'ONE EVENT TO ALL'

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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. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope for a living dog is better than a dead lion. True 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. Also their love, and their hatred, and their rivalry, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath long ago accepted these thy works. (?) Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth within thy power to do, that do for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

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Furthermore I 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. For man knoweth not even his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

This section deals mainly with the common and cheerless goal to which every man must travel. The moral is once more found in reasonable enjoyment, but also (as it would seem) in fruitful energy applied while there is yet time. Be active while you can. Here the author grazes a profound truth. There is happiness in activity even apart from its result, though a noble end sanctions and glorifies the activity. The familiar proverb, 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,' is not a quite accurate rendering of the original text.

§ 13. Wisdom and folly.-This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: 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 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. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of wise men heard in quiet

Are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war:

But one sinner destroyeth much good.

Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to stink and ferment:

So is a little folly weightier than wisdom and honour.

A wise man's heart is at his right hand;

But a fool's heart at his left.

Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his heart faileth him,

And he saith to every one that he is a fool.

He that diggeth a pit may fall into it;

And whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent may bite him. Whoso quarrieth stones may be hurt therewith;

And he that cleaveth wood may be endangered thereby.

If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge,
Then must he put forth more strength:
But wisdom is profitable to give success. (?)
If the serpent will bite without enchantment;
Then the charmer hath no profit.

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious;
But the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness:
And the end of his talk is mischievous madness.

In this section, somewhat closer to the manner of the earlier sages, we have divers maxims relative to the advantages or superiority of wisdom over folly. And yet with all its advantages how often is wisdom forgotten or ignored, and folly honoured and preferred!

§ 14. Maxims and observations about kings and rulers. If the anger of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place;

For yielding avoideth great offences.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun

As an error which proceedeth from the magistrate:

WORK AND VENTURE

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The burden-bearer is set in great dignity,

And the rich sit in low place.

I have seen servants upon horses,

And princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child,

And thy princes eat in the morning!

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 !

By much slothfulness the beam giveth way,

And through idleness of the hands rain droppeth through the house.

For merriment they make feasts, and wine maketh joyful : And money provideth all things.

Curse not the king among thine acquaintance;

And curse not the rich in thy bedchamber:

For a bird of the air shall carry the voice,

And that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

A short section about kings. The allusions are no longer apparent. I have ventured on a small transposition.

§ 15. Final counsels of doubtful meaning.

Cast thy bread upon the waters:

For thou shalt find it after many days.

Make seven portions, and also eight;

For thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth:

And if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow;

And he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind,

Even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

In the morning sow thy seed,

And in the evening withhold not thine hand:

For thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that,

Or whether they both shall be alike good.

And light is sweet,

And a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun : Yea, though a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all;

For let him remember that the days of darkness will be many.

All that cometh is vanity.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth;

And let thy heart cheer thee in the days 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.]

And remove sorrow from thy heart,

And put away trouble from thy flesh :

For youth like morning-time is a breath.

And remember thy Creator (?) in the days of thy youth, Before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh,

Of which thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, be darkened,

And the clouds return after the rain:

In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,

And the strong men bow themselves,

And the grinders cease because they are few,

And those that look out of the windows be darkened,

And the doors are shut towards the street,

And the sound of the grinding is low,

And the voice riseth into the voice of a bird,

And all the daughters of song are brought low.

They are afraid of a steep place,

And fears beset every way;

And the almond tree is in bloom,

And the grasshopper draggeth itself along,

And the caper-berry faileth:

Because man goeth to his eternal home, and the mourners

go about in the street:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be

broken,

Or the pitcher be shivered at the fountain, or the wheel broken into the pit:

YOUTH AND AGE

[And the dust returneth to the earth as it was: And the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.]

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

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The opening of the first paragraph is famous but enigmatic. It is usually understood to inculcate single-minded benevolence. Give succour widely; the recompense shall not fail, albeit perhaps after many days. But it may mean: venture boldly on this enterprise after that; though long delayed the profit will come at last. Nevertheless do not stake your all on one venture, but divide your eggs into many baskets. Though the future is uncertain, work notwithstanding. If you wait too long, nothing can be achieved. In the midst of your labour, or by means of it, get all the right enjoyment you can; for though there be many days of a man's life wherein he can rejoice, they are as nothing to the eternity of Sheol which will succeed them.

The second paragraph re-echoes the close of the first. Let the young man rejoice in his manhood before the days come when rejoicing will be impossible. The paragraph concludes with a long description of old age, gloomy and drawn out, yet not without a beauty of its own. It is much disputed whether the various details of the imagery have each of them an exact meaning. It seems probable that most of them have. According to Professor Cheyne, e. g., the keepers of the house' are the hands and arms, the strong men' are the feet and legs, the 'grinders' are the teeth, while those who look out of the window' are the eyes. Then the 'doors' are the lips, and the 'daughters of song' are the words. The bloom of the almond tree' is the white hair, while the next two are doubtful. The 'silver cord' is the tongue, the 'golden bowl' is the head, the 'pitcher' is the heart, and the 'wheel' is the breathing apparatus.

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Two important verses are supposed by some great scholars to be interpolations, and no less stoutly claimed as genuine by others. I have printed them in italics and enclosed them in brackets, for I myself incline to believe that they are additions of a later piety to the original text. The reader can see for himself how materially they modify these 'parting counsels,' and indeed the whole 'philosophy' of Koheleth if they be genuine.

I may also add that the line, And remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth,' in the connexion where it stands is exceedingly doubtful. Some scholars hold that the editor' has here not added but changed. They believe that 'Creator' was not the word originally written by the Preacher himself.

As the last verse reads now it seems intended to assert that