shall be abolished; because man goeth to the grave, his long home, and the mourners 6*go about the streets: before the silver cord, or spinal marrow, be loosed, deprived of feeling and motion, and the golden bowl be broken, that is, before the head, with its organs, ceases to perform its functions, and the pitcher, or heart, be shattered at the fountain, and the wheels, or lungs, the organs of respiration, 7 broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

8

SECT. XXXIII.-THE CONCLUSION.

The result of the whole disquisition is briefly as follows: With respect to the Chief Good of man, the things of this world are vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all [is] vanity, being incapable of rendering him happy, and of securing his highest interest. This was demonstrated in the first part of this discourse, and it deserves serious attention, because it is the conclusion of one who was endued with 9 wisdom from above. And moreover, because the Preacher, who came to this conclusion, was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, both by speech and writing; yea he gave good heed, and sought out, [and] set in order many 10*proverbs. The Preacher, in these endeavours

to instruct his subjects, sought to find out acceptable words, and to write down properly the words of truth. Such sayings form the 11*mind to virtue, for the words of the wise, men

inspired of God, [are] as stimulating and quickening to the mind as goads are to sluggish oxen, and, like nails, are deeply infixed in the heart that receives them: the collectors, who arranged the words of the inspired writers in the sacred canon, have published them as proceeding from the inspiration of one Shepherd, 12 namely, God. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books, on the subjects of this discourse, [there is] no end: and too much study, of human compositions, [is] a weariness of the flesh, and impairs the health.

13

Let us hear, also, the conclusion of the whole matter contained in the second part of this discourse; and if, as has been demonstrated, Wisdom is the only substantial good, then fear God, and keep his commandments; for this [is] the whole [duty] of man, and will con14 stitute his Supreme Good. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.

Y

END OF THE PARAPHRASE.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

CHAPTER I.

VERSE 1. king in Jerusalem]—The authorized version is "king of Jerusalem;" but, as Dr. Bernard Hodgson observes, "it is as improper to call Solomon, king of Jerusalem, as it would be to call the king of Great Britain, king of London, Jerusalem being only the metropolis of Israel, where Solomon resided."(New Translation of Ecclesiastes, note in loc.) Though this remark is correct, I cannot agree with Boothroyd in approving the same writer's rendering" who reigned at Jerusalem,” taking for the Part. Ben. The original literally signifies "king in, or at Jerusalem."

2. vanity of vanities]—A well-known Hebrew superlative, i.e. the greatest vanity. Some commentators understand it as an exclamation, "O, utter emptiness and vanity of all earthly things!" but the Preacher can scarcely be supposed to commence his disquisition in a manner so abrupt. The verse is to be considered as the proposition which the first part of the discourse is intended to illustrate; and, as it forms the basis of his argument, he not only states it once, in short and emphatic language,

but doubles and repeats it, in order to impress it upon the mind with greater force and energy.-See Prel. Diss. § iv. p. 68, and Critical Note (*.)

3. what profit, &c.]-Since we are placed in the world by a kind Providence, there is surely a profit in diligently exerting ourselves in the various occupations of life. Labour was enjoined upon man after the fall, (Gen. iii. 17,) and Solomon himself observes, that "in all labour there is profit," (Prov. xiv. 23;) consequently, since it is both necessary and a duty, it must, in some sense, be profitable. The observation, therefore, must be limited to the unprofitableness of all the worldly labour of man with respect to his Chief Good. It must be understood as asserting, not that the labours of man in the world are, in every respect, unprofitable, but only in this one respect, that they cannot form his Supreme Good. In this view they are unprofitable, because all the advantage they bring extends not beyond the grave, and because they have no tendency to advance a man in True Wisdom, which is the only substantial good. Propositions, though expressed in general terms, are often to be understood with certain restrictions.-See Prel. Diss. § v. p. 78.

— under the sun]—An expression often occurring in the Ecclesiastes, and denoting in this life, in this world. Some, refining upon it, without reason, consider it as denoting the state and condition of man on earth, opposed to his future and celestial state.(Michaelis, Not. Uber. in loc.) There is a paranomasia in the

* The л in n is emphatical, denoting the universality of the proposition. It is applied in the same manner in other places of this book, (ch. ii. 11, 17, iii. 19, xii. 8.) means any thing light and empty, "a thing quite insufficient and worthless, that soon vanishes away, like vapour or a bubble," as Taylor observes in his Concordance; and it cannot be better rendered than by the word "vanity."