to break down hedges, to leap over ditches, and where his own worth findeth not a way open for him, to make a way by the force of importunity, and other sinister courses. And commonly where this violent desire is, it is a sign of little worth that there is to be found. 
Abusensis in 2. Reg. c. 15. v. 5.  For so Abulensis delivereth his judgement, saying, Qui honorem desiderat, non est dignus honore,& qui desiderat statum excellentem non potest eum convenienter sustinere, he that desireth honor, is not worthy of honor, he that desireth a high place, is not a man able fitly to discharge it. But to him that diggeth this pit for others, the Preacher saith, that he shall fall into it: for many times himself falleth from the height of his ambitious hope, who seeketh to keep down others from rising. The princess of Babylon had digged a pit for Daniel, as low as the lions den, that by his fall themselves might be advanced in the Kings favour: but Daniel being preserved in it, and taken out of it, themselves were cast into it, and there were consumed, and perished. To him that breaketh so an hedge, the Preacher saith that a serpent shall bite him: and indeed, what is ambition itself, 
Bernard. l. 3. de considerat.  but a biting serpent? Saint Bernard saith of it, O ambitio ambientium! crux quomodo omnes torquens omnibus places? nihil acrius cruciat, nihil molestius inquietat, nihil tamen apud miseros mortales celebrius negotiis ejus: O the ambition of the ambitious! Being a cross which tormenteth all, how dost thou please all? there is nothing that vexeth more bitterly, nothing that disquieteth more grievously, and yet there is nothing more famous with miserable men, then the businesses of it. 
Augustinus.  Saint Austin speaking of our first parents Adam and Eve, saith, Rapere volverunt divinitatem,& perdiderunt faelicitatem, they would needs get unto themselves divinity, and lost their felicity. They break through the hedge of Gods commandement, to come to the forbidden three, and how grievously, how deadly did the serpent bite them? And surely oftentimes when ambitious heads break through hedges, to get to high places, there is a serpent lurking secretly, which bites them by the heel, and either stops them from going on, or else bringeth by it some great mischief upon them. Or else the serpent that biteth these ambitious subtle workers, is some other more subtle then they, by whom they are undermined in their plots. Indeed when ambition is set upon it, no hedge, no wall is able to hold it, but it breaks through, it leaps over all. What hedges did Athaliah break, killing all the royal Progeny, 
2. King. 11.  that herself might reign? What hedges did Abimelech break, 
judge. 9.  killing seventy of his brethren, that himself might rule? What hedges did Absalom break, that he might be King in Israel? But did not the serpent bite them all? 
2. King. 15.  Was not to all of them, their greatness their confusions? Saint Chrysostome speaking of Absalom, saith, Where fathers and Parents ought to find comfort, there they find death; and whereas bruit beasts observe the laws of piety toward them that breed them; whereas it is wickedness to destroy the innocent, great wickedness to destroy a father; ambitio docet id quod natura non novit, quod pietas ipsa horescit, 
Chrysost. Homil. de Absolom.  audet perficere quod Deus novo supplicio cogatur vindicare, ambition teacheth that which nature knoweth not, which natural affection abhorreth, and dareth to enterprise that, which God is compelled to punish with a strange and new judgement. Or else if the serpent bite not so hard, it is not seldom seen, that when the three is ready to bear, it biteth off the bud, and when ambition seeketh for the fruit of a long sought-for greatness, it findeth none in it. When the Lord saith unto the Prophet Zachary, 
Zachar. 11.15.  take unto thee the instruments of a foolish shepherd: the instruments of a shepherd, being a bag and a staff, Rabbi David 
Rabbi David.  and Vatablus say, that the bag of a foolish shepherd is pera pertusa, a bag that is broken thorough, and which holdeth nothing; according whereunto wee may say, that the staff of a foolish shepherd is a broken staff, not able to support him. And plainly it is so with many in the folly of ambition, they have broken through a hedge to come to greatness, and thereby have broken the bag of their greatness, that it affordeth small benefit unto them: they haue leaped over a wall to get into honour, but the leap hath broken their staff, so that they have little comfort to support them. A serpent hath bitten them, and the poison thereof cannot be gotten out. Another exposition which Lyra giveth of this verse, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  is to understand here the hurt that cometh by the occasion of sin, so that he that doth not shun the occasion of it, doth even fall into it, and he that being bold, doth run into the occasion of sin, doth even dig a pit, in which he is taken. To the same purpose he expoundeth the latter part of the verse, understanding the hedge to be the restraint of discipline and government, which whosoever breaketh, 
Ephes. 4.27. Anselm. Ibid.  giving himself more careless liberty in his courses, is easily bitten by the serpent, the devil. Anselm considering the words of Saint Paul, Give no place to the devil, thereupon saith, that if the door be not shut, or being shut, if it be not shut carefully, the devil, who is always at the door, will find some way of entrance into it. And he further tells us, that this door hath two leaves, desire and fear, so that if we open either leaf, whether it be a desire after some worldly thing, or a fear of some earthly thing, the devil is ready to get in; and that therefore to be safe, wee must keep both fast shut against him. When the holy things belonging to the Sanctuary were to be removed, all things were to be covered, least in the journey, 
Numb. 4.  dust should be a soiling to them. In like manner therefore seeing they who are Gods children, are vessells of mercy, belonging to his Sanctuary, it must be their care, while they are in the way of this life, that they be covered all over with a diligent watchfulness, because otherwise the dust of sin, or the pollution of some uncleanness will easily fasten upon them. In the law, the Nazarite was not only commanded to abstain from wine and strong drink, 
Numb. 6.3. v. 4.  but also he might not eat grapes, whether moist or dry, nor any thing that is made of the Vine three, from the kernels, even to the husk. But why not these small things, in which there could be no danger of drunkenness? Surely least by the contentment of these, he might be drawn to desire the wine, and so be carried on to sin. This remote occasion was forbidden, to show how careful every one should be in shunning the occasion of wickedness. 
Seneca Epist. 117.  And indeed, as Seneca saith, Quantum possumus a lubrico recedamus insicco etiam parum fortiter stamus, as much as we can let us keep ourselves from slippery places, for even on dry ground it is not very strongly that we stand. The prayer therefore of the Prophet David, is, Remove from me the way of lying, by the way, meaning the occasion of sinning. For as the way leadeth unto the journeys end, so doth occasion led unto sin, which is the end of it. Let him therefore keep out of the way, that will not be carried on by it, let him not dig the pit, that will not fall into it, 
Psal. 119.29.  let him not break the hedge, that will not have the serpent to bite him. Or else, we may conceive the Preacher, who hath before shewed the benefit and excellency of true wisdom, here to show the hurt& reproach of crafty and subtle deceitfulness, which seeking to do harm to others, bringeth it upon the seekers of it.  
Vers. 9. The Preacher joining this verse unto the former, I shall consider it in the same manner; and first to speak of the unworthy, ambitiously seeking to be on high, and placed in greatness; here the Preacher sheweth, that as he who taketh upon him to remove a ston, which is too heavy for him, shall be hurt with it; so he that taketh upon himself some weighty place of dignity, which he is not able to discharge shall be oppressed by it. As he that heweth wood which is too hard for him, is much endangered by it; so he that putteth himself into a place of greatness which is too hard for him to perform, putteth himself into great danger also. 
Seneca Epist. 14.  Seneca saith of trees planted in valleys, ubi ab inclementia temporum protecti sunt, where they are sheltered from the unmercifulness of seasons oftentimes are shaken and perish with the force of winds and rains and lightnings, what may wee think of them who are placed on the top of the mountaines without any shelter? 
Bernard. Sehm. de converse. ad clear. c. 31.  And surely if wise men who sit in a low place are not free from troubles and dangers, then certainly fools being in great dignity cannot but be distressed by them. But it is the nature of ambition, not to regard dangers, and therefore Saint Bernard saith, paratos ambitiosos videas universa pericula subire, scandala suscitare, sustinere odia, opprobria dissimulare, negligere maledicta, thou mayest see ambitious persons ready to undergo all dangers, to raise up scandals, to sustain hatreds, to dissemble reproaches, to neglect cursings. And surely being so ready to undergo them, no marvel if they fall into them, no marvel if they perish by them. Secondly to understand the verse as speaking of the occasions of sin: the Preacher in the verse before having spoken of occasions generally, and of lesser occasions, here he speaketh of great occasions, showing, that as he who thinketh to remove great stones lying in his way, shall hurt himself and not be able to do it, so he that thinketh to go on in a right course, and thrusteth himself upon strong occasions of being misled, presuming not to be hurt by them, shall find himself to be deceived, when his hurt will be manifest. For as Saint Bernard speaketh, 
Bernard. in Cant. Serm. 65.  majus est miraculum inter vehementes occasiones non cadere, quam mortuos suscitare, it is a greater miracle not to fall being among strong occasions, then it is to raise up the dead. And as he who thinketh to make his axe go thorough very hard wood, is oftentimes not a little endangered by the rebound which is given to it, so he who thinketh to make the edge of his care, to pass thorough strong occasions of sinning to which he applies himself, shall find his great care to be not a little endangered. The Son of sirach hath a true saying, 
Ecclesiast. 3.26.  he that loveth danger shall perish therein: he that will not decline danger shall not be able to decline destruction by it. And therefore indeed what doth he but even love his own perishing, that loveth to be in danger? What doth he but show a willingness to sin, who is willing to run into strong occasions of it? If wee take the verse by itself, it may admit this sense and meaning of it: that seeing the removing of stones, which is so poor a thing hath labour and trouble and pain with it, for so the original word {αβγδ} here used properly signifieth being by interpreters diversely rendered, and which the Syriack rendereth cruciabitur shall be tormented: Seeing also that even cleaving of wood which is so mean a thing hath also danger with it, why should not any one be contented to take pains, to suffer trouble, to undergo danger for virtuous and heavenly things, which are worthy of pains, trouble, danger, and which will yield a good reward for it. He that brought back his talent to his Lord without any profit brougth it back {αβγδ} in Sudario in a napkin saith our English, 
luke. 19.20.  but the word signifieth such a linen cloth, a is used to wipe away sweat, as showing that he had not been idle, nor without labour and pain, though he had been idle in respect of the true use of it, and in respect of his Lords benefit. 
luke. 19.20.  Wherefore Eusebius Gallicanus speaking of that passage saith, in sudario talentum reponit qui gratiam sibi traditam, 
Euseb. Gallic. in Homil. c. 1. in natali unius confessores.  in hac carne laboribus& fatigationibus impensam torpescere sinit, he layeth up his talent in a napkin, who employing the graces which he hath showeth in the wearyings and labours of the flesh, doth suffer it to rust for any true good, which he getteth by it. Saint Basil therefore considering the words of the rich fool in the gospel saying, I will pull down my barns and build greater, 
Basilius.  asketh him, & si haec impleveris, nunquid destrues illa? Quid stultius quam in infinitum laborare? But if thou shalt have filled these also, wilt thou pull them down likewise? What is there more foolish then to labour without end? And indeed what is there more foolish then to labour and suffer pains trouble and danger for the base things of this world, for chips of wood, for great stones? If wee will do so, let us do it for those things that shall bring us to heaven, and to eternal glory. Saint Cyprian readeth the latter part of the verse thus, Scindens ligna, periclitabitur in eo si exciderit ferrum; 
Cyprianus. Test. ad Quirinium. l. 3.  he that cutteth wood shall be endangered thereby if that the iron fall off: and the meaning to which he applieth it is this, Schisma non est faciendum, si in una fide& in eadem traditione permaneat, qui recedit, 
Hierony in hunc vers.  a schism is not to be made, if he that goeth away remain in one faith, and in the same doctrine. Saint jerome turning the words to a more hidden sense, by the stones which are simply mentioned, he understandeth the godly or the wicked. First applying them to the godly, 
Zachary. 9.16.  which by the Prophet Zachary are said to be stones of a crown lifted up, he giveth this meaning, that they who do remove them by persecution, shall be hurt therewith. Aquila and Symmachus did translate the place dilacerabuntur, shall be torn in torments for it. Secondly applying the stones to the wicked who are like leprous stones in the wall of an house, 
Levitic. 14.  he giveth this sense, that when the Minister according to the commandement doth put them out of the church, himself is hurt with sorrow thereby, for so Saint jerome doth red the place; dolebit in eis, he shall be sorry for them. In the latter part of the verse by wood he understandeth heretics as being unfruifull wood in the church of God, and unfit for the building of it: and thereupon saith, quamvis sit prudens& doctus vir qui gladio sermonis sui haec ligna conscindat, periclitabitur in eis nisi diligenter attenderit, although he be a wise a learned man, who with the sword of his discourse cutteth this wood, he will be endangered by it, unless he attend didiligently unto it.  
Vers. 10. Saint Gregory writing upon a passage of Job saith, Per ferrum virtus, per aes autem perseverantia exprimitur. Per ferrum homo enim: mala adversantia penetrat, 
Gregor. Moral. c. 34. c. 8.  per aes bona quae proposuit longanimiter servat. Aes enim rubigine nulla consumitur, by iron virtue, by brass perseverance is expressed. For by iron a man breaketh thorough evils that do oppose him, by brass he preserveth long the good things which himself hath proposed: for brass is consumed almost by no rust. By iron therefore here we may conceive to be meant understanding the virtue of the mind, for that it is which pierceth into things. And the meaning, which our translation yieldeth from the words, is this, that if the understanding be blunt and dull, and that the edge of it be not whetted with knowledge and learning, that then a man must put to more strength, must use the more pains and industry. And indeed great is the benefit, great is the help of a painful industry. Saint Bernard speaking of it saith, Ut quid dormiet industria? Grande profecto in vobis donum naturae ipsa est, 
Bernardus supper Cant. Serm. 84.  quae si minus suas exequatur partes, nonne quod reliquum habet natura in vobis totum turbabitur? Why should industry be suffered to sleep? Truly even that is a great gift of nature in you, which if it be wanting to perform its part, is not all the rest which nature hath in you disordered and troubled? which if other things be wanting in it, doth make a good supply for them. But wisdom is profitable to direct: that is whether the iron be blunt or sharp. whether the edge be whetted or not whetted, whether more strength be put to, or not put to, whether sharpening, whetting, adding of more strength be needful or not needful wisdom serveth to direct in all. But the direct speaking of the original is this, If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, and he put to more strength, but the benefit of rectifying is wisdom. Now to consider the verse with reference to the former, it seemeth to me to give a reason, why he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. For if the iron which he useth be blunt, and he do not amend it by whetting, but thinketh by the greater strength to make it to enter, he may easily not onely loose his labour, but get some hurt by it. And then to apply it also to ambition, and to the occasion of sinning, as I have done the verses before, first the bluntness of the iron signifieth the unworthiness of him that seeketh or enjoyeth greatness, 
Contic. 1.6.  the not whetting of the edge signifieth want of care and diligence to make himself worthy, the putting to more more strength signifieth the violence and boldness, that notwithstanding is used in thrusting into it, and in possessing of it. And this it is which doth the hurt. In the Canticles the spouse complaineth my mothers children are angry with me, the vulgar Latin reads it pugnaverunt contra me, they have fought against me, they made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Why was this a sign of anger or displeasure? was this any matter of hurt unto her, that shee was advanced to be keeper of the vineyards? Yes this it was, seeing thereby shee had not kept her own vineyard. And surely not little is the hurt, which many receive by an unworthy greatness. Not seldom is it that they loose their credit, their good name, when they have gotten that, 
Plutarch. l. de doctr. principum  if they get not worse hurt. He that having made a little statue, doth set it upon a great base, thereby maketh the littleness of it, the more to appear, and when unworthiness is set on high, then it is the more fully discovered. If the vessel be empty thou canst not tell whether it be found, but fill it with liquor, and it will so be seen. Many times the unworthiness of men is not found while they are in low condition, but let them be advanced then it shows itself, then it flies out into some shane or other. Wherefore Plutarch saith well, non in habendis said in utendis magnitudo sita est, that it is not in having but in using, that greatness consisteth. But the benefit of rectifying is wisdom, either wisdom in him that is unworthy to consider his unworthiness, and so not to seek for that for which he is not fit, or else in him that perceiveth the unworthiness, and so doth not bring him to it. Secondly to apply the verse unto occasion of sinning. The bluntness of the iron is a dull carelessness in the ways of a mans life, the not whetting of the edge is a want of admonition which should quicken the carelessness, the putting to of more strength is the adding of force to the occasion, which thereby indeed is made the stronger, and doth both the sooner and the more dangerously pull into mischief. But the benefit of rectifying is wisdom. wisdom to see how the hurt is increased, wisdom to see how the occasion is strengthened, wisdom to see the fault of the dull carelessness. Or else wee may understand the verse as showing several remedies, how a defect may be supplied and succoured. As first if the iron be blunt, one way to help it, is to whet the edge of it, and to redress what is amiss. Or if that be not done, another way of helping, is to put to more strength, and so to make use of some other thing which may be instead of it. But for a general help, there is none like wisdom. That is an help upon all occasions, that findeth help many ways, and always doth it in the best manner. Saint jerome readeth the verse thus, Si retusum fuerit ferrum,& hoc non ut prius; said conturbatum fuerit, virtutibus corroborabitur,& reliquum fortitudinis sapientia est, 
Hieronym in. hunc vers.  if the iron be blunted, and it be not as it was before, but that it be troubled, it shall be strengthened by virtues, and the remainder of strength is wisdom. And the meaning, which he giveth of it is; if any one do see that by negligence he hath lost the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that being dull, he continueth not to be as he began. For oftentimes it cometh to pass, that when some one hath gotten a smack of knowledge, being lifted up by pride, he leaveth off to learn, and so by little, because nothing is added there grows a diminution, and the mind remaineth voided of knowledge, the iron is dulled, for sloth and idleness are as it were a rust of wisdom. If it be therefore so with any one let him not be out of heart, let him go to his teacher, and let him again be instructed by him, and after labour and industry and much sweat, for this it is, which in the Hebrew is delivered significantly, fortitudinibus corroborabitur, by forces he shall be strengthened, that is by labour and industry and sweat and daily reading, he shall obtain wisdom and his strength shall have this end that he shall get wisdom. The Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin red the verse thus, Si retusum fuerit ferrum,& hoc non ut prius, said hebetatum fuerit, multo labour exacuetur,& post industriam sequitur sapientia, if the iron be blunted, so that it be not as it was, but that it be dulled, by much labour it may be sharpened, and after industry followeth wisdom. And the meaning which Lyra giveth it is this, that the Preacher removeth a false persuasion which men have, who think that it is an easy matter to return from wickedness to virtue, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  and therefore care not to seek after the occasions of sinning. But this the Preacher sheweth not to be so by the example of iron which is sharp. For if it smite upon a sharp ston the edge of it is lost, neither is it recovered but with much whetting. And so it is with him that declineth unto sin, for it is not easy for him, but a great difficulty to return into the right way, as experience confirmeth, and the Philosopher sheweth to be true. Or else as the Preacher before shewed the hurt of crafty deceit, so we may conceive him here to show the hurt of open violence, and force. 
Aristot. 1. Ethit.  For when craft cannot prevail, the way of many is to seek their ends by strength of violence wherein themselves often times do receive the mischief of it. wisdom therefore it is which the Preacher prefereth before both.   

Ver. 11. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment, and a babbler is no better.  
Ver. 12. The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious: but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.  
Ver. 13. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.  
Ver. 14. A fool also is full of words; and a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?  
Ver. 15. The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them; because he knoweth not how to go to the city.  
Vers. 11. There are two or three words in the Hebrew, which do cause this verse to be diversely rendered, the one is {αβγδ} which Saint jerome and the Vulgar latin render in silentio in silence; the Septuagint render non in sibilo, not in a hissing, or not in a noise which the Serpent makes. And these two readings in effect are the same. Our translation, the French, and Tremellius do red it, without enchantment, for that also the Hebrew word doth signify. The other words are {αβγδ} which S jerome rendereth habens linguam, he that hath a tongue, Tremellius, tenens verba ejus, holding his words, and understandeth it of the enchanter, holding the biting of the serpent. So that his meaning maketh his reading to be the same with the Septuagint, who render it incantans, he that enchanteth. The french saith le languard, a long-tongued prating companion, and as our English hath it, a babbler, wherein they differ not in meaning from the Vulgar Latin. For the sense is, that as the serpent will bite without enchantment, so a babbler, a a fellow of many words, if he be not looked unto, is commonly a slanderer, and being no better then a serpent, will by his detraction, even bite also. Saint jerome applieth his reading both to the sense of the Vulgar latin, and to the sense of the Septuagint. As he applieth his reading to the sense of the Vulgar latin, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  he thus expoundeth it, Serpens& detractor sunt aequales: quomodo enim ille secretò mordens venenum inserit, sic ille clam detrahens, virus pectoris sui infundit in fratrem, a serpent and a slanderer are equal: for as the serpent secretly getteth in his poison; so he detracting closely, infuseth the venom of his breast into his brother. But further we may note, the likeness between a slanderer and a serpent, in divers things. First, as all do hate a serpent, and fly from the sight of it, so all do hate a slanderer, and fly from his company. Secondly, a serpent, as S. Austin saith, carrieth his poison in his mouth, ready to be cast out, and with one biting poisoneth the whole body; so the slanderer hath his poison in his mouth, ready to be vented, and with one word, as it were, with one biting, doth easily wound the name, credit, soul, the life of his brother. Thirdly as there is no other creature to which the devil is likened so much as a serpent, for though he be called a lion, a wolf, a Fox, yet most commonly he is called the old Serpent; so there is no other sinner so like the devil, as a slanderer is, he being as the devil is an accuser of his brethren. Lastly as a Serpent feedeth upon nothing but upon the earth, so that if a partridge be set before him, he careth not for it; in the like manner a slanderer feedeth upon the hurt of others, as for that which is good in them he speaketh not of it. As S. jerome applieth his reading to the sense of the Septuagint he expoundeth it thus, if the Serpent the devil bite any one secretly and destroy him with the poison of sin, no other knowing of it; if he that is bitten hold his peace and do not betake himself unto repentance, neither is willing to confess his wound unto his brother and teacher; his teacher who hath a tongue for the curing of it cannot easily be profitable unto him. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Si enim erubescat aegrotus vuluus medico confiteri, quod ignorat medicina non curat, for if he that is sick be ashamed to confess his wound to the physician, that which he knoweth not, 
Cassian. Collat. 1.2. c. 11.  his physic cureth not. Cassian who translateth the Septuagint thus, Si momorderit serpens non in sibilo, non est abundantia incantatori, if the Serpent bite without hissing, there is no abundance in the enchanter, giveth the meaning of it to the same effect. The Preacher sheweth, saith he, the biting of a silent Serpent to be pernicious, that is, if the suggestion of the devil and his temptation be not made known unto some enchanter, unto some spiritual person, who by the charms of the scriptures useth for to heal the wound, and to draw out from the heart the poison of the Serpent, he will not be able to bring succour to him that is endangered and ready to perish. In the same kind Olympiodorus expoundeth the verse, 
Olympiodor. in hunc vers.  if saith he the Serpent of sin do bite in silence, that is, so that the sinner will not confess his offence committed, he that by holy enchantment hath taken upon him to be his helper, cannot be able to give any health unto him, until he shall be willing to confess his sins. And lastly unto this agreeth Gregorius Neocaesariensis, who thus openeth the meaning of the verse, 
Gregor. Neocaes. in sua Metaphr.  the hidden bitings of the Serpent the enchanters are not able to cure. For the hidden biting of the Serpent is sin concealed by a sinner, which biting cannot be cured by the enchanters though never so wise, that is, by spiritual men and ministers, until by confession it come to be maninifested. Tremellius readeth the verse thus, Si momorderit serpens non adhibita incantatione, tum nullum est emolumentum incantationis tenenti verba ejus, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  if the Serpent bite when the enchantment is not yet applied, there is no benefit in the enchanting of him, who hath the words of enchanting: as if the meaning were, though himself do not so express it, that it is vain to use a remedy for the preventing of hurt, when the hurt is already received. But seeing the original word {αβγδ} properly signifieth mussitationem& submissam orationem, a muttering, a soft and still speaking, so that the words directly are to be rendered, si Serpens momorderit non in mussitatione, if the Serpent shall bite not in muttering, that is, not secretly, but openly and in view, let me propose it only, whether the verse may not admit this sense: if open detraction be practised and permitted, he then that holdeth his tongue to do it in secret hath no benefit by it: as showing the impudence of such a wickedness so committed, which commonly as guilty to itself of its own foulness, hideth itself for shane: or else as showing the badness of those, who give way to it, themselves knowing it to be detraction and falsehood, seeing the benefit which a detractor seeketh, is to do it where it is not known to be false, that so it may be receeved.  
Ver. 12. The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious: S. jerome reads it verba oris sapientis gratia, the words of the mouth of a wise man are, grace for so the original is: and to express the force of it, the French translation reads it, ne sont queen grace; the words of a wise mans mouth are nothing but grace, being such, 
Lyra in hunc v.  that as Lyra expoundeth it reddunt eum gratiosum coram Deo& hominibus, they make him gracious both with God and man. When the dove which Noah sent forth returned to the Ark, it brought an olive leaf in the mouth of it; which passage of scripture Saint Ambrose considering saith, in ore quoque non frustra ramulus oleae videtur esse delatus, 
Genes. 8.11.  eo quod virtus& sapientia in ore justi habeant claritatem, it is also not without cause that a little olive branch was brought in the mouth of the dove, because virtue and wisdom in the mouth of a righteous man have brightness and clearness, 
Noe& Arca c. 19.  whereby as they give grace and beauty to the speaker, so they give light comfort and delight unto the hearers of them. Saint Basil therefore also speaking of a wise righteous man saith, lingua justi spiritu sancto eam movente cordibus credentium verba inscribit vitae aeternae tincta quidem non atramento said spiritu Dei viventis, 
Basil. in Ps. 44. Ambros. l. de  the tongue of the righteous being moved by the Holy Spirit writeth in the hearts of them that believe the words of eternal life, 
Numb. 10.10.  not dyed with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. The mouth of a wise man, is like unto the silver trumpets which sounded to the Jews in the day of their gladness, and in their solemn dayes. Tuba est quae laetitiam sonat, non lights, it is a trumpet which sounded joy not jarring. But the lips of a fool will swallow up himself: the Hebrew is {αβγδ} deglutiet eum will swallow up him, that is, as our English translation and Tremellius red it himself, For indeed the lips of a fool are but like a quagmire full of lightness and inconstancy moving and stirring upon any occasion, and into which himself sinking is swallowed up by it. The lips of a fool which make no end of talking are like a bottomless gulf, in which himself is drowned and perisheth. The Prophet David speaking of the foolish and wicked saith, 
Psal. 5.9.  their throat is an open sepulchre: open it is and ready even to devour themselves. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome saith upon the place, Ne sit ergo as tuum sepulchrum, said thesaurus, let therefore thy mouth not be a sepulchre, but a treasury, and as a treasury is shut not open, 
Chrysost.  so let thy mouth be, for so the mourh of the wise is, then only opening when it issueth forth some matter of moment worthy to be received. The mouth of a wise man is not like a devouring gulf, but like a pleasant fountain, ubi in modum naturalis antri absidis fabricata concavitate, ind latex tanta quiet defluit, tanta quasi stabilitate decurrit, ut eum non putes crescere, nisi quia ind aliquid rauco murmur saints exire, 
Cassiod. var. l. 2. var. 39. l. 8. var. 33.  where the hollowness of the circled inside, being framed in the manner of a natural cave, from thence the water floweth out with so great quietness, and runneth as it were with so great staidness, that one would not think it to increase, but that he perceaveth some thing to go out with a whistling noise, as Cassiodore describeth a fountain. Of Moyses holy Ephraim 
Ephraim.  considereth that though he were famous for many miracles, 
Numb. 20.  yet that offending a little with his tongue at the waters of Meribah, thereby he lost his entrance into the Land of Canaan. Magnum& horrendum mere ei viam praecludere non potuit, said verbum unicum inique ab eo prolatum, velut murus aliquis ipsi obstitit, ne ulterius progedi posset, the great and horrid sea was not able to shut up his way, but one word ill spoken by him stood up as it were a wall against him, that he could not go on farther, Now if one word ill spoken did so much prejudice him, how much mischief do the lips of a fool bring unto him, how do they swallow him up? When our saviour Christ cured the man that was deaf and dumb, the Evangelist saith that looking up to heaven he sighed and said Ephata be opened. 
Mar. 7.34.  But why did our saviour Christ sigh? Was he unwilling to relieve the distressed? Or was he loathe to show the man this favour! Either this miracle was a thing expedient to be done, or else it was not expedient to be done. If not expedient to be done, why did our saviour do it? If it were expedient to be done, why did he sigh? Perhaps this sigh at this time was like that groan, which our saviour gave when he raised up Lazarus from the dead. And as there some give the reason of his groaning, because he was to call back Lazarus into this miserable life, wherein he was to under go many dangers; so here our saviour sighed, because he was to restore speaking to the dumb, and hearing to the deaf by which he should be subject to many evils and dangers, seeing that the tongue is a dangerous thing, so that many have perished by it, and as the Preacher here speaketh the lips of a fool will swallow him up. But Saint jerome doth not understand the mischief here spoken of to be referred to the fool himself: he reading the last part of the verse thus, Labia insipientis praecipitabunt eum, the lips of a fool will overthrow him, referreth the word him unto the wise man spoken of in the first part of the verse, saying, stultitia si sua esset rusticitate contenta minus aliquid haberet mali, if folly would be contented with its own rudeness it would have the less evil: but now it maketh war against wisdom, and whatsoever wisdom it seeth in a learned man, being provoked by envy it doth not approve it. For a wise man speaketh the words of knowledge, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  the words of grace, which are able to bring profit to the hearers, but the ears of a fool do not so receive the things that are said as they are spoken, but on the contrary endeavoureth to supplant a wise man, and to make him like unto himself. Et revera praecipitatur sapiens quando in aurem loquitur imprudentis,& verba ejus in profundo ut ita dicam gurgite pereunt, and indeed a wise man is as it were tumbled down, when he speaketh in the ear of a fool, and his words do perish, as I may so say, in a deep gulf. Wherefore happy is he that speaketh in the ears of the wise. The Chaldee Paraphrase seemeth to refer the word him neither to the fool himself, nor to the wise man spoken of in the first part of the verse but unto man generally, which thus expresseth the sense of the last part of the verse, labia hoins stulti increpationem invehunt atque adeo universo orbi interitum, the lips of a foolish man bring on threatenings, and so destruction to the whole world, as if the meaning were, that as the grace which is in the words of a wise mans mouth bringeth good to many, and preserveth the world by the common benefit of it, even so the lips of a fool bring mischief unto many, and as it were by a general infection do cause the destruction of the world. It is the same meaning also, which another reading of the Chaldee Paraphrase 
Chald. Paraph.  giveth unto it, where it is thus expressed, labia stulti viri plena sunt increpationibus, propterea consumitur omne saeculum, the lips of a foolish man are full of threatenings, therefore is the whole world consumed: as showing the great mischief which every where and always they do in the world.  
Ver. 13. We have here the Serpent, the babbler spoken of in the eleventh verse wreathed into a circled, his two ends, head and tail meeting together. And as at the one end he is a Serpent having his sting in his head, so at the other end he is a Scorpion having his sting in his tail. foolishness in the beginning, mischievous madness in the end. The Prophet Isaiah saith, 
Isa. 32.5.  the vile person will speak villainy, where the vulgar Latin reads it, and so the Hebrew may be rendered, stultus loquetur fatua, a fool will speak foolish things or folly: whether he begin or whether he make an end, it is folly still. When Jacob went into Mesopatamia the Lord appeared to him in the vision of the Ladder, 
Genes. 28.13. Genes. 35.9.  and when Jacob came out of Mesopotamia God appeared again unto him. Not only when he began his journey, but when he ended it, did he find the favour and blessing of God upon him. He was the same in his care to serve to God, and the same was the goodness of God towards him. But here we have a fool beginning his journey, and he begins it with folly; here we have him ending his journey, and he ends it in mischievous madness. The same that he was at first, the same he is at last, save only that his going on makes him to be worse. And surely it is most needful to take heed of the beginning of wickedness and folly. For commonly a beginning leads on farther, and that which is once began is not forthwith ended. Most safe it is to deny entrance unto folly, but if it be entred, thrust it out quickly. The egyptians had endured many plagues and were still hardened, but when they saw their first born to be slain, then they gave the Israelites leave to depart. Whereupon Nicetas 
Nicetas.  in nazianzen meditating saith, as the egyptians could not endure that plague but then permitted the Israelites to be gone, eodem modo daemonibus quoque animarum nostrarum persecutoribus gravissima haec paena videtur, quando in animo primogenita peccati, hoc est prima vitii origo,& principium extinguitur; in like manner unto the devils who are the persecutors of our souls this punishment seemeth to be most grievous, when in the mind the first born of sin, that is the first entering of 'vice, and the beginning of it is extinguished. But it is not the care of a fool to do this, his foolishness begins as soon as the words of his mouth begin, 
Ambros. in Psal. 119. Octon. 17.  Saint Ambrose speaking of the Hebrew letter Phe saith of it, Phe litera decima septima latin signisicat erravi, sieve as aperui, the letter Phe which is the seventeenth, in Latin signifieth, I have erred, or else I have opened my mouth, as if it were but one and the same thing to open the mouth, and to run into error. plainly it is so with a fool, the very opening of his mouth to speak, openeth the way at which his folly cometh forth. It is not said that the beginning of the words of his mouth is the beginning of foolishness, but in the beginning of his words he shows himself an absolute fool, and although then he should leave off to speak, he hath said enough to speak out his folly. But he goes on and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. To begin to speak foolishly may be the fault of a wise man, but he when he sees it, or hath it shewed unto him, he will not persist in it, or if he have spoken foolishly once, he will lay his hand upon his mouth, and will not do so again. But a fool having began to speak foolishly, he goes on in the same place to the end, having once spoken like a fool, he will speak so again and again. The Prophet Hosea saying Ephraim is an heifer, that is taught and loveth to tread out the corn, Saint Gregory considering the words, saith, vitula triturae laboribus assueta relaxata plaerumque ad eundem laboris usum etiam non compulsa revertitur, 
Hos. 10.11.  the heifer being used to the labour of treading out the corn, oftentimes being set free, returneth again even not compelled to the same work and labour. 
Gregor. Moral. l. 20. c. 16.  And so the mind of wicked men being addicted unto such servitude, and accustomend to the wearyings of temporal things, although it may be freed from them, yet hasteneth to be oppressed with earthly cares and troubles. Surely such a heifer, such a calf is a fool, and though he have shamed himself by his foolish talking, yet he will do it more, extending his folly to the end of his talking which is mischievous madness. Saint Ambrose saith, 
Ambros. de Noe& arca c. 23.  Ubi principium est, finis quaeritur, where there is a beginning an end is looked for; and if we look to the end of a fools speaking, it is not only like the beginning but far worse. It is true, which Saint Gregory sheweth, quod intra principium& finem clauditur breve est, that which is shut up within a beginning and ending is short. but that in so short a time, as between the beginning and end of a fools words, the naughtiness of them should be so much increased, might seem very strange, were it not known that folly and wickedness grow apace. He that began with foolishness only, {αβγδ}, ut qui stultitiae merum magnumque hauserit calicém, as he that hath drunk out the simplo and great cup of foolishness as Philo speaketh, 
Philo de temulentia.  he proceedeth to end with mischievous madness. Saint Ambrose reading the place in the fortieth psalm at the fourth verse, beatus est vir qui non respexit in vanitates& insanias falsas, blessed is the man who hath not regarded vanities, and false madness: thereupon saith, sunt ergo verae insaniae,& forfitan prophetarum, qui in excessu mentis positi prophetabant repleti Dei spiritu, ut quibusdam insani viderentur, quum propriae salutis immemores nudi plaerumque& excalceati, sicut Esaias Sanctus per populos currerent, vociferantes non quae ipsi vellent, said quae a Domino juberentur, 
Ambros. in Psal. 39.  there is therefore true madness, and perhaps such was that of the Prophets, who prophesied in an ecstasy of mind being filled with the spirit of God; so that they might seem to some to be mad, when unmyndfull of their own health, they did run naked oftentimes among the people and unshod, as the holy Prophet Isaiah did. But though the Hebrew in that place of the psalms be not so, yet in this verse here the Hebrew is {αβγδ} insania mala and evil madness, and so may seem to infer a good madness, perhaps such as that was in the ancient Prophets which seemed some times to the people to be a madness. But to consider the words as our translation hath them mischievous madness. There is nothing so mischievous as a foolish and wicked tongue is; wherefore Valerianus saith, quid mihi aliquis in comparatione malitiosae linguae artificium veneficii increpet,& noxias poculorum compositiones accuset? Excessit illa res omne genus veneni, quae non potest nisi morte compesci, what should any one inveigh to me against the art of poisoning, 
Valentianus homil. 5. de oris insolentia.  or accuse the composition of pernicious cups in comparison of a wicked, foolish& malicious tongue? This thing exceedeth all kind of poison, which cannot be pacified but by death only.  
Ver. 14. The original is not so plain but that it requireth the understanding to search into it. The meaning which I apprehended is this. A fool is full of words, as if he were full of matter, and multiplieth still his words, as if he wanted words to express that which the abundance of his knowledge hath to say: notwithstanding a man that heareth him, cannot tell what it is at which he aimeth, what it is that he would have, to what his words will come, cannot tell what to make of them. And that which shall be after him, that which shall be said when he hath done, either to answer his words, or to reform his errors, or to instruct himself, who can declare unto him? who can teach and tell him? For being possessed with a strong persuasion of his own knowledge, thinking that to be as great as his words have been many, he disdaineth that any should be able to correct him. Or else the meaning may be conceived thus. A fool is so full of words as if he knew all things, and could tell any thing; but a wise man cannot tell what shall be, much less a fool: there is none that can do it, and what shall be after him, who can tell? 
Lyra in huuc vers.  As implying saith Lyra, that God alone is able to do it. said stultus talis non est hac revelatione dignus, but such a fool is not worthy to receive this revelation from him. Or thirdly we may take the verse in this meaning. The Preacher having shewed in the end of the verse before, the end of a fools talking to be mischievous madness, here he giveth the reason of it: for as Lyra also speaketh, qui multiplicat verba fatua finaliter venit ad verba pessima, he that multiplieth foolish words, in the end cometh to very naughty words. And because all evil proceedeth from ignorance according as the Philosopher saith, ignorat omnis malus, 
Aristoteles.  every evil body is ignorant, therefore he addeth that a man knoweth not, that is, such a foolish man knoweth not, that is considereth not, doth not forecast, what is likely to ensue, what may follow though it be not likely: neither will he hear or regard any one that shall endeavour to tell him and to let him see it. The original is {αβγδ} quid quod erit, a man knoweth not what that which shall be, and Saint jerome taking the future tense there to signify the time past reads the verse thus, Et stultus verba multiplicat; Ignorat homo quid sit, quod factum est,& quod futurum est post eum, quis annunciabit ei? A fool also multiplieth words. Man knoweth not what that is which hath been, and that which shall be after him, who shall declare unto him? And the meaning which he giveth of the verse is this: quum stulius nec praeteritorum meminerit, nec futura agnoscat,& ignorantiae tenebris volutetur, falsam sibi scientiam repromittens, in eo doctum se putat& sapientem, si verba multiplicat, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  when a fool neither remembreth the things that are past, nor knoweth the things that are to come, but tumbleth and stumbleth in the darkness of ignorance, yet doth he promise himself a false knowledge, and therein thinketh himself to be learned and wise, because he multiplieth words. The Septuagint also and the vulgar Latin red it, ignorat homo quod ante se fuerit, man knoweth not that which hath been before him, as if a fool were noted in that he neglected to consider the sayings and doings of wise men that had gone before him, and which are good directions for man in his ways. Another-meaning of the verse, which I meet with is this, that he who knoweth much and is able fully and elegantly to express himself yet hereby is not freed from the reputation of a fool: it is not all his wisdom, all his eloquence that is able to take this off from him. For this one thing that he knoweth not what shall be, and that none can tell him, what shall be after him maketh him to be a fool still. To this purpose, Thuanus 
Thuanus.  speaketh very well, Stultus voces usque deque effutit inanes, atque audire licet talia, blaterantem, laeti vivamus, quando humanum caligo futuri damnat genus; A fool talketh of this thing and that thing, and many ways turneth his idle discourse, and one may hear him babbling such like things as these, let us live merrily, seeing that an ignorance of that which is to come blindeth the knowledge of man, and shutteth his eyes that he cannot see it. But indeed seeing a darkness in respect of that which shall be, oppresseth man, how should he led a merry life? How can he freely enjoy his pleasures? Suppose him to be in honour, how can he rejoice in his obtained dignity, not knowing whether in his honour there do not lie hide his future disgrace, and in his pleasure his torment? There is no present good, which the ignorance of what is to come doth not destroy. Samuel telleth Saul, 
1 Sam. 10.5.  when thou art come thither to the city, thou shalt meet a company of Prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a harp: and a pipe before them, and they shall prophecy. And surely the instruments of mirth could be found no where so fitly as among the Prophets, and among them who did fore know things to come, and being evil might be able to prevent them; being good might with comfort expect them. Wherefore could a wise man tell what was to be, he might safely be merry in that which he had: but no man knowing this, he is but a fool that is transported with the present joy of any earthly thing. This ignorance is the misery of man, and this misery maketh the wisest man a fool. Saint jerome writing to Eustochium telleth her, the troubles of marriage, and the uncertainties of wedlock thou hast learned by a domestic example; when thy sister Blesilla aetate mayor, 
Hieronym. ad Eustochium.  proposito minor, above thee in yeares, but beneath thee in resolution of mind, after she had married a husband, the seventh month was made a widow. O infaelix humana conditio& futuri nescia! O unhappy condition of mankind and ignorant of that which shall be! She lost both the crown of virginity and contentment of marriage. If we mark the Scriptures, wee shall find few just and righteous men mentioned that were not Prophets. 
Philo. l. quis rerum divinarum sit haeres.  Philo saith, Omnibus probis viris sacra Scriptura prophetiam tribuit. Proinde quotquot inter justos censentur, inducuntur prophetae pleni caelesti numine, unto all virtuous men the Scripture ascribeth, the gift of prophecy. And therefore as many as are reckoned among the righteous, are brought in prophets filled with the heavenly Spirit. And as in religion the knowledge of that which shall be in heaven, to them that fear God, doth very much sweeten the comfort of it, and stir them up the more earnestly to walk in the paths of Gods commandements; so in this life the ignorance of what shall be after death, doth much diminish the comfort of that which is enjoyed,& maketh the wifest man in human understanding a fool, because although he can say never so much, yet he can say nothing of that.  
Vers. 15. A fool may take pains,& many times taketh more pains then he deserveth thanks. For his talking wearyeth both himself,& every one that heareth him. Perhaps they may sit still,& yet are more wearied then if they had gone a great journey, and himself having gone a great journey, is no with the farther on his way. Because he knoweth not how to go to the city: he would go some whither, but he knows not how to come unto it: he talketh of a place whither he should go, but he cannot find the way thither. It is some great matter that he would say, it is some great place, a city that he would go unto, but he knoweth not how to do it. He turneth this way,& that way, he talketh of this thing& that thing, but it is still from the matter it is still from the city to which he should go. The point that he would speak of, is some point that many learned men have handled, as in a city many do dwell that are men of worth,& he also would show himself to be a man of worth, he also would show his learning, but he is lost in the way, he is still out of it. Tremellius understandeth the last part of the verse, as showing the wonderful simplicity of a fool, so that he is not able vel movere pedem recte& urbis suae viam agnoscere, 
Tremellus in hunc vers.  quametiam caeci addiscunt, even to move forward one foot aright, and to know the way of his own city which even blind men do learn. Cassian understandeth here, the labour of the foolish, to be the labour of careless sinners, which doth indeed weary every one of them in their sinful courses. For as he saith well, ipsae nobis tormento sunt, quibus utimur voluptates, the very pleasures which wee use are a torment unto us, and the very delights and contentments of the flesh, become to be executioners of punishment upon the authors and inventors of them. By the city also he understandeth that heavenly jerusalem which is the mother of us all, and speaking of the wicked saith, ab itinere regio deviantes, ad illam metropolim civitatem, ubi noster cursus indeclinabiliter debet esse directus non poterunt pervenire, that wandring from the high way of the King of heaven, they shall never be able to get to that metropolitan city, whither our course without declining ought still to be directed. And indeed in the book of wisdom the wicked themselves confess, wee wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction, 
wisdom 5.7.  yea wee have gone thorough deserts, where there lay no way, but as for the way of the Lord, wee have not known it. The way of the Lord which leadeth to the city of which the Prophet Ezekiel speaketh, 
Ezek. 48.34.  the name of the city shall be The Lord is there, that they have not known and so they know not how to go to the city. Saint jerome understandeth here the labour of the foolish to be, the study of the heathen Philosophers, the city to be wisdom. And therefore he saith, lege Platonem, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Aristotelis revolve versutias, Zenonem& Carneadem diligentius intuere,& probabis verum esse quod dicitur labour stultorum affligit eos, red Plato, turn over the subtleties of Aristotle, look diligently upon Zeno and Carneades, and thou wilt prove it to be true which is said, 
Psal. 46.4.  the labour of the foolish afflicteth and wearieth them. They indeed sought for the truth with all care and industry, but because they had not a guide, because the word of God was not a lamp to their feet and a light to their paths, they thinking by human understanding to be able to comprehend wisdom, they came not to the city of which the Psalmist saith, the streams of the ryver make glad the city of our God. 
Psal. 107.4.  Or else S. jerome understandeth the labour of the foolish to be the labour and study of heretics, the city to be truth; for they labour and busy themselves in the study of the Scriptures, by which they onely tyre and weary their minds, but cannot find the city, because they walk in a desert. To whom the Father applieth that passage of the psalms, they wandered in the wilderness, in a solitary way, they found no city to dwell in. Or else we may take the labour of the foolish to be the labour of them who seek after high& hard& hidden matters: whereas they know not the may into the city that is ordinary and common things, such as are known to all men, and much more needful and useful for themselves. The Chaldee Paraphrase giving the exposition of the verse doth set it down thus, labour quo in stultitia sua excruciatur stolidus, tantopere illum conficit& fatigat, ut non sit edoctus plane ad eam civitatem receptum habere, 
Chald. Paraph.  in qua sapientes habitant, a quibus doctrinam sciscitetur, the labour by which a fool is tortured in his foolishness doth so much spend him and weary him, that plainly he is not informed to have recourse unto the city in which the wise do dwell, from whom he may seek learning. And surely he will fall into pernitions folly, who thinking himself excellent in divine gifts despiseth the learning of other men. Saint Gregory shows it, when he saith, ind fiet, ut dum unusquisque se sancto Spiritu impletum praesumat, discipulus hoins esse renuat,& magister erroris fiat, from hence it will come to pass, 
Gregor. Dialog. l. 1. c. 1.  that while every one thinketh himself filled with the Holy Spirit, refusing to be the disciple of man, he is made to be the master of error. When our Saviour Christ had appeared to Saint Paul going to Damascus, 
Acts. 9.6.  he saith unto him, a rise and go into the city, and it shall be  told thee there what thou must do. Whereupon Saint Bernard saith, O sapientia suaviter verè universa disponens! 
Bernard. Ser. in ea.  Eum cvi tu loqueris erudiendum de voluntate tua mittis ad hominem, O wisdom truly disposing all things sweetly! Him to whom thou thyself speakest, thou sendest unto man to be instructed in thy will. Saint Paul is sent into the city and is appointed by man to be taught, that even the gifts of God might be seen not to be bestowed without mans ministry. And surely let him go to the city of the wise, to the Universities of learning and knowledge, let him seek the help and benefit of men, whosoever will preserve the gifts of God safe in himself. Which although they may be great, use to vanish in him, and to make his labour the wearying of a fool, by whom the furtherance of other men is despised. In general the labour of the foolish we may understand to be vain and bootless toiling: for so fools toil themselves grievously and reap no profit, no benefit by it. To whom the Prophet Isaiah saith, 
Isai 52.2.  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Such a one may beate his wings much as if he would fly far and high, but as Hugo de Sancto Victore speaketh, Non volat in summis, said ambulat in imis, imò non ambulat, said stat. Non autem jacet, said slat, ut nunquam requiescat. Assidue ergo stat, qui sine intermissione laborat. Pedes sine incessu fatigat, sine fructu laborat, he doth not fly on high, but walketh below, yea he doth not walk but standeth still. Stand he doth, not lie, 
Hugo de Sanc. vict. lib. 3. de Erud. Homil. p. 1. c. 7.  so that he never resteth. Continually therefore doth he stand, who laboureth without ceasing. He wearieth his feet without going, he laboureth without benefit. For how can he know, how to go into the city that standeth and goeth not?   

Ver. 16. Woe to thee O Land, when thy King is a Child, and thy Princes eat in the morning.  
Ver. 17. Blessed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of Nobles, and thy Princes eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkenness.  
Ver. 16. The original word which is rendered woe is {αβγδ} and signifieth not only vae woe, but regionem& provinciam, a region and province, as if not only woe were to the Land, but the Land itself were woe, or woe itself the Land, when the King is a Child &c. But the Preacher speaking to the Land saith, woe to thee o Land, as condoling with it, and groaning together with it, under the burden of the misery. And surely a public calamity though belonging to a foreign country ought to work a compassionate sorrow, and make them to feel it in a commiseration, who do not feel it in the affliction. When thy King is a Child: a Child may be taken here three ways, either in years and age, or else in wisdom and government, or lastly in a newness and Childhood as it were of royal blood. If we understand a Child in years, it is true that such a King is often a woe to a Land, but it is not always so. 
Hieronym. in c. 3. Isa.  Solomon himself who as Saint jerome affirmeth, began to reign at twelve yeers of age, though others make a question of it, was a great blessing to his kingdom. But if Solomon did not begin, to reign so soon, 
2 Chron. 34.1.  Josiah began to reign sooner, even at eight yeers of age, and he also was a great happiness to his kingdom. The meaning therefore of the Preacher in this acception of the word is, that ordinarily the Child-hood of a King is the maturity of misery to his kingdom, though extraordinarily by the goodness of God it may be otherwise. Secondly if we understand a Child in wisdom, so he may be that is ancient in yeers, and being so, he cannot but be a woe to to his kingdom. The want of wisdom in a Child by age is often supplied, by the wisdom of his counsellors: the want of this in a man hath commonly a wilfulness joined with it that will not be supplied. The hand of a little Child may hold the stern of a great ship, when a greater strength may guide it. But if he that hath strength to guide it, have not skill to do it, but yet will do it, because it is in his hand, it cannot but be dangerous sailing. This therefore is the judgement which God threateneth, 
Isa. 3.1. v. 4.  that he would bring upon judah saying, I will give them Children to be their Princes and babes shall rule over them. The stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the whole stay of knowledge, the whole stay of wisdom, which is in a wise King he would take from them, and make children in wisdom to be their Princes. Thirdly a King may be said to be a child, when his descent is not from Kings; but being {αβγδ} as the original word here is, excussus one wrung out from inferior condition is lept into a throne. The next verse which saith, blessed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of nobles may seem to approve this understanding of the words here. And according to this meaning doth the Chaldee Paraphrase bring examples, for the illustrating of it, saying, 
Chald. Paraph.  Vae tibi terra Israel in tempore quo regnaver it supper te jeroboam impius. Beata erit terra in tempore, quo negnaverit supper te Ezechias filius Achas qui erit de genere domus Davidis, Woe be to thee O Land of Israel, when wicked jeroboam shall reign over thee. Blessed shall the Land be in that time, when Hezekiah the Son of Ahas, and who shall be of the house of David shall be thy King. The Spaniards use to call him that is not descended from Christian parents novum Christianum, a new Christian, as anciently the Romans called a noble man not descended from noble progenitors novum hominem a new man: and so this exposition understandeth the Preacher, by a King that is a Child to mean him, qui est novus in regno, who is newly born in a kingdom. And no doubt such a one in many respects may be a woe to a Land. Wherefore Thuanus 
Thuanus.  saith, happy is that country, in qua deducta numerans a stirpe vetustos jactat avos princeps, in which a Prince with glory numbereth his ancestrous in a long continued race. And thy Princes eat in the morning which words may be taken thus, that the Princes are like unto the King, and that as he is a Child, so they are children also: for it is the property of children to eat as so on as they are awakened from sleep, it is the condition of children to look after nothing so much as after rheir food. Or else the words may be taken as speaking of such Princes as are greedy of prey, and like ravenous wolfs devour in the morning: as often it cometh to pass, where the King is a Child. But most directly the words seem to speech of those, who make their own benefit, for that the word eating noteth, to be the chief thing that they look after, and in their ways do prefer that before the public good. Or else the words speak of them, who make pleasure to be the first thing that they seek, and in a second place the affairs of the kingdom and estate. Or lastly the words way be understood to speak of those, who by early intemperancy make themselves unfit for public affairs and employments. Saint jerome saith, 
Daniel. 7.9.  verum mihi sacratius quid later videtur in litera, but to me there seemeth somewhat more holy to lie hide in the letter. He therefore by the King who is a Child understandeth the devil, a Child indeed in respect of God who is the ancient of dayes as in Daniel he is described; and surely as Saint jerome speaketh, Vaeterrae cujus est diabolus rex, qui semper novarum rerum cupidus, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  etiam in Absalon adversus parentem rebellat, Woe to the Land whose King is the devil, who being always desirous of new things, rebelleth in Absalon against his Father. And as the devil is the Prince of this world, so by the Princes which feed in the morning, he understandeth them, who feed on the delights of this world and nourish themselves in them. Wherefore he saith also, Woe to the Land, quae judices& principes eos habet, qui amant hujus seculi voluptates, which hath those for judges and Princes, who love the pleasures of this world, who before the day of death cometh, say, let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die. So doth Saint Austin also expound the last part of the verse, saying, Principes mane manducantes, idest, ante horam congruam, quia non expectant opportunam quae in futuro est faelicitatem, festinanter beari hujus saeculi felicitate cupientes, 
Augustin. de Civitate Dei l. 17. c. 20.  Princes eating in the morning, that is, before the due season, because they do not expect that seasonable happiness which shall be in the world to come, desiring hastily to be blessed with the happiness that is in this world. So likewise doth Saint Gregory give the meaning of it, who saith, again by the morning is signified the prosperity of the present life, as when Solomon saith, Woe to thee O Land, when thy King is a Child, and thy Princes eat in the morning, quia enim mane primum diei tempus est,& vespera extremum, nequaquam reficiendi sumus de hujus vitae prosperitate quae praevenit, 
Gregor. Moral. lib. 16. c. 25.  said de his, quae in fine diei, id est, in mundi termino sequuntur. Mane ergo comedunt, qui de mundi hujus prosperitatibus extolluntur,& dum presentia vehementer curant, futura non cogitant, for because the morning is the first time of the day, and the evening the last, we are in no sort to be refreshed with the prosperity of this world which goeth before, but with the things which are in the end of the day, that is, do follow in the end of the world. They therefore do eat in the morning who are lifted up with the prosperity of this world, and while they earnestly seek after present things, they do not think of those which are to come. And surely seeing as Saint Paul saith, 
Rom. 8.22.  the creature doth groan under the captivity of this world, then as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, ne tu deterior creatura efficiare, nec tu praesentibus rebus acquiescas, non enim illas solum non amplecti oportet, said ingemiscere ob retardationum nostrae ab hoc orb profectionis, be not thou made worse then the creature, 
Chrysost. ibi.  neither do thou set up thy rest upon things present. For not only ought we not to embrace them, but even to sigh and groan by reason of the delay of our going from this world.  
Ver. 17. Blessed art thou O Land: the original is {αβγδ} beatitudines tuae O terra, thy blessedness O Land, as wondering at the multitude and greatness of them. And therefore the French translation doth well exppresse the force of it, O queen tu es bien-hereuse O terre, O how happy art thou O Land, or, O that thou art happy O Land. When thy King is the Son of Nobles: the Septuagint and Saint jerome red it, filius ingenuorum, the Son of them that were free born. Vatablus candidorum, the Son of them that have been fortunate, as deriving the original word from the roote {αβγδ} albescere to be white. Tremellius reads it natus clar ssimis, born of them that have been most famous. The Venetian translation reads it, as our English doth, filium nobilius, the Son of Nobles, 
Hieronym. in vers.  and by the derivation of the original word from the roote {αβγδ} which signifieth exustus burnt, it setteth forth such a one in whom the dross of baseness is burnt out and purified, not only by the descent of Noble blood; but also by the care of virtuous education. Saint jerome therefore expoundeth it, Princeps bonis moribus,& liberaliter institutus, a Prince endowed with virtues, and nobly trained up. Or else as Tremellius explaineth it, been institutus& informatus in administratione regni, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  well instructed and taught in the governing of a kingdom. So that in himself he maketh good the nobility of his progenitors, this being the perfection of a glorious King. For as King Athalaricus in Cassiodore speaketh, 
Cassiodor. var. l. 9. var. 23.  nullum melius potest esse compendium, quam laudibus successisse majorum, there cannot be more said in few words to the honour of a King, then that his famed succeedeth to the famed of his ancestors. But that which the words most plainly and most directly do import, is to note such a King, whose birth is from the descent of nobles. And surely this is a great blessing to a kingdom. For as Aquinas noteth out of Aristotle, De vili loco assumpti ad principatum, ut pluries laedunt politiam,& laeserunt aliquando Calcedoniam, juxta illud poetae asperius nihil est humile quum surgit in altum, 
Aquin. de reg. Princip. l. 4. c. 19  they that are taken from vile degree unto principality, do oftentimes hurt the government, and sometimes they did hurt the state of Calcedon, according to that of the Poet, there is nothing more sharp and hard then a base person lifted up on high. In respect of a King, it is true which Chrysologus hath, mayor est innata gloria, quam quaesita, praecedit quod venit ab origine, 
Crysostom.  quod sequitur ex labour: gloriam beatius est habere, quam quaerere, that is a greater glory which is born with a King, then that which is gotten by him, that which cometh from descent goeth before that which followeth from industry: it is more happy to have glory then to seek it. When Moyses was put into the water, it was most likely that some fisherman or some one dealing in the waters should have found him; but Gods providence brought thither the Kings daughter that by her he might be taken up. For as Macarius noteth, quum Deus Moysem praenosset& praeordinasset futurum ducem& redemptorem populi, 
Macar. Homil. 9  effecit ut adoptaretur à filia Pharaonis, when God had foreknown and foreordayned Moyses to be the captain and deliverer of his people, he brought it about that he should be adopted by Pharaohs daughter. As if God himself would not that he should come to the sceptre of government, who was not first ennobled. The same may be observed of David, whom God having anointed to be King of Israel, before he placed him on the throne he ennobled him in being the Kings Son in law. When Abimelech had made himself King, and Jotham the only Son of Gideon, which had escaped from the slaughter of his brethren, standing upon the top of mount Gerizim spake unto the men of Sichem, 
judge. 9.18.  that which chiefly he objected against Abimelech was, that being the Son of a hand maid he was made King. For though Abimelech were a most cruel bloody man, and a foul murderer of his brethren, yet this he omitterh, and speaketh only of his base birth, as if that were enough to prove, that he could not be a good King over them. And thy Princes eat in due season for strength, and not for drunkenness: as before it was the misery of a kingdom, that the Princes were like to the King in want of wisdom and goodness; so here it is the happiness of a kingdom, that the Princes are like unto the King in virtue and careful government. And surely as it is the blessedness of a Land to have them to be so, so it is the great glory of a Noble King to make them to be so. The eating here also as I shewed in the former verse may be taken for a civill consuming, as being such a one as consumeth in the strength and power of justice, which always observeth due season, and not in the drunkenness of passion, and corruption of lustful desires. For so the Hebrew is in strength, in drunkenness. Or else we may take the Preacher to set forth those Princes, who as Saint Hiorome expoundeth him, nequaquam voluptatem negotiis rivium praeferunt, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  said post multum laborem& administrationem reipublicae cibum capere quasi necessitate cogantur, no sort prefereth pleasure before the business of the people, but after much labour and care in public affairs are as it were constrained by necessity to receive nourishment. But that which most plainly and most directly the words do declare, is the commendation of temperate feeding in Princes, and a shunning of the excess of a riotous and voluptuos gluttony: is a taking of sustenance in due season for peserving of nature, not for corrupting of it; For as God is said to give all their meate in due season, so all must take it in due season, and to a due end, in a due manner. To which purpose Tully hath a very good passage in his Oration for King Delotarus. Did ever any one see Deiotarus dancing or drunken? 
Psalm. 145.15.  There are in him all Kingly virtues, which I think not to be unknown unto thee O Caesar; but especially a singular and wonderful frugality; although I know that a King useth not to be commended by this word. To be said to be a frugal man, hath not much praise in a King: to be valiant, 
Cicero Orat. pro rege Deitaro  to be just, to be strict, to be grave, to be magnanimous; to be bountiful, to be beneficial, to be liberal, these are Kingly praises; that is private praise. But let every one take it as he will, notwithstanding I judge frugality that is modesty and temperance to be a principal virtue. This it is therefore which Sidonius commendeth in Theodorie a King of Italy, of whom speaking he saith, Si in convivium petitur, non ibi impolitam congeriem argenti mensis cedentibus suspiriosus minister imponit. Maximum tunc pondus in verbis est, quip quum illic aut nulla narrantur, aut seria, cibi arte placent non pretio, farcula nitore non pondere, Scyphorum raras oblationes facilius est ut accuset sitis, quam recuset ebrietas. Quid multis? 
Sidomeus Apoll. l. 1. Epist. 1.  videas ibi elegantiam Graecam, abundantiam Gallicanam, celeritatem Italam, publicam pompam, diligentiam, privatam, regiam disciplinam, When he is invited to a feast, there the blowing short winded servant doth not put a pile of unpolished silver upon the yielding tables. The greatest weight is then in words, for there either nothing is said, or that which is serious. The meate doth please for the good dressing of it, not for the costliness, the dishes, for their cleanliness, not for their greatness. The presenting of cups is not frequent, so that thirst doth rather blame the rarity of it, then drunkenness refuse it. What should I say much? There thou mayest see the elegancy of Greece, the abundance of France the ready diligence of Italy, public pomp, private diligence, royal discipline. Lastly not to omit the exposition which Saint jerome most approveth. The King here who is the Son of Nobles, he understandeth to be our Saviour Christ, the Son of Abraham Isaac and jacob descended from the race of Prophets and holy men, in whom sin not reigning, in that respect they were ingenui, truly free and noble. By the Princes he understandeth the Apostles, and all the Godly, who have for their King this son of Nobles, and who do not eat in the morning nor hastily, who do not seek pleasure in this world: but in due season shall eat when the time of retribution cometh; and then they shall eat in strength, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and not in confusion as he readeth it. Omne bonum praesentis saeculi confusio est futuri vero prepetua fortitudo, for every good thing of the present world is confusion, but the good of that which is to come is perpetual strength.   
Ver. 18. By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands, the house droppeth through. 
Ver. 18. By much slothfulness: the original is {αβγδ} being a word of the dual number, and therefore may well be translated, pigritia duplici by a double slothfulness as Buxtorfius renders it. Tremellius reads it pigritia ambarum, by the slothfulness of both. S. jerome renders it, pigritiis, as if it did import no more then our English expresseth by much slothfulness. But I conceive the dual number to have reference not to the two hands of man, in which slothfulness appeareth, but to those two of which the former verses speak before, namely the King and Princes of a land. For here the Preacher by the similitude of an house and decay thereof, sheweth the decay of a kingdom and state. And indeed a King in his palace may see a pattern and model of his kingdom. For what are his out houses, but as it were his commons, or his people? What is his Guard-chamber, but his Souldiers and men of war? What is his Presence-chamber, but his officers and magistrates in whom his authority is always present? What is his Privy-chamber, but his counsellors? What is his closet, but his nobles? who are admitted in more retiredness unto him, and who are commonly close about him? What is his chapel, but his clergy? What is his cabinet, wherein his jewels are kept, but his children? What is his Bed-chamber, but his queen? What are the several rooms and parts of his house, but the several countries of his kingdom? And in the decay of his Palace he may see the decay of his kingdom and state. For as slothfulness not looking to the building, the rain makes it to decay, so by carelessness and negligence in a King and his Princes, the kingdom decayeth, groweth rotten and weak. If the King be a child, there cannot be but carelessness in him, for that is proper unto children; if the Princes be given to pleasure, to eat in a morning, there will be carelessness in them, for that a desire of pleasure always bringeth. And where carelessness is, a decay is sure to be. The Preacher also sheweth, where the decay beginneth. It is first {αβγδ} contignatio the roof of the house that decayeth, first the King decayeth in his honour and reverence, then the Princes decay in their estate and respect, lastly it breaks through and comes to the people, and they suffer decay many ways by it. For through idleness of the hands, the house droppeth through: the original is {αβγδ} dimissione manuum, by the hanging down and letting fall of the hands. And therefore we may so take the words, as to conceive the Preacher here to speak of a double kind of idleness and carelessness, the one in neglect of human help, the other of divine help by not lifting up the hands in prayer unto God. For it is he that must keep the kingdom from decaying, or else the watchman watcheth but in vain. Saint jerome applieth this verse two ways. In a public reference unto the Church, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  quod per negligentiam Principum omnis ejus corruat altitudo:& ibi illecebrae vit●orum sunt, ubi tegmen putabatur esse virtutum, because by the negligence of Princes all the height of it is ruinated, and the enticements of vices are there, where was thought to be the covering of virtues. In a particular reference he applies it unto that house which is erected in the state of every man, and to that dwelling, which we have in heaven. For if we shall be slothful, and slow to good works, that will decay and fall, & omnis contignatio quae debet culmen portare in sublime ad terram corruens habitatorem suum opprimit, and all rafrering or rearing up which ought to have a top on high, falling to the earth oppresseth him, who is the dweller in it. When the labour of the hands, the succour of the virtues is grown idle, tempests that come from above, and the showers of rain do break in upon us. Gregory Nyssene also in a particular reference understandeth the house to be the building of virtue in every particular man: for as, saith he, if the timber which keeps the house together be weak and unsound, and he that dwells in it be slothful in taking care of it, and looking unto it, the covering will be for no benefit, because the rain will pierce in through it. For the roof must needs decays being open to the water, and the roof being weakened it will not be able to beate the weight that is upon it; 
Gregor. Nyssen. in Cant. Homil. 4  so that all in time will go to ruin. Ita nobis in aenigmate parabolae praecipit, so he exhorteth us in the darkness of the parable, that by he strength and firmness of virtues, we yield not to the flowings of temptations, lest being decayed by the invasions of the passions of our mind, Ejusmodi aquarum extrinsecus in cor influentium influxum admittamus intra penetralia, per quas nobis pereant, quae sunt r●posita, lest by the influence of such waters, which come from without into the heart, we receive within the secret closerts of our houses those things by which the treasures that are laid up are lost unto us. Cassian noteth here the manner of the decay of this building; for as he saith, Non subitaneo ad ruinam procumbit domus impulsa, said longa inhabitantium desidia, 
Cassian. Coll. lib. c. 17.  stillicidiis primum parvissimis penetrantibus corrupta sensim sunt munimenta tectorum, quibus per vetustam negligentiam in majorem modum pate factis& collapsis, ubertim post haec influit plaviarum maxima tempestas, it is not by any sudden violence that the house is tumbled down, but by the long slothfulness of the inhabitants, first of all very little drops by little and little getting in, the strength of the roof by degrees is perished, which by long continued negligence being more and more opened and ruinated at length the tempests of rain and storms break in every where. And so it is both in the public condition of any kingdom and Church, and in the private condition of every particular man. The mischief of carelessness doth not forthwith appear in a kingdom, that is not like the invasion of a mighty enemy, but yet in time the hurt, which it bringeth is as great,& as S. Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. Past. Cu. p. 3. Adm. 34  hoc agit sentina latenter excrescens, quod patenter procella saeviens, a sink secreetly increasing doth the same, which a tempest doth openly raging. A particular person doth not suddenly fall into extreme wickedness, but as Cassian speaketh, per longam mentis incuriam, 
Cassian. Ibid.  paulatim virtute animi decidente,& per hoc sensim vitiis increscentibus casu miserabili concidit, by a long continued carelessness of mind, virtue decaying by little and little, and hence vices accordingly increasing falleth miserable quiter away from goodness. And therefore it is good to look to little matters, to be wary of smaller slips into sin, for as Saint Gregory speaketh, often there is more hurt in a little then in a greater fault. mayor enim quò citius quod sit culpa agnoscitu, eo etiam celerius emendatur: minor vero dum quasi nulla creditur, eo pejus quo& securius inusu retinetur, for a great offence by how much the sooner it is acknowledged to be a fault, 
Gregor. Ibid.  by so much the sooner it is amended, a less fault while that it is thought to be none, is thereupon the more, and the more securely practised. From whence it cometh to pass, that the mind accustomend to less offences is not troubled for great sins, and being nourished and trained up in sinning, ad quandum authoritatem nequitiae pervenit, proceedeth to a boldness and to a kind of authority and lawfulness of wickedness, & tanto in majoribus contemnit pertimescere, quanto in minimis didicit non timendo peccare, and by so much contemneth in greater sins to fear, by how much in less sins it hath learned to sin by not being afraid.   
Ver. 19. A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry but money answereth all things. 
Vers. 19. The Preacher having shewed the hurt which cometh to a land, whose King is a Child, and whose Princes eat in the morning: here he sheweth the good which ariseth to a land, whose King is the Son of nobles, and whose Princes do eat in due season. So Cajetane joineth this verse to the former, who saith, those things belong to that blessed land spoken of before, namely abundance of bread wine and money. For it is meet that a good King and temperate Princes do govern the city or kingdom in abundance of bread wine and silver, & abundantia panis describitur perfacere panem risui, 
Cajetauus in hunc vers.  by making bread for laughter, for the original word, which is translated feast in the first place signifieth bread. Or else to refer this verse to that which goeth immediately before it, as there the Preacher sheweth the mischief of laziness and sloth; so here we may understand him to show the benefit of labour and pains, from whence cometh plenty noted by feasting and wine, pleasure and delight noted by laughter, wealth and greatness of estate noted by money, which answereth to all things. The last part of the verse, the Septuagint do render, argento humilitatione obediunt omnia, all things by subjection do obey money. And if it be referred unto those Kings, who are the Sons of Nobles, the words show, how they by their humanity, alacrity liberality, do bind their subjects to them. Egesippus writing of Antipater saith that by nation he was an Idumaean, among his own descended from nobles, non tenuis pecuniae,& ideo praevalidae potentiae, arte mira factus ad contemnendam pecuniam propter conciliandam gratiam, not of small wealth and therefore of great power, 
Egesippus l. 1. Excid. Hieroso. c. 14.  being a man composed by a wonderful art to contemn money for the getting of love. Tremellius refers this verse to that which goes before, but he referreth the words to them, who voluptuosly eat in the morning, whose building by slothfulness decayeth, and whose house droppeth through by idleness, quum omnia in luxum profusa sint, 
Tremellius in hunc vers.  seeing all is spent in luxurious living: and then he readeth the last part of the verse thus, quorum pecunia facit, ut ista omnia respondeant, whose money maketh that all those things answer unto their lustful desires. Lyra also referreth the words in the same manner unto the same persons, and then expressing their feasting jollity he saith according to Saint jerome and the vulgar Latin, in risu facient panem& vinum, in laughter they make bread and wine: in laughter, that is in foolish idle mirth, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  they make bread and wine, that is disponunt mensam, they furnish and make ready their table. For he tells us that the Hebrew word {αβγδ} here used and which signifieth facere to do or make, is sometimes used to signify disponere to order and dispose: as when it is commanded of the captive woman whom an Israelite would have to be his wife, that she shall shave her head and pare her nailes, the Hebrew is faciet ungues, she shall make her nails, that is, 
Deuter. 21.12.  order them by paring of them, and so saith he the word is here used. Now because where there is large feasting and a plentiful table, there needeth much money, therefore saith he it follwoes according to Saint jerome and the Vulgar latin pecunia obediunt omnia, all things obey money, that is, to get money they are ready to do any thing, & subvertunt judicium propter divitum munera, and they overthrow judgement for the gifts of the rich. Our translation sets down the verse as if it were a sentence by itself, and as showing that whereas a feast is made for laughter only, and wine is drunk to make merry only, that money serveth for all things. The Preacher expresseth the force of money by a Prosopopeia, and supposing the things to be endowed with speech and understanding, affirmeth money to give a satisfactory answer to whatsoever is asked, desired, commanded. Let that which speaketh be a great way off, yet money heareth, and answereth unto it. 
Seneca de Ira. l. 3. c. 32.  Seneca saith circa pecuniam multum vociferationis est, that about money there is much noise great crying, but though never so much, never so great, money answereth all. To make the sense more plain Pagnine reads it, Pecunia obtinet omnia, money obtaineth all things Symachus did red it, argentum utile est ad omnia, 
tuli l. 3. in veraem.  money is profitable for all thing. And this was the judgement of Verres, as Tully sets it down omnia pecunia effici posse, that all things can be done by money. The same it is, which the Poet delivereth, & genus et formam regina pecunia donat, queen money giveth nobility of birth, 
Horati.  and beauty of body. Wherefore the Prophet David that he might show his great esteem of God,& his great affection towards him, compareth him with money and riches, saying I have rejoiced in the ways of thy commandements as much as in all riches. 
Psal. 119.14.  Riches being that which is so much regarded, so much loved, he sheweth his regard, his love of God to be much above it. But by whom is it that so much it is honoured? with whom is it so powerful? Aquinas answereth, Omnia corporalia obediunt pecuniae quantum ad multitudinem stultorum, qui sola corporalia bona agnoscunt quae pecunia acquiri possunt judicium autem de bonis humanis non debet sumi a stultis, said a sapientibus, all bodily things do obey money, 
Aquin. 1.2. E. 2. A. 1.  according to the course of things among the multitude of fools, who know only bodily good things which by money may begotten; but the judgement of the good things of man is not to be taken from fools but from wise men. They are but fools therefore over whom money hath so great command, they are but fools, who are so affencted with it, that as Gregory Thaumaturgus expoundeth this part of the verse, argento quovis trahuntur, vili pretio nihil non humile& vile parati facere, by money they are drawn any where, 
Gregor. Thaumat. in hunc vers.  being ready for a base price to do any vile and base thing. But in the last place not to omit Saint jerome, who thinketh this verse to depend upon the former, and understanding the verse before of the slothfulness and carelessness of those, who rule in the Church, here he conceiveth the Preacher to speak of the same, and to condemn them, because they teach and preach those things, which may delight the people, which may nourish sinners in their sinful courses, and raise up unto themselves an applause among their hearers. Nonne quando in Ecclesia lascivit orator,& beatitudinem& regnum caelorum multitudini pollicetur, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  videtur tibi in risu facere panem,& vinum ad laetitiam miscere viventium, when the Preacher playeth the wanton orator in the Church, and promiseth to the multitude blessedness and the kingdom of heaven, doth he not seem unto thee to make bread in laughter, and to mingle wine to the joy of the living? For so he readeth the text. The last part of the verse, that to money all things obey, he applieth two ways. Either that such teachers, being grown rich by their flattery and plausibility, regnum in populos exercent do even reign over the people. Or else because silver in Scripture is often taken for speech, he conceiveth the Preacher to mean, quod eloquentiae& orationi, quae verborum sit frond composita, facile vulgus cedat ignobile, that the ignoble common sort of people, do easily yield to eloquence and speech which is composed of the leaves of words.   
Ver. 20. Curse not the King, no not in thy thought: and curse not the rich in thy Bed-chamber: for a bide of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. 
Ver. 20. The Preacher having shewed the evil government of a King and his Princes, and the hurt which from thence the land suffereth, least hereupon any might be emboldened being moved by anger or fury to curse the King or the Princes he giveth direction here whereby to take heed of it: because it cometh to pass even beyond thought, that though it be done even in thought only or never so secretly, yet it is made known to them who are cursed, and danger is incurred by it. Curse not the King: the original word {αβγδ} here used signifieth any disrespect or disesteem of the King. For indeed great is the honour and reverence that is due unto them, and great regard and care there must be had not to diminish it in the least manner. 
1 Sam. 6.19.  We red that God smote the men of Bethshemesh because they looked into the Ark, a sign of authority: for when in the wilderness the Ark moved, then the people went on their journey, when the Ark stood still then they restend, and it was the Ark that led them into the land of Canaan. The note which Eucherius hath upon the place is this, ob hoc a Domino percussi sunt, 
Numb. 10.33.  quia non solum appropinquaverunt ad arcam, said etiam ut alia translatio habet, despexerunt, for this were they smitten by the Lord not only because they came near unto the Ark, but also as I take the meaning despised it, as another translation hath it. 
Eucherius.  For because the Ark had been taken captive, therefore it may be that they did with contempt look into it; but God is so displeased, when authority is contemned, that he smote fifty thousand for it. Saint Cyprian therefore observing our saviours carriage, when being strooken by the officer, it was said unto him, answerest thou the High Priest so? 
John. 8.22.23.  noteth that our saviour custodiens& docens sacerdotalem honorem servari oportere, contra pontificem nihil dixit, said innocentiam suam tantum modo purgavit, teaching and by his practise showing that the honour of the High Priest was to be perserved, he spake nothing against the High Priest, but only defended his own innocency, saying if I have done evil bare witness of the evil, if well why smitest thou me? No, not in thy thought: 
Cypria. Epist. 69  the original is {αβγδ} non in scientia tua not in thy knowledge, that is, though thou mayest know the King to do evil and the land to suffer evil by it, yea though thou mayest know it by thine own suffering of evil, yet let not thine heart curse him. But to take the reading as generally the word is rendered, not in thy thought. The thought of man is the bed-chamber of his soul, there he is most secret, there most retired. But trust not to this secrecy: for as Lyra noteth, illa quae in cogitatione revolvuntur, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  de facili verbo proferuntur etiam praeter intentionem proferentis, the things which are turned up and down in the thought, are easily uttered in word, yea even beyond the intention of him that doth utter them. And indeed the earth is not a place of secrecy, it is not almost in the power of earthly frailty to keep any thing secret and concealed. Wherefore Saint Paul was taken up into the third heaven, 
2 corinth. 12.2.  when he heard things that might not be uttered: according as Saint Ambrose noteth upon it, who saith Paulus audivit aliqua secreta sapientiae, quae prohibitus est aliis intimare, at ideo raptus est in paradisum, raptus est usque ad tertium coelum, 
Ambros. de Intepel. l 1. c. 9.  ut ea audiret, Paul heard some secrets of wisdom, which he was forbidden to make known to others, and therefore he was taken up into paradise, he was taken up into the third heaven, that he might hear them. And curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: sleep desireth privatnesse and quietness, 
Ovidius.  according as the Poet describeth the house of sleep to be in a cave, into which a long entry leadeth to give remoteness to it, and that it hath no door least the stirring therof should make any noise, neither any watchful bide or beast is suffered to be nere it. Wherefore it is also the manner to make choice of that room for a bed-chamber which is most private; and hence it is that the Preacher here speaketh of a bed-chamber, as noting the greatest privatenesse that may be, and where that which is said may be heard by no one. But trust not unto that: for as the Poet sheweth the deceit of this confidence, O Coridon, Coridon, secretum divitis ullum esse putas? servi ut taceant, jumenta loquentur,& canis& posts& marmora, claud fenestras, vela tegant rimas, junge ostia, tollite lumen è medio, clament omnes, prope nemo recumbat, quod tamen ad cantum galli facit ille secundum proximus ante dienc caupo sciet, O Coridon, Coridon, thinkest thou that any secret of a rich man can be kept secret, let the servants be silent, the beasts will speak it, 
Iuvenalis Saty 9  the dog, the posts, the marble: shut too the windows, let curtains cover the chinks, make fast the doors, take away the light, let all cry, let no one lie nere; notwithstanding that which he doth at the second crow of the cock, the next alehouse shall know before day; In like manner this it is which the Preacher here addeth, for a bide of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  it shall be quickly known. For so Saint jerome saith, hyperbolice intelligendum, it is to be understood by way of an hyperbole, as when we say, the very walls which are witnesses of what were speak will not conceal it. So likewise Tremellius saith, ratio hyperbolica pro eo quod est, principes& potentiores sunt auritissimi, an hyperbolical manner of speaking, as if he should have said, Princes and great men are very quick of hearing, so that hardly any thing is done or said which cometh not to their knowledge. They have some birds that fly up and down, 
Daniel. 4.10.& 12.  they have some that have wings which quickly bring to their ears that which is thought to be most secret. nabuchadnezzar in the visions of his head saw himself to be a great three, and the fowls of heaven to dwell in the branches thereof: where Lyra saith, per volucres intelliguntur garruli& mendaces ad alta tendentes quia tales solent esse principibus laterales, 
Lyra Ibid.  by the fowls are understood prating and lying fellows, seeking to climb on high, because such use to be near about Princes. And here in this place he saith, that the birds of the air are relatores verborum tale-bearers, which are here said to be birds of the air, as in the parable of the sour, 
luke. 8.5.& 12.  the devils are said to be birds of the air. For such indeed chatter more them birds, and are always flying thither from whence they may bring something, which they may reveal. Take heed therefore that thou curse not either King or Princes, secrecy cannot hid it, the voice will be carried, the matter will be  told: 
Lyra in hunc vers.  for as Lyra noteth est repetitio ejusdem sententiae ad majorem confirmationem, the sentence is repeated for the stronger confirmation of it. But Saint jerome desiring to make the words more profitable for us, he applieth them unto Christ the King of his Church, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  and telleth us that we are forbidden to speak rashly against him even in the secret of our heart, although by manifold afflictions his hand may be upon us. And that not only we must not speak ill against Christ, but not against his servants neither, and that an evil tongue must not wrong them whom we see to be enriched with wisdom and knowledge and heavenly virtues; because the Angels which go up and down the earth will carry it to God. And if we take the Angels to be the wicked Angels, then Hugo 
Hugo.  noteth unto us the difference that is betwixt the good Angels and the bad; 
Rev. 8.3.  that the good Angels are said to offer up the prayers of the Saints unto God, but the wicked Angels are said to carry the offences of men unto God.    

CHAPTER XI.  

VER. 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many dayes.  
Ver. 2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.  
Ver. 3. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth:& if the three fall toward the South, or toward the North, in the place, where the three falleth there it shall be.  
Ver. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow: and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.  
Ver. 5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.  
Ver. 6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening with hold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.  
Ver. 1. THe Preacher having before exhorted generally unto the works of virtue, here he persuadeth specially unto the works of charity, because they in an especial manner do advance man to his eternal good in heaven. According as our Saviour speaking to the charitable saith, come ye blessed of my father inhreit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of world. And the whole chapter is divided into three parts. 
mat. 25.34.  First he exhorteth unto the works of charity, unto the sixth verse. Secondly unto a speediness in these works, from the sixth verse unto the ninth, and there lastly he infereth the conclusion of his purpose in the two last verses. The first part is subdivided into two parts, and first he exhorteth to the exercise of charity in the three first verses. 
Lyra in hoc cap.  Secondly he removeth the impediment which might stop the speed unto it in the fourth, and fifth verses: thus Lyra giveth the division of the chapter. Cast thy bread upon the waters, &c. Saint jerome directly according to the original reads it, mitte panem tuum supper faciem aquae, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  quia in multitudine dierum invenies illum, sand thy bread upon the surface of the water, and in the multitude of dayes thou shalt find it. And so most literally the words seem to say, that as that which is carried by the water is at length found in the ocean, where the multitude of waters is gathered together; so that which is given to the poor is carried into heaven, and there shall be found in the endless multitude of dayes, wherein shall be gathered together the multitude of all good things. Cast thy bread, that is saith Tremellius, thy seed, the seed of thy good works, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  the bread which is made of the seed by a Synecdoche being used for the seed. But though he who soweth his land doth sow seed, yet as Saint jerome saith, qui largitur egentibus non granum seminis, said ipsum panem serit, he that giveth to the poor soweth bread and not the grains of seed. Wherefore we may well enough take the word without a figure. Cast thy bread upon the waters: that is saith Saint jerome ad eleemosynam cohortatur, 
Tremel. in hun● vers.  quod omni petenti sit dandum, he exhorteth so unto works of charity, as that wee should give to every one that asketh. The French translation reads it, cast thy bread aval l'eau along as the waters go, and as occasion is offered unto thee so be still casting thy bread, be still showing thy charity. And to this sense as I conceive doth the vulgar Latin red it, cast thy bread supper transeuntes aquas upon the waters passing along, and as still any occasion passeth by the, let it not pass without thy bread cast upon it, thy charity shewed some way or other. Tremellius reads it, cast they bread secundum aquam by the waters, and giveth it this meaning, that as they who sow their seed upon fertile ground, which is near unto waters, by which it is watered, do expect a plentiful crop from it; so the Preacher would have us to sow the works of charity, from whence we may expect a plentiful reward. And indeed God being always full, so that his bounty cannot be exhausted, he loveth those that do so carry themselves, and so dispose their ways, as that their works may still expect a great reward from him. He is not liked by God, that spendeth his time so, and so consumeth his means, as that he cannot look to reap any fruit by it. He is approved by God that maketh every bit of bread to bring great gain unto him. Wherefore Saint Bernard saith, nunquam quum veniat Dominus, inveniat imparatos, said semper vultus suspensos expausosque sinus habentes, 
Bernard. Ser. 17 in Canti.  ad largam Domini benedictionem, let the Lord when he cometh never find us unready, but always with our faces looking up towards him, always having our bosoms open, our laps spread abroad as looking to receive a large blessing from him. For God desireth that we should be like unto them, who wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding, quod utique ab illis supernae mensae copiosis deliciis vacua nunquam revertitur manu, because from the abundant danities of the heavenly table he never returneth with an empty hand. 
Catena Graeca.  Or else we are here bid to cast our bread upon the waters, as teaching us that when we give our alms, to the poor, we should also have a fellow feeling of their misery, and that as misery wringeth tears from the poor, so compassion should wring the same from us. So doth the Catena Graeca expound these words saying, Cum Sympathia& lachrymis fac eleemosynam tuam omni transeunti; with tears and Sympathy of grief bestow thine alms on every one that passeth by. Cassiodore writing of some mountains called Lactari montes the milky montaynes, on which the beasts that feed do give such norishing milk, that mens bodies pined and consumed away do thereby not onely receive strength and health but fatness also, whereas the beasts themselves are exceeding lean, so that as Cassiodore expresseth it, mero modo herbis animalia non proficiunt, unde hominum membra pinguescunt, exiles per dumeta excurrunt montium, tenues videntur,& instar ejus cvi medentur sustinent passions, after a wonderful manner the beasts do not profit by that grass, by which the bodies of men grow fat: they go up and down near the thickets of the mountaines lean and thin, 
Cassidor. var. l. ver. 10.  and as it were sustayning the condition of those, who are healed by them. Like to these beasts should charity make us, and as we comfort the poor with the milk that we give them, so we should as it were sustain their distress by a fellow feeling sorrow with them. Or lastly we are bid to cast our bread upon the waters, to teach us that our charity should be free and liberal and always flowing as the waters are. For thou shalt find it after many dayes: that is although the waters may seem to carry thy bread away, and thou mayest seem to be no whit the better for it; yet it shall not be so, but thou shalt find it again, and find it to thy great comfort and benefit. 
Gregor. Thamat in hunc vers.  Thus doth Gregorius Thaumaturgus expound the words saying, quamvis id statim perdidisse videas quemadmodum si panem in aquam conjecisses, tamen progressu temporis nequaquam infrugifera apparebit beneficentia, although thy charity may seem to some to be forthwith lost, as if thou hadst cast thy bread into the water, yet in process of time thy bounty shall appear not to be unfruitful unto thee Or else, thou shalt find it after many dayes, that is although thou do not find it presently, yet be not impatient, distrust not a reward, for though it be long before thou see the comfort of thy charity requited yet be sure of it, for it shall come at last, and make a large recompense for the delay of it. Let me therefore say unto thee as one doth, mitte panem tuum supper aquas,& in verbo Domini promitto tibi, quod post multa tempora invenies, cast thy bread upon the waters, and cast thy care upon me, for in the word of the Lord I promise the, that after many dayes thou shalt find it. Yea let it be but a piece of bread that thou castest, and thou shalt find it to be a three of of life unto thee. For as Saint Bernard noteth, this is the difference between God and the devil, 
Bernard de gradib. superb. gradu. 1.  ille obtulit pomum& abstulit paradisum, Deus offered paradisum& postulat pomum, He offered an apple, and took away paradise, God offereth paradise, and requireth but an apple.  
Vers. 2. Give a portion: Saint Ambrose speaking of these words saith, primum quaerendum nobis est, quid sit unde partes facere praecipimur. Est nanque quoddam bonum,& ipsum est summum bonum, charitas videlicet, quae nisi partiatur perfectum bonum non est. Partitur enim in dilectione Dei,& in dilectione proximi, the first thing that wee are to seek for is, what that is of which wee are commanded to make a portion. For there is a certain good, and it is the chiefest good, namely charity, which unless it be divided is not a perfect good. It is divided therefore into the love of God, and into the love of our neighbour. 
Ambros. m. c. 2. Apocal.  The charitable love of our neighbour is divided into as many parts, as are there persons that stand in need of it. This therefore it is that the Preacher here saith, give thy portion to seven and also unto eight. That is saith Lyra da abundanter, give abundantly: 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  that is saith Tremellius distribue quam plurimis potes, give to as many as thou canst. Cajetane telleth us that the old Jews in honour of the seven first dayes did give their alms unto seven persons as contented with that number. 
Cajetan. in haec verba.  And that therefore the Spirit of God doth here admonish them to give a portion unto seven and unto eight also, as if it were said, do not set those bounds unto thy charity, 
Nazianz. Orat. 16.  so that if need be thou be not ready to go beyond them. But it seemeth by nazianzen that the Jews did take their custom of giving unto seven from this passage of Scripture, as if they were commanded to give to seven only, and that eight was added as a thing left unto their own pleasure; he therefore speaking of Porreus a Bishop saith, pauperum inopiam quantum poterat sublevans, partemque dans non septem duntaxat, velut Solomonis lex praescribit, verum si octavus accederet, libentius sua profunderet, quam alii acquirunt; relieving the wants of the poor, as much as he could, and giving a portion not only to seven, as the law of Solomon prescribeth, but if an eight did come, bestowing that which he had as willingly, as others do get that which they have not. And indeed it is the glory of charity, to disperse itself to many, not only to those, that are of our kindred, but to those also that are not, not only to those that we know, but to those also that we know not, not only to those of the same place with us, but to Strangers also, not only to those that are of the same religion with us, but to them also that differ therein from us. The manner of the ancient Christians, being to do so, and Julian the Apostate envying them for it, he gave order to his Officers to build hospitals for travellers, Xenodochia, in which they should receive all, even Christians also, who were hateful to him without any difference, saying that by that bountiful means, the Disciples of Jesus had won the hearts of all. Saint Bernard considering that passage of the women, 
Mark. 16.1.  who had bought spices, that they might embalm Jesus, thereupon, saith, non ad ungendum tantum aliquam corporis partem, videlicet pedes aut caput, said ut venientes ungerent Jesum, quod est totius corporis complexio. 
Bernard.  Tu quoque si te induas viscera misericordiae, liberalem benignumque te exhibeas erga omnes, it was not to anoint some one part of his body, namely his head or his feet, but that coming, they might anoint Jesus, 
Galat. 2.9. V. 10  which comprehendeth the whole body of him. And do thou also, 
tertul. advers. Hermogen.  if thou dost put on the bowels of mercy, show thyself liberal, and bountiful towards all. When Saint Paul came to Jerusalem, Peter, James and John gave him the right hand of fellowship, and Tertullian saith of it, de officii distributione pepigerunt, they made a covenant with him concerning the distribution of the ministry, that he and Barnabas should go to the heathen, and they unto the circumcision, only they would that they should remember the poor. That was a thing to be done every where, that was to be done among the heathen, as well as among the circumcision, that was to be done to eight, the Gentiles, as well as to seven the Jews. For thou knowest not what shall be upon the earth, that is, thou knowest not what misery, what calamity shall come, wherein the charity which thou hast shewed, may be a means to move God to preserve and to deliver thee. For godliness hath not only the promise of the life to come, 
1. Tim. 4.8.  but of this life also. Or else, as Lyra speaketh, fort eveniet mortalitas hominum per pestilentiam aut gladium, in qua toleris de vita praesenti; 
Lyra in hunc vers.  & tunc opera pietatis valebunt tibi, quia sola pietas est comes defunctorum ut dicet Augustinus, perhaps a mortality of men shall come either by the Pestilence, or else by the Sword, in which thou shalt be taken away from this present life, and then thy works of godliness will be profitable unto thee: for godliness onely is the companion of the dead, as Saint Austin speaketh. Saint Gregory expounding this verse, It is, saith he, ac si apart diceretur, sic dispensa temporalia, ut appetere non obliviscaris aeterna. Oportet nanque ut in posterum been agendo provideas, qui de venturo judicio quanta tribulatio sequatur ignoras. Hinc est quod quindecim gradibus templi ascenditur, ut ex ipsa ejus ascensione discatur, quatenus per septem& octo temporalis solicit dispensetur actio,& provide mansio aeterna requiratur, as if it were plainly said, so dispose of temporal things, that thou forget not to seek after eternal things. For it behoveth thee that by doing well, thou provide for the time to come, who knows not what calamity may follow in the judgement that is to come. 
Gregor. Moral. l. 35. c. 7.  Hence it is that the temple ascended up by fifteen steps, that by the very ascending of it might be learned, how by seven and eight both our temporal actions might be ordered carefully, and our eternal mansion might be sought for providently. The ancient fathers are very much in finding out some mystery in the first part of this verse, and in the numbers seven and eight. Saint Ambrose saith, Sancti itaque Dei partes septem daunt amoris sui, 
Ambros. in c. 2. Apocalyp.  quam in exercitiis vitae activae occupantur, videlicet quum curam proximo non solum carnalem said& spiritualem impendunt. daunt etiam partes octo quum eos amor Dei ad contemplationem ejus revocant, the Saints of God therefore do give to seven, portions of their love, when they are busied in the works of an active life, namely when they bestow not only a carnal, but a spiritual care upon their neighbour. They give also portions to eight, when the love of God calleth them back again to a contemplation of him. Saint jerome findeth out here the mystery of the two parts of the Scriptures, and in the number seven, the Old Testament, because of the Sabbath of the Jews, in the number eight the New Testament, because of the resurrection. And showing that the Jews did give their faith only to the Old Testament, to the number seven, that martion, the Manichees, and other heretics did give their faith only to the number eight, to the new Testament rejecting the old, he concludeth, nos utrique credamus instrumento. Non enim possumus dignos cruciatus dignamque paenam jam nunc mente comprehendere, quae reposita est his qui versantur in terra Judaeis atque haereticis e duobus alterum denegantibus, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  let us therefore believe both instruments. For we cannot now comprehend in our minds, the deserved torments, the deserved punishment, which is laid up for those that are upon the earth, Jews and heretics, that do deny either of them.  
Ver. 3. S. Chrysost. showing how in the condition of this life, we all stand in need one of the other;& that not only he that receiveth alms, 
Chrysost. Homil. 17. in 2. ad Corinth.  standeth in need of him that giveth it, but he that giveth it also standeth in need of him that receiveth it: giveth this reason of it, nisi enim pauperes essent, salus nostra magna ex parte profligata esset, ubi enim pecunias serere possemus, non haberemus, because unless that there were poor, our salvation would be in a great part hindered, because we should not have where to sow our money. Now with this metaphor, the Preacher having begun this chapter, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  Tremellius conceiveth him to continue the same in this verse, and that here he sheweth, that as God blesseth the seed that is sown, and by the rain of the full clouds, maketh it to be fruitful; so he blesseth also the works of charity, and maketh them fruitful in much comfort and happiness. Wherefore taking also the original word {αβγδ} here used to signify plantam, a plant, for so himself translateth it, he giveth this meaning of the latter part of the verse, that as wheresoever the plant falls, there the owner of it is sure to find it, and to receive fruit of it, so he that doth the works of charity, shall be sure to find and receive the fruit and reward of them. Now this meaning is both religious, and most true. When Alexander set forward unto his great exploits, before he went from Macedonia, he divided to his captains and friends all that he possessed. For which, when one of his friends reproved him, saying that he was prodigal, because he had reserved nothing for himself: the answer which Alexander gave, was this, that he had reserved much unto himself: namely, hope of the Monarchy of the world, which by his valour, and help of those his captaines, and nobles he hoped to attain. And surely, though to some, he that giveth unto the poor, may seem to be prodigal, yet in respect of the hope, which he hath of profit, he is frugally wise. Neither is his hope such as Alexanders was, which depended on the uncertainty of war, but it is grounded upon the certainty of Gods word. But as those excellent and most learned men do many times fetch their translation afar off, so it is not seldom that they go far to bring home the sense and meaning of it. It seemeth to me, that wee may reach the Preachers meaning nearer hand. For having first exhorted unto charity, in the first verse, secondly having commended to our charity, many persons in the second verse, here he proceedeth to the measure of our charity, and would have it to be full. The Psalmist speaking of a good man, saith, he hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, 
Psal. 112.9.  his righteousness endureth forever, his horn shall be exalted. And here the Preacher having exhorted us to disperse our charity to many; next he exhorteth us to give to them freely. For as the clouds being full of rain, do readily empty themselves upon the earth, which is under them; so he would have them, who are full of abundance, freely to give to the poor, and to satisfy the want of them, who by the meanness of their estate, are in a low condition. And this he would have them to do, while they have time of doing good, and when now in their lives they may provide how it shall be with them after death, because as the three falleth, either toward the North, or toward the South, there it shall be. But there is also something more to be noted in the words. For they may be rendered out of the original thus, if the clouds be full, they empty the rain upon the earth, for so Pagnine, Arias Montanus, and the French translation do read the words. Now the original word here used for rain is, {αβγδ} which signifieth a great and strong rain, as Rabbi Kimchi affirmeth: so that wee are taught, that as the clouds, being full, do give great store of rain, so they who are full of the blessings of this life, should not be scant in affording relief unto them that want it. If thou be an Olive three, a fat three, be also a green Olive three, as the Prophet saith that he was, and bring forth much fruit in thy works of charity. For how canst thou pray as the Prophet David doth, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness, 
Psal. 52.8.  according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions; If there be not in thee a loving kindness toward the poor? 
Psal. 51.1.  If there be not in thee tender mercies towards them, if it be a scantness, not a multitude of mercies that is in thee? 
Malachi. 1.14.  Doth not the Prophet Malachy tell us, cursed is the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing? Where he is called a deceiver, because having wherewith to do better, by his offering he maketh himself, as it were, not able. But yet how many such are there in the world, 
Chrysost. Homil. 17. ad populum.  and whereas Saint Chrysostome speaketh, they ride on horses with golden chains, and lye on silver beds, and use much more pomp, yet when they come to give to the poor, pauperrimis redduntur pauperiores, they are made more poor then the poorest. Alexander Quintus, Pope of Rome said of himself, That when he was a Bishop, he was rich, when he was a cardinal, he was poor, and when he was Pope, he was a beggar; and plainly so it is with many, who the richer they are, still are the poorer, in respect of their giving to the poor. Now if we red the former part of the verse so, and take it in this sense, then we may understand the latter part of the verse thus, that as the three falling towards the South, lieth there, so when a work of charity is done with a warm devotion, accordingly it is by God accepted: and as when a three falleth towards the North, it lieth there, so when a work of charity is done with a could devotion, it is accordingly by God esteemed. But generally the ancient Fathers, and latter expositors do understand, or at least apply the latter part of the verse with reference unto death. Saint Gregory saith, Where the three falls whether toward the North, or towards the South, there it shall bee, in diem enim mortis suae justus ad austrum cadit peccator ad aquilonem, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 12. c. 4.  quia& justus per fervorem spiritus ad gaudia ducitur,& peccator cum apostata angelo, qui dixit sedebo in lateribus aquilonis, in frigido suo cord reprobatur, 
Isa. 14.13.  for the righteous, in the day of death falleth towards the South, and by the fervour of the spirit, is carried unto joys; the sinner with the apostate angel, who said, I will sit on the sides of the north, 
Isa. 14.13.  in his could heart is rejected. Saint Bernard saith, Man is a three, which by death is cut down, and wheresoever he falleth, there he shall be, because there God judgeth him, where death findeth him, and there he shall be without any change. Videat ergo quo casura sit, antequam cadat, quia postquam ceciderit, non adjiciet ut resurgat, said ut nec se vertat, 
Bern. Serm. 49. ex parvis.  let him therefore see where he falleth, before he falleth, because when he is fallen, he shall not help himself to rise, no, not so much as to turn himself. Now which way he shall fall, if any one will know, let him mark his boughs, for where the boughs are most and greatest, on that side there is no doubt that his fall will be. Our boughs then are our love and our desires, and from them our actions, by which we are extended towards the South, if that we love spiritual things chiefly: if carnal things be more weighty with us, then are wee extended towards the North, and accordingly, when we die will these make us to fall, make us to lye.  
Vers. 4. For the understanding of this verse, wee may take a good light from Columella; whose words are these, Ubi paleis immixta sunt frumenta vento separentur. Ad eam rem favonius habetur eximius, quem tamen operiri lenti est agricolae, qui dum expectatur saeva nos hiems opprimit. Itaque in area detrita frumenta sic sunt aggerenda ut omni statim occasione possint excerni. Ac si pluribus diebu undique silebit aura vannis expurgentur, ne post nimiam ventorum segnitiem, 
Columel. l. 2. c. 21  vasta tempestas irritum faciat totius anni laborem, when the grains of corn are mixed with chaff, let them be severed by wind. A west wind is accounted excellent for this business: but yet to stay for it, is a sign of a lazy husband-man, because while it is expected, the hard winter overtaketh us. Wherefore the threshed corn is so to be laid together in the barnefloore, that upon every occasion it may be winnowed. And if for many dayes, the wind be still and quiet every way, let it be cleansed with fannes, least after too much dulness and slackness of the winds, a grievous tempest overflow the labour of the whole year: To apply it to the verse. He that delayeth the works of his charity, expecting, as he saith, the fittest occasion, as if the husband-man should stay his winnowing, expecting a western favorian wind, sheweth his charity to be could in him: and perhaps some tempest, some affliction shall arise, which may deprive him of his means, and make him unable to sow, unable to exercise his charity. In general, the meaning of the verse is, that as he who scrupulously observeth the wind, regardeth the clouds, oftentimes overpasseth his sowing, looseth his reaping; so he that sheweth not his charity, but in a curious observing, how, when, and to whom he doth it, looseth the sowing of much seed, looseth the reaping of much fruit. To consider the thing more particularly. And first, as for him that curiously considereth unto whom he giveth, Saint jerome saith, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  qui considerat cvi tribuit, saepe praeterit eum qui meretur accipere, he that considereth on whom he bestoweth his alms, oftentimes passeth him by, who is worthy to receive them. The precept of our Saviour Christ is, 
luke. 6.30.  give to every man that asketh of thee: if his necessity make him to ask, let thy charity make thee to give. What though he be an ill liver? 
Chrysost. Conc. 2. de Lazaro.  Saint Chrysostome tells us non moribus demus said homini, nec illius ob suam virtutem nos misereatur, said ob calamitatem, let us not give to the manners of the man, but to the man, neither let us have pitty of him in regard of his virtue, but of his misery. The same Father tells us, 
Chrysost. Ibid.  Portus in necessitate constitutorum homo misericors, a merciful man is the haven of them that are in distress. Wherefore as in a tempest the haven receiveth all that fly unto it, whether good or bad, so a merciful man bestoweth his charity upon all, and though he rather helpeth them, that live well, yet all that be in want shall have his relief. Secondly as for him that observeth when he will give, and as the scrupulous husbandman observeth the wind, regardeth the clouds, so he stayeth until the poor body sue unto him, or until some friend whose favour he respecteth, do speak for him, what doth he but loose the sowing of his charity? what doth he but loose much comfort which he might reap? For as Saint Austin speaketh, 
August. l. Hom. 50. Homil. 39.  perfecta est misericordia, ut ante occurrat esurienti cibus, quam roget mendicus, quae precibus extorquetur non est perfecta, perfect mercifulness, is that the food do meet the hungry, before that the beggar ask for it, that which is extorted by begging is not perfect. Doth not saith he the rain fall before thou askest for it? Doth not the sun arise while thou art in thy bed? do not the fruits spring while thou thinkest not of them? And dost thou o man sell a little bread for much asking? Magnum opus est eleemosynae, ut faciat homo, quod facit Deus, the great work of charity is that man do as God doth. Thirdly as for him that curiously observeth how he giveth, and as he that observeth the wind soweth not least the wind should blow away his seed, as he that regardeth the clouds reapeth not fearing the frounes of the sky, so he feareth to show his charity in any great manner, least himself should come to want; let him hear, what David saith he never saw, saying, I have been young, 
Psal. 36.25.& 26.  and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread. Perhaps it will be objected, that there have been many righteous men poor: but the place speaketh of a righteous charitable man, for so the following verse sheweth, which saith, he is ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. And who hath seen such a one or his seed to be brought to such poverty, as to beg his bread? When our Saviour Christ had fed four thousand with seven loaves and a five fishes, 
Augustin.  all being filled, seven baskets full of fragments were gathered up: and it is Saint Austins note upon it, crescit dum impenditur victus, sic eleemosyna si indigentibus erogetur, the victuals in spending were augmented, and so is the alms which is given to the poor. By allusion Saint jerome applieth this verse unto them, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  who preach the word of God in that time only when the people are willing to hear: whereas saith he, oportunè importunè suo tenore Dei sermo est praedicandus, nec fidei tempore adversariarum nubium consideranda tempestas, the word of God is to be preached in season, out of Season, in its own tenor, neither in a time of saith, is the tempest of opposing clouds to be regarded. Saint Gregory maketh another allusion, and he saith, what is signified by wind but the tempting of the wicked spirits? 
Gregor. Past. Cu. p. 3. Adm. 16  What by the clouds which are moved by the wind but the opposition of wicked men? For as the clouds are driven by the wind, so wicked men are driven by the breath of the unclean Spirits. He therefore that observeth, the wind, soweth not, and he that regardeth the clouds never reapeth, quia quisquis tentationem malignorum Spirituum, quisquis persecutionem malignorum hominum metuit, neque nunc grana boni operis seminat, neque tunc manipulos sanctae retributionis secat, because whosoever feareth the temptations of the wicked spirits, whosoever feareth the persecution of evil men, shall neither sow now the seed of good works, nor hereafter reap the handfuls of a holy retribution.  
Ver. 5. The original word {αβγδ} some do translate ventum the wind, taking their direction as it seemeth from the former verse, where the wind is spoken of. Others do translate it Spiritum the spirit, being guided as it seems by the latter part of this verse, which speaketh of the forming of man in the womb of his Mother. Thus our translation readeth it, and therefore so to consider it. I am first of all moved to consider why the Preacher should join this with the argument of charity, and it maketh me to think that the works of charity do make God in a more especial manner to bless the fruit of the womb, 
2 Kings 14.8.  and to give to them children, who do give to his children in their distress and want. I am sure that it was so with the Shunamite, and she having provided a chamber and furnished it for the Prophet Elisha, God provided a chamber for her child, and furnished her with fruit of her womb. Saint Ambrose noting the same and speaking of it, saith, Sunamitis illa magna mulier in superioribus hospitium paravit,& ibi concipiendae sobolis meruit praerogativam, ibidemque resuscitati pignoris vidit miraculum, that great woman the Shunamite prepared an upper lodging for the Prophet, and there it was that she obtained the prerogative of conceiving a child, there she saw the miracle of her son restored unto life. But to consider the verse, what is more divine, what more admirable, what more secret then the forming of man in the womb? Philosophers and Physitians may study much about it, as which part first liveth, which is first formed, and whether all be formed together, but Galen 
Galen.  said well, the question is so difficult and hard to be resolved, as that it is known to none, but to God and nature. There may be much said of a formatiue faculty, and divers opinions may dispute it diversely, at what time the formation is perfected, to which hippocrates 
Hypocrat.  prescribeth in male children thirty dayes as the longest time, in females two and forty: but let us say with the Psalmist, I will praise thee O Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, 
Psal. 139.14.& 15.  mervailous are they works: my substance was not hide from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. As for the bones of man which the Preacher here more particularity mentioneth, they are they, which as hippocrates saith do give {αβγδ} to the body uprightness shape, stableness: because they do as it were defend it, against the force that assaulteth it, and because they uphold the body, as the foundation, walls and timber uphold the house: uprightness, because unless the creatures had bones, they would creep upon the ground as worms do: shape and figure because from them the stature and growth are limited and bounded. Moreover not one but many are the bones of mans body, and man being made to be apprehensive in understanding, stirring in action, capable of the representation of sensitive things, and accordingly to follow divers objects to which his desire should carry him, therefore motion was bestowed upon him: whereas if he had consisted but of one bone, how could he either have bowed any way, or any way reached out his body to any thing, either by going to it or taking of it? Almighty God therefore for the use of mans life, and for the exercise of the several motions of the body, hath strangely composed the body of a pack or set of bones, of divers sorts and manifold shapes. Now this variety is likewise very useful, that when one bone receiveth any hurt, thereby the others might not be hindered in their offices. And yet though many be the bones of mans body, such is the connexion of them, and so wonderfully are they fitted together, that all are as it were but one by that contiguity which is between them. The total compage and set of the bones is called a Syntaxe and the fabric of the bones so fitted together is called a skeleton. Of which how they are made, how joined together, how fitted so, who can tell but he that maketh all? But to apply now the verse unto the Preachers argument in this place, I conceive thus of it. The Preacher here, in our charity would have us to imitate God in this great work of his: for thou knowest not the way of God when he formeth the bodies of children, and giveth souls unto them of whom he fore knoweth that they will be wicked, and that they will employ both unto his dishonour: thou knowest not the way of God, when he giveth substance and life to children of adultery and fornication, as well as he doth to them who are born in wedlock, and of whom he foreknoweth that they will serve him and fear him. Notwithstanding this God doth, and do thou so likewise in thy works of charity, although thy poor foreknowledge may think, that what thou givest will be spent in naughtiness. again he that is in the womb knoweth not what is done for him, knoweth not who it is that doth it; he doth not ask it, he doth not desire it, God himself alone seeth, what is needful, and he doth all for him. And do thou so likewise, do thou bestow thine alms on him that knows thee not, on him that asketh not of thee, and cannot tell from whence it cometh to him. To this Saint Ambrose exhorting thee, saith, videndus est ille, qui te non videt, requirendus est ille qui erubescit videri: ille etiam clausus in carcere occurrat tibi, ille affectus aegritudine mentem tuam personet, qui aures non potest, he is to be seen by thee, who doth not see thee, he is to be sought out who is ashamed to be seen by thee, let him meet thee who is shut up in prison, and let his voice who lieth sick a bed sound in thy mind, which cannot sound in thine ears. again that which God worketh in the womb is all done in secret, and is hidden from the eyes of all: let thy works of charity be done so likewise, let them be done in secrecy, not in ostentation, and let not thy left hand know, what thy right hand doth. Lastly thou knowest not how the Spirit comes into the child, how the bones are set up and strengthened, yet thou findest it to be done: wherefore give unto the poor and spare not, and though thou knowest not how it cometh to pass, yet thou shalt find thine estate to be strengthened thy substance to be increased, the blessings of God to be upon thee and multiplied towards thee. It were a vain thing to fear, when a child is conceived least the Spirit should not find the way into it, or least the bones should not grow in him, and no less vain is their fear, who are troubled least by giving to the poor, their estate should decay, and that either themselves or theirs should be brought to misery. lo therefore saith, non timeatur in his expenses defectio facultatum quoniam ipsa benignitas magna substantia est, nec potest charitati deesse materies, 
lo. Serm. 10. de Quadrag.  ubi Christus pascit,& pascitur. In omni hoc opere illa intervenit manus, quae panem frangendo auget,& erogando multiplicat; in these expenses let not a failing of means be feared, because bounty itself is great wealth, neither can the matter of bounty be wanting, where Christ himself feedeth, and is fed. In every such work that hand is a fellow worker, which increaseth bread by breaking it, and by giving multiplieth. And surely as God doth wonderfully by building up the house of mans body in his mothers womb, so doth he oftentimes wonderfully build up their houses, who are free in the works of charity. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome saith, in haec aedificia studeamus evacuare pecunias nostras, nec fabris nec structoribus nec operariis opus habebimus: manus nanque pauperum tales domos aedificant& non mireris, 
Chrysost. in Epistol. ad Heb. Homil. 15.  elemosyna quip artifex magna,& auxiliatrix eorum, qui illam faciunt, upon these buildings let us study to lay out our moneys, wee shall not need either carpenters, or masons, or labourers: the hands of the poor do build such houses, and marvel not at it, for charity is an artificer that doth great things, and is a great helper of them that use it.  
Vers. 6. Great is the work of God in framing of man, and it cannot but be a great admiration to man, to consider, how as Saint jerome speaketh, 
Hieron. in hoc caput.  ex vili elemento corpus hoins in diversas effigies artusque variatur,& de eodem semine aliud mollescat in carnibus, aliud durescat in ossibus, aliud in venis palpitet, aliud in nervis ligetur, from one vile matter and beginning, the body of man is divetsefied into divers shapes and limbs, and of the same seed, some is mollified into flesh, some is hardened into bones, some beateth in the veins, some is bound up in the nerves and sinews. And surely wonderful also is the work of God to him that shall consider it, how from one small grain, and that rotten in the earth, the blade springeth up, the blossom flourisheth, and many grains are brought forth and ripened. To this the Preacher here returneth, and goeth on by the similitude of sowing to exhort us to the works of charity and godliness. Now good works are like unto seed, because as from one grain of seed many seeds are gathered, not at the time of sowing, but at the end of the year; so from one good work we shall gather a great harvest not forthwith perhaps when we do it, but at the end of our lives. But if thou sowest, let it be thy seed, let it be thine own, let it be of thine own that which thou dost, sow not with the seed of another man, for then thou sinnest, thou sowest not. And indeed thou mayest possess much lawfully and justly, yet it is that only which thou sowest, that is truly thine. The rest of the good things of this life which thou hast, are not so much thine as the worlds. And when thou leavest thy great estate, which by much labour thou hast gotten to thine heires, to thy friends, it is their seed which thou sowest not thine own, for they reap the harvest of thy pains and care. They are thy good works only, which the world shall not keep from thee, they are thy works of charity, which thou shalt not leave to thine heires and friends, but shalt carry with thee into heaven, and there thou thyself shalt reap the endless and unconceivable comfort of them. Sow therefore thy seed, and sow in the morning, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, begin betimes, and when thou hast begun make not an end at any time. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Matutinam justitiam vespertina inveniat,& vesperi misericordiam solis ortus accumulet, let the evening find thy morning righteousness,& let the morning add unto the evenings mercifulness, as Saint jerome speaketh. And here note, that there is here no mention made of the night, no sowing then is to be used, that being the time of death: wherein none can work. But while life continueth, sow in the morning and in the beginning of it, sow in the evening& the end of it, let no time be omitted. again note that the morning& the evening make the whole life of man: it is but a day. To our understanding it seemeth in some to be very long, if that it exceed an hundred years: but so doth a groat seem a great deal of money to him that is very poor, whereas by a rich man it is accounted as nothing. And let this shortness of our life make us to be the more diligent in sowing. If a great King should bring us to a great heap of gold, and should bid us for one day to take out of it as much as we could, would we not then be sure to begin early in the morning, and in the evening would we withhold our hand? Now thus God dealeth with us, he giveth to us one day to gather and to get as much as we can, not of fading earthly treasure, but of immortal heavenly glory, and shall we then loose any time? The reason which the Preacher further addeth to press us to a plentiful and diligent sowing, is this, because thou knowest not whether shall prosper this or that or both: the word translated prosper in the original as {αβγδ} and most directly signifieth to be right, as being directed a right to the mark of thy comfort and happiness. Saint jerome readeth it, nescis quid placeat, thou knowest not what may please. The vulgar Latin according to the Septuagint nescis quod magis oriatur, thou knowest not which shall rather spring up. The French translation hath it; lequel escherra mieux, which shall fall out better whether that which is done at one time, or that which is done at another. In general that which the reason sheweth, is this, that for sowing, for doing good, every time may be as good as any time. Indeed for reaping there is a set time, and that time must be tarried for and observed, which is the good time which God seeth upon the earth, and the glorious time which he hath appointed in heaven; but for sowing for doing well every time serveth, and who knoweth which shall do best in the acceptance of God, and in the advancing of our blessedness. Be therefore diligent and sow continually. It is not in sowing as it is in buying and selling, in those, things are done by weight and by measure, but in sowing, there is a scattering abroad in a free and full manner. Wherefore when it is said of the righteous man, he hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, Theodoret noteth upon it, Imitatur serentes large semina& dissipantes ab manipulorum spem, 
Psal. 112.9. Theodoret. Ibi.  he imitateth those that sow their seed abundantly, scattering it about in hope of filling there hands again. Such a one it seemeth was Agnes the Empresse, of whom Damianus speaking saith, O beata superbia, O beata mentis elatio, 
Damian. l. 7. Epist. 5.  omnibus digna praeconiis: Nullis parcitur rebus,& hoc solum indigentibus& ecclesiis non datur, quod extra tui juris peculium reperitur, O blessed pride, O happy loftiness of mind! worthy of all commendation! Nothing is spared, and that only is not given the poor and to the Church, which is not thine to give. Such a one was King Theodoric, of whom Cassiodore saith, haec sunt regia dona quod semina sparsa in segetem coalescunt, 
Cassiod. var. l. 3. var. 29.  in unum coacta depereunt. Optamus ergo munera multis collata dividere, ut possint ubique nostra beneficia pullulare, royal gifts are the same with seeds, being scattered they grow into fields of corn, being kept together they perish and are lost. We desire therefore to disperse our gifts, and to bestow them upon many, that so the works of our bounty may every where spring up.   

Ver. 7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun.  
Ver. 8. But if a man live many yeeres, and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the dayes of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.  
Vers. 7. This verse may be considered either as having reference to that which goes before, or else as beginning some new matter. As it hath reference to that which goes before, so it may also be considered diversely. Saint jerome taking it to have reference unto the former verse understandeth it, as showing the happiness, which shall be to them, who are diligent to sow their seed in the morning, and constant in sowing until the evening. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  And therefore he saith, Si semper benefeceris,& omni aetate aequalem cursum habueris, videbis Deum Patrem dulcissimum lumen, videbis Christum solem justitiae, if thou shalt be careful always to do well, and in every age of thy life shalt hold an equal course of godliness, thou shalt see God the Father, who is a most sweet light, thou shalt see Christ who is the Sun of righteousness. And applying the evening and the morning in the former verse by allusion unto the old and new Testament, he thereupon exhorteth us so to seek spiritual understanding in the old Testament, as that we do not think that which we red to be contained in the Evangelists and Apostles only: ignoramus enim nos in quo magis scientia nobis à Deo tribuatur& gratia, faelicemque eum esse qui utrumque in commune sociaverit,& quasi unum corpus effecerit: quod qui fuerit consecutus videbit lucem, videbit Christum solem justitiae, because we know not in which rather knowledge and grace from the Lord may be given to us. So that he is happy who shall have joined both of them together, and shall have made one body of them: which he that hath obtained, shall see light, shall see Christ the Sun of righteousness. But as the verse is referred to the former, and to the general argument of charity, whereof the preceding part of the chapter speaketh, it may be also taken and understood as containing an impediment in the works of charity which the Preacher removeth, as Lyra conceiveth it: or as containing an objection against the works of charity, which the Preacher answereth as Tremellius apprehendeth it. The objection conceived to be made may be thus expressed, why should I spend my means upon others, which I have gotten for myself? Why should others have the fruit of my labours? I will myself enjoy the sweet delight of it, I will myself take pleasure in it, and while I have the light I will cheer mine own heart, while mine eyes behold the Sun, I will please mine eyes with the objects of contentment. Or if I do help others, I will first serve myself, I will first sweeten mine own life in the sweet light, I will first shine in the pleasures of mine own ways, while the Sun shines upon me. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome saith well, 
Chrysost. Homil. de misericordia& duabus viduis.  Tria sunt quae in misericordiae opere optanda sunt Christiano, ut posset facere, ut velit, ut complete, there are three things which in the work of charity a Christian ought to desire, that he may be able to do it, that he may be willing to do it, and that he may accomplish his will and do it. That he may be able, and that the means of doing may not be wanting, that he may be willing and that a mind of doing may accompany the means, that he may do it, and that he may without delay accomplish that which he can, and to which he is willing. For there are saith he, which can and will not, which will but cannot, which can and will but do not by delaying of it. Wherefore he concludeth, Qui potest facere, oret ut velit,& qui vult oret ut posset,& qui utrique paratus est debt operam ut misericordiam instanter efficient, ne quod vult& potest differendo non complete, jet him therefore that can do it, pray that he may be willing, Let him that is willing to do it pray that he may be able, let him that is ready in both, be careful that he do it quickly and diligently, least by deferring he do not perform that which he is both able and willing to do. Or else as the verse containeth an impediment to the works of charity it may be thus expressed, the light of this life is a pleasant thing, and it is a delightful thing to behold the Sun in this world, let us therefore use that which we have for our comfort and delightful contentment here. Why should we give away our means in hope of happiness and joy which is to be had hereafter? Ova in praesenti sunt meliora pullis cras, eggs for the present are better then chickens too morrow, let us rather reap now the pleasures of the earth by spending our means upon ourselves, then sow in expectation of blessedness by giving unto others. And I wish that this impediment could be removed out of the hearts of many, which is not so much an impediment of the poores relief as of their own salvation. But to consider the verse also as the beginning of a new matter, and as our translators have set down. The first thing that ever was commended is the light, and as Saint Ambrose speaketh, jure prima laudatur, 
Ambr. Hexam. l. 1. c. 6.  quoniam ipsa fecit ut etiam caetera mundi membra digna sint laudibus, justly is that first praised because that made all the other parts of the world to be worthy of praise. He that goes about to build an house, before he lay the foundation considereth with himself, where he shall make windows in it, that so it may have light, that being the chiefest grace of the house, and without which the house hath neither comfort nor comeliness. By this therefore the Preacher here expresseth the comfort of this life. And when he addeth, it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the Sun, he doth not mean the direct fastening of the eyes upon the Sun, for that paineth the eyes and taketh away the sight of them: but he speaketh of beholding the brightness of the Sun shining upon us. And fitly doth he speak of beholding this brightness. For as Saint Ambrose also noteth, 
Ambr. Hexam. l. 4. c. 4.  Lucis natura hujusmode est ut non in mensura, non in pondere ut alia, said omnis ejus in aspectu gratia est, for such is the nature of light, that not in number, not in measure, not in weight as other things, but in beholding consisteth all the grace of it. And therefore also fitly doth he express the prosperity of this world by it, which is all in show and in appearance to the eye, not in substance and worth. But if it be so pleasant to behold the Sun of this world, how pleasant is it to behold the Sun of righteousness. If this Sun be so swift that by his speedy course he vieweth over all things in one day& night, how great is he who is always present every where? and who by his majesty filleth all things? If the Sun be wonderful, who is commanded to run his race, how wonderful is he who speaketh to the Sun and it stirreth not? If this Sun be so great which by the change of time every day approacheth unto places, and goeth away from them again, how great is he, who when he imptyed himself that we might behold him, was that true light which enlighteneth every one that cometh into the world? If this Sun be so glorious, which by the interposition of the earth is darkened, 
hag. 2.6.  how great is his majesty, who shaketh the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  
Ver. 8. The Preacher here removeth the impediment, answereth the objection, and to him that esteemeth so much of this present life he saith, suppose that thou shouldst live many years; to him that desireth to delight himself he saith, suppose that thou shouldst rejoice in them all; yet there are dayes to follow, dayes as long as now thy yeares are, dayes of darkness, wherein the light of life shall be quiter put out, wherein the comfort of pleasure shall be quiter lost. And they shall be many indeed, not many as thine years of life were, that is thy small account, but so many as that they cannot be numbered, of which it can be said only that they are many, but it cannot be said how many they are. In the yeares of thy life therefore remember these dayes, in thy dayes of delight remember these dayes of trouble and let the remembrance of them make thee to provide against them, by well ordering thy life, by well governing thy delight, by sparing something out of it to comfort those who are in misery. When Josephs brethren making a relation unto him of their condition and family  told him, thy servants are twelve brethren, 
Genes. 42.13.  the Sons of one man in the Land of Canaan, and behold the youngest is this day with our Father and one is not, Philo notes upon it, 
Philo.  haec de seipso loquentes audience tanquam de mortuo, quid animi mali habere potuit? hearing them to speak these things of himself as of one dead, what revengeful and evil mind could he have against them? For indeed the remembrance that wee must once be dead, cannot but strike into us a care how we live. When Samuel had anointed Saul to be King, to confirm unto him the truth of the joy, and withall to teach him how to be careful in governing his joy, he gave him this sign, when thou art departed from me to day, thou shalt find two men by Rachels sepulchre. 
1 Sam. 10.2.  For he that findeth in his mind a remembrance of his grave and sepulchre, will not easily be found exorbitant in his delights and joy. But though, as our translation maketh the verse to belong unto a new argument( for so the contents of the chapter sheweth) we may conceive it in this general consideration, the sum whereof Eusebius gives us saying, per salutiferas gradimur vias, quando anima damnatis voluptatibus cogitat quando sepositura sit tabernaculum hujus corporis, 
Euseb. Gallic. Homil. 1. de Epiphan.  then do we go on the ways of safety, when the soul rejecting pleasures doth rather think of that time, when it must lay aside the tabernacle of this body. Notwithstanding in regard of referring this verse unto the matter, whereof the Preacher before in this chapter speaketh, we are to conceive his meaning, that he would have the remembrance of death to stir up men unto the works of charity. And what can do it more forcibly? For that being a time when we are to be brought unto the judgement seat, that then we may find the judge to be merciful, the way is to show ourselves merciful unto the poor. 
Chrysost. Homil. 5. de Paeniten.  Wherefore Saint Chrysostome speaking of pacifying the judge saith, non pecunia, imo si verum dicere oportet pecunia placabimus per inopes accepta, da pauperi,& judicem mitigabis, it is not by money to be done; or rather to speak the truth, by money received by the poor we shall appease him, give to the poor and thou shalt pacify the judge. That is a time when we would have Christ to aclowledge us, and when we are ready to aclowledge him: but is was by breaking of bread that our Saviour was made known unto those men that went to Emaus: and thereupon Saint Austin saith, 
Luk. 24.30.& 31.  discite ubi Dominum quaeratis, discite ubi habeatis, discite ubi agnoscatis; panem frangimus& Dominum agnoscimus, learn where ye may seek the Lord, learn where ye may have him, 
Augustin. ser. 144.  learn where ye may aclowledge him, we break bread to the poor, and we know the Lord. That is a time, when we desire to be delivered from the torments of hell, and how ready is charity to keep us from them? Wherefore S. Austin saith, ante fores gehennae stat misericordia, 
Austin. Homil. 39. Homil. 50.  & nullum miserecordem permittit in carcerem illum mitti, mercifulness standeth before the gates of hell, and suffereth no merciful man to be cast into that prison, so that as the flaming sword doth keep us out of paradise, in like manner mercifulness doth keep us out of hell. But if the remembrance of death cannot make us to be charitable, at leastwise let the near approaching of death bee able to do it. And as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, Si vivens non pavisti, saltem migrans, quum jam non es Dominus ultra, da tuorum bonorum partem, 
Chrysost. Hom. 25. ad populum.  if living thou hast not fed the poor do it when thou art dying, and when thou canst no longer keep thy goods, give some part to the poor. Then make him in part an heir together with thy friends, who to make thee an heir of heaven was contented to lay down his life for thee. It is best to do the works of charity in thy life, but if thou hast not done them before, thou maiest at the last moment of thy life make God to be gracious unto thee by them. The last part of the verse, all that cometh is vanity, is nothing else but a confirmation of that which goeth before, and being thus to be conceived, all that cometh into this world, goeth away again, and as a vanity vanisheth, sheweth that men, who come into this life, must go out again; that the things enjoyed in this life shall again be lost; and therefore that how sweet soever the joy may be that by any is taken in them, it shall at length pass away and be shut up in darkness. For as Saint Bernard speaketh, 
Bernard. Ser. 4. in octava Epipha.  quum de transitoriis quis laetitiam quaerit, non poterit non transire transeuntibus his, de quibus erit, when any one seeketh joy in transitory things, it cannot but pass away, when the things pass away in which it is. Wherefore seeing the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, it cannot be, but that all worldly joy doth so likewise.   

Ver. 9. rejoice o young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement.  
Ver. 10. Therefore remove sorrow from thine heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.  
Ver. 9. Saint Gregory observing that here the Preacher saith, rejoice o young man in thy youth, and that in the next verse he saith, childhood and youth are vanity, or as he reads it adolescentia& voluptas vana sunt, youth and pleasure are vain, thereupon saith, quid est hoc, quod vel prius reprehendenda praecipit, vel post praecepta reprehendit? nisi quod ipsis literae verbis innuit, ut qui difficultatem exterius patitur, veritatis intelligentiam consideret, quam sequatur? Quae nimirum veritatis intelligentia quum per cordis humilitatem quaeritur, assiduitate legendi invenitur, what is this that either the Preacher doth first command those things, which are to be reproved, or that afterwards he doth reprove those things, which he hath commanded? unless it be that by the very words of the letter he doth imply unto us, that he who findeth difficulty without, should consider the understanding of the truth, which he may follow. And surely the understanding of the truth, when it is sought for by humility is found by the earnest diligence of reading. To consider therefore the understanding of this verse, Saint Ambrose because it seemeth that it is delivered by way of command understandeth it in a religious sense, and thus expoundeth it, rejoice o young man in thy youth, non unius tibi dicit tempus aetatis, est quasi quidam flos vitae bonorúmque aetas operum, de qua scriptum est, renovabitur sicut aquilae juventus tua. Et oblectet inquit te cor tuum in diebus adolescentiae tuae,& ambula in via cordis tui sine macula& in aspectu oculorum tuorum,& non in audacia oculorum tuorum. In aspectu utique spirituali, non audacia saeculari. Et scito quod supper haec omnia adducet te Deus in judicium, he doth not speak unto thee of one time of thine age, it is as it were a certain flower of life, and an age of good works, 
Ambros. de hort. ad virginitat. Psal. 103.5.  of which it is written, thine youth shall be renewed as the youth of an eagle. And he saith, let thine heart delight thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, without spot, and in the sight of thine eyes, not in the boldness of thine eyes, namely in a spiritual sight non in worldly boldness. And know that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement. Or else if wee understand the verse as a precept, wee may also conceive it in a literal sense thus; rejoice o young man, and let thine heart cheer thee, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes, but do it so, as that thou know and consider; that for all these things God shall bring thee into judgement. For as an ancient writer saith, ita praesentis temporis est agenda laetitia ut nunquam amaritudo& timor sequentis judicii recedat a memoria, So is the rejoicing of this present time to be used by us, as that the bitterness and fear of judgement to come be never forgotten by us. But as he that seeth evil will be done, may bid it to be done, when as he would forbid it much rather, if thereby he could stop the doing of it, so it is here with the Preacher. He saw that youth would be unruly, and that loving pleasure it would walk in the ways of sinful contentment and in the vanity of the sight of the eyes: wherefore he bids them to do it by way of an irony, as the Jews say, but yet showing also his meaning to be, that he would not have it to be done and that it ought not to be, he addeth, know thou that for all these things, the Lord will bring thee into judgement. Wherefore to view the words more particularly. rejoice o young man in thy youth& let thy heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy youth, that is, do thou cheer thine heart, and let thine heart cheer thee, by taking contentment in them, and by giving unto thee a lightness of spirits and of jollity from them. In the second place where youth is mentioned again the Hebrew word is not the same that it is in the first place: there it is {αβγδ} which Arias Montanus translateth in diebus electionum tuarum in the dayes of thy choosings, that is when thou followest the choice of thine own desires, and dost what thou wilt. 
John. 21.11.  According as our saviour Christ speaking to Saint Peter saith, when thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest. And walk in the way of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: that is, let thine heart choose the way, and let thine eyes guide thy heart in the choice of them: follow the conduct and leading of thy senses. Let not religion, let not reason direct thee, but as thy sense adviseth thee, so walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the lust thereof. But know, for let me teach thee this as a Preacher: know it, and let me tell thee of it, before thou find it to be so, know that thou who rejoicest, and givest thyself to pleasures, and by them and in them art most ready not to know this, at leastwise not to know it, as to consider it, know thou and in thy rejoicing think upon it, that for all these things the Lord will bring thee into judgement. The bringing into judgement is a thing which is known by reason, and is clear by the light of nature. Wherefore in Austria one of the nobles dying, who had lived fourscore and thirteen years, and who had spent all his life in pleasures and delight, 
Aeneas silvius  never being troubled with any infirmity, and this being  told to Frederic the Emperour, from hence saith he, we may conclude the souls immortality, for if there bee a God who ruleth this world, as Divines and Philosophers do teach and that he is just no one denieth, surely there are other places, to which the souls after death do go, and do receive for their deeds, either reward or punishment for here we see that neither rewards are given to the good, nor punishments to the evil. Plutarch also saith, Unus quidem est rex,& princeps est Deus, principium medium& finem universi tenens, 
Plutarchus. l. de exilio.  qui via recta peragit, quem justitia sequitur omnium ultrix, qui divinam legem deseruerint, there is one King, and that King is God, who possesseth the beginning middle, and end of all things, who goeth on in a right way, and whom justice followeth revenging all that have forsaken the divine Law. But yet how few are there that do know this? 
Bernard. Ser. 3. in Vigilia Natalis Domini.  Wherefore Saint Bernard saith, illuminemus nobis lumen scientiae priusquam de mundi hujus tenebris exeamus, ne de tenebris transeamus ad tenebras,& tenebras sempiternas, Let us light unto ourselves the light of knowledge before that we pass from the darkness of this world, least that we pass from darkness to darkness and that eternal darkness. But what knowledge saith he is this? surely to know that God will come, although we cannot know when he will come. But thou wilt say, that is the knowledge of all: for who knoweth not that hath but the name of a Christian, that the Lord will come, who is to come and to judge the quick and the dead, and to render to every one according to his works? My brethren this is not the knowledge of all, neither of many, but of few only, because they are but a few only, that shall be saved. do they who rejoice when they have done evil, and take pleasure in the worst things, do they either know or consider, that the Lord will come to judgement? 
Zephan. 1.12.  If they say so, do not believe them: for if they did either know it or fear it, they would watch, & non sinerent tam graviter conscientias suas perfodi, and would not suffer their consciences to be digged thorough so grievously. For all these things: for God is a searcher, that searcheth with candles, and as when we search for a thing diligently and warily, we set up many candles, so God will search with candles, that is, exactly find out all that thou hast done. These things: when we red in Genesis, that God created the heaven and the earth, the Hebrew word there used is {αβγδ} which signifieth a judge, and Josephus 
Josephus.  speaking of that place saith, therefore doth Moyses in the creation give unto God the name of a judge, that it might be known to all, that he who mercifully made the heaven and the earth, and all things therein for our benefit and comfort, will as a just judge require an account of us, whether we have rightly or perversely used all these things. God will bring thee into judgement: he that walketh freely and merrily in the ways of his heart, shall be brought and haled against his heart and with much bitterness of soul into judgement. And as for the judgement, what it shall be God himself shows it, saying, judgement will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, 
Isa. 28.17.  and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. Where what is the hail, but the multitude of accusations which shall sweep away the vain hope that men have, that the infinite mercy of God will save them, howsoever they live? And what is the hiding place, but the multitude of excuses, which men are ready to make for themselves, and which the waters of Gods justice, shall quiter destroy and overflow?  
Vers. 10. Therefore remove sorrow from thine heart, &c. The consideration of the former verse would make one to think, that the Preacher should rather have said, therefore remove joy from thy heart, 
Cassiador. var. l. 4. var. 4.  especially, seeing as Theodoric speaketh in Cassiodore, gaudia semper animos inquietant. Modus enim raro laetis rebus imponitur, qui magis in tristibus invenitur, joys do always disquiet the mind. For moderation is seldom observed upon joyful occasions, which in sad accidents more easily is found. But seeing our English translation, and the French do render the original word {αβγδ} used in this place, sorrow, I suppose that it is so to be referred to the last part of the verse before, as to speak of the sorrow which shall be to careless sinners, when God shall bring them into judgement for all their doings. But then the evil also which followeth in these words, and put away evil from thy flesh, is not to be understood not of the evil of sin, but of the evil of punishment. So that the Preacher here may seem to set forth, the punishment of hell; by the torments of the foul, in the sorrow of the heart, by the torments of the body, in the evil of the flesh. And surely that distress is indeed sorrow, that misery is evil indeed. Our Saviour Christ speaking of the judgement, saith, 
mat. 24.30.  They shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power. And would you know, what this power is, and what the greatness of it is? The man of God, 
Psal. 90.11.  Moses sheweth both, saying, who knoweth the power of thine anger? It is the power of his anger, and so great, that none knoweth it. 
August. Cassiodor. Psal. 76.7.  The Prophet David speaking of the last judgement, as Saint Austin and Cassiodore expound him, and speaking unto God, he saith, thou, even thou art to be feared, and who may stand in thy sight, when once thou art angry? God hath been angry often, and that hath made him to be feared, but when this once he shall be angry, who shall stand in his sight? The original, as Saint jerome reads it, is, ex tunc ira tua, 
Hieronim.  from that time shall thy wrath bee, that is, after that there is nothing in thee, but wrath against the damned, and thy wrath being then begun, it shall never be ended. When those things were revealed to Saint John, which concerned the end of the world, it is said, 
Revel. 10.3. V. 4  that he heard seven thunders uttering their voices; and when he was about to writ, he was commanded to seal up those things, which the thunders had uttered, and not to writ them: where the terribelnesse of that time is set forth, not only by the voice of thunder, not only by the voices of seven thunders, but also because it is commanded to be concealed, as showing the terror of that time to be so great, as that the very hearing of it were not to be endured. There is a story of one, who being risen from the dead, and being asked in what condition he was, he made answer, no man doth believe, no man doth believe, no man doth believe. And that being further asked what he meant by that redemption, he answered, no man doth believe how exactly God examineth, how strictly God judgeth, how severely he punisheth. But let the story go to seek for truth, the thing is true, and no man believeth the sorrow, no man believeth the evil, which then shall be. The original word {αβγδ} Tremellius translateth indignationem, indignation, and by a metaphor expoundeth it of removing sin from the heart, whereby the indignation of God is provoked. 
Hieron. in hunc vers.  Saint jerome reads it repelle iram à cord tuo, drive away anger from thy heart, and understanding the evil in the next words to be the evil of sin, which therefore he rendereth malitiam wickedness, he giveth the meaning of it, in ira omnes perturbationes animi comprehendit: in carnis malitia universas significat corporis voluptates. Sic ergo inquit bonis saeculi hujus fruere, ne aut desiderio aut carne delinquas, in anger he comprehendeth all the passions of the mind, by the wickedness of the flesh, he signifieth all the pleasures of the body. So, therefore saith the Preacher, enjoy the good things of this world, that thou sin not either in thy desire, or in thy flesh. The Septuagint, and the Vulgar latin do also red it, aufer iram a cord tuo, take away anger from thy heart, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  and the exposition which Lyra giveth of it, is, by anger to understand revenge, quam solent juvenes magis quaerere quum senes propter caliditatem naturae, of which young men are more desirous then old, by reason of the heat of their nature. By evil in the following words, he understandeth luxury. But if wee red it indignation, as the Hebrew word most properly doth signify, I conceive that it may be understood of the angry freting and chasing of the heart against the day of judgement, whereby sinners are checked in their pleasures, and forced sometimes to sadness, when they would be merry. So that we may understand the Preachers meaning to bee; be not angry in thy mind against the judgement of God, for thou shalt not be able to avoid it; but put away evil from thee, and so thou shalt escape the evil of it. Or else the anger may be understood of that anger which is in young men, when they are reproved and blamed for their faults, which the Preacher would have them to remove from their hart, that good instruction might be the better received. And then by the evil of the flesh, wee may understand the corruption of nature, which the Preacher would have to be put away in youth, that by the growth of years, it grow not unto too much perverseness. For childhood and youth are vanity: the original is, youth {αβγδ} et ortus aurorae, and the rising of the morning, which Saint jerome pephaps understanding to be infancy, and knowing that to be mere folly, therefore he rendereth it, adolescentia& stultitia, youth and folly are vanity. Tremellius reads it, juventus& ortus ipse, youth, and the very beginning of it. But the rising of the morning being very delightful and pleasant, I should conceive the Preacher to mean that youth and delight are vanity. And so doth the Septuagint and the Vulgar latin red it, saying, adolescentia& voluptas sunt vana, youth and pleasure are vain things. vain they are in the vanity of sin, and vain they are in the vanity of nature. Saint Chrysostome speaking of youth, 
Chrysost. Homil. 1. ad populum.  stiles it, difficilem, jactabilem, fallibilem, vehementissimisque egentem fraemis, hard to be ruled, easy to be drawn away, apt to be deceived, and standing in need of very violent rains. In the parable of the householder, who hired labourers for his vineyard, it is said of those whom he hired about the third, sixth, and ninth hour, that he only bid them to go into his Vineyard, but of those whom he hired early in the morning, whereby are understood those that are of younger yeers, it is said that he sent them, and that he agreed with them for a penny, as showing it to be a hard thing to bring the vanity of youth unto the labour and care of goodness and virtue. Lastly there is in youth, and in the pleasure thereof, a vanity of nature, because, as Lyra speaketh, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Cito pertranseunt,& ad malum finem perducunt, they soon pass away, and bring to a bad end.    

CHAPTER XII.  

Ver. 1. Remember now thy creator in the dayes of youth, while the evil dayes come not, nor the yeers draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.  
Ver. 2. While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain.  
Ver. 3. In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease, because they are few, and those that look out at the windows be darkened.  
Ver. 4. And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bide, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low.  
Vers. 1. SAint Austin beginneth one of his Sermons thus, 
August. de Tempore Serm. 246.  Ad vos mihi sermo, o juvenes, flos aetatis, periculum mentis, To you is my speech O young men, the flower of age, the danger of the mind. And to them it is that the Preacher here directeth his speech, it is to keep them from danger, it is to preserve them in the flower of Gods favour, that he saith, Remember thy creator, &c. The memory of man is indeed a most excellent faculty, being that thing whereby we preserve those things which time hath spent and wasted, whereby the things that are absent, are still present, and the things that are gone from us, do abide with us. Indeed it is that without which the life of man would be most wretched and miserable. Seneca 
Seneca.  therefore saith well, He that keeps not in memory the things that are past, hath little better then lost his life given him in this world. Now if our memory be so excellent a faculty, how great reason have wee to remember our creator, by whom it hath been bestowed upon us? should not God remember us in his Providence and protection over us? should not he remember us in troubles and distresses, and when we have cast ourselves away in our sins; what would become of us? But though God be most graciously mindful of us, how little mind have we of him? Wee say of one that he hath a good memory, because he keepeth firmly, and a long time, that which he hath received: we say of another, that he hath an excellent memory, because he can repeat many things assoon as they are proposed unto him. But he hath a good memory indeed, that remembreth good things carefully, he hath an excellent memory, that remembreth God, who is good above all things. In the dayes of thy youth: a chief reason that makes young people, not to remember God their creator, is this, because they think that they have a long time to live in the world, and though they forget him now, yet they will remember him hereafter. But to remove this, the Preacher saith, not in the time, but in the dayes of thy youth, to show both to young and old, that our life is but for a few dayes. And Seneca saith well, that though death be before the old mans face, yet he may be as near to the young mans back, let him therefore, while he hath day, remember his creator in the dayes of his youth. Indeed the creator must always be remembered, not only in youth, but in old age, not only in the dayes of youth, but all the dayes of our life. For as Zachary saith, That he redeemed us, that we might serve him in righteousness and holinesse, 
Luk. 1.75.  all the dayes of our life; so he hath created us, that we might remember him all the dayes of our life. It was the fault of Solomon who gave this good rule, and did himself in his younger yeeres observe it, that in his old age he forgot the Lord, who is always to be remembered. But yet especially in youth, because then it is most acceptable to God, then most needful in respect of man. God should not have the worst, but the best of our dayes, and when it is the worst of mans danger, then should he be most careful to look unto himself, by having his creator in his mind. Aristotle showing the proneness of youth unto 'vice, 
Aristot. Polit.  giveth these particulars of it, that he is eager in desire, that he is bold in enterprises, that he is changeable in mind, that he is confident in hope, that he is presuming upon his knowledge, that he is prove to anger, that he is ready to make known whatsoever is in his heart. But if youth shall remember his creator, he will remember to moderate his desires according to his creatours law; to fear the displeasing of him, and therefore not to be bold in enterprises; to be settled in a good course, which he approveth, and then not to change it; to put his trust in his Creatours goodness, and in his blessing upon him, and not in his own vain hopes; to know that he knoweth nothing as he ought, and not to presume upon his own knowledge; to be slow to anger, that he sin not in his anger, and make his creator to be angry with him; lastly to keep his tongue with watch and ward, that his creator may keep him safe from his enemies. While the evil dayes come not: the evil dayes are the dayes of old age, because many are the evils that old age bringeth, according as the Poet speaketh, 
Horatius.  Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda, many are the inconveniences that do encompass an old man. 
Genes. 15.15.  And therefore when God promiseth Abraham, that he should die in a good old age, Philo saith, ne promissum intelligamus de senectute quae apparet in corpore plena probrosis faeditatibus said deprudentia constantiaque animi dictum accipiendo; honestatem praedicemus de senectute, 
Phil. l. quis rerum divinarum haeres.  aqua seniores nominantur honoris gratia, let us not understand the promise of that old age, which appeareth in the body, full of reproachful deformities, but by taking it to be spoken of wisdom and constancy of mind, let us affirm honesty to be old age, from whence it is that we call them elders in an honour to them. But here we may also conceive the dayes to be called evil, because when the dayes of youth are not well spent, the dayes of old age are hardly brought to goodness. Wherefore Saint Ambrose speaking of old age, saith, Stimulant eum peccata sua, 
Ambrosius.  exagitat conscientiam consuetudo peccandi& usus erroris instabilem facit. Luctandum est hujusmodi ut abolefaciat inveterata atque diuturna, his sins do spur him on to sin; the custom of sinning molesteth his conscience, and the use of going astray maketh him unsettled. Such a man must struggle very hard, that he may abolish things that are inveterate and of long continuance. Hilary also considering the words of the Prophet jeremiah, 
Lament. 3.27.  it is good for a man to bare the in yoke his youth, thereupon saith, non expectat frigescentes senectutis annos, nec emortuam jam per aetatem vitiorum consuetudinem. Onus istud maturi ad obediendum anni aegre ferunt: caeterum aetas tenera gravis oneris molestiam per virtutis incrementa non sentit, 
Hilar. in Ps. 119 Sub lit. Beih.  that yoke doth not expect the could yeeres of old age, nor the custom of 'vice which is become even dead by age. That burden of obedience yeeres that are ripe do hardly bare: but tender yeeres do not feel the trouble of heavy weight, by the increase of virtue which is growing in them. Nor the yeeres draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them: he spake before of the dayes of old age, as speaking of the beginning of it, when the evils being less and fewer they are but dayes of evil: here he speaketh of the yeeres of old age, as speaking of the latter time of it, when the many and great evils of it, do make a man to say, that he hath no pleasure at all in them. This time Saint Cyprian describing saith, Capilli fluunt, facies in pallorem mutatur, dentes lapsi numero minuuntur, cutis arescit, flatus non suaviter olet, pectus suffocatur, tussis cachinnat, talos& pedes tumour inflat, etiam interior homo qui non senescit, his omnibus adgravatur, the hair fals away, 
Cyprian. de abusionib. saecul.  the face is turned into paleness, the teeth shedding are lessened in their number, the skin is dried up, the breath smelleth not sweetly, the breast is stopped, the cough makes a great noise and laugheth as if were at mans infirmities, swelling pufs up the legs, ankles and feet, and the inward man, which cannot grow old, is oppressed with all these. Plutarch relateth that it was the saying of Cato the elder, that whereas with old age many reproaches are joined, and seeing that it is affencted with many evils, the reproach of the evil of wickednesis not to be added to it: 
Plutarch. in Apothegm. Rom.  solet enim senectus esse deformis, infirma, obliviosa, edentula, lucrosa, indocilis,& molesta, for old age useth to be deformed, weak, forgetful, toothless, covetous, unteachable, unquiet. Wherefore if 'vice come also, which being in all shameful, is most shameful in an old man, what then will old age be? Surely such, as that man having no pleasure in it, God shall have no pleasure in him.  
Vers. 2. As the Preacher having first exhorted unto virtue generally, doth more particularly exhort unto the virtue of charity in the chapter before; so having first shewed the vanity of mans life generally he doth here more particularly show the vanity and misery of old age: which he having began to do in the end of the former verse he proceedeth in it. Now the manner of his speaking being metaphoricall, it may be taken divers ways: and first, as Tremellius doth, by the Sun, light, moon and Stars, we may understand comfort, by the darkening of them sorrow, it being the usual manner of Sripture by light and darkness to express consolation and misery. And then we may farther note that the Sun and the light do signify the comfort of the day, the moon and the stars the comfort of the night: 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  so that the Preacher sheweth, that old age hath comfort neither night, nor day: but when it is day it saith, when will the night come, and when it is night it saith, when will the day appear? And old age speaketh as blessed Job doth, 
Job. 20.26.& 27.  the dayes of affliction have taken hold upon me, my bones are pierced in me in the night season, and my sinews take no rest. And again it hath the same language, I am made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me, when I lie down, I say, when shall I arise, and the night begun? I am full of tossings to and fro to the dawning of the day. And this continual misery it is; which the Preacher farther expresseth, when he saith nor the clouds return after the rain: that is saith Tremellius, neque calamitates subinde succedunt aliae aliis, ut in senectute fit, neither do calamities follow one upon the neck of another, as in old age it cometh to pass. Or else by these last words, we may understand the great molestation of rheum and fleame wherewith old age is troubled; the defluxion of the rheum and fleame being as it were the rain, the gathering of new matter, which continually distilleth being as it were the returning of the clouds after the rain. From this misery of old age, saith Saint Ambrose, are they reproved, who think this alone to be life, which is lead in this world. Non intelligitis senectutem hanc miseriarum esse veteranam, processionemque aetatis aerumnarum stipendia,& Scyllaeo quodam usu, circumsonari nos quotidianis naufragiis, tundi fluctibus,& in scopulosishabitaculis degere, 
Ambros. de Abel& Cain l. 2. c. 10.  sicut illud non tam aeternum animal quam immortal malum? do ye not understand this old age to be as it where an old soldier in the war of miseries, and the continuance of yeeres to be the reward of troubles: and that then, after the manner of Scylla as it were, on every side we hear the sound of daily ship wracks, that then we are beaten with waves, and have our abiding in rocky dwellings, as it were that living crearure which is not so much eternal as an immortal evil. Wherefore saith he, behold, just, innocent, Godly Abel, and for the favour of his devotion incurring his brothers hatred immaturus adhuc aevi sublatus est parricidio, unripe as yet in time and age is taken away by parricide: naughty, wicked, ungodly Cain and polluted also with his brothers murder, long aevam duxit aetatem, liveth to be an old man. Lyra understanding the verse more plainly taketh it to express the decay of the sight in old age. Which is not able to see either by day the brightness of the Sun when it shineth, or the light of it, when it is clouded, nor by night either the weaker light of the moon, or the less light of the Stars. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  And the returning of the clouds after the rain, he expoundeth esse tribulationem mortis supper tribulationem senectutis, to be the tribulation of death following the tribulation of old age. But because this verse seemeth to have a more necessary reference unto the beginning of the former verse, where the remembrance of the creator is called for, we may understand the words thus. Let him be remembered, while the Sun is not darkened, that is, while youth continueth, or if not so, while the light of the Sun is not gone, that is, while thy manhood lasteth, or if not so, while the moon is not darkened, that is, while thine elders yeeres are not spent, or if not so, while the Stars are not shut up, while the worst of old age hath not seized upon thee. 
Philo de mundi opificio.  For so Philo distinguisheth between elder yeeres and old age, telling us, vir usque ad quinquagesimum, signior usque ad sextum supra quinquagesimum, quicquid vero deinceps sequitur ad senium pertinet, manhood continueth unto fifty yeeres, from thence unto fifty six we are said to be elders, whatsoever follows after that belongeth unto old age. To this care of early remembering the creator betimes, Saint Ambrose applieth those words of our Saviour, woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those dayes, and thereupon saith, 
Ambros. de Abel& Cain l. 2. c. 1.  maturius igitur absolvatur hic partus, ut cogitationes nostrae bonorum processionibus explicentur, ut nihil imperfectum finis noster inveniat, nihil tanquam in incude positum usus nostri operis relinquat, let therefore this birth be perfected more speedily, let our purposes of good works be manifested by the proceedings of them, let our end find nothing imperfect, let the practise of our well-doing leave nothing upon the anvil as it were unfinished. Woe be to them that are with child of goodness in their old age, or that then do only give suck. And then we may understand the last words thus, nor the clouds return after the rain, that is a difficulty of doing well do not follow the neglect of it. Or else by the Sun we may understand divine grace, by the light human underhanding, by the moon the Church, by the Stars the teachers in the Church. For sometimes such is the naughtiness of old age, that the checks of grace, the light of understanding, the authority of the Church, the instruction of teachers are things darkened unregarded, unperceived by it. When, as Saint Austin speaketh; sometime it is so buried in a delight of drinking, quasi ad hoc arida viscera& succo exhausta curventur, ad vigorem pristinum reparandum ebrietatis inundatione riganda sint, as if the dry entrails and exhausted of moisture were to this end bowed and weakened, 
August. de Tempore Serm.  that they might he watered with the overflowing of drunkenness for the recovery of their former vigour. Or else when sometimes the gulf of covetousness is so unsatiable, that as the same Father speaketh tanto ad acquirendum ferventius inardescit, quanto citius relictura est quod acquiritur, mirabili, insania it burneth by so much the more fervently after getting, by how much the sooner it is to loose that which is gotten, by a wonderful madness. And then we may understand the returning of the clouds after the rain, to be the adding of one sin to another. Or lastly by the Sun we may understand reason, by the light knowledge, by the moon imagination, by the Stars the senses, and so we may conceive the Preacher to speak of the time, when death is at hand, and when all these commonly do fail, so that it is nere too late to remember the creator. And then by returning of the clouds after the rain, we may understand the returning of the body to the earth after the dissolution of it from the soul.  
Ver. 3. In the day: it is to increase the misery, that the Preacher calleth it a day, as noting a continuance of life, when death is more desirable. When the keepers of the house shall tremble: Saint jerome tells us, that they who did refer this passage of Scripture unto the body of man, did think that by the keepers here were understood the ribs, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  quod ab ipsis intestina vallentur,& tota ventris mollitudo servetur; because by them the entrails are walled, and the whole softness of the belly is preserved. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  Lyra here by the keepers understandeth the senses which as he saith, praecavent corpori a noxiis, watch to keep the body from those things that would be hurtful to it. But seing the word tremble doth not well agree unto either of these expositions, as I conceive, by the keepers here we may best understand the hands. For though man arrive into this world as from a shipwreck, destitute and naked, yet God hath furnished him with two excellent helps, which no other living cteatures do enjoy, reason and the hand. The hands therefore are said to be the keepers, because they do keep of hurt from man, who by them is able to preserve and safeguard himself from all other creatures. And all other creatures, which enter into the world armed at point, challenging as it were the injuries of the earth to assault them, how great soever their strength and feircenesse may be, how able soever they may be to endure any thing, yet are they not able to defend themselves against the hands of man. The teeth of the Lion, the paws of the bear, the sting of the Serpent, the horns of the Bull, yea whatsoever else nature hath made strong for herself aclowledge a weakness under mans hand, and yield the homage of subjection unto it. And to show further how fitly the hands are said to be keepers, a chief property of keepers is faithfulness; now Numa Pompilius consecrated the hands to faith, and the gnerall course of the world is to make and establish all bargains and covenants by the joining of hand. And it is the use of some other countries, that the oath of allegiance is taken from the chief nobility in the hands of the Prince or his delegate. To say also something what is meant by the hands, the ancients do understand all that which is from the shoulder to the fingers ends to be the hands. This part of the body hippocrates and Galenus subdivide into three parts, brachium, cubitum,& extremam manum, the arm, the cubit, and the outmost hand. The name of arm we have from Festus, who calleth it armus, and it is extended from the top of the shoulder to the next joint, where is the bowing of the cubit, and which therefore in English is called the bow, all being but one bone, and next unto the thigh bone the greatest in the whole body according to Galens measure. The next part termed the cubit, is that which from the arm goeth a long unto the wrest, being made of two bones, whereof the one lieth upon the other. The lower of those is the bigger, and is termed ulna the ell, the upper is the shorter and is called in Latin radius a rod, a wand. The last part which indeed properly and peculiarly is the hand, containeth three parts in it, the wrest the afterwrest and the fingers. But to leave these things to Anatomists. That the hands might be the better keepers, God hath endowed the hand with power to move itself five ways, forward toward the breast, backward toward the back, upward toward the neck and head, downward toward the side of the chest, and lastly to turn itself into a circled and compass. But to these motions old age addeth one more motum trepidationis the motion of trembling, which spoileth and maketh useless all the rest. And the strong men shall bow themselves: that which our Translation reads shall bow themselves, Saint jerome reads peribunt shall perish, the vulgar Latin according to the septuagint nutabunt shall nod or stagger: Aquila as Saint jerome saith did red it errabunt shall wander, and as the word most directly signifieth, the place as I conceive may be rendered, shall overthrow themselves. Now by these strong men are meant the feet, and the ancients do mean by the foot all that which goeth from the hip joint to the farthest end, and extremity of the toes. But yet they make a distinction, and the foot properly so called they call the little foot, the other the great foot. The parts of the great foot are three, as the parts of the hand were, the thigh in Latin femur a ferendo because it beareth and holdeth up the creature, and is that which goeth from the hip to the knee, the leg which goeth from the knee to the heel, the little foot which is a foot indeed as being the base the ground and pedistall which sustaineth the whole building of the body. This is the true organ and instrument of going and walking and consisteth as the hand did of three parts, the wrest, the afterwrest, the toes. The strength of these parts which is the thing the Preacher here speaketh of especially consisteth in the bones which are numbered by Anatomists to be two and forty. But to touch only some of the principal: the longest bone in the whole body of man is the thigh bone, which in the length of it declineth some thing from an exact straightness, because at the knee it boweth inward, thereby to give the more stability and firmness unto the running, walking and standing of man. And therefore such men as are termed vary, having their thighs more strait then nature hath prescribed, are indeed {αβγδ} in eundo troubled in their going. The top of this bone is of a great largnesse, and is fastened into a deep hollow of the hip bone, thereby to give it the stronger articulation, because of the very great burden which lieth and resteth upon it. This strength is also increased by a very strong ligament, which arising out of the bowing of the hip and placed under the top of this bone fasteneth and bindeth the two bones together. The leg is made of two bones, the one called the shin bone, in latin tibia a flute or pipe, either that being called so because it is like a flute, or else a flute being called so, because at first it was made of that bone taken from the leg of a hart. This bone is the inner and thicker. The other thinner bone is called the brace bone, resembling the braces of building, and joining the muscles of the leg together, as they hold the beams of an house together. But the distinction which commonly is made, is to call the one the shank, the other the shin-bone. Now that two bones were fitter to make up the leg then one, is by Galen proved, for as much as the greatness and heaviness of one would have been an impediment to the ready moving of it. But though the strength of these strong men bee so great, and that so well ordered, yet in old age it is enfeebled, when they bow under their burden, and are ready to overthrow themselves and the whole body. And the grinders cease because they are few: the Preacher here speaketh of the teeth, which both in Greek and Latin have their name from eating, being called {αβγδ} quasi {αβγδ} and so dentes quasi edentes neither is our English word unlikely to be taken from thence. Now the teeth are the hardest of the bones, if that they be bones, for Aristotle doth only account them to be bony, and to have some likeness with bones, at least he is doubtful whether he should reckon them to be bones or noe. And the truth is that there are no other bones so solid and so hard as they are, 
Aristotel.  neither do they come much short of the hardness of stones, if they do not equal stones in the edges of them. To show that they are not bones, this evidence is brought, because the ston Sarcophagus so called, because it will consume flesh, and which within the space of forty dayes consumeth the whole body of man, yet doth not meddle with the teeth, whereas if they were bones they would be consumed as well as the other bones. The teeth also alone do continue to grow as long as mans life continueth: because otherwise being worn out with daily use of them, they would soon become unfit for use. And therefore they do only grow so much after they are come to their full growth as they are worn away. This maketh Faloplus to affirm, that the formative faculty liveth in the teeth as long as man himself liveth: as if thereby God would show that he hath not made man to die, having provided that by nourishment he should be still preserved. The seat of the teeth are the jaws, where they have their several sockets into which they are mortised. The comely order of them in their places Galen termeth the seemly dance of nature. They are divided into three kinds, the foreteeth which serve for cutting of the meate, the sharp teeth, which serve for the breaking of that which the foreteeth cannot cut; and the grinders or cheek teeth, which serve for the chewing of the meate. These being the greatest, the hardest, the chiefest are here alone mentioned by the Preacher, and they are called grinders, because in the unequal roughness and broad hardness of them, they are like the grinding stones of a mill, whereby as millstones, so they, are fitter for comminution: for which cause it is, that millers when their stones by continual use are grown smooth, by picking do make them rough again. To set down the number of these in man, is a thing uncertain, because some have five, others four, others three, but these are very few, in each side of their jaws. The two hindmost grinders being both bread and placed after the rest, hippocrates termeth dentes sapientiae the teeth of wisdom, because they are bread about the twenty eight year of mans age, by which time men are supposed to have learned wisdom for the ordering of their lives and ways. But in old age these grinders also fail, and having been often repaired, they are at length decayed: their mortising is loosened, their socks cast them out, and though there be most of them, they also at last are few or none And those that look out at the windows bee darkened: they are the eyes which here the Preacher shadoweth, and the eye in Greek is called {αβγδ} the bed of the sight, in Latin oculus ab occulendo, either because it hath a secret and hidden light in it, or else because it is covered and hide with the eyelid. The use of the eyes, is to be as Galen saith, as it where spies, whereby to discover before hand those things that would annoy us, that they may be shunned, and to make way for us unto those things which being good are desired by us. And here the original word which the Preacher useth {αβγδ} efenestris out of the windows is taken from {αβγδ} which signifieth insidiari to lie in wait as a spy. The windows here spoken of are the eyelids, which are areas it were falling doors and shutting leaves to windows. For the reception of the forms of things into the eyes requiring a softness and a tenderness in the temper of them, and this softness and tenderness making them obnoxious many ways to offence and hurt: therefore God hath sheilded them most watchfully, the eyelids ever and anon thrusting themselves between danger and them. To which purpose God hath given to the upper eyelid a very nimble motion: and though it be doubted whether the under eyelid do move at all, yet something it stirreth, 
Arist. de partib. Anim. l. 2. c. 13.  although the stirring of it be hardly discerned. But Aristotle noteth, that in birds it is the lower eyelid which most of all is moved, and that in them the higher stirreth little. These eyelids have hairs set in them, being set there by God, before we come into the world, and that in such an exquisite order, with such an exact equality, for number and for magnitude, that by the addition or diminution of any thing their use as galen saith is marred and spoiled, and the eye not so well fenced nor sheltered. But though the doors be shut so carefully, the watch set so diligently, all things ordered so punctually yet in old age darkness getteth in and dimmeth the sight, which is at last extinguished and put out. Now let this admonish us, that while we have the use of these parts we be careful to use them well, that when we want the use of them it may be a comfort to us to remember how well they have been used by us. As when we cannot use our hands, let it be our comfort, in what good labour they have been employed, when we cannot go, let it be our comfort, how diligent we have been in going to Gods house, when we cannot see, let it be our comfort, how frequently our eyes have red the word of God, and other good books. again let this admonish us to live in Gods fear, while we enjoy the use of these parts, that when we do not enjoy them, God may be our arm, God may be our staff, and that then by the eye of faith, we may behold him looking in mercy upon us.  
Vers. 4. And the doors shall be shut in the streets: some take this to signify no more then the weakness of old men, in not being able to go abroad, or the dulness of them, in not caring to go abroad. Saint jerome speaking of the first, saith, clausas in plateis portas infirmos senis gressus accipi volunt, quod semper sedeat& ambulare non posset, by the doors shut in the streets, they will have to be understood, the weak going of an old man, because he always sitteth and cannot walk. 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  Of the second Tremellius understandeth the words, saying that they are so set down, pro eo quod est à foro abstinere& à frequentia, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  ubi delectationem inventus percipit, for that which is plainly thus expressed, to abstain from the market place, and from the intercourse of people, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  where youth findeth delight. Lyra by the doors in the streets, understandeth the lips, which are seated in the plain of the face, and which saith he, are said to be shut, because an old man cannot speak well. But the Preacher speaking here of the decay of the senses of man in old age, I conceive him in these words, to signify the sense of smelling, by the streets importing the nostrils, by the doors those holes in the spongy bone, into which the odours are received. Now for a little fuller opening of the meaning of the words thus taken. The nose, which is the instrument of smelling, is either inward or outward: the outward nose, which consisteth of the nostrils, addeth both beauty and majesty unto the face, and among the egyptians, it was an hieroglyphic of a wise man; from whence it is also that nasutus is sometimes used to express one that is witty, because witty men are able to smell out the cunning devices of others. The reason of the latin name for nostrils, which is nares, some give to be this, because the odiferous spirits which are in the air do in nare, swim as it were continually up and down in them. The inward nose is made of the spongy bone and mamillary processes. The spongy bone hath its name, from the crooked and obliqne holes of it, being therein for the most part like unto the crooked pores that are in a sponge. The mamillary processes have their name from the nipples of a dug, which in some sort they do resemble, and which issuing from the lower part of the brain, are seated in the upper part of the spongy bone. Now the nostrils led the air, as if it were through streets, informed with the forms of odours, through the doors and holes of this spongy bone, to the mamillary processes, where the faculty of smelling principally resideth, and from whence the brain is refreshed by them. But in old age the spirits being decayed, so that the mamillary processes are not so well furnished with them, though the streets and doors be open still, yet are they shut in respect of smelling, that being either altogether, or well near lost. When the sound of the grinding is low: these words speak of that time, when in old age the jaw bone is grown in some measure sharp, and the jaw in such sort is hardened, that it supplieth in some manner the want of teeth, for the chewing of meate. But then, as the Preacher here speaketh, the sound of the grinding is low, the softness of the grinders maketh their noise not heard, and yet they speak aloud to men, that their end is at hand. And he shall rise up at the voice of the bide: the Preacher here passeth unto the sense of hearing, and first showing it to be quick in old age, afterwards sheweth the great dulness of it. First, so quick it is, that at the voice of a bide it is awakened: but this indeed is not the quickness of the hearing, but in truth the badness of the sleeping. For as Saint jerome speaketh, 
Hieronim. in hunc vers.  frigescente jam sanguine,& humour siccato quibus materiis sopor alitur, ad levem sonitum evigilat, notisque medio quum gallus cecinerit exurgit, nequaquam valens strato saepius membra convertere, the blood now growing could, and the moisture being dried up, by which matters sleep is nourished, it awakeneth with a little sound, and at midnight, when the cock croweth, it riseth speedily, being not able often to turn its members in the bed. Tully saith, that in sleeping, the sense of hearing is requisite, 
Tull. de Natu. dear. l. 2.  and serveth as an useful means to awaken us: but that which youth needeth, old age needeth not, that wanteth sleep, it wanteth not means to awaken it. And all the daughters of music shall be brought low: the daughters of music, are the many instruments of hearing, which being joined, and married as it were to the sounds of the air, do bring forth the delightful hearing of music, and other the like things. A good writer, coming to speak of the organs of hearing, addresseth himself thus unto it; But here the difficulty of the task which I am to undergo, putteth me to seek, and so I do, the assistance of Almighty God, that he would set a edge upon my wit, to be able to pierce, 
Rauhinus.  and to discover the wonders of his creation, the dignity of his wisdom, and his infinite goodness, wherewith he hath environed us. And that he would furnish me with ability clearly to set forth and manifest to your apprehensions all those things which so variously and artificially are folded up, that it is hard for the eye to observe and follow the train of them. The organ of hearing, in Latin is called auris, and as Lactantius 
Lactant.  will have it, ab hauriendis vocibus, from drawing the voices and sounds unto it. But the parts of the ear being many, they have also divers uses and offices: some being made as necessary to receive the sound, others as fit both to receive it, and to apprehended it, others as conducing both to the better receiving and perceiving of it, others as serving for the preservation and safety of all the rest. Generally the ear is divided into the outward and inward ear. The outward ear, which is spread abroad like unto a net, principally serveth to catch as it were the forms of sounds wandring through the air per vocalem undam, by a vocal wave, as Avicen speaketh, that so being there caught, they may from thence pass into the hole of the ear, as the fishes do into the narrow end of the net. The principal parts of the inward ear, are the drum, whose head is covered with a membrance, as a piece of vellome covereth the head of a drum, and which hath also a cord that runs through the midst of it, like the cord of a drum, the hammer, the anvil, the stirop, not like the stirrups now used, but like the old fashion of stirrups, which resembled the Greek letter Δ, the ovall window, the labyrinth, the snail shell, the stony bone, the inplanted air, which is clear, thin, without motion, without sound, of a good quantity, and not conjoined to the outward air. But to leave these things to those to whom they do belong, and which indeed, as they cannot be found out exactly, so should not be sought after too curiously. For it is fit that in Gods works, something should be the admiration of our silence, especially when our uncertaines conjecture do rather testify a vain desire of satisfying our audacious fantasies, then yield any matter of importance and profit. As for the general use of hearing, Aristotle hath observed it well, that by hearing, the things of others are made known to ourselves, as by our voice and tongue wee are able to make known our own things to another. But when old age cometh, the glory of this most excellent work is humbled, and brought low, the anvil is worn, the hammer is weak, the drum is unbraced, the pure air is grown thick, the music is marred, the doleful toll of the passing-bell being ready to sound, and to ring out. Let this admonish us to have God in our company when we cannot go abroad to the company of others, to make ourselves a sweet savour in the nostrils of God, when our nostrils cannot perceive the sweetness of savours, to be watchful in the ways of God, that when we cannot sleep, yet wee may rest in him, to attend carefully in hearing of Gods Word, that when we cannot hear outwardly, yet may inwardly hear him speaking peace unto our hearts and consciences.   

Ver. 5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is on high, and fears shall be in the way, and the Almond three shall flourish, and the grasshopper shallbe a burden, and desire shall fail, because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.  
Ver. 6. Or ever the silver chord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.  
Ver. 7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.  
Vers. 5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is on high: that is, saith Saint jerome, ardua ingredi non valebunt, they shall not be able to go up any high place: that is, saith Tremellius, incedentes metuent ne in lapillum exuberantem offendant, as they go, they shall be afraid, least that they stumble at a little ston standing up. And fears shall be in their way, that is saith Saint jerome lassis politibus& trement vestigio, etiam in plano itinere fluctuantes offensam gressuum formidabunt, their knees being wearied, and their steps trembling, and being unstedy even in plain ground they shall fear the stumbling of their going. And to the same purpose Tremellius saith, nullum erit tam aequabile solum, ubi, non metuant ab offensione& attritu pedis, there is no ground so level and even, where they may not fear the hurting and bruising of their foot. The original word here here used is {αβγδ} signifying attriti contriti, worn, wasted, as noting the weakness of old age, not only to be unable to go up any ascent, but also to be quickly spent and wearied in going a little upon the plain ground. But the meaning also of the word may be taken another way, and the original sounding thus, ab alto timebunt, they shall fear from on high, Lyra apprehendeth it thus, that that shall be afraid, which is on high in man, and accordingly expounding it, he saith; id est, superior pars ainae, quia omnes naturaliter timent mortem propinquantem, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  etiam secundum partem superiorem corpori compatientem, that is, the superior part of the soul, because all naturally do fear death approaching, even in the superior part, which hath a fellow-feeling of the bodies corruption. Or else to follow our translation, the words may well guide us unto this meaning, that men are then afraid of that which is on high, that is, of God, as being speedily to give an account to him of their lives, who will be a strict examiner of them, and a severe punisher of all that is amiss. This which should be the fear of all our lives, cannot but be the fear of old age. And then accordingly to expound the following words, and fears shall be in the way, that is, saith Lyra, quia timent exire viam vitae praesentis, because they fear to go out of the way of this present life. Or else we may take it thus, fears shall be in the way, that is, when they lye upon their death bed, where they are gasping for breath, and even going away, they shall be full of fears, whither they shall go, what shall become of them. And the Almond three shall flourish, that is, as the common exposition conceiveth it, and white hairs shall flourish. And the reason, as I conceive, why by the flourishing of the Almond three the white hairs of old age are supposed to be understood, is because the Almond three doth flourish, and is full of blossoms in the old age and winter of the year: 
Plin. l. 16. c. 25.  for as Pliny relateth, the Almond three doth blossom in the month of January. But the original word, which is translated flourish, is, {αβγδ} which cometh from {αβγδ}& signifieth to despise or reject: as it signifieth to flourish, it must be derived from {αβγδ} and have the letter א added unto it. Wherefore as I conceive, the word may here be taken, as signifying a refusing or contemning, and I take the Preacher to show the decay of the sense of tasting in old age, as before he hath shewed it in the other senses. First then he sheweth it, in that the fruit of the Almond three, which no doubt is much esteemed where it groweth, 
Plin. Ibid.  as being the first that is ripe. For Pliny also relateth that it is ripe in the month of March, yet by old age is refused and neglected. The most delicious fruit, and that which is most grateful to the palate, is not regarded by it. Secondly he shows it, in that the grasshopper shall be a burden: for though it may be taken, as showing the weakness of old age, not being able to carry a very small burden, as it were no more then a grasshopper: yet I conceive it rather to show the weakness of digestion in old age, so that the pestle of a lark, or as the Preacher speaketh, no greater quantity then a grasshopper is a burden to it. And I the rather follow this meaning, because the original word signifieth a locust, and it may bee, the same light and thin meate, which the Baptist did eat in the wilderness, who is said to have eaten locusts and wild honey. Tremellius reads it, 
Matth. 3.4.  pinguefacientem se locustam, the locust making himself fat, and he taketh this passage and the former, as setting forth the spring-time, 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  wherein the trees flourish, the living creatures rejoice, which yet affecteth old age with no joy, no contentment. Saint jerome, and the Vulgar latin according to the Septuagint, do red it, impinguabitur locusta, the locust shall be made fat, and Saint jerome 
Hieronim.  expoundeth it to show, senum crura tumentia,& podagrae tumoribus pregravata, the swelling legs of old men, oppressed with the swellings of the gout. Lyra 
Lyra.  expoundeth it to signify ventrem tumescentem humoribus indigestis, the belly swelling with humours indigested. Thirdly, I conceive the Preacher to show the decay of the sense of tasting, in showing the appetite to be lost and gone, when he saith, and desire shall fail. The original rendered desire, is {αβγδ} which some render concupiscentia, lust or concupiscence, others aviditas greediness, others voluptas pleasure, others superbia pride, others appetius appetite. Saint jerome and the Vulgar latin according to the Septuagint do read it capparis, the fruit of capers, which Lyra expoundeth the concupiscence of the flesh, and saith that it is so called here, eo quod capparis est herba, quo luxuria excitatur, because Capparis is a plant by which lust is stirred up. And indeed the Jews do understand the desire here spoken of to be the lust of the flesh. But saith Estius, Non decet castitatem Scripturae sacrae hoc refer pro incommodo senectutis, quod multi boni& castitatis studiosi etiam in juventute exoptant, it doth not beseem the chastity of sacred Scriptures, to reckon that for an inconvenience of old age, which many that are virtuous and lovers of chastity, 
Estius in hunc vers.  do in their youth wish for. To which purpose he allegeth Cicero, who among the commodities and benefits of old age, reckons up this, quod hominem a libidinis aestu quoddle a tryanno quodam liberet, that it freeth man from the fire of lust, as it were from a certain tyrant. Wherefore saith he, that interpretation doth rather please, which understandeth it of the failing of the appetite of feeeding, which capers do provoke. And concerning the decay of the sense of tasting in old age, Barzillai shows it, when he saith to David, I am this day fourscore yeares old, and can I discern between good and evil? Can thy servant taste, what I eat, or what I drink? Because man goeth to his long home: the original is in domum {αβγδ} temporis sui absconditi, into the house of his hidden time, as being understood of the grave, in which man lieth hide. 
2. Sam. 19.35.  Saint jerome and the Vulgar latin, according to the Septuagint render it, in domum aeternitatis suae, into the house of his eternity, because saith Lyra, nunquam revertetur in vitam praesentem, he shall never return into this present life. Pagnine, Arias Montanus, and Tremell. red it, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  in domum saeculi sui, into the house of his generation, the grave being the house wherein all they do meet together, who lived together. Cajetane reads it in domum mundi sui, into the house of his world, 
Cajetan.  the grave being to the dead, as much as the whole world. And whereas nature provideth for man the house of the womb, the world provideth for him the house of the grave. And the mourners go about the streets that is, saith Saint jerome, sepulchrum exequiis quaerat celebratis, 
Hieron. in hunc vers.  plangentiumque funus turba praecedat, in the performance of funeral obsequies, he seeketh for his sepulchre, the company of mourners leading the way in the streets. Let this then teach us, so to walk in Gods fear, that when in old age wee walk with fear, God may be our safety; let this make us to have our hearts on high, that when wee come to die, wee may not fear him who is on high, let our desire be after the best things, which shall be then desirable, when our desire of other things shall cease, let us flourish in good works, that when the Almond three shall flourish, wee may expect with comfort the reward of them, let us so live, that dying wee may go to happiness, and thereby ease the grief of them that mourn for us.  

Hieronim. in hunc vers.  Vers. 6. Or ever: The Preacher here, as Saint jerome observeth, returneth unto his former speech, of remembering the creator in the dayes of youth, et post grande hyperbaton interjectum nunc caeptam sententiam simili fine concludit, after a great transposing of his words above the plain and grammatical order of them concludeth his matter began by him, with the like end. The silver chord be loosed: Saint jerome understandeth the silver chord to be nothing else but the thread of life, candidam hanc vitam& spiramen, quod nobis de caelo tribuitur, this white life and breathing, which from heaven is granted to us. Lyra by silver cord understandeth the harmony of the elements, in which they are tempered, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  and mixed together in the body, and which by death is dissolved. But as I conceive, the Preacher having done with the head of man, he descendeth here unto the lower parts, and first, by the silver cord, I apprehended him to understand the spin bone, which from the neck is extended down through the length of the back, in the middle of it, like a wreathed cord, and being hollow all along, hath treasured in it that marrow, from whence the sinews for the most part are derived: and the better to preserve so great a treasure, it is exasperated with many processes, which are as it were the flancks of the bulwark to keep it from hurt. This cord is made of divers small bones, as it were of divers wreaths, and in a general division, containeth four parts; the neck, the back, the loins, the holy bone. The racks( for so the small bones are called) of the neck are seven, of the back twelve, of the loins five. The uppermost rack bone of the neck is called Atlas, because as he was feigned to bear heaven on his shoulders, so this beareth up the head, the heaven of the little world of mans body. The rack bones of the back are the same in number with the ribs doubled, every rack bone having two ribs, of each side one, joined unto it:& though commonly the racks of the back be twelve, yet sometimes they are but eleven, and sometimes they are thirteen, though that be not so often. The rack bones of the loins are greater and thicker then any of the others. The holy bone hath its name, not for any holy mystery that is in it, which is the fond conceit of some, but as Homer 
Homer.  calleth great fishes pisces sacros holy fishes, the reason whereof may be, because the greatest beasts were used to be offered in sacrifices; so this is called the holy bone from the greatness of it, as being greater then any other of the bones of the spin. Or else, it may be, as the Apostle speaketh, 
1 Corinth. 12.13.  those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon those we bestow more abundant honour. This silver chord is in a manner stretched out directly& straightly, that it is bowed now inward, then outward. First the upper part called the neck is bowed inward, that the gullet might rest the better upon it. The second part of it, which is called the back, boweth outward, that so the organs of respiration might have the more room. The third part of it which are the loins, turn& bend again inward, that the trunk of the hollow vein& the great artery might be the better upheld by it. But when old age cometh, this cord is loosened, which maketh the head to hang down, the back to bow, the whole body to bend to the earth, whether it is going. Or the golden bowl be broken: by the golden bowl or cup, I conceive the Preacher to signify the heart, the figure thereof being pyramidall with the base of it upward, and the cone or point of it downward not unlike unto a bowl cup, and having also two ears, one of each side of it, not unlike the ears of a cup, which are called the deaf ears of the heart, as not having any hearing virtue, but serving to this end, that the hast of air and blood pressing to come to the heart might by them be stayed, and by degrees admitted to have access. Or else we may take the bowl to bee the cover of the heart, which being also formed like the heart, is hollow like a bowl, and which containeth a precious liquour and water in it, by which the heat of the heart is danitily and sweetly cooled and refreshed. For the heart being so hot of itself, that the left ventricle of it will even scald a mans finger put into it, and the continual motion of it being a means to increase the heat, this water serveth for the tempering and moderating of it. It was this water, which at our saviours passion, the piercing sword made to issue with blood out of his side. But to take the bowl for the heart itself, it is said to be a golden bowl in regard of the substance of the heart, which is a solid, read, and a golden flesh, the thickest part of the blood being the matter of it. It is a paler read then that which is in the flesh of the Muscles, but more compact and firm, that the spirits and native heat which are in the heart, and from thence are powred out of the bowl into all the parts of the body, might be there preserved, and that it might not be cracked or broken by the forcible moving of it, and as being continually either delated or drawn in. This flesh is indeed a golden matter, as having the vegetative faculty seated in it, and giving chiefly virtue to the heart to perform the offices of it, which depend principally upon the vital ●pirits and blood, and the making of them. But how well soever this flesh is compacted together, in old age the bowl getteth cracks, and at length by death is broken: at length the heart becometh useless, as a broken bowl or cup. Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain: next to the heart in man is the liver, and from hence it hath in Latin the name of jecur quasi juxta cor, as it were placed near unto the heart. Wherefore in these words I conceive the liver to be meant, that being the shop of sanguification or bloodmaking, as one speaketh, or rather as the Preacher here speaketh, that being the fountain of blood, from whence by the channels of the veins, it is carried over the several provinces of mans body. For here arise those two great and long veins, the port or gate vein, and the hollow vein, and which are multiplied into very many branches. The pitcher here is the body of the liver, which is not altogether unlike a pitcher, first being of several forms as pitchers are, because the use of it needeth rather a convenient bigness, then any proper figure: and then having two sides, whereof the outward is convex and turned round, the inward is hollow fit to receive something into it. The largeness of it in man is greater then in any other creature of his proportion, and in the greatest men greatest: for the operations of mans soul being many, and in them many spirits being wasted and spent, and blood being the matter whereof the spirits are made, the liver therefore of necessity was to be the greater, that so the more blood might be supplied, the whole body also from thence being to be furnished with it. But yet at length in old age the pitcher is broken, and as a broken pitcher holdeth little or no water, so that containeth little blood, from whence the veins being empty, way is made for death to enter in. Or the wheel bee broken at the cistern: by these words I conceive the Preacher to signify the bladder, of which a good Anatomist speaking saith, that it is a large cistern or vessel. The Preacher here doth call it a wheel or orb in respect of the roundness of it, from whence some have likened it unto a sphere. And the wheel or orb is here said to be broken, for as much as the weakness of this part in old men maketh them unable to hold and keep their water. These two latter passages the breaking of the pitcher, 
Hieron. in hunc vers.  the breaking of the wheel, Saint jerome understandeth to be nothing else, but aenigmata mortis dark expressions of death, because as when these are broken there is noe longer drawing of water, so when death cometh there is no longer drawing of breath. Tremellius by all these understandeth nothing else, but the temporal goods of this world, as the chains, the jewels, the household-stuff, which in this life are enjoyed and by death are taken away. For so he expoundeth, the silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher, the wheel; Lastly to apply the Preachers words unto a more spiritual use: remember thy creator, remember his justice to fear, his mercy to hope, his bounty to be thankful, his greatness to reverence him, his goodness to love him, his sweetness to hunger and thirst after him. And remember him, while thou art drawn with the silver cord of the doctrine of faith, while thou hast the remembrance of him in the golden cup filled with his blood, which he  shed for thy sins. Run unto God, hasten to the fountain of wisdom, be diligent to fill thy pitcher,& to drink of it being filled, lest the pitcher while it is empty be broken at the fountain,& not the water but thyself be lost for evermore.  
Ver. 7. When God made man, the original, word for word speaks not as commonly it is translated, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth: but thus is saith, the Lord God formed man dust of the earth. 
Genes. 2.7.  So that man is but earth in respect of his body, although changed curiously by the working of Gods hand, and although made of a different kind from the common earth. Wherefore the Preacher also here plainly calls it dust, saying, then shall the dust. And to consider this, saith Saint Basil, 
Basil. Homil. 11.  salutare quoddam emolumentum est adversus quodcunque peccatum, is a profitable help against every sin. But as for pride especially, what need of more to quell it, then to look upon the earth from whence man was taken? surely as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, etiansi sexcenties supercilia▪ surrigamus, ea reprimemus, 
Chrysost. Homil. 12. in Genes.  although six hundred times we lift up our eyebrows, we cannot but cast them down, by considering the condition of our first beginning. Wherefore Saint Basil saith very well, quid aspernabilius esse posset quam nos ipsi? Quid nobis occurrat dignius, quam ut nos humili dilectione exinaniamus? What can be more unworthy then we ourselves are? What is more worthy in us, then that we disesteem ourselves by a humble dejection? It had been nothing unto God to have made us of a finer and more excellent matter but as Saint Chrysostome speaketh, materiae vilitas magis demonstrat artis copiam the vileness of the matter doth the more set forth the abundance of his art, who to earth and dust hath given so much beauty, and with such variety of senses and feeling hath adorned it. Besides God hath made our body earthy, that we might make it heavenly. For as he hath made the heaven and the earth, so he hath vouchsafed us this honour, that we may make the earth to be heaven. Wherefore Saint Chrysostome saith, Corpus nobis finxit Deus ex terra, 
Chrysost. Homil. 15. m. 1. ad Tim.  ut ipsum quoque subvehamus in caelum; non ut per ipsum animam detrahamus in terram, God hath formed us a body out of the earth that we might carry it to heaven, not that by it we should pull down the house unto the earth. Return to the earth: and let not the journey of it thither, 
Hieron. contra vigilant.  the lodging of it there be disturbed and disquieted. Saint jerome arguing against Vigilantius sheweth that God himself did honour the body of Moses, dum illud propriis manibus sepelivit, while that he butted him with his own hands. 
Calcin. Comm. in c. 8. Actor.  Calein also sheweth sepulturam honorem esse debitum corporibus sanctorum, that burial is an honour due to the bodies of the Saints. Bellarmine showing the benefits, which from burial arise unto the dead, setteth this down for one, quod consulitur honori eorum adhuc in hominum memoriis viventium: non enim caret ignominia quadam, quod faeditas nostri corporis aliorum conspectibus pateat, that thereby is provided for the honour of them, 
Bellar. de purge. l. 2. c. ult.  as yet living in the memories of men: for it is not without some reproach, that the loathsomeness of our body lie open to the sight of others. But why then do the Papists take the bones of the Saints out of their graves? Why do they keep them in boxes to be shewed to the people, to be handled by the clergy, to be carried about in procession, to be set upon the Altars? Erasmus speaking of his travels, and relating the passages of it, of one place he saith, dictumirum, quantum ossium illic prolatum sit, it is wonderful to tell how many bones were brought forth there, skulls, chins, teeth, hands, fingers, whole arms all which we adored and kissed; 
In colloq. pereg. relic. ergo.  nec erat futurus finis, neither would there have been end, unless the companion of my travels, when their was brought unto him an arm, which had yet bloody flesh on it, had been moved at it, and his countenance had manifested a kind of loathing of it. The Church of Rome may account this an honour done to the Saints, because their bones are laid up in boxes of gold or silver, but to make the best of it, what is it but insepulta sepultura, an unburied burial, 
Cicero Phil. 1.  which Cicero esteemed for a disgrace. Neither is it any such honour as in the Scriptures we find to have been given to the Saint. Suppose the bones of some dead Saint to have wrought a miracle, which is a thing, the Papists talk much of, and which seemeth in this point to have been the ground of their superstition: the bones of the Prophet Elisha we are sure wrought a great miracle, 
2 Reg. 13.21.  notwithstanding we do not find that his bones were taken out of his sepulchre. But rather as Josiah commanded concerning the bones of another Prophet, 
2 Kings 13.18.  let him alone, let no one move his bones, so may we well think Elishaes bones were left at rest. Wherefore that Wiclevian no doubt was in the right, 
Waldens. tom. 3. Tit. 14. c. 128.  who as Waldensis reporteth, judicialiter confessus est, confessed openly at his trial, that the flesh and bones of dead men ought not to be worshipped by the people, nor to be taken out of their unsavoury monuments, nor to be laid up in golden or silver boxes. And the spirit shall return to God: the spirit dyes not, and therefore that returneth to God the fountain of life. Hence the ancient Church did call the dayes on which the Saints of God dyed, natalia ipsorum, the dayes of their birth, because then they entred into that better life, which is indeed true life, because then they go into that heavenly country, which is truly called the land of the living. And though in common speech we say of the Saints departed, that they are dead, that is only to put a difference between them, and the Saints which are not yet departed from the earth. For though the Church of Rome dispute, that the Godly in this life are not called Saints, 
Rom. 17. v. 8.28  yet it is plain that the Spirit of God calleth them so, and their canonization and Saint making, is but a trick of their Church-merchandising. Every Spirit of man departing from his body, returneth unto God, but the Spirits of the wicked return unto him to be sent from him by his just judgement into eternal torments, the Spirits of the righteous return unto him to abide with him in endless joy and happiness. They return to God, but they do not return to be made God, to be prayed unto, to have vows made unto them, to have trust and confidence reposed in them. This is more then they look for being in heaven, and much more then should be given them by us, being on earth. Who gave it: Saint jerome speaking of these words saith, ex quo satis ridendi sunt, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  qui putant animas cum corpore seri& non Deo said à corporum parentibus generari, from whence they are worthy to be laughed at, who think the souls to be sowed and generated of the seed together with the bodies, and to be brought forth not by God, but by the parents of the bodies. For seeing it is said, that God gave the Spirit, he thinks it to be manifest that God is the Father of the souls and not men. And indeed Saint Austin writing of this argument, confesseth inter caetera testimonia, hoc esse praecipuum, among other testimonies for the proof of it, this to be the chief. But yet Saint Austin in himself being doubtful in this point, thinketh that the Preachers meaning may be, that as God made the first man out of the earth in respect of his body, which afterward by generation was to be brought forth; so that God himself made the first soul, which afterward was from man to be propagated. The good Father is most modest in writing of it, and whereas Saint jerome had sent some unto him to be instructed in it, he tells us that he wrote back unto him, consulens& petens, ut prius ipsum doceret, 
Augustin. ad Opat. de Origi. animarum.  & tunc ad illum mitteret quos doceat, advising and desiring that first he would teach himself, and then sand unto him those that might be taught by him.   
Ver. 8. Vanity of vanities( saith the Preacher) all is vanity. 
Ver. 8. Suppose a wise& learned man to be traveling over the world for increasing of his knowledge, and hearing of a great University to take his way unto it: but when he cometh thither, to find in one school taught the manner and skill of playing at cards, in another school of playing at tables, in another of playing at bowls, and so the several kinds of idle games and pastimes, how would he cry out folly of follies all is folly; in like manner the Preacher having by his wisdom and knowledge traveled in his thoughts over the whole world, and having viewed in the things that are without man, the mutability, uncertainity, insufficiency of them to content mans heart; having beholded in man the blindness, of his mind, the perverseness of his affections, the fading decay and corruption of his body, he crieth out likewise vanity of vanities all is vanity: that is all is nothing. Now as Saint Bernard speaketh, mirandum, said magis dolendum quam mirandum, quod id quod nihil est amari potest, it is to be wondered at, but more to be lamented then wondered at, that that can be loved which is nothing. But as he addeth, hinc plane sentimus, unde, quo venimus, quid perdidimus, quid invenimus, 
Bernardus Epist. 18.  hence we perceive plainly, whence, and whither we are come, what we have lost, what we have found. Him we have lost, in whom all things are contained: that we have found, in which all things that are contained are nothing: from him we are come, who alone truly is, thither we are come, where every thing that is, by vanity is not. And yet this we love him we despise. For as Saint Bernard also speaketh, appetitus vanitatis, est contemptus veritatis, the liking of vanity is the dislike of uerity. But as he likewise addeth, quid vanius quam diligere vanitatem? Quid iniquius quam contemnere veritatem? What more vain, then to love vanity? What more wicked, then to despise verity? Neither let the worldling think it to be strange, that thus the Preacher maketh the things of this life, to be so merely vanity, to be so plainly nothing. Fos as Clemens Alexandrinus noteth, 
Clemens Alex. Stromat. l. 7.  quemadmodum amygdalae dicuntur inanes, non in quibus nihil est, said in quibus id quod inest est inutile, almonds are said to be empty, not because there is nothing in them, but because that which is in them is unprofitable and to no use; so likewise the things of this world are said to be vanity, are said to be nothing, because how great soever they may be in their earthly magnitude, how glorious soever in their temporary bravery, yet they are of no use for the procuring of true good unto man, no way profitable for the establishing of mans happiness. But who is it that thus speaketh, vanity of vanities all is vanity? It is not man that saith it, for in him a love of this world makes him to think too highly of the things of the world. It is not the King that saith it, for in Kings the glory of the world maketh them unable to see the vanity of the things of the world. It is not Salomon that saith it, for he was deceived by the things of the world, and could not discern the vanity of them. It is the Preacher that saith it, he that by study and care had looked into the truth of things he that had unmasked the outside of shows and apparences, and had preached out, what the things of this life are, he saw, and he saith, that all is vanity, and what he saith, truth itself saith. Great is the authority, which here is given unto Preachers. The Prophets to give authority unto their words, use to say; Thus saith the Lord; but the Lord himself, the Holy Spirit of God to give authority to his Preachers words, here saith, Thus saith the Preacher. David was a great King in Israel, and he was a Prophet: but Salomon was a greater King, and he was a Preacher. He choose for his text this argument of the vanity of human things, and saying here, saith the Preacher, seemeth to me, to have set it down, as one general and principal argument for Preachers to insist upon. As for this Preacher himself Saint Austin tells us, in hac vanitate intimandum totum hunc librum vir sapientissimus deputavit, non utique ob aliud nisi ut eam vitam desideremus quae vanitatem non habet sub hoc sole, 
Augustin. de Civit. Dei l. 20. c. 3.  said veritatem sub illo, qui fecit hunc solem, in setting forth this vanity the most wise man hath employed this whole book, and that for no other end: but that we might desire that life which hath not vanity under this Sun, but truth under him who made this Sun. But if we shall consider this verse not so much as a summary repetition of the whole book, as rather in a particular reference to that which goeth before it, then we may conceive the Preachers meaning thus, that seeing all the labour and care of man at length is brought to this, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  that the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the Spirit unto God that gave it, therefore it must needs be as Saint jerome, speaketh, magnae vanitatis in hoc saeculo laborare,& nihil profutura conquirere, a sign of great vanity to labour in this world,& to seek after those things which cannot profit us. It is S. Austins speech, 
Augustin. de Temp. Ser. 50.  si tibi diceret architectus ruituram domum tuam, nonne prius migrares quam murmurares, if a skilful builder should say unto he, that thy house would fall down, wouldest thou not rather make hast out of it then stay in it to murmur against him? Now he that is the skilful builder of the world, he that hath builded the house of thy body, he tells thee that thy house will fall, that thy strong supporters will bow, that thy safe keepers will fail, that thy firm cords will be broken, that thine honour will be laid in the dust; he tells thee that the world will fall, and dost thou not believe him? Surely if thou dost, thou must needs aclowledge, quam verum dixerat veritas, quam inaniter conturbatur vanitas, how truly truth hath said, how vanily vainty is disquieted, as Saint Austin speaketh: how truly the Preacher saith vanity of vanities all is vanity.   

Ver. 9. And more over because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many Proverbs.  
Ver. 10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written, was upright, even words of truth.  
Ver. 11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nailes fastened by the Masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.  
Ver. 12. And further by these my son be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  
Vers. 9. Moreover because the Preacher was wise he still taught, &c. Wherein our translation followeth the reading of Saint jerome, and though Arias Montanus also use the same as being most literal, yet as I conceive the force of the original is more kindly expressed by the French translation which readeth it thus, and by how much the Preacher was wise, by so much the more he taught the people. In both, the sense is very little different, and as I conceive, the Preacher here by his own example sheweth the duty and office of a Preacher. By these words he teacheth them that are to teach others two things. First that himself must be wise that shall take upon him to teach others wisdom. This Saint jerome observing upon that passage of Ezekiel who saith, and it came to pass, 
Ezek. 3.16.& 17  at the end of seven dayes that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, thereupon noteth, qui speculator futurus est,& Dei verba populo narraturus, multo tempore debet quiescere, ut scilicet à Deo accipiat& discat, 
Hieronim. Ibi.  quae postea distribuere posset, he that is to be a watchman, and to declare the words of God unto his people, must be still and quiet a long time, that so he may receive and learn from God those things which he may disperse abroad. There is no art that is presumed to be taught before that it be learned, and shall any presume to teach in this great art, who are not first well learned? Saint Gregory speaking of Preachers saith, oculi sunt qui in ipsa honoris summi fancy positi providendi itineris officium suscipiunt, they are eyes which are placed in the very face of the highest honour and take upon them the office of foreseing the way, 
Gregor. Past. Cu. p. 1. c. 1.  and shall any thrust themselves into this place this office, which have not the clear sight of knowledge in them? Secondly the Preacher teacheth here that the abilities of teaching ought to cause every one to teach, and that the more ability he hath, the more pains he is to take in it. But as Saint Gregory noteth, there are not a few, who being enriched with great gifts, dum solis contemplationis studiis inardescunt, parere utilitati proximorum predicatione refuguunt, while they burn in the studies of contemplation, only, do shun to yield in Preaching to the profit of their neighbours. Of whom he giveth this judgement, ex tantis proculdubo reisunt, quantis venientes ad populum prodesse potuerunt, 
Gregor. Pasti. Cu. p. 1. c. 5.  they are guilty no doubt of so much evil, as by coming forth from their retiredness into the world they might have done good. And is it not sometimes the judgement of God upon them, as the same Father noteth, dum sua& non aliorum lucra cogitant, ipsi se quae privata habere appetunt, that they bonis privant, deprive themselves of those good things which they desire to have private to themselves. Yea he gave good heed: Saint Hieorme reads it, & audire eos fecit, and he made them to hear. Pagnine and Arias Montanus,& auscultare fecit, and he made them to harken, as showing his desire to be the profit of the hearers: and let every one who desireth to please God in this calling make this his chief desire. But to consider the words as our translation hath them. He gave good heed, that is, he was careful so to teach, 
2 Tim. 4.2.  as to take his fittest opportunity for it. Indeed Saint Paul saith, Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season: but as Saint Gregory noteth dicturus importunè praemisit opportune, quia scilicet apud auditoris mentem ipse sua se utilitate destruit, si habere importunitas opportunitatem nescit, being about to say out of season, he first saith in season, because importunity if it know not how to use opportunity doth often destroy itself by its own profit. Yea not only is the virtue lost of that which is said when by an indiscreet unseasonableness of loquacity, it is disesteemed in the hearts of the hearers: but as the same Father speaketh, 
Gregor. past. cu. par. 2. c. 4.  autorem suum haec eadem loquacitas inquinat quae servire auditoribus ad usum profectus ignorat, the same loquacity disgraceth the author of it, when that it knoweth not to how to be serviceable for the profit of the hearers. And sought out: the original word is in Pihel {αβγδ}, and as I suppose may be translated, as that before is translated by Saint jerome fecit investigare he made them to seek out, or to search into, as showing that the Preacher so taught as that he made the people to understand what he taught, and to see into the truth of it. And surely it must be the care of a Preacher to apply his matter and speech to the capacity of the hearers, that so there attention may be able to seek into it, and so search it out. In the law of the Jews he that hath digged a pit was to cover it, least an ox or an ass should fall therein; 
Exod. 21.33.  and it must be the care of him who by pains of study strength of understanding hath preached into the secrets of religion not to utter them heedlessly, least that an ox or ass some unlearned and simplo hearer fall into error and hurt by it. The pit therefore is to be covered, and high knowledge before plain hears is to be concealed, least while the doctrine of the teacher is lifted up on high, the weakness of the hearers should stumble and dash its foot below. In the Scripture it is ordinary by the clouds to signify Preachers, and Saint Gregory considering those words of Job, he bindeth up his waters in the thick clouds, there upon he saith, 
Job. 26.8.  ut auditores rudes non inundatione scientiae obruantur, said moderata praedicationis distillatione foveantur, ligat Deus aquas in nubibus: quia doctorum praedicationem temperat, ut auditorum infirmitas doctorum roar nutrita convalescat, that plain hearers may not be overwhelmed with an inundation of knowledge, but that they may be cherished with a moderate distillation, he bindeth the waters in the clouds; 
Gregor. Moral. l. 17. c. 14.  for he tempereth the preaching of the teachers, that the weakness of the hearers being nourished by their due may grow strong by it. Wherefore it is a good rule which the same Father giveth, dignum est ut qui praedicet audientis modum consideret, quatenus sua praedicatio cum auditoris sui incrementis crescat, it is meet that the Preacher consider the condition of his hearers, that so he may teach higher matters as his hearers are riper in understanding. But to understand the words, of the Preacher himself alone, and as our translation hath it, and sought out, they show his study and diligence to find out that, which he might teach the people. For a Preacher must as well labour, and by meditation seek what to teach, as reach, and deliver that which he hath found, he must as well draw out of the fountain, as power out that which he hath drawn. Saint Gregory therefore saith, perfectus doctor Dei est docibilis& dum pascere cibo alios nititur, ipse multiformium delitiarum spiritualium dulcedine satiatur, he that is one of Gods careful teachers, 
Gregor. m. 1.  is himself teachable, and whiles he endeavoureth to nourish others with food, 
Sam. c. 4.  he is diligent to fill himself with the sweetness of manifold spiritual delights. The staves whereby the Ark was to be born were always to be in the Ark, they were not to be taken out from it: 
Exod. 25.15.  and what are Preachers but as it were the staves of the Ark, whereby the Church of God is born up? wherefore as the staves were always in the Ark, so saith Saint Gregory it behoveth teachers semper in suis cordibus eloquia sacra meditari, ut si quicquid necesse sit testamenti arcam sine mora elevent, 
Gregor. Past. Cit. p. 2. c. 11.  protinus doceant, always in their hearts to meditate upon the sacred scriptures, that if need do require, they may without delay take up the Ark of the testament, they may forthwith teach. And set in order many proverbs: to set things well in order doth set them out well, and in teaching it is therefore very needful, because it is very helpful. It was a ladder which Jacob saw reaching from earth to heaven, wherein by degrees the steps do follow in order, one after the other. And surely a good order in teaching doth best serve to bring down the graces of Gods spirit from heaven, doth best serve to led up the lives of men, to have there conversation in heaven. And for the order of teaching, let me note one thing from Jacobs ladder, 
Genes. 28.12.  of which it is said, he saw the Angels, of God ascending& descending on it. The Angels of God being in heaven, one would think that it should have been first said descending and then ascending: but seeing it is first said ascend and then descend, let the Preachers of God who are his Angels sent unto his people learn this order, that first they ascend by prayer unto God to beg his blessing upon their labour, before that they descend by teaching to instruct the people.  
Ver. 10. The Preacher sought: this repetition of the Preachers seeking induceth me the rather to conceive the seeking in the verse before of the peoples seeking, to which the Preacher exhorted them. The original word here also used for seeking is not the same, that in the verse before it is. Here it is {αβγδ} which signifieth to seek by suing and praying, to seek by asking direction and counsel of them who are able to give it. And surely thus must a Preacher seek, he must not be ashamed to ask counsel, where he standeth in need of it, and especially he must sue and seek to God for his assistance and blessing. For as Saint Gregory saith well, necesse est ut si vere intendimus illuminata cernere, studeamus mentis oculos ad ipsum illuminans lumen aperire, it is necessary if we verily desire to behold those things, which are illuminated, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 23. c. 1.  that we endeavour to lift up the eyes& mind of our to open them unto the light itself by which they are illuminated. Sought to find out: there is still something to be sought out by a Preacher, and still must a Preacher be seeking to find. For that I may deliver the common sentence of the Philosopher in Saint Gregoryes words, in hoc mundo dum vivimus, tunc perfectè quae scienda sunt scimus, quum proficientes per intelligentiam nihil nos perfectè scire cognoscimus, while we live in this world, then do we know perfectly those things, which are to be known, when as profiting in understanding, we know that we know nothing perfectly. Acceptable words: Saint Austins direction is, agate vir eloquens, ut intelligenter, 
August. de doct. Christ. l. 4. c. 14.  ut obedienter audiatur, let it be the endeavour of an eloquent man, that he may be heard with understanding, with willingness, with obedience. And to this end it is that a Preacher is to find out acceptable words, such words as may procure an understanding, willing, obedient attention. The original is as Saint jerome reads it verba voluntatis, words of the will, 
1 Sam: 2.26.  that is such words as are agreeable unto the will of God, and are of power to work upon the will of men for their good and benefit. Of Samuel it is said that he was in favour both with the Lord and with men; and such must be the words of a Preacher, as that they be acceptable to God and to men. Unworthy is it a Preachers pains to seek to please men only: and what is it but as Saint Gregory speaketh, 
Gregor. in Ezek. l. 2. Homil. 21.  rem magnam vili pretio venundare to sell a precious thing for a vile price? He is worthy of that name who as the same Father speaketh, ea quae dicit ideo placere hominibus appetite ut dum placet, quod dicitur, per eadem dicta non ipse said Dominus ametur, 
Gregor. in Evang. Hom. 17  desireth that those things which he speaketh may be acceptable to men to this end, that while that is pleasing which is spoken, not himself but the Lord may be loved by the speeches. And that which was written, was upright. Our translation and the French also understand this part of the verse, as speaking of that which is written here in this book, but the original speaks no more, then the writing of uprightness, and sheweth the Preachers care and diligence not only by speaking but by writing also to instruct the people- And indeed speaking is but like a burning coal, which giveth heat and some light near at hand, but writing is like a shining lamp, which giveth light far off. But that which the Preacher principally intendeth, is that Preachers must be careful both in speaking and writing to deliver the words of uprightness the words of truth. The words of uprightness in showing the right way to God, in discovering the wrong ways of sin. The words of truth, in setting forth the truth of God, in refuting and rejecting the errors of men. First the words of uprightness, they must not spare to show men their dueties, to tell men there faults. Wherefore the Preacher having mentioned acceptable words, he addeth words of uprightness as showing that they must be so acceptable, as withall not neglecting to press unto uprightness of life, and to blame what is a miss therein. Saint jerome therefore writing to Nepotian saith, docente te in Ecclesia non clamour populi, said gemitus suscitetur, lachrymae auditorum lauds tuae sint, 
Hieronym. ad Nepotian.  when thou teachest in the Church, let not the applause of the people, but their sighing be stirred up by thee, let their tears be thy praises. 
Hosea. 4.8.  The Prophet Hosea speaking of bad teachers saith, they eat of the sin of my people, which Saint jerome expoundeth vivunt ex peccatis populi, 
Hieronym. in Hoseam.  they live by the sins of the people, they make the means of their living to be the greater by suffering the people to live in their sins without reproose. Saint Gregory expoundeth it, peccata delinquentium fovent, 
Gregor. in Evang. Hom. 17  they nourish the sins of offenders, and as themselves are nourished by the meate which they eat, so by their carelessness, they nourish the people in there wickedness, which should be destroyed by them. 
2 Reg. 13.17.  In which respect the words of Preachers should be arrows, piercing the soul of sinners, and wounding them with grief unto the heart, so that it may be said of them, as Elisha said of the arrow of joash, the arrow of the Lords deliverance. And surely it were good, if hearers would even open their breast, 
Origen. Homil. 2. in Cantic.  and as Origen speaketh transfigendum praeberent hujusmodi jaculis, would even offer it to be periced with these arrows. The wounds which these arrows make, are as Gregory Nyssen calleth them, praeclara vulnera, excellent wounds: and indeed what are they but even sweet wounds by which not death but life enters into their secret parts. 
Gregor. Nyssen. Homil. 4. in Can.  But in shooting these arrows let it be the aim of Preachers to shoot only at the vices of men, not at the men themselves. The history is of Alcon the Cretian, that when a dragon hath taken away his son, he killed the Dragon with his arrow, but did not hurt his Son and it was his natural affection that put his art into him, of whom it is well said, ars erat esse patrem, it was his skill that he was a father. And let Preachers show themselves to be fathers in their great love, killing the brood of the Dragon, sin in the hearers, but not hurting them by any ill affection toward them. Words of truth: secondly the Preacher here sheweth that it must be the care of Preachers to instruct the people in the words of truth, and that their words must be so acceptable, as that being true likewise, they may make the hearers to understand, what is the truth of religion. Lactantius noteth that the doctrine of Epicurus was chiefly followed, 
Lactant. Divin. Institut. l. 3. c. 16  non quia veri aliquid afferebat, said quia multos ad popular nomen voluptatis invitabat, not because it afforded any truth, but because it invited many to the popular name of pleasure: and so it is with some Pteachers, who are much followed, not because they deliver that which is truth, but because that pleaseth the hearers which is delivered by them. Such a one Saint Gregory describing saith, qui magna de se sentiens said vera de Domino ignorans, 
Gregor. Moral. l. 17. c. 3.  long a fidei cognitione disjungitur,& tamen videri fidei praedicator conatur, who thinking great things of himself, but not knowing the true things of the Lord, is far divided from the knowledge of faith, and yet desireth to seem a Preacher of the faith. But it must be the care of good Preachers to withstand such, to shun their practise, to oppose their falsehood, and to teach nothing but the words of truth. Lastly it may be noted here that the words of uprightness, and the words of truth must be joined together: there must be a diligence as well to enlighten the understanding in the knowledge of truth, as to direct the will a right in the ways of virtue. The Lord saith in Jeremiah, 
Jerem. 23.29.  is not my word as fire? whereupon Origen noteth that the words of Preachers must be as fire: and as fire hath two properties to burn and to enlighten, so saith he must the words of Preachers have. If thou dost only reprove the vices of men, and labour to bring them to uprightness of life, 
Origen. in Exod. Homil. 13.  but dost not explain unto them, that which is obscure in religion, thy fire burneth, but it doth not enlighten. If thou expound the mysteries of religion unto them, but dost not strive to reform their ill lives, thy fire illightneth, but it doth not burn. His words are the words of the Lord, who is careful to observe both.  
Vers. 11. The words of the wise are as goads: that is, to admonish and tell them of their errors, that go out of the way; to quicken and stir up those that are slow and dull in the way. And as if these things were a mark showing, which are the words of the wise, Saint jerome saith, Si cujus ergo sermo non pungit, said oblectationem, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  facit audientibus, iste non est sermo sapientis: verba quip sapientum pungunt, ut stimuli, if therefore the speech of any one do not prick, but cause delight unto the hearers, that is not the speech of one that is wise: for the words of the wise do prick as goads. Saint Cyprian therefore saith, accipe non diserta said fortia, 
Cyprian. Epist. ad Donatum.  take not those things which are eloquent, and serve to delight the ears, but those that are strong and powerful, to work upon the heart, to wound and gull the conscience, to rouse a carnal security. Such goads were the words of Saint Peter, when they that heard them, were pricked in their hearts, and cried out to Peter, and the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, 
Acts. 2.37.  what shall we do? Of these goads, that is true, which from heaven was spoken to Saul, It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 
Acts. 9.5.  And as nailes fastened by the masters of the assemblies: the words of the wise being driven into the heart, are there fastened by the force of them. Saint Gregory therefore speaking of these words, saith, 
mat. 3.7.  an Joannis verba clavi non erant? were not the words of John the Baptist nailes, when he saith, 
Acts. 7.51.  O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Were not the words of Stephen nailes, when he saith, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost? Were not the words of Paul nailes, when he saith, O ye foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? 
Galat. 3.1.  But nails are used not only to pierce, but to adorn also, and this our translation may seem to imply, which addeth, by the masters of assemblies. The original also doth imply the same, where the word which is translated, fastened, properly signifieth, plantati, planted, there being in planting an adorning the ground, and that which setteth forth the art of them that are masters in their work. Now indeed, what doth more adorn then the words of the wise? 
August. ex Hom. 50. Homil. 26.  Wherefore Saint Austin saith, quomodo terrenis ornamentis caro luxuriosa parvo tempore ornatur, sic anima sancta divinis sermonibus tanquam spiritualibus& aeternis bonorum operum margaritis componitur, as with earthly ornaments, the wanton flesh is adorned for a little time, so the holy soul is beautified by divine speeches, as it were with spiritual and eternal jewels of good works. The words of the wise are a treasure, out of which all kinds of ornaments may be taken. 
Acts. 15.32.  Wherefore when it is said of Judas and Silas, that they exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them, the Syriack reads it not verbo plurimo, with many words, but verbo divite, with rich words, as if it would express the rich ornaments that were in the treasure of their words. But to consider the word, as here our translation readeth it, fastened, it sheweth, that as the words of the wise, being goads, do bring wanderers into the way, and hasten dullards in the way, so they do settle them also in the right way, that they do not easily loose the way again. But these words whieh are rendered here, by the masters of the assemblies, in the original do afford divers translations. The Venetian translation reads it thus, and like nails firmly fastened, sustinentibus collectam supellectilem, holding up the furniture that is gathered together, to adorn the house, taking the sense of the words from the metaphor of the nailes which the Preacher useth. The French translation reads it thus, less maistres qui on't fait des recueils, the masters who have made the gatherings, are as mailes fastened, as showing the sense to be, that the words of the wise having gathered and recalled men from wandring, and being themselves as nailes fastened and established in the right way of virtue, do also by their example strengthen and confirm others in it. Tremellius reads it lectissima most choice words, as showing that the words of the wise are gathered out and chosen and fitted for the occasion, for the matters, for the persons, when, whereof, to whom they are delivered. But as I conceive there are two things here not unworthy to be considered of: first that the original word here used is {αβγδ} from the roote {αβγδ} which is distinguished from {αβγδ} a word like unto it in signification, in that {αβγδ} doth signify the gathering of those things, which are dispersed: but {αβγδ} the gathering of those things, which are not dispersed: wherefore it may seem here to import rather the gathering of men back from their sinful courses, by the words of the wise as goads pricking them, as nails piercing them, and fastening upon them. The other thing to be considered is, that these words in the original may be as well joined with that which followeth after, as with that which goeth before. Arias Montanus pins them to the end of the verse, 
Hebr. 13.20.  and reads it thus auctores collectionum dati sunt a pastore uno, the authors of the gatherings are given from one shepherd, as showing that it is from that great shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ, that all inferior shepherds are given to his Church& people. But other translations refer all to the beginning of the verse and give us to understand, that the words of the wise are given from one shepherd. Our translation leaves it at liberty, either to refer the end of the verse to the words of the wise, or to the masters of the assemblies. 
John. 10.16.  If it be referred to the words of the wise, most true it is, that there is one fold and one shepherd, and that from this one shepherd, who is the wisdom of his father, and wisdom itself; all the words of the wise are given. Or else we may understand this one shepherd to be the sacred word of God, which though consisting of several parts, yet is but one book, and from which as from the foundation of them, as from the rule that measureth them, all the words of the wise are given. 
Hieron. in Esaiam. c. 29.  Thus doth Saint jerome expound these words. Or else if we desire to apply the words unto inferior shepherds, it cometh sometimes to pass, that where there are many teachers, the one opposeth the other, and what the one liketh the other disapprooveth? so that the words of the wise take not that good effect which otherwise they might. And therefore the Preacher may seem to commend those words, which being delivered by one wise shepherd, are not disturbed by any other. Oecumenius considering the vision that happened to Saint Paul at his conversion, 
Acts. 9.3. Oecumen. ibi●  noteth that it was not done in the city, but on the way, ne aliis liceret alio modo narrare quod circa ipsum contigisset, said ipse fide dignus esset ad referendum qui vidisset, that so divers might not relate diversely that which had befallen him, but that himself might be worthy of credit in relating it, who had seen it. And doth it not sometimes come to pass that the words of wisdom have more happy success when they are given under the credit of one faithful shepherd, then when divers shepherds each seeking his own credit, diminish the virtue of that which they utter.  
Vers. 12. And further by these: by these heavenly and spiritual instructions, according as our Reinolds citing these words, expoundeth them, saying, Sapienter nos adhortaiur, ut studia salutaria, 
Reinold. de Rom. Eccles. idolola. praefatione.  precepta faciliora, fructu perennia iis anteponamus, quorum infinita est investigatio, nec alius demum exitus quam labour& aerumna, the Preacher doth wisely exhort us, that we prefer saving studies, which are easily perceived, everlasting in their benefit, before those the search whereof is infinite, and the end whereof at last is no other then weariness and misery. By these, these contained within this book; 
Tremell. in hunc vers.  so Tremellius, saying, hisce documentis meis instruitor potius, quam incumbas cognoscendae& explorandae vanitati, quae inest aliis studiis omnibus, by these my instructions be admonished rather, then bend thy pains to know and search out vanity, which is in all studies else. By these, these few words, this short book be admonished, qui quantum dilatatur in sensibus; tantum constringitur in sermonihus, which by how much it is enlarged in the deep and copious sense and meaning of it, by so much it is straitned in the fewness of the words, and brevity of the speech, 
Hieron. in hunc vers.  as teaching, saith Saint jerome, brevitati studendum,& sensum magis sectandum esse quam verba, that brevity is rather to be studied, and that sense and matter are rather to be sought for, then many words; because otherwise there will be no end of books, no end of writing. By these, that is by these books of the Sacred Scriptures, saith Rabbi Salomon, 
Rabbi Salomon.  which do contain the sweet instructions and admonitions of happiness and glory. But yet as Lyra well addeth, per hoc non excluduntur libri alii ad intellectum sacrae scripturae necessarii, said illi qui non sunt ad salutem necessarii, by this are not excluded other books, which are necessary for the understanding of the scriptures, but those, which are not necessary unto salvation,& in making whereof there is no end, new difficulties arising continually. 
Lyra in hunc vers.  By these, that is by these words, which are given from one shepherd, and which being referred to him, though delivered in many books, yet make but one book. For saith Saint jerome, it is the manner of Scripture to call many books one volume, if that they do not disagree the one from the other, and that they be written of the same thing. Yea, saith he, whatsoever thou shalt say, if it be referred unto him, who in the beginning was with God, 
John. 1.1.  and the word was God, it is one volume, and numberless books are called one law, one Gospel. But if thou shalt discourse of divers and disagreeing things, and by too much curiosity shalt be carried hither and thither in thy mind, etiam in uno libro multi libri sunt, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  even in one book there are many books. Of such books therefore there is no end. Bonum enim omne& veritas certo fine concluditur, malitia autem atque mendacium sine fine sunt, for all good and truth is contained within a certain end, but wickedness and untruth are without end, and by how much the more they are sought after, by so much the more they are to seek. In this matter therefore saith Saint jerome, study and meditation, labour est carnis, is a labour of the flesh. Of the flesh, saith he, not of the Spirit. For the spirit hath his labour also, 
1 Corinth. 15.10.  according to that which the Apostle saith, I have laboured more then them all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. This exposition Saint jerome for his own part prefereth before others. But let me note also, 
1 Timot. 1.2.  how the Preacher here speaketh, saying, My son: so that when Saint Paul calleth Timothy his son, and when he saith of the Corinthians, 
1 Corinth. 4.15.  In Christ Jesus have I begotten you, through the Gospel, it is no new manner of speech. Clemens Alexandrinus noteth, apud barbaros quoque Philosophos per auditum instruere& illuminare dicitur regenerare, among the heathenish Philosophers, by hearing to instruct and to illuminate, 
Clemens. Alex. stromat. l. 5.  is said to regenerate. To which purpose he citeth Socrates, who saith, Omnibus quidem esse immixtum naturalem amorem generandi simile,& hominibus quidem solum homines, viro autem bono similem sibi that there is infused into all a natural love of begetting their like, into men of begetting men only, into a good man of begetting the like unto himself, by instructing of those that do come unto him. But the phrase of speaking so is more ancient then Socrates, we have it here in Salomon, who making himself a Preacher, styleth those whom he instructeth his Sons. And let Preachers from hence learn, to carry themselves as Fathers towards their hearers, and let their words proceed from the sweetness of a Fatherly affection towards them. Saint Chrysostome observing that Moyses intending to reprove the people of Israel delivered a song unto them, and asking the reason, cur crimina objicit sub cantici nomine, 
Chrysost. in Esa. c. 1.  Why he objecteth their faults unto them under the name of a song? he sheweth it to be the care of his spiritual wisdom, that so the music of the song might steal away the dislike of the reprehension. And indeed reproof being harsh to human nature, a harsh and fierce manner of using it doth often much hinder the good success of it. Wherefore Saint jerome saith, talis loquela non illuminat, non sanat, said magis occidit, 
Hieronym. in Thren. c. 4.  atque in desperationem periclitantem mittit, such speaking doth not enlighten, doth not heal, but killeth rather, and casteth into despair him that is in danger. It is written of Domitian, that a boy holding for a mark a far off his hand spread a broad, with the fingers severed, he shot his arrows so artificially that every arrow did hit on the empty spaces between the fingers, and that not one finger received any hurt by them. It must be the care of a Preacher to shoot his arrows, his words in the same manner, so that the empty spaces of sin, and which by sin are made empty of goodness may be hit and wounded, but that he leave the hand and fingers, that is, the mind and desire of working and doing well not wronged nor impaired.   

Ver. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandements for this is the whole duty of man.  
Ver. 14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, and every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.  
Ver. 13. The Jews say as Saint jerome relateth, that whereas among other books of Solomon which are lost and antiquated, this book also should have been put away, because it affirmed the creatures of God to be vain, and made all to be as it were nothing and preferred meate and drink and fading delights before all things else, 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  yet from this one verse it obtained authority to be placed in the number of divine books because the Preacher shuts up his whole disputation and all his discourse, with this summary conclusion, that the end of all speaking is this, to fear God and to keep his commandements. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: the original word by word goeth thus, the end of the whole matter is heard: wherefore S. jerome to express the force of it reads it thus, auditu perfacilis est, is easy to be heard. And indeed it seemeth to imply, that he would say was very short and that it would quickly be heard, even so quickly as if it were already heard before that it were spoken. So that the words may seem to carry this sense, you have heard me thus far, while that I have with many words spoken unto you, I will now ease your hearing, and end my speaking, if I may but say one word more. fear God: there are many kinds of fear, a worldly fear, when a man rather then to forsake his own contentment and ease, cares not to forsake God by forsaking his commandements: against which our Saviour Christ exhorteth saying, fear not them which kill the body, 
Mat. 10.28.  but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. A natural fear, which Saint Basil 
Basil.  saith, is the gift of God, the ornament of nature, by which we are warned and in some sort armed for the avoiding of evil, that may befall us. 
August.  A servile fear, which Saint Austin defineth to be that, whereby goodness is not loved, but punishment is only feared: and yet this is a good fear also. Wherefore Saint Ambrose 
Ambros.  saith that the gloriours martyrs by this fear, the fear of hell torments where stengthned against the torments invented by man: 
tertul.  and this fear saith Tertullian is the instrument of repentance, the bridle of lust. An initial fear, 
Prover. 1.7.  to which we may apply those words in the Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: and which St. Basil 
Basil.  calls an introductory fear, to led us on to the more religious serving of God, so that it is composed partly of a servile partly of a filial fear. Lastly there is a fear filial, a fear of God, as he is our Father,& whereby we are solicitous not to loose his favour, not to be deprived of his blessing. This by some is called reventialis timor, a reverencing fear, by others a chast fear, because it is like the fear of a chast wife, who feareth to loose her husbands love: 
Hieronym. in hunc vers.  or else a chast and pure fear, as not mixed with a worldly and carnal fear. Now of this fear which Saint jerome calls consummatum in virtutibus metum, a fear perfected in virtues, doth he understand this place, because the Preacher saith, that it is omnis homo the whole man. Or else he seemeth to understand the place of a servile fear, because it is said that this is omnis homo, that this is every man, this fear of God being inbred in every man. fear God and keep his commandements: man consisteth of two parts, his body and his soul, these two make up a whole man in nature, and here are two parts that make up a whole man in grace. The fear of God is as it were the body, the keeping of his commandements is as it were the soul. Lyra doth distinguish them thus, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  the fear of God saith he, is to depart from evil, the keeping of his commandements is to be exercised in doing good, and these two parts of righteousness do make up a perfect man in virtue. Or else we may distinguish them thus, to fear God, is in our hearts to serve him and honour him, to keep his commandements is the outward demonstration of this inward devotion, 
Ludolphus de vita Christi.  in the conversation and actions of our lifes to show ourselves his servants. For this is the whole duty of man: the original is no more then this, hoc est omnis homo this is every man. Some make up the sense thus, hoc, id est ad hoc this, that is to this, to this end was every man made, doth every one live. Others make it up thus, hoc, id est per hoc, this, that is by this is every man, as conceiving the Preacher to show, that this makes man to be, which is the proper glory of God. Quia quod Deus est per essentiam hoc etiam est obediens per participationem, because that which God is by his essence, 
Rupertus.  he that is obedient is also made by participation and grace, by which we are made partakers of the divine nature. And as by obedience every man is, so the disobedient is one that is not. According as the Prophet Jeremy sheweth, who speaking of the disobedient saith, 
Jerem. 4.25.  I looked and lo there was no man. Our translation maketh up the sense thus, this is the whole duty of man: and seeing the scope and drift of the Preacher in this book is to show the happiness and chief good of man, perhaps it may not amiss be made up thus, this is the whole happiness of man. But to take the words simply as the original hath set them down, hoc est omnis homo, this is all man, that is saith Lyra, hoc est totus sieve perfectus homo this is the whole or perfect man. For as the Philosopher speaketh, 
Lyra in hunc vers.  totum& perfectum sunt idem, the whole and a thing perfect are one and the same thing. Wherefore saith Lyra, the term of that which is universally whole, is used here for that which is integrally whole, there being but one word in the Hebrew tongue, 
Arist. Metaph. 5  which is used to signify both of them. Or else if we will take it as yet more literally, and take the Hebrew {αβγδ} for omnis as it signifieth all universally, so that we conceive the Preacher to import, that this is the very nature and essence of man; even in this manner also it may be not improperly construed. For what is the nature of man, but to be animal rationale, a reasonable living creature? And what is more reasonable then that God should be feared, and his commandements kept by man? what can be more unreasonable, then that the creature should deny this reverence& obededience to God his creator?  
Ver. 14. For God: judgement belongeth unto God, man must take heed how he meddle with it. Wherefore Saint Paul, saith judge nothing before the time, 
Corinth. 4.5.  until the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God. For as Saint Ambrose saith very well, upon those words, injuria judicis est si ante cognitionem ejus, à servo procedat judicium, it is a wrong to the judge, 
Ambros.  if before he hear and know the cause, judgement be given by a servant. And being a wrong to the judge, it cannot but be a mischief to him that shall do it. Wherefore good is the counsel of Paschasius, declinemus ad praesens sententiam, subtrahamus judicium, dicamus totum Deo, 
Paschas. l. 2. Matthae.  ne dum temere gestimus definire sententiam, nobis paremus ex discrimine alieno ruinam, for the present let us shun to give sentence, let us forbear to judge, let us say, let God do all, lest while we rashly desire to give sentence, we bring upon ourselves ruin from anothers danger. God shall bring: loathe is guilty man to come into judgement, and therefore he crieth to the hills to cover him to the mountaines to fall upon him: but mountaines and hills and all shall forsake him and God shall bring him to it. The best way therefore is, of ourselves before hand to go unto his judgement, and in our own hearts to arraign ourselves before God for that it is which will make his judgement to be comfortable to us. The Psalmist speaking of some saith, they looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. And surely they who look unto God, 
Psal. 34.5.  and do now behold him sitting upon his judgement seat, and consider themselves as standing before him to give an account of their lives unto him, they are they who when God shall bring them to judgement shall be illigthned with joy, and shall not have their faces confounded. For as Saint Bernard speaketh, diligit Deus animam quae in conspectu ejus, sine intermissione considerat,& sine dissimulatione dijudicat seipsam, God loveth that soul, which in his sight as well without intermission considereth, as without dissimulation judgeth itself. God shall bring every work: not only the bad works of the wicked, but the good works of the righteous, as from the last words of the verse may also be gathered. In the seventy fifth psalm the second verse we red it, when I shall receive the congregation, I will judge rightly, but the original is rectitudines judicabo, 
Bernard. Serm. 3. in Advent.  I will judge the rightness of things, and the vulgar Latin reads it justitias judicabo, I will judge the righteousness of things. Whereupon Hugo Cardinalis saith, terribile verbum, quod non tantum peccata said& justitias judicabit, bona scilicet opera examinabit, it is a terrible word, 
Psal. 75.2.  that he will not only judge sins, but the righteousness of things, and will examine the good works of men. Every work of every man will he bring to judgement, even those which now seem to be little, and not worthy the taking notice of. Wherefore the Prophet David saith, O Lord thou hast preached me and known me, thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising. It is not said thou knowest me, 
Hugo Cardinal.  whither I sit or whither I rise, but thou knowest my very down sitting, and mine uprising: thou takest notice how these are performed by me, whether my sitting be idle, or else profitable, whether my uprising be to the actions of goodness or works of iniquity: thou takest notice what I do amiss, even in the very doing of these: thou takest notice, where, when, how, and to what end either I sit down or else arise up. And these with every thing else will God bring to judgement. Wherefore in the Revelation when Christ is described sitting in judgement, he is said to have a sickle in his hand: it is not said a sceptre, but a sickle, that being a compassing instrument and gathering in every thing, 
Ps. 139.1.& 2.  because then no work shall be left out, but God shall gather every work and bring it into judgement. Into Judgement with men there are divers judgements, and oftentimes very needful that the latter may correct the errors of the former: but with God there is but one. The last is the first, and the first is the last: his judgement being perfect, and not subject to any error. Tertullian, hath a saying, Nihil plenius, quam quod extremius. Deus itaque judicabit plenius, quia extremius per sententiam aeternam supplicii, there is nothing more full, then that which is last. God therefore will judge fully, because it will be his last judgement, by the eternal sentence of punishment. 
Tertullian. de Anima.  So that after this one judgement there is no hope of another, that shall give ease of mercy to them that are condemned by it. With every secret thing: the words which we red of Saint Pauls writing, we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, do not only import, that we must appear and be present: but that we must there appear plainly and fully what we are. For the controversial greek is {αβγδ}, which signifieth to be made transparent, pellucid, and clear like a Diaphanous body, which the light& the eye can every where pierce thorough. No sin is now committed so covertly, so cunningly, but then it shall be evident and naked unto the sight of all. Wherefore when God saith to Cain, 
2 Corinth. 5.10.  if thou dost not well sin lieth at the door, Hugo Victorinus expounding it saith, peccatum quod est in foribus ut exeat, prava voluntas est, quae non potest celari quin aliquando exeat& appareat aliquo signo, sin which lieth at the door that it may go forth, is an evil will, which cannot be hide, but sometime or other getteth out& appeareth by some sign or other. And surely how secret soever any wickedness may be, it lieth at the door,& shall at last get out, if not in this world, yet at the judgement day of God, and then shall show itself to all. There are some secret sins in the best of Gods servants, which themselves cannot find out though they search never so diligently. But at the judgement day every secret sin, 
Hugo Victorin.  even these also shall be manifested. Wherefore Saint Paul saith, I know nothing by myself, yet am I not therefore justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord: and thereupon anselm saith, tanta est profunditas in homine ut lateat ipsum hominem in quo est, said Dominum later non potest, so great is the depth that is in man that it is hide from man in whom it is, but it cannot be hide from the Lord. Every secret thing containeth also the secret graces and virtues of men, which perhaps there own humility discerned not, nor were seen by others: 
1 Corith. 4.4.  as also the secret works of Religion and devotion which the shunning of ostentation and vainglory in the world concealed, al shal then be brought forth to Gods glory& their comfort who then shal reap the fruit of them. Whether it be good or evil, that is, every thing shall then be shewed what it is, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, and by the several reward of the several kind of it shall be fully declared. Wherefore in the Revelation also the seat of the judge, 
Revelat. 14.14.  is not said to be a throne of silver or gold or precious stones, but a cloud: now in a cloud, as there is the desired rain which refresheth the earth, and nourisheth the fruits of it, so there is hail and lightning which hurt the ground, and destroy the fruits thereof. In like manner therefore from this judgement seat shall proceed both sweet showers of endless blessedness upon the good, and lightning and tempest of eternal damnation upon the evil and wicked▪    
L. D. A.   

Coronis.  
THE Preacher having in this Treatise gone thorough the world, endeth it with the end of the world. And I having gone thorough this Treatise of the Preacher by the favourable assistance of Gods mercy, let me end my labours with praise and glory to the God of the world, and who is to be praised by the whole world. I am not ashamed with Psellus in Theodoret to ask pardon that I have expounded this book of Solomon, as he doth for expounding the Canticles of Solomon; I will not deny but that mine errors may be many in it: But difficilium facilis est venia, in hard things, the pardon is easy; and hoping that I shall find a favourable pardon, which we all stand in need to seek at the hands of God, I end all with that which was anciently the beginning of Epistles and Letters, gaudete in Domino, rejoice in the Lord.  
L. D. A.  
FINIS.   

Errata.  
Errata. Correctiones. Pagina. Well So well. 23. per tenta portenta. 36. both leave it out. 95. preserved preferred. 37. aliam etiam. 86. conceited conceived. 107. ever even. 116. warning warming. 118. Saule soul. 127. Job. 6.8. Job. 6.18. 154. they there. 182. Cusus Lusus. 195. applieth applieth it. 195. Cumbi Lúmbi. 198. world word. 199. as we know as if we knew. 200. rendered understood. 200. confirm confirm it. 215. Stonage ston hinge. 242. the assure and assure. 267. est et. 297. misterium mysterium. 297. the world in the world. 297. ventuis venturis. 303. be labour shall labour. 305. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 308. ab ob. 311. there is wanting saith. 315. notebus nocivus. 316. vivas vivus. 316. Sudoris said oris. 316. precious fruit blot it out. 317. tanta ipso tanto ipse. 318. them then. 323. adverse advice. 336. frini frui. 330. divitiis divitias. 332. cor cor or or. 332. anagogall anagogical. 333. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 341. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 343. in imo in uno. 348. to of to speak of 348. princess Princes. 366. disturbers disbursers. 364. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 369. sharp hard. 373. the time the time past. 380. to leris tolleris. 402. quam quum. 402. attain obtain. 403. whereas whereas as 404. overflow overthrow. 405. qui dum quia dum. 405. as is. 410. that it is yet so that it is. 437. politibus poplitibus. 433. trement tremente. 433. is ripe. is ripe, 434. Calein Calvin. 439. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} &c. 434. worth work. 167. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 450. no end no need. 230. {αβγδ} {αβγδ} 236. that he he that. 237.   

THE TABLE. red the whole extent of every Letter.  

A  

THey who have been good, growing bad are hardly amended. 23.  
Those things are not to be attempted, which they who have been better able, have not been able to perform. 64.  
Abstinence from carnal embracings is sometimes requisite. 73.  
Ambition is to be shunned. 349.  
The advancement of the wicked in this world, is not to be regarded. 360.  
An Atheist is described. 317.  
The affections must be cheerful. 324.  
The corrupt affections of men are like flies in ointment. 351.  
Unworthy advancement bringeth hurt. 368.  
The appetite of feeding must be continually supplied. 175.  
Anger and desire are to be bridled. 420.  
Anger against Gods judgement is vain. 420.  
Youth is angry against them that reprove it. 420.  
The differences of ages. 426.  
What Anger is. 203.  
The difference between anger and fury. 203.  
Anger destroyeth wisdom. 203.  
The refusing of admonition shameth even a King. 120.  
Affability is subject to inconvenience. 191.  
Anger against inticers to sin is profitable. 191.  
Anger is to be shewed against wickedness. 191.  
Anger is to be moderated. 191.  
Hast in anger is to be shunned. 202.  
several kinds of anger. 202.  
Anger is not to be yielded unto easily. 202.  
adversity requireth consideration. 213.  
Adversity bringeth men to God. 213.  
The anger of a Prince is not to be affronted. 357.  
The unworthy are advanced in this world, the worthy are not. 364.  
Ambition is the cause of great evil and hurt. 366.  
Ambition cares not what it doth to get on high. 367.  
Ambition destroyeth itself. 367.  
The beginning of wickedness is to be shunned and resisted. 378.    

B  

THe vanity of buildings and houses. 34. 70.  
The pleasure of bathing. 37.  
The ill use that is made of good books. 55.  
A spiritual birth, and a spiritual dying. 69.  
The books of God by man to be studied. 82.  
The body is to be preserved clean from sin. 325.  
The frame of mans body is an excellent work. 409.  
What is meant by having no burial. 167.  
God himself burieth the righteous. 168.  
Concerning the bones of mans body. 408.  
Concerning the back bone. 436, 437  
Concerning burial. 440.  
The bones of the Saints are to be left in their graves. 440.    

C  

CHrist may be taken for the Preacher. 11.  
Christ went first to the Jews. 11.  
Curiosity in knowledge is to be shunned. 31.  
The crown of a King is not to be meddled with. 271.  
The countenance of the wise sheweth his worth. 266. 267.  
The commandments of Kings are to be kept. 268.  
Charity is a wide fountain. 37.  
The over-carefulnesse of men doth often hurt their business. 50.  
There is no certainty in the things of this life. 68.  
The wicked have not the comfort of worldly things. 65.  
The chastisements of the godly are for their good. 292.  
Contentment in the use of the things of this world is from God. 63.  
The misery of covetousness. 62.  
cheerfulness is commended. 300.  
cheerfulness in God is best. 300. 323. 324.  
Mans labour cannot change the changing course of things. 79.  
That Cham begot a child while he was in the ark. 73.  
Reverence is required in the Church. 128.  
The flourishing of Christs kingdom. 125.  
Not to keep all the commandments is to break all. 349.  
A wise man considereth before hand. 353.  
cheerfulness is to be used by Gods servants in using his blessings. 23.  
Christ is the first and the last. 124.  
evil company hurt the good. 351.  
What is meant by chance. 333.  
The changablenesse of worldly things is to be considered. 125.  
A fool careth not to continue in wickedness. 378.  
Confession is needful for the curing of sin. 375.  
cheerfulness is to be embraced. 325.  
Charity is carefully to be practised. 326.  
covetousness is a grievous sickness. 149.  
covetousness bringeth much sorrow. 149.  
The covetous wretch cannot sleep quietly. 147.  
A Covetous wretch hath nothing left him at the time of his death. 145.  
Charity is best shewed in the time of life. 410.  
Though not unacceptable at the time of death. 153.  
Charity delivereth from the evils of this life. 402.  
Charity is sure of a reward. 403.  
Charity must bee free in giving. 409. 403. 404.  
Charity is to be shewed towards all. 401.  
The richer many are, the less is their charity. 404.  
cheerfulness is by God approved. 162.  
A compassion and fellow-feeling in misery is required. 399. 400. 116.  
A small charity shall not want a reward. 400.  
Charity is a thing that is divided. 400.  
Delay in charity is to be shunned. 405.  
Persons in charity are not too much to be stood upon. 405.  
Charity is to be shewed without asking. 406.  
A charitable man cometh not to want. 406.  
Charity hath the blessing of posterity. 407.  
Charity is rewarded in heaven. 398.  
All occasions for charity are to be taken. 399.  
Charity is to be shewed frequently. 409.  
Poverty by charity is not to be feared. 410.  
In charity sow thine own seed. 410.  
Impediments against charity. 412. 413.  
Three things belong to charity. 412. 413.  
Men condemn most that which they know least. 204.  
covetousness seeketh to be alone. 110.  
Charity never wanteth kindred. 111.  
It is a great grace to be ruled by counsel. 120.  
Early coming to the Church of God is good. 127.  
reverend carriage in the Church of God is required. 127.  
By what name the Church hath been called. 127.  
Attention is required in the Church. 128.  
The covetous man hath no fruit of his riches. 144.  
The care of children is made a pretence for covetousness. 151.  
Great is the darkness of covetousness. 155.  
A covetous man hath great wrath. 155.  
Great is the misery of covetousness. 156.  
Consideration is needful before any one speaketh. 157.  
Comfort is to be taken in the things of this life. 157.  
public correction is necessary, though private be not useful. 212.  
Great is the confidence of a righteous man. 224.  
The censures of the righteous are to be considered. 228.  
A man must be cheerful in troubles. 301.  
Gods servants have a certainty of Gods favour. 309. 310.  
How the Church is a little city. 340.  
A city is preserved by virtue. 342.  
Christ is the defence of his church. 343.  
Charity must be in secret. 408.  
Charity giveth to them, that know not who gives it. 408.  
Every time is fit for charity. 411.  
Charity is to be shewed at least at the time of death. 415.  
Conscience will be heard. 229.  
Contraries give light one to the other. 242.    

D  

DEath is to be remembered. 35.  
True delight is from God. 43.  
Worldly delight hath labour joined with it. 43.  
The contentment of worldly delight is short. 44.  
The displeasure of man is not to be regarded, where God is pleased. 274.  
In death there is no difference of men. 52.  
despair is not to be yielded unto. 56. 57.  
The wise and the foolish die alike. 51. 52.  
Many being alive, are accounted worthy men, who being dead are not found so. 287.  
Many being dead, are praised for that which they have not done. 288.  
Many are praised being alive, who being dead are not. 288.  
Many are honoured being alive, who being dead, are forgotten. 288.  
The delay of punishment maketh the wicked bold. 290. 291.  
We are taught to die by those things, by which we live. 70.  
How long death is to continue. 69.  
friendly discourse, which at sometimes is delightful, at other times is not. 75.  
Wee must rent ourselves from the devil. 76.  
The vain disputes of men concerning the works of God. 81.  
Delight maketh earnest in following of things. 302.  
The devil is still to be resisted. 358. 359.  
Death is better then life. 101. 315.  
Great is the hurt of not considering death. 317.  
The Godly do not die. 317.  
What dreams are. 131.  
Women tell their dreams. 132.  
The difference of death in beasts and men. 94. 95.  
Man goes to dust. 95. 96.  
There is no returning after death. 98.  
Some dreams, though not all have truth in them. 138.  
Open detraction is shameful. 375.  
Danger is to be prevented when there is no danger. 336.  
The Godly return by death to God, the wicked to the devil. 152.  
He sleepeth quietly in death, who worketh hard by good works in his life. 148.  
Death is common to all. 153. 174.  
At death there is no profit in worldly things. 154.  
As death leaveth a man, judgement findeth him. 405.  
Death maketh men afraid. 434.  
Something at death is to be given to pious uses. 168.  
The devil is a chief drawer unto wickedness. 181.  
The devils desire is to do man mischief. 182.  
The day of death is better then the day of birth. 188.  
Death is to be welcomed when it cometh. 188.  
The remembrance of death is a medicine against sin. 189. 190.  
The death of others maketh a wise man to consider his own death. 192.  
The dead are to be mourned for. 192.  
The dayes of man are vanity. 215.  
The natural time of death is old age. 220.  
What is the time for dying. 220.  
The unaequall but victorious encounter of David with goliath. 248.  
The remembrance of death must make men charitable. 415.  
The repentance of any sinner is not to be despaired of. 56.  
Diligence findeth out truth. 241.    

E  

THe earth abideth still. 9. 10.  
The knowledge of evil gotten to an ill end. 25.  
The eye is greedy after pleasure. 42.  
The eye is to be kept carefully. 42. 43.  
No evil is to them that fear God. 275.  
The events of things cannot be disposed of by wisdom. 50.  
There is one event to the wise and to the foolish. 49.  
Experience is to be believed. 74.  
How there is one event to good and bad. 311.  
What envy is. 320.  
envy is hardly removed. 321.  
No one without error. 351.  
The events of things are uncertain. 333.  
envy is against goodness. 103. 104.  
The hurt of envy. 104.  
envy hurteth the envious. 105.  
The event of things is not to them that are likely to obtain them. 335.  
Concerning the eyes. 430.  
Concerning the eye-lids. 430.  
The end is better then the beginning. 200.  
The end is to be provided for. 179.  
Better is the end of a speech, then the beginning of it. 199.  
Better is the end of prayer, then the beginning of it. 200.  
The end of the righteous is better then their beginning. 222.  
The eyes of the Lord are upon all things. 312.  
Concerning the ears and hearing. 432.    

F  

THey that are good are few. 23.  
A free choice in delights is that which the heart desireth. 43.  
The family of the Church described. 39.  
The folly of not fore-seeing evil. 281.  
The misery of not fore-seeing things. 208.  
It is wisdom to fore-see things. 281.  
A double fear of God. 293.  
The strongest forts have but a time of standing, as they had of building. 72.  
How the flesh is to be loved, how to be hated. 78.  
God is always to be feared. 83.  
virtue is true freedom. 365.  
The flesh must not be suffered to reign. 365.  
The fear of Gods wrath is profitable to keep from sin. 138.  
A fool knows not what he would say. 380. 382.  
It is folly to seek after high matters, and not to know plain things. 383.  
excess in food is to be shunned. 389.  
Delicate feeding is condemned. 176.  
Courser feeding maketh stronger and healthier. 177.  
Concerning the feet of man. 428.  
Great is the pleasing of flattery. 194.  
Formality of Religion is not regarded by God. 128.  
Full feeding is the cause of lust. 135.  
The King himself is servant to the field. 141.  
Flatterers are but as thorns. 195.  
The fear of God is the cause of goodness. 222.  
The world is full of fools. 337.  
A fools heart is at his left hand. 353.  
A fool doth not perfect what he beginneth. 355.  
A fool shows his folly easily. 355.  
virtue giveth freedom. 365.  
The flesh must not rule the spirit 365.  
Feasting spendeth money. 393.  
Many kinds of fear. 454.  
The godly are few in number. 243.    

G  

WHat a generation is. 8.  
As we are born of God, and come from him, so we are received by him. 13.  
That is good which is always so. 32.  
The vanity of gardens. 35. 36.  
God is good to the good 65.  
God doth not give to the wicked. 65.  
There is a fit time for planting goodness, and for pulling up the weeds of sin out of the soul. 63.  
Of glorying in doing evil. 64.  
Wee must be joined to God. 76.  
Man cannot find out the works of God. 304.  
God is always to be sought. 74.  
A man must do good with that which he hath. 83.  
Why God suffereth confusion in the world. 92.  
The hurt of proud government. 125.  
God remembreth not the wicked. 319.  
Wee know little of God. 129.  
Wee must take heed how we speak of God. 129.  
It is the grace of God whereby wee can do any thing. 333.  
The glorious are sometime made miserable. 122.  
God will be sought by man. 92.  
God for good cause suffereth the wicked to prevail. 140.  
What is given to God, is to the benefit of him that giveth it. 134.  
God must be honoured with his gifts bestowed upon us. 160.  
All good things are from God. 159.  
God giveth us power to enjoy what wee have. 159.  
Gluttony is condemned. 178.  
A wise man is grave in his carriage. 193.  
God is above mans reach. 181.  
A gift easily corrupteth. 198. 199.  
God is just in all his ways. 210.  
Gods works are perfect. 211.  
God alone is a citizen. 339.  
Gluttony is a shane in Princes. 388.  
All things are by Gods disposing. 80.    

H  

HEalth is needful for the enjoying of the things of this life. 83.  
There must be a careful hearing of Gods word. 128.  
Humility is the place of good men. 359.  
How a wise mans heart is at his right hand. 353.  
A wise man is all right hand. 353.  
What is to be hated. 320.  
Hatred is hardly removed. 320. 327.  
Humility is to be learned from the fading of worldly things. 19.  
greatness is that which man desireth. 41.  
Whether the heart or head be the chief residence of the soul. 275. 276.  
What is the happiness of man. 187.  
Concerning the heart. 437.  
What hatred is. 77.  
God honoureth the virtuous, though man do not. 363.  
Husbandry is to be preferred before other wealth. 143.  
heretics are wanderers out of the way. 383.  
The help of others is to be sought. 384.  
Great is the sorrow of hell. 319.  
The sorrow of hell is to be prevented. 319.  
What the hands are, and how keepers. 427.  
A man and his heart must go together. 236.    

I  

IMmortality is not to be had in this life. 284.  
The day of judgement will be terrible. 296.  
Justice hath a set time for k lling and for healing. 70.  
God is an excellent Judge. 289.  
The consideration of the last judgement is most profitable. 289.  
Justice must be first in the Judge. 90.  
God doth even now judge the world.  
There is a double judgement. 91.  
wickedness is in the place where justice should be. 90.  
Great is the hurt of not acknowledging infirmities in men. 350.  
Men judge of others by themselves. 356.  
The day of judgement proved. 314.  
Great is the hurt of forgetting the day of judgement. 318.  
Great is the benefit of industry. 371.  
A fool thinketh his ignorance to bee knowledge. 381.  
The ignorance of what is to come maketh the life of man wretched. 381.  
A fool will not bee instructed. 380.  
Inequality in estates is beneficial. 243.  
The day of judgement is not to be forgotten. 417.  
Concerning the jaw-teeth. 429.  
Iniquity is great vanity. 109.  
Great is mans ignorance concernings things to come. 184.  
A man must not deserve to be ill spoken of. 198.  
Impatiency is pride. 201.  
Justice must be without riged severity. 217.  
Judgement belongeth to God. 455.  
It is good to set ourselves before the judgement seat, before the time come. 456.  
Our goodness shall be judged as well as our sins. 456.  
Every small thing shall be judged. 456.    

K  

A King hath but a time of standing. 123.  
The Sun an emblem of a King. 123.  
Knowledge is hardly gotten. 13.  
Knowledge is delightful. 14.  
knowledge is a vexation of spirit. 26.  
Increase of knowledge increaseth sorrow. 26. 27.  
Knowledge maketh a man angry at his own badness. 27.  
Obedience is due to Kings, because God commandeth it. 269.  
It is not good to thrust into the Kings service. 270.  
A Kings pleasure is not to be resisted. 271.  
Kings are not to be resisted violently. 272.  
There is great power in a Kings words. 272.  
Kings and Governours are not to be reproved by their inferiors. 273. 274.  
Kings must hear Gods reproof, who are not to be reproved by inferiors. 274.  
The Hebrewes were the first attainers of knowledge. 40.  
How some take delight in the study of human learning. 27. 28.  
The commandements of Kings are to be kept. 268.  
God is the Judge of Kings. 273.  
A good man will not speak evil of the King. 275.  
Kings may be reproved, but with wisdom. 276.  
Worldly knowledge is blindness. 48.  
Kings by ill ruling hurt themselves. 286.  
The name of a King importeth ruling well. 286.  
A land is happy in a King of noble descent, and virtuous life. 385. 387.  
A King childish in wisdom, is a great misery to a land. 385.  
A King a child in years is sometimes not always a misery to a land. 385.  
Great reverence and respect is due to a king. 395.  
Ill speaking in secrecy against a King is revealed. 395. 396.  
Knowledge must have doing joined with it. 471.  
known things give light to things unknown. 242.    

L  

HOw love and hatred are in God. 309.  
The love of man is not to be set upon worldly things. 74.  
What love is. 77. 319.  
Mans life is a continual dying. 95.  
The labour of man in worldly things is to no benefit. 7. 60.  
Labour for eternal things is indeed beneficial. 7. 8.  
Labour is inflicted upon man as a punishment of curiosity. 21.  
Labour is blessed by God. 21.  
Laughter is a madness, if indecently used. 30.  
The difference of laughter and mirth. 29.  
The praise of light. 47, 48. 413.  
Nothing in mans life, in this world to cause love. 52. 53. 54.  
It is a vanity to think that the dead have profit from the labour of the living. 58.  
The labour is ill bestowed which cometh to them who make no use of it. 59.  
In this life first good then evil, in respect of the next life, first evil then good. 68.  
The shorter the life of the wicked is, the less is their punishment. 295. 238.  
The wicked shall not find good in the next life. 295.  
Long life is in the next life. 296.  
In the next life God righteth things. 296.  
The next life is joyous to the godly. 293.  
Many and great are the miseries of mans life. 169. 173. 101.  
The labour of fools is fruitless. 84.  
The poor labourer sleepeth quietly. 147.  
An active and contemplative life are to be joined together. 402.  
It is God who lengtheneth the life of man. 158.  
This life is not to be desired. 443.  
Labour causeth sweet sleep. 146.  
Untimely birth is better then a wicked life. 168.  
The law of God is the rule of mans life. 221.  
Concerning the liver of mans body. 438.  
There is a time for love, and a time for hatred. 77.  
The like is to be expected, as man doth. 230.  
Lust is the cause of many and great evils. 238.    

M  

MAn is more vain then the sun. 10.  
The memory of things is vanity. 17. 18.  
Pleasure and mirth are unprofitable. 30.  
Great is the delight and excellency of music. 40.  
The memory of the wise as well as of the foolish is lost. 51.  
Why good things and bad are mixed in this world. 71.  
Great is the misery of those who have riches, and enjoy not the use of them. 83. 84.  
Meditation must have practise joined with it. 302.  
The honour of marriage. 329.  
The care of marriage. 329.  
The miserable are sometimes made glorious. 121.  
Man is but as a beast. 93.  
Man is born and death as a beast. 94.  
A fools mouth quickly sheweth his folly. 378.  
The mouth of the wise and righteous man giveth light. 376.  
Great hurt is from the mouth. 25. 276.  
The misery of this life is to be shunned, but not much to be cared for. 152.  
The power of money is great with fools. 324.  
Misery is common to man. 165.  
The forming of man in the womb is wonderful. 407.  
Mirth is hardly ruled by reason. 419.  
The mirth of fools is to themselves only. 193.  
The mouth easily falleth into sin. 136.  
Man knoweth not what is good for himself. 183.  
The miseries of this life are for the good of Gods servants. 184.  
The house of mourning is better then the house of jollity. 189.  
The mirth of fools is vain. 195.  
How far a minister may speak of his own experience. 215.  
The malice of the wicked against the righteous. 215. 216.  
Moderation is needful in all things. 217.  
The mean is to be observed. 221.  
A Ministers words are not regarded. 345.  
A loud crying in Ministers is not good. 346.  
The lives of Ministers must speak as well as their tongues. 346.  
Money prevaileth in all things. 393.  
The memory of man is an excellent gift. 422.  
That is a good memory which remembreth good things. 422.  
Man is but dust. 439.  
The two parts of a spiritual man. 454.  
godliness is that which maketh a man. 455. 247.  
The misery of this life is to humble man. 80.  
It is a madness that maketh the things of this world to be so highly esteemed. 237.  
Man was made perfect, and uprigt by God. 245. 246.  
Man had the uprightness of grace at the instant of his creation. 245. 246.    

N  

NOvelty of things not to be desired. 16.  
Nothing is new. 16.  
New things are to be sought in heaven. 15.  
That which cannot be numbered, is not. 25.  
nakedness at first a benefit to man. 142.  
The nakedness that is from sin, a happiness to man. 152.  
A good name from virtue is precious. 187.  
A worldly name is vain. 187.    

O  

A Crooked thing must be made strait before it can have ornament. 23.  
When an oath began. 269.  
When the oath of subjects began. 269.  
An oath is to be kept. 270. 269.  
How an oath is to bee taken. 270.  
The breaking of an oath punished. 271.  
How carefully an oath is to be shunned. 311.  
Occasion of sinning is to be shunned. 368.  
The oppression of the innocent is common in the world. 100.  
oppressors are in the world supported, not the oppressed. 100.  
No marvel that the wicked opresse the godly. 139.  
oppressors are themselves oppressed by others. 140.  
Old age is obstinate in sinning. 426.  
Great is the wretchedness of old age. 414. 423.  
Old age is unfit for virtues yoke. 144.  
In oppression look to the end. 200.  
Old age signified by the Almond three. 434.  
In old age the taste faileth. 434. 435.  
Oppression is grievous to a wise man. 197.  
Wee must not destroy ourselves. 218.  
Many are the evils of old age. 424. 425.  
A good life must make old age comfortable. 436.    

P  

THere is no profit in worldly things. 6. 7.  
Why the book is called the book of the Preacher. 3. 4.  
Great is the vanity of man in passing away. 9.  
Pleasure is not the Preachers meaning. 1.  
Patience is taught us. 17.  
Pride still swelleth greater. 24.  
Worldly pleasure is wholly for itself. 35.  
To persist in evil is devilish. 271.  
Good things want not the praise of others. 47.  
The method of the Kings pleasure. 37.  
It is a punishment not to be punished. 293.  
The patience of God himself is needful for man. 292.  
Gods patience to sinners sheweth his goodness to the godly. 292.  
Gods delaying punishment makes it the greater when it cometh. 280. 291.  
Great is Gods patience whereby he winneth souls. 290.  
Whether the Preacher speaketh often in the person of others. 299.  
God planteth and plucketh up in man. 69.  
Gods patience expecteth amendment. 289.  
Man liketh the times of prosperity, but not of adversity. 81.  
The Papists err in expounding the Scriptures. 309.  
Those things which a man possesseth, are not his own. 74.  
The difference of Gods providence over the good and bad. 313.  
The hurt of pleasure. 313.  
In prayer wee must speak distinctly. 129.  
In prayer heart and mouth must be joined. 129.  
What it is to be hasty in prayer. 129. 130.  
The glory of God must make us reverend in Prayer. 130.  
Our own frailty must make us reverend in prayer. 130.  
Few words are to be used in prayer. 130.  
Length of prayer is not to be condemned absolutely. 130.  
In Gods providence nothing is wanting. 332.  
Man is subject to error in preferring to honour the unworthy. 361.  
Care must be had to prefer the worthy. 361.  
Promises and vows are to be kept. 137.  
The unworthy preferred in dignity, are hurt by it. 371.  
Sin is the punishment of sinners. 382  
The study of Philosophy is not the way to find the truth. 383.  
A Preacher flattering the people is to be blamed. 394.  
Princes given to pleasure, or prey, or profit, or intemperancy, are a misery to a land. 386.  
Princes have quick ears. 396.  
Gods providence is to be relied on. 161.  
We must take heed that the pleasures of this life do not hinder our journey to heaven. 164.  
The word of God is to be preached, though it be opposed. 407.  
The persecution of evil men is not to be feared. 407.  
A Preacher must be always learning what to teach. 175.  
Great is the force of prayer in society. 118.  
Parents must not cause their children to sin. 136.  
Patience must continue to the end. 201.  
There must be a proceeding in goodness. 205.  
All our protection in this life is but a shadow. 209.  
Gods pleasure must make us patient. 210.  
Prosperity maketh God to be forgotten. 213.  
The wicked are taken away in the midst of their prosperity. 220.  
Objections against Gods Providence are answered. 303.  
The ways of Gods providence cannot be found out. 305.  
virtue in a poor man is not regarded. 342.  
The honour of a Preacher. 442.  
seasonableness is required in Preaching. 445.  
Preachers must speak to the understanding of the hearers. 445.  
Order in preaching to be observed. 446.  
A Preacher must make his words acceptable. 447.  
A Preacher must seek the good, not the applause of his hearers. 448.  
A Preacher must be angry with sin, not with the sinners. 448.  
One faithful Preacher is better sometimes then many. 457.  
The words of Preachers must prick rather then please. 449.    

Q  

QUietnesse a great comfort. 107.    

R  

WHat a reward properly is. 311.  
A freeness of reproving is commended. 316.  
The rebellion of people against their King is noted. 122.  
Man hath no return when once gone. 11.  
Man must return by repentance. 12.  
Man more vain then the rivers. 12.  
The vanity of those who think to do some great thing thereby to be remembered. 18.  
The resurrection shall blot out all remembrance of evil things. 18.  
The resurrection shall restore things to that perfection which at first they had. 16.  
There is a recourse of the same things in all things. 15. 16.  
Gold and silver are the worst riches. 39.  
In reproving the time and manner are carefully to be observed. 276.  
A close reproving is commended. 277.  
There is no certain substance in worldly riches. 61.  
It is good for man to rejoice in his works. 97.  
virtue is true riches. 363.  
The righteous are oprressed for their good. 139.  
A readiness for God is always required. 326.  
Riches good if well used. 149.  
The rich stand in need of the poor. 403.  
God would have us to expect a large reward from him. 399.  
The life of the rich is suddenly taken away. 166.  
There is no rest in this world. 171. 172.  
reproof is rather to be heard then flattery. 194.  
reproof is to be used wisely. 199.  
The rich refuse instruction. 120.  
Riches being gotten, are more loved then not gotten. 144.  
Riches do not satisfy the desire of man. 144.  
Great riches require many to look after them. 146.  
Riches kept covetously hurt the owners. 150. 151.  
Riches the cause of licentiousness. 182. 183.  
Riches well ordered are beneficial. 207.  
Riches must not possess the heart. 209.  
The righteous perishing, are better then the wicked living. 216.  
Right is not to be stood upon too exactly. 217.  
How temporal blessings are a reward. 311. 312.  
The world accounteth rich men to be wise men. 341.  
Repentance is no easy thing. 373.  
reproof must be soft and mildred. 453.  
The reckonings that man maketh are false. 246.    

S  

STudy must be joined to practise in preaching. 12. 13.  
There is no satisfaction in worldly things. 22.  
The house of the soul is to be built carefully. 34.  
The meaning of the phrase under the sun. 44.  
Against the needless multitude of servants. 38. 39.  
The vanity of many servants. 308.  
Against the buying of servants. 38.  
Under the Sun all things are vain. 285.  
The vanity of successors. 58. 59.  
Seasonablenes maketh that good which in itself is not. 67.  
The life of the wicked is not as a shadow. 296.  
Sinners do not consider themselves to be men. 296.  
The best while they continue on the earth have sins. 297.  
This world is a time of sorrowing. 72  
The spiritual stones of the mind are meditations. 72.  
society which at sometimes is comfortable, at other times is not. 75.  
Silence is first to be learned. 75.  
The great praise of silence. 75.  
A spiritual sowing. 76.  
The loss of sin is a gain. 74.  
The immortality of the soul proved. 97. 318.  
softness of carriage easeth great offences. 358.  
The success of things is not in mans abilities. 332.  
several kinds of spirits. 94.  
The knowledge concerning mans soul is from God. 96.  
A schism is not to be made hastily. 370.  
The mischief of sloth. 106.  
Sufficiency with quietness is better then much with trouble. 107.  
rashness in speaking is to be shunned. 137.  
Silver doth not satisfy the desire. 143.  
A talker is commonly a slanderer. 374.  
A slanderer and a serpent are alike many ways. 374.  
Sin is not easily returned from. 384.  
An estate decayeth by slothful carelessness. 390.  
slothfulness destroyeth the estate of virtue. 391.  
slothfulness destroyeth by little and little, but at length bringeth great mischief. 391.  
Small sins are to be shunned. 392. 241.  
Secrecy in this world is not to be trusted unto. 396.  
Comfortable is the light of the Sun of righteousness. 171. 414.  
satiety in goodness, is a sign of emptiness. 177.  
The sense of Scripture is to be looked unto. 416.  
There are many shepherds that burt their flock. 451.  
Study is to be employed upon the best things. 451.  
shortness in speech is commended. 451.  
Society is needful for man. 112.  
Great is the benefit of Society. 113. 114.  
solitariness is sometimes good. 113  
Society is not preserved without care. 113.  
Solitariness is hurtful. 114.  
Society in misery is a great ease. 115  
society in prosperity is useful. 116.  
Great is the strength of society. 118.  
Sensuality is uncomely for a man. 157.  
New sustenance is still needful for man. 157.  
Slander is not much to be regarded. 198. 227. 228.  
Great sins are chiefly to be shunned. 219.  
sin is a great folly. 219.  
Small sins are to be shunned carefully. 222. 223.  
No man upon earth is without sin. 225. 226.  
Men are strangers in this world. 339.  
Sinners think others who are not like themselves to be fools. 357.  
Sin maketh men to be servants. 364.  
Concerning the sense of smelling, and the nose. 431.  
The soul is given by God. 441.  
They who are instructed and taught, are called Sons. 452.  
He that speaketh ill of others, is spoken ill of by others. 230, 231.    

T  

THe theft of the Philosophers out of the Scriptures. 8.  
How time is considered in the doing of things. 8.  
A fit time is to be observed. 279.  
A time there is for every purpose. 278.  
Many are in tranquillity good, who in trouble are not found so. 287.  
The application of the several times mentioned by the Preacher, by the Jews to themselves. 68.  
Every thing hath but a time. 67.  
The just suffer trouble upon the earth. 297.  
Tears are the blood of the wounds of the soul. 71.  
There is a time to be born, and a time to die. 69.  
There is a time of speaking, and a time of silence. 76.  
What is done in due time is well done. 81.  
The purposes and thoughts of men shall be judged. 91.  
Wee must work while we have time. 330. 334.  
The ignorance of man in not knowing his time, is more then of beasts. 334.  
Truth is known from God. 96.  
Tale-bearers are about Princes. 396.  
Both the testaments are to be received. 412. 402.  
To teach well, and not to live well doth the teacher no good. 166.  
Concerning the teeth. 429.  
Whether the teeth are bones or no. 429.  
A teacher must get knowledge before he teacheth. 444.  
He that hath abilities to teach, must use them. 444.  
The present times are not to be exclaimed against. 204.  
The care of tillage is an honour to a King. 142.  
The tillage of mans body is a good spiritual husbandry. 142.  
Wee must be thankful in prosperity. 212.  
The teaching of truth must be joined with the pressing of virtue. 449.  
Truth is contained within a certain end. 452.    

U  

several kinds of vanity. 5.  
What vanity is. 6.  
How all things are vanity. 6.  
voluptuousness is contrary to reason. 31.  
voluptuousness and understanding are hardly joined together. 31.  
voluptuousness is the desire of some. 62.  
Voluptuous men seek present contentment. 330.  
Vows are to be paid speedily. 134.  
Vowing is better then not vowing. 134.  
Virginity is praised. 325. 326.  
The voluptuous feeder cannot sleep quietly. 147.  
rashness in vowing is to be shunned. 133.  
Vows belong to God only. 133.  
The paying of vows is not to be delayed. 133.  
vows must be performed. 135.  
God taketh notice of vows. 136.  
The spiritual vineyard of a religious man is kept carefully. 146.  
virtue is sought for by few. 354.  
Vanity is not to be loved. 442.  
Vanity must not be laboured for. 443.  
There is no true virtue but where is the knowledge of Christ. 237.    

w  

MAn is more vain then the wind. 11.  
They are good words that are to be regarded. 14.  
The eternal Word is not to be expressed. 14.  
always to be in want is a great misery. 14.  
The greatness of man is to despise the great things of the world. 33.  
The vanity of man in making his works great. 33.  
human wisdom is vain. 26.  
The hurt of taking delight in wine. 34.  
This world is but a garden of flowers. 36.  
The great wisdom of Solomon. 25.  
Worldly delights hinder wisdom. 42.  
Worldly things are empty of all true good. 44.  
wisdom giveth boldness, though not impudence. 267.  
The difference of wisdom, madness, folly. 46.  
human wisdom hath more error then truth in it. 46.  
The way to see folly, is first to see wisdom. 46.  
None can judge of wisdom, but a lover of wisdom. 266.  
A wise man understandeth what things speak. 266.  
wisdom is hard to be attained. 265  
The excellency of a wise man. 265.  
How a wise man hath his eyes in his head. 48.  
A wise man meditateth heavenly things. 48.  
shameful is the unwearied desire of worldly things. 57.  
The trouble of worldly things. 53.  
It is hard for a wise man to yield to worldly pleasures. 54.  
The misery of worldly things in respect of successors. 54. 55.  
Worldly things are unworthy of wisedoms care. 58.  
He that doth well careth not for evil. 278.  
wisdom looketh into the causes of things. 59.  
A wise man marketh all circumstances in what he doth. 59.  
Man cannot find out the works of God. 82. 305.  
Wise and righteous men are joined together. 308.  
All wickedness is under the Sun. 80.  
The good use of the winds. 302.  
wisdom is most requisite in affairs. 349.  
A small spot blemisheth a wise man. 350.  
Wine maketh cheerful. 322.  
The benefit of a wife. 327.  
The love that ought to be to a wife. 327.  
To what end a wife was given to man. 328. 329.  
vain is the comfort of a wife. 329.  
No working after death. 330.  
The works belonging to man are the works of virtue. 97.  
Better not to be, then to be wicked. 102.  
Worldly things unworthy of mans labour. 370.  
wisdom rectifieth what is amiss. 32.  
The mischief of worldly contentment. 106.  
wickedness grows apace. 379.  
Wicked people are wanderers out of the way. 383.  
The things of the world are not so much to be desired, as things to come. 387.  
Worldly things are to be disesteemed by us. 154.  
Worldly things are but wind. 154.  
Worldly blessings are lesser good things. 160.  
Some care, though not a solicitous care is to be had for worldly things. 160.  
God giveth worldly things. 165.  
Worldlings are all for themselves. 165.  
The things of this world enjoyed are good. 158.  
It is good to enjoy the good of the things of this world. 158.  
A mans good works only are his own. 410.  
Our good works are to be done early. 426.  
The words of the wise are precious and rich ornaments. 450.  
The wicked go into darkness. 170.  
Great is the wickedness of man. 180.  
The wickedness of man maketh him miserable. 180.  
Wealth by wisdom is well used. 206.  
Wealth by wisdom findeth heaven. 207.  
Wealth needeth wisdom to direct it.  
wisdom is a defence against the troubles of this life. 208.  
wisdom giveth life. 269.  
The wicked are fed for slaughter. 210.  
Wee must not be over-wise. 218.  
wisdom is better then strength. 223. 343.  
Great is the strength of wisdom. 223.  
Godly wisdom is stronger then worldly wisdom. 223.  
wickedness cannot be wise. 224. 225.  
The things of this world are common to the wicked and righteous. 309. 310.  
What wisdom is. 337.  
wisdom is from God. 338.  
Great is the excellency of wisdom. 338.  
A wise man doth not esteem his own wisdom great. 339.  
The words of the wise are sooner heard then the words of fools. 348.  
There is no virtue without wisdom. 348.  
A little folly is great wisdom. 352.  
A wise mans heart is at his right hand. 353.  
The words of the wise are ornaments to their hearers. 449. 450.  
wisdom sheweth a man unto himself. 231.  
wisdom sheweth the want of wisdom. 231.  
wisdom is hard to be atained. 231. 233.  
Divine wisdom is above mans reach. 233. 234.  
Divine wisdom is here in part attained. 235.  
There is a threefold wisdom. 235.  
wisdom is gotten by pains and diligence. 236. 237.  
Women are the devils snare, whereby he intrappeth men. 238.  
Women are full of deceit in ensnaring. 239.  
Women cannot do hurt, unless men yield unto them. 239.  
They that fear God are delivered from naughty women. 239. 240.  
The badness of women. 244.  
There are many good women, though too many bad. 244.  
The weakness of women must make them careful in looking to themselves. 244.    

Y  

THe pleasures of youth are vain. 420.  
There is an youth of godliness. 416.  
Youth is unruly. 417.  
God must be served in youth. 423.     

A Table of most of those places of Scripture which by occasion in this book are explained or illustrated.  
Chap. Ver. Fol. Genes. 2. 7. 439. 2. 17. 190. 2. 24. 327. 4. 8. 215. 8. 11. 376. 9. 18. 73. 15. 1. 103. 15. 15. 423. 18. 6, 7. 38. 146. 25. 23. 344. 28. 12. 446. 28. 13. 378. 28. 16. 128. 31. 27. 207. 32. 29. 187. 35. 9. 378. 37. 33. 104 42. 13. 414. 45. 9.& 11. 84. 46. 4. 168. 48. 15.& 16. 84. 49. 23. 103. Exod. 1. 21. 311. 3. 5. 126. 3. 9. 87. 8. 8, 213. 17. 5.& 6. 159. 21. 33. 445. 32. 4. 221. 32. 17.& 18. 356. 34. 5. 265. 34. 9. 291. Levit. 1. 3. 349. 1. 6.& 9. 323. 11. 18. 324. 19. 23. 338. Numb. 6. 3.& 4. 368. 27. 16. 361. Deuter. 19. 19.& 21. 231. 21. 12. 393. Josh. 1. 18. 272. judge. 9. 18. 388. 1. Sam. 6. 19. 395. 10. 2. 414. 10. 5. 381. 10. 23, 123. 14. 7. 272. 17. 43. 281. 18. 1. 270. 24. 4. 85. 2 Sam. 1. 15. 57. 6. 7. 273. 7. 21. 271.& 280. 1. King. 10. 18. 89. 2. King. 2. 12. 286. 14. 8. 407. Job. 1. 3. 146. 1. 10. 209. 1. 11. 206. 1. 21. 152. 3. 3. 102. 6. 8. 157. 8. 21. 196. 14. 1. 173. 15. 15.& 16. 180. 18. 10. 221. 19. 2. 293. 20. 14. 129. 26. 8. 445. 28. 20. 223. 28. 21. 235. Psal. 1. 2. 302. 1. 6. 275. 5. 8. 225. 7. 11. 291. 8. 6.& 8. 154. 9. 9. 279. 18. 5. 44. 18. 10. 234. 20. 7. 246. 31. 14.& 15. 334. 36. 25.& 26. 406. 38. 6. 50. 47. 2. 286. 49. 11. 187. 50. 14. 134. 53. 3. 216. 55. 9.& 10. 283. 69. 2. 109. 73. 22. 93. 73. 28. 311. 74. 9. 280. 78. 48. 94. 90. 11. 419. 92. 15. 247. 92. 132. 298. 95. 4. 165. 100. 2. 300. 101. 1. 330. 102. 1. 296. 105. 22. 364. 112. 9. 311. 127. 2. 63. 145. 2. 301. 147. 5. 245. Prov. 1. 7. 454. 5. 8.& 9. 239. 17. 24. 292. 20. 10. 219. Cantic. 1. 6. 371. 2. 16. 212. 5. 3. 297. 6. 13. 12. Isai. 6. 2. 234. 28. 15. 283. 28. 17. 418. 32. 5. 378. 52. 10. 218. Jerem. 12. 13. 212. 13. 7.& 9. 68. 18. 2. 189. 22. 19. 167. 23. 29. 449. Lament. 3. 27. 424. Ezek. 1. 16. 17. 1. 28. 234. 3. 16& 17. 444. 32. 27. 320. 41. 18.& 19. 295. Daniel. 2. 13. 208. 3. 17. 118. 4. 10.& 12. 396. 4. 26. 20. 5. 27. 109. 7. 9. 210. Hosea. 4. 8. 448. 10. 11. 379. Zeph. 1. 14. 216. Zechar. 6. 3.& 4. 158. 11. 15. 367. Malac. 1. 14. 404. Matth. 5. 9. 376. 5. 33. 269. 5. 39. 353. 6. 6. 177. 6. 22. 42. 8. 29. 281. 11. 29. 349. 18. 34. 230. 19. 27. 143. 24. 29. 269. 24. 30. 419. 26. 64. 204. 27. 11. 204. Mark. 7. 34. 377. 8. 24. 41. 9. 5.& 6. 157. 16. 1. 401. 16. 15. 180. Luke. 1. 57. 215. 2. 29. 101. 5. 3. 272. 6. 30. 406. 10. 34. 332. 6. 30. 406. 10. 34. 332. 12. 18. 41. 12. 19. 165. 12. 20. 147.& 166. 13. 28. 105. 19. 20. 369. 21. 9. 100. 21. 28. 83. 24. 30.& 31. 415. John. 8. 22.& 23. 395. 12. 35. 205. 18 4. 87. acts. 1. 11. 293. 1. 15.& 23. 120. 6. 10. 223. 9. 3. 451. 9. 6. 384. 15. 32, 450. Rom. 2. 4. 289. 4. 17. 87. 5. 21. 317. 8. 22. 387. 12. 11. 279. 13. 14. 78. 1. Cor. 7. 31. 63. 13. 11. 304. 15. 46. 68. 2. Cor. 2. 15. 320. 7. 11. 27. 11. 29. 116. 12. 2. 395. Galat. 2. 9.& 10. 401. Ephes. 3. 18. 234. 4. 20. 203. 5. 29. 78. 5. 16. 331. 6. 15. 127. 1. Tim. 5. 17. 14. 9. 9. 362. 6. 16. 235. 6. 17. 207. 2. Tim. 4. 2. 445. James. 1. 5. 338. 2. 10. 349. 1. Pet. 2. 21. 213. 4. 4. 37. 1. Joh. 3. 12.& 13. 139. Revel. 8. 3. 397. 10. 3.& 4. 419.   Apocr.   Wisd. 19. 1. 87. Eccle. 3. 26. 369.  
FINIS.