Jerome

In his own words on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:1

  "The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King in Jerusalem." The Scriptures state very clearly that Solomon was known by three names: 'Peace-making', that is 'Solomon'; 'Yedidia', that is 'beloved of Yahweh'; and the name used here 'Qoheleth', that is Ecclesiastes. He is called Ecclesiastes in Greek because he gathered together a crowd of people, "a congregation", which we can call a demagogue because he spoke to the people and his sermon was not addressed specifically to one man but more usually to all men. Moreover he is called 'peace-making' and 'beloved of Yahweh' because there was peace during his reign and the Lord loved him. For also Psalms 44, and 71, are known by titles connected with love and peace-making. Although these psalms pertain to Christ and the Church they exhibit Solomon's joy and strength, and according to tradition were composed concerning Solomon. He also produced an equal number of titles to the three volumes: "Proverbs", "Ecclesiastes", and "Song of Songs". He teaches for children in "Proverbs" and gives instruction in the form of maxims almost with a sense of duty, and his sermons here are repeated continually to his son. In "Ecclesiastes" he teaches a man of mature age that he should not think anything in the world to be perpetual, but that all things that we perceive are in fact vain and fleeting. In "Song of Songs" he embraces an elderly man in the covenant, who has already been prepared in spurning his times. For unless we first abandon our moral failings and renounce the pomposity of our world, and prepare ourselves so we are ready for the arrival of Christ, we will not be able to say: "let him kiss me from the kiss of his mouth" [Cant. 1,1.]. Philosophers educate their followers in a manner similar to this type of instruction: first of all they teach ethics, then explain physics, and then anyone whom they see to excel in these first two they then go on to teach theology. Moreover even this should be examined more closely because Solomon is named differently in the three books. In "Proverbs" for example he is thus named: "The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel." [Prov. 1,1.] But in Ecclesiastes: "The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King of Jerusalem. "'Israel' in fact is unnecessary here because it is not found in the Greek or Latin manuscripts. But in "Song of Songs" he is neither named 'son of David', not 'King of Israel' or 'King of Jerusalem', but only as "The Song of Songs of Solomon". This is just as the Proverbs and the crude arrangement pertain to the twelve tribes and to the whole of Israel. And although the contempt of the world only comes to city-dwellers, these are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, therefore Solomon intends "Song of Songs" particularly for those who desire spiritual enlightenment. To those readers just embarking on their education paternal honour and the authority of the king are claimed in their own merit, but to those who have completed their learning, and in the case where the disciple has been enlightened not by fear, but by love, his own name suffices. Then, he is equal to his teacher and he is unaware that he is a king. This is the case here. But in a more spiritual understanding Solomon was peace making and beloved of the Lord God, and Ecclesiastes can be seen as our Christ too, who destroying the inner wall and expelling evil from his flesh, makes each of them one, saying - "I give you my peace, I relinquish my peace to you" [John 14, 27.], about which the Lord says to his disciples "This is my chosen son whom I love: listen to him" [Matt. 3, 17.], and that is he who is father of the Church. Speaking by no means to the Synagogue of the Jews but to the crowd of people the King of Jerusalem (that which was built out of the living rocks, not that about which he says "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill prophets" [Matth. 23, 37.], and "Look, let your empty house be left for us" [Matth. 23, 38.]), but that by which it is forbidden to swear because it is the city of a great king. This is the son of David, to whom the blind cried out in the Gospel: "pity us, son of David"; and the whole crowd sang out in unison: "Hosanna to the son of David". Then there is the fact that the word of God does not come to him as is the case with Jeremiah and the other prophets, but on account of his being rich, being a king, holding power, his wisdom and his other virtues, he speaks to the men of the church himself, and he speaks words to the apostles about which Psalm 18.5 tells us: "their sound went out to the whole world and their words went to the ends of the earth". Some scholars think wrongly, therefore, that we are tempted into desire and luxury by this book, when it teaches quite to the contrary: everything we perceive in the world is vain; nor is it fitting for us to seek those things eagerly which perish while we possess them.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:1

  Solomon is here given the Greek name Ecclesiastes [Heb Qōhelet], for he gathers the assembly [qāhāl], that is, the church. But we can call him the Preacher because he speaks to the people and his word is directed not only to one person but to everyone.

  COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:1

• Ecclesiastes 1:2

  If everything that God made is very good, then how can everything be vanity—and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities? As one song in the Song of Songs is shown to excel above all songs, so also is the magnitude of vanity demonstrated by the expression "vanity of vanities."

  COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:2

• Ecclesiastes 1:2

  "Vanity of vanities" said Ecclesiastes", Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." If all things that God made are truly good then how can all things be considered vanity, and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities? Just as Song of Songs means a song that stands out from amongst all songs, so we see that in "vanity of vanities" the degree of vanity is shown. It is also written similarly in Psalm 38.6: "Nevertheless every living man is vanity." If living man is vanity then a dead man must be vanity of vanities. We read in Exodus that Moses' face is glorified so much that the children of Israel are not able to see him [Cfr Ex. 34, 30-35.]. Paul the apostle said that his glory was not really glory when compared to the glory of righteousness: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth." [II Cor. 3, 10.] We are therefore able to say that even we in this respect, heaven, earth, the seas and all things that are contained within its compass can be said to be good in themselves, but compared to God they are nothing. And if I look at the candle in a lamp and am content with its light, then afterwards when the sun has risen I cannot discern anymore what was once bright; I will also see the light of the stars by the light of the setting sun, so in looking at the world and the multitudinous varieties of nature I am amazed at the greatness of the world, but I also remember that all things will pass away and the world will grow old, and that only God is that which has always been. On account of this realisation I am compelled to say, not once but twice: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Instead of "vanity of vanities" the Hebrew text reads 'abal abalim' which all manuscripts excepting that of the Septuagint translate similarly in Greek as "atmos atmidon "or" atmon "which we are able to translate as 'a breath' and 'a light wind which is quickly dispersed'. In this way it is shown to be vain and in no way universal by this phrase. For those things which seem to be temporal, in fact are; but those which do not are eternal. Or since that which will give rise to vanity has been exposed, he groans and is anxious and awaits the revelation of the sons of God, and "now we know in part, and we prophesy in part" [I Cor. 13, 9.]. All things are and will be vain, until we find that which is complete and perfect.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:3

  "What profit is there for a man in exchange for all his toil, which he toils under the sun?" After the general opinion that all things are vain Solomon begins to explain with regard to mankind: because men exert themselves in vain in the toil of the world, amassing wealth, teaching children, working their way towards glory, constructing buildings, and then are taken away in the midst of their work by sudden death, they hear the words: "Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you, then whose will be those things that you have amassed?" [Luc. 12, 20.] Just as they make nothing for themselves in exchange for all this toil, so they return naked to the earth from whence they were taken.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:4

  "A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." While some men die, others are born, and those you had seen, are not seen anymore, and you then see those who have not been before. What is more vain than this vanity, than that the earth remains, which was made on account of mankind? And that man himself, the master of the earth, should be suddenly returned to the dust? Another meaning of this is: the first generation of Jews dies and a generation formed from all peoples takes its place; but the earth however will remain for so long as the Synagogue's influence slips away, and the Church becomes more powerful. For when it was predicted that the Gospel would be known all around the world, then, it was said, would be the end. When the end is approaching, it is true, the sky and the earth will pass away. Solomon very precisely does not say the earth remains "through the ages" [Hier.. "in saeculis"] but "through that age" [Hier.. "in saeculo"]. More precisely we praise the Lord not in one age, but throughout the ages.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:5

  "The sun rises and the sun sets, then it rushes to its place, where it rises again." The sun itself, which is given as light for mankind, shows the orbit of the world by its rising and it setting every day. After the sun has soaked its burning orb in the ocean, it returns by routes unknown to me to that place whence it had come; and when the period of night is over, it again bursts out quickly from its bed. In place of "rushes to its place" though, because we are following the Vulgate version, the Hebrew reads ""soeph"" which Aquila interpreted as "eispnei" in Greek, that is "pants [Hier.. "aspirat"]"; Symmachus and Theodotion write '"returns"' because the sun clearly turns around to its original place and it aspires to return there, from whence it had come earlier. But all of this is explained so that he can teach that with the passage of time and the rising and the setting of the stars man's age slips away and perishes, yet he does not know this for certain. Another meaning of this is: the sun of righteousness, in whose wings lies reason, rises from those who fear and sets midday in the false prophets. But when it has risen it takes us to its place. Where is that? Evidently it means to the Lord himself, for it happens that he raises us from the earth to heaven, saying, "when the son of man is lifted up, he will lift up all things to him". [John 12, 32.] Nor is it surprising that the son lifts up men to himself, when even the Lord himself lifts up to his son: "for no one", he says "comes to me except the Father, who sent me, draw him". [John 6, 44.] That sun therefore, which we have said sets for some and rises for other, and once set for Jacob the patriarch as he was leaving the Holy Land, rose again for him when he entered the promised land from Syria. When Lot too left Sodom and came to the city, which he was commanded to hasten to, he climbed a mountain and the sun came out above Segor [Cfr. Gen. 28, 11; 32, 31.].

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:6

  "It goes to the South and rotates to the North; turning, revolving, the wind goes and returns upon its circuits." From this we are able to believe that the sun approaches the meridian quarter in the time of winter, and in the summer is near to the Great Bear, and does not commence its movements in the equinox of autumn, but when the west wind is blowing in the time of spring, when all things give birth. But he actually says "turning, revolving, the wind goes and returns upon its circuits" as if he calls the sun itself a breath, like an animal that breathes and lives, completing its annual orbit in its course, just like the poet Vergil says: "Meanwhile the sun flies around the great year" [Aeneid 3.284] and elsewhere [Vergil Georg. 2. 402.] "and the year flies through its own footsteps" or that bright sphere of the moon and Titan's star: "The breath nourishes within: and the intelligence stirs the whole mass infused through the limbs, and mingles itself with the mighty body" [Vergil Aeneid, 6. 726-7.]. He is not speaking about the annual course of the sun, but its daily path. For it proceeds sidelong and towards the North, and thus turns to the East. Another meaning of this verse is: when the sun moves to the South it is closer to the Earth; when it moves to the North it is raised to higher orbits. Perhaps therefore it moves to those parts, which are compressed together by the cold of atmospheric disturbances, and of winter. Severe heat indeed blazes out from the North above the Earth, and that sun is closer to righteousness than those men who in fact live in the Northern region, and who are deprived of summer's heat. The sun then moves far away and turns by its circuits to the place whence it set out. For when it has subdued all things to it and illuminated all things with its rays, let there be the first restoration and "God may be all in all". [I Cor. 15, 28.] Symmachus interpreted this phrase saying, 'it goes to the meridian, and turns around to the North; turning the wind goes, and the wind returns by those routes by which it had come around'.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:7

  "All torrents flow into the sea but the sea is not filled. To the place from which the torrents come, there they return to go." Some men believe that the fresh waters that flow into the sea are either dried up by the burning sun above, or are feed for the salt-thirsty sea. Here our Ecclesiastes, the creator of the very waters, says that they return to the heads of the springs by means of hidden passages, and always boil out from their deep channels into their springs. The Hebrews believed that the rivers or sea had more significance in the metaphor of man, because they return to the earth, whence they originated. They are also called torrents not rivers because they flow that much more forcefully, yet the earth however is not filled with a great number of dead men. More precisely if we go down to the deeper parts, the turbid waters return to the sea where they used to remain. And unless I am mistaken, apart from the additions to the text, nowhere is the word 'torrent' found in a good context. For "you will drink those with the torrent of your desire" [Psalms 35, 9.], although "of desire" is written in an addition. On the contrary the Saviour was taken to the brook Cedron [John 18,1.], and Elisha at the time of persecution hid away in the brook of Chorat, which even dried up. But the sea is not filled up completely, in the same manner as the bloodthirsty daughters in Proverbs [Prov. 30, 15.].

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:8

  "All things are full of toil, man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing. "It is difficult to know not just about physics but also about ethics. And discourse is not able to explain the natural causes of things, nor to see those things that are hidden, (as the scope of this work demands); nor, once you have begun to learn is it possible to arrive at the greatest understanding by listening alone. For if we now look in the mirror in mystery and in part know and in part prophesy, consequently discourse will not be able to explain what it does not know; nor is the eye able to see where it is blind; nor are the ears filled by what they do not hear. At the same time this must be noted, that all words are wearying and are learnt with great difficulty, contrary to those who idly make prayers that an acquaintance with the Scriptures will come to them.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:9

  "The thing that has been, it is that which will be. And that which is done is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun." It seems to me that he now speaks generally about those things that he enumerated above: about generation after generation, the globe of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the course of rivers, the vastness of the ocean and all things which we learn either through thought or through sight or hearing, because there is nothing in nature that has not been before. For from the beginning of the world men have been born and have died, and the earth stood level above the waters and the sun lay in its origin. And lest I should go on to list more things, it is left to God as creator to fly with the birds, to swim with the fish, and walk with the creatures of the earth and slide with snakes. And the comic [Terence Eunuchus, prol. 41.] said something similar to this: "Nothing has been said, which has not been said before", about which my teacher Donatus, when he was lecturing about this verse, said: "Let them die, who have said our words before us." [Donatus Comm. in Terent. Eun.] Then if is possible to say nothing new in discourse, how great the creation of the world must have been, which has been complete right from the start, that God was able to rest from his work on the seventh day! Read also in another book: "If everything that is done under the sun has already been done is past centuries, and man was already made when the sun was made: then man existed before he came under the sun." [Origines peri Archon III 5, 3.] But he is excluded, because by this reasoning even packhorses, gnats, and each insect and large animal is said to have been made before the sky. Unless however he should reply that talking comes from the consequences of speaking not about other animals but about the man Ecclesiastes, for he says "there is nothing new under the sun about which one can say 'look this is new!' But he does not speak of animals but of man alone, because if he means animals to be new, then he refutes his own opinion that nothing is new under the sun.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:10

  "Is there anything whereof it may be said, see this is new? It has already been for ages, which were before us. "Symmachus translated this more clearly: "Do you think there is a man who is able to say: look this is new, it has already been done before because it was before us." But he agrees with his predecessors that there is nothing new in the world, and that there is none that is able to live and say: 'look this is new', since everything that he thought he had shown to be new, already existed in former times. But we ought not to think that the signs, prodigies and the many deeds which are done for the first time by God's judgement in the world today, have already been done before in former ages, or that it was Epicurus who found this, asserting that these same things were done in innumerable periods and in these places and by these same men. Besides, both Judas betrayed "repeatedly" and Christ "often" suffered for us; and other things which have been done and will be done, are continually repeated in these times. But it could be said too, that those things, which will be done have already been done, decided out of foreknowledge and the predestination of God. For those who have been chosen in Christ before the constitution of the world existed already in previous times.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:11

  "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." In the same way as the past is concealed for us in forgetfulness, thus it is with those things which are either done now, or will be done. And because of this those men who have yet to be born, will not be able to know these things, and will live life in silence, and will be obscured as if they never existed, and that verse will be fulfilled, which says, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity", for even the Seraphim, the first and last, cover up their feet on account of the appearance of God. The Septuagint is similar here: "There is no memory of former things, and even of things which are to come, there will be no memory for them with those who will come after." That is observed from the Gospel because those who were first in time are first "before all others". [Cfr Matth. 20, 16.] And because God who is benevolent and forgiving remembers all things no matter how insignificant, he will not give as much glory to those who deserve to be first on account of their faults, as he will give to those who humbly wanted to be first. And so it says consequently: "there is no memory of the wise more than of the fool for ever." [Eccl. 2, 16.]

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:12

  "I, Ecclesiastes, was King over Israel in Jerusalem. "Until now the preface has spoken only generally about all arguments; but here he returns to the subject of himself, and reveals who he was, and how he knew and experienced all things. The Hebrews say that Solomon, who was doing repentance, wrote this book, and who, having put his trust in wisdom and riches, failed God because of his wives.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:13

  "I applied my mind to seek and probe by wisdom all that happens beneath the sky - it is a sorry task that God has given to the sons of man with which to be concerned." Aquila, the Septuagint, and Theodotion have all translated the Hebrew word "anian "similarly as "peristasmon", which the interpreter expressed as "occupied" in Latin [Hier.. "in distentionem".], because the mind of man is torn asunder when occupied by several anxieties. But Symmachus uses the Greek word "ascholian", which means business [Hier.. "occupationem".]. Since therefore in this book it is more often called either "occupationem", or "distentionem", or whatever else we have called it, they all refer to the higher senses. Ecclesiastes therefore set his mind first of all to the acquisition of wisdom, and pursuing this beyond what is allowed, wanted to know the causes and reasoning why children are easily snatched by the Devil; why the righteous and the wicked are equally punished in shipwrecks; and whether these events happen as a result of fate, or by the decree of God. And if by fate, where is providence? If by decree, where is God's justice? With such desire to know these things, he said, I understand the great care and torturing anxiety experienced in many things, which was given to man by God, in order that he might desire to know that which he is not allowed to know. But the cause is inborn first, and God then gives vexation. For it is written similarly in the epistles to the Romans: ""On account of what did God give them up to the suffering of dishonour?"" [Rom. 1, 6.] then again he says: ""On account of what did He give them up to uncleanness, so that they did what was not allowed"". [Rom. 1, 28.] And then: ""On account of which God gave them up to desire for their uncleanness"". [Rom. 1, 24.] And to the Thessalonians: ""And for this cause God will send them strong delusion."" [II Thess. 2, 10.] But the causes why they succumb were revealed earlier: either by the suffering of dishonour, or by vile affections, or by the longing in their heart, or whatever it is they do to receive strong delusion. In this way and because of their effectiveness God gave this wicked 'occupation' to man, with which to be concerned, because he did these things first voluntarily and entirely of his own will.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:14

  "I have seen all the deeds done underneath the sun, and behold all is futile and a vexation of the spirit." We are compelled here by necessity to examine the Hebrew words more closely than we wish. It is also not possible to know the real meaning of the text, unless we learn it through studying the original Hebrew words. Aquila and Theodotion translate "routh "as the Greek "nomen", Symmachus has "boskesin". The Septuagint does not express the Hebrew meaning, but the Syriac, as shown in the Greek word "proairesin". Therefore either "nome", or "boskesis", is the noun coming from "vexation." "Proairesis "sounds more like 'will' than 'vexation'. Every single man however is said to do what he "wishes", and what seems right to him; and men are borne with different dispositions (i.e. good and wicked) of their own free will. And all things under the sun are vain, when we displease each other by doing what is the greatest good and greatest evil. A Hebrew, who was instructing me as I read the Holy Scriptures, said to me that above the word "routh" was written ""it means rather suffering and wickedness in this place than vexation and will"", and the meaning does not come from the evil which is contrary to good, but from that which is written in the Gospel: ""Sufficient to the day is its wickedness."" [Matth. 6, 34.] The Greeks call this more significantly "kakouchian", so the verse essentially means: "I have considered all things, which are done in the world, and I discovered nothing except vanity and wickedness, that is distress of the soul, by which the spirit is afflicted in contrary thoughts.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:15

  "A twisted thing cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be numbered. "Whoever is wicked cannot be corrected, unless he was corrected beforehand. Anything that is already correct will receive embellishment; and that which is deviated will receive correction. A man is not called wrong unless he has been diverted from the correct path. This is contrary to the heretics, who entertained certain characteristics, which do not seem to be sane. And since what is missing is lacking, it cannot be numbered. Besides, only the firstborn of Israel were counted. The women, slaves, children and the people from Egypt, although of a great number, were largely overlooked, being referred to as a reduction from the army, without a number. The meaning of this can also be: such wickedness is done in the sphere of the world that the world is scarcely able to return to its completely good condition; nor is it able to regain easily its order and complete state, in which it was first created. Another meaning of this is: when all men have been restored to goodness through repentance, only the devil will remain in his wickedness. For all things which are done under the sun are done by his will and in the spirit of malevolence, while sins are piled on sins at his instigation. Then it can also mean: so great is the number of deviants and of those who have been taken away from God's flock by the devil that it is impossible to count them.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:16

  "I said to myself: here I have acquired great wisdom, more than any of my predecessors over Jerusalem, and my mind has had much experience with wisdom and knowledge." Solomon was not greater than Abraham and Moses, and other saints, but than those who were before him in Jerusalem. We read in the book of Kings that Solomon was very wise, and he claimed this wisdom to have been given by God before all others. [Cfr III Reg. 3, 5 sqq] It was then the eye of his heart that saw great wisdom and knowledge in the world, since he does not say "I spoke much wisdom and knowledge" but "my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge." For indeed we are not able to speak out all those things which we feel.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:17

  "I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this, too, is a vexation of the spirit." Contrary abstract ideas are understood by looking at contrary facts; and " wisdom is the first to be lacking in foolishness" [Horat. Epist.I, 1,41-42.], but it is not possible to be lacking in foolishness, unless one has understood it. Many dangerous things are also created from foolishness, so that while we try to avoid them, we are actually instructed in wisdom. Solomon wanted to know wisdom and knowledge with equal enthusiasm, and equally madness and folly, so that whilst seeking some things and shunning others, his true wisdom might be proved. But in this too, as in other things, he said he found great difficulties and was not able to grasp the exact truth of matters. What I have said above about "vexation of the spirit" or "suffering of the soul", as it is more often written in this book, should be sufficient to understand the rest of this verse.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 1:18

  "For with much wisdom comes much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases pain." The more a man seeks wisdom, the more he finds himself in vice and far from those virtues, which he is seeking. For those who are powerful suffer torments more gravely [Cfr Sap. 6, 7.], and more is demanded of the man, to whom more is entrusted. Because of this he increases his pain who increases his knowledge, and is saddened by grief according to God, and suffers beyond his offences. The apostle said concerning this: "and who is there, who gladdens me, unless he is saddened by me?" [II Cor. 2, 2.] Unless perchance, and this must be understood, that a wise man would suffer so much for his wisdom, in secret and deep in his flank, nor would he show himself to prosper in intelligence, as light is to seeing; but rather through certain torments and intolerable toil, and through perpetual meditation and enthusiasm.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:1

  "I said to myself: Come, I will experiment with joy and enjoy pleasure. That, too, turned out to be futile." After I detected that pain and labour were in the essence of wisdom and the accumulation of knowledge, and nothing else except vain and endless struggle, I felt joyful that I would overflow with excess, accrue riches, amass great wealth, and take temporary pleasures before I die. But even in this I saw my vanity, for past pleasures do not help the present, and do not fill up what is empty. It is not just the pleasures of the flesh however, but also spiritual joys that are a temptation for one who possesses them. Hence I desired greatly, because I had been grabbed by this incentive and the angel of Satan too, who had knocked me down with such force that I could not recover. Solomon says about this "Don't give me riches and poverty" [II Cor. 12, 7], and immediately writes underneath "lest I be full and a liar" [Prov. 30, 8.], and lest I should ask, "who is looking at me?" [Prov. 30, 9.], for the devil strikes down in abundance righteous men. In the apostles it is also written, "lest enraptured by his pride, he should fall into the judgement of the devil " [I Tim. 3, 6.], that is 'into such a judgement, as the Devil himself falls ". But having said this, spiritual joy, just as the other kinds, is claimed to be vanity, because we see it through a mirror and in mystery. But when it has been seen for what it is, then it is called vanity for no reason, but rather truth.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:2

  "I said of laughter, It is madness! And of joy, What does it accomplish?" Wherever we read "madness" the Hebrew text has "molal", which Aquila took to be "planesin", that is 'delusion' [Hier.. "error"], Symmachus has "thorubon", 'commotions' [Hier.. "tumultus".]. But the Septuagint and Theodotion as in many places, so too in this, also agree and translate it as "periphoran", which we, expressing word for word, can call 'revolution'. [Hier.. "circumlationem".] Those men therefore, who are carried around on the 'breeze' of all doctrines, are unstable and fluctuate between interpretations. Thus those who guffaw with that laugh, which the Lord says must be muted in holy weeping, are seized by the delusion of time and its whirlwind, not understanding the disaster that their sins will cause, nor bewailing their former faults, but thinking that brief joys are going to be perpetual. Then they exult in these, which are more worthy of lamentation than joy. Heretics also believe this, who agree with false doctrines and promise themselves happiness and prosperity.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:3

  "I thought to stimulate my body with wine while my heart is involved with wisdom, and to grasp folly, until I can discern which is best for mankind to do under the heavens during the brief span of their lives. " I wanted to stimulate my life with enjoyment, and to lull my body, as if freed from all worries by wine, in the same way with desire; but my deep consideration and inborn reasoning, which God the creator mingled even into my sins, drew me away from the idea and led me back to seek wisdom and to spurn foolishness, so that I was able to see what was good, that men can do in the span of their lives. But he has compared desire eloquently with intoxication. Since he intoxicates and destroys the vitality of his spirit, which he was able to change into wisdom and obtains spiritual happiness, (as it is written in certain manuscripts), he is able to discern which things ought to be sought out in this life, and which avoided.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:4

  "I acted in grand style: I built myself houses, I planted vineyards; "and others such until the point where he says: "The wise man has his eyes in his head, whereas the fool walks in darkness. "Before I discuss each of these in turn it seems useful to me to encompass all of them in a short paragraph, and to reduce their meanings to just one explanation, so that it is easier to understand what is being said. I had all things that have been considered good through the ages. I built myself a palace on high, and covered the hills and mountains with vines. And lest anything be lacking from my excess I planted gardens and orchards of different kinds of trees, which were watered from above by water stored in pools, so that the growth was fed for longer periods with continual moisture. I also had an uncountable number of slaves, buyers and natives, and many flocks of animals, cows of course, and sheep- no king before me in Jerusalem had such a number. I also amassed a huge number of treasure houses of gold and of silver, which I obtained as gifts from various kings and as tributes from conquered races. And because of this it happened that I was prompted by having too much wealth to even more pleasures, and they called to me in choirs of music, flutes, lyres and in songs, and each sex served in entertainment. Those temptations grew in such quantity as I was lacking in wisdom. For desire had dragged me to each and every pleasure and I was being carried along unbridled and headlong, and I thought that that was the fruit of my labours, if I myself was consumed with lust and luxury. Having then at last returned to my senses, and as if waking from a deep sleep, I looked at my hands and saw that my work was full of vanity, full of squalor, and full of the character of my folly. For I found nothing to be good that was considered good in the world. Considering therefore those things which were good for wisdom and which were bad for foolishness I rushed to praise any man, who then refrained from his sins and was able to pursue true virtues. Certainly there is a great diversity between wisdom and foolishness, and virtues are as much separated from vices as day differs from night. It seems to me then that he that follows that path of wisdom always lifts his eyes to heaven and raises his face aloft, and considers those things which are above his head; but he that gives in to foolishness and vices fumbles in the darkness and flounders in his ignorance of the world. "I acted in grand style: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards. " He, who is raised up equal to the face of God in the heavens, makes his work great; and he builds houses so that the Father and the Son will come, and will live in them. And he plants vineyards to which Jesus will tie up his ass.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:5

  "I made for myself gardens and orchards and planted in them every kind of fruit tree. "In my treasure house are not only gold and silver dishes but even some that are made from wood and pottery. And even the gardens therefore are made on account of certain weaker and sick men, for anyone who is sick will eat vegetables. Trees are planted, not all of them fruit-bearing as we have in the Latin manuscripts, but of all fruits, that is of varied fruits and fruit-trees, because the grace of the Church is also varied. Thus one type of tree is the eye, one the hand and another the foot, and on those things which are most prized we bestow our greatest glory. And amongst those fruit-trees I esteem the wood itself to be primal in life because it is wisdom, for unless that is planted in their midst the other trees will dry up.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:6

  "I constructed pools from which to irrigate a grove of young trees. "The wood in glades and in forests, which is not fruit-bearing, are not nourished by rain from the sky, not by such rain waters but by water which is collected in pools from rivers. Even low-lying Egypt is situated low in the land like a vegetable patch, and is irrigated by waters, which come from Ethiopia. But the Promised Land which is mountainous and raised up waits for timely or late-coming rain from the sky.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:7

  "I bought slaves, male and female, and natives too; I also owned more possessions, both cattle and sheep, than all of my predecessors in Jerusalem." If we want Ecclesiastes, as we have said before, to refer to the person of Christ here too, then we are able to say "his slaves" who have the spirit of fear in servitude and desire more spiritual things in life than they already have. But we can also call the slave-girls "hearts [Hier.. "animas"]" that till now have been bestowed upon the body and upon the earth. They surpass also those natives, who are certain of the Church, both slaves and slave-girls, about whom I have spoken. And the Lord has not yet bestowed upon them freedom or noble-birth. But there are others in the estate of Ecclesiastes like oxen and sheep, who are kept on account of work and their innocence, and who work even in the church without reason and knowledge of the Scriptures. But they have not yet attained such an understanding, that they deserve to be men and return to the appearance of their creator. If you look more diligently too, you will notice that the number is not added in the case of slaves, slave-girls and natives, but in the case of cows and sheep it is said: "I owned more possessions of cattle and sheep". There is more silver in fact in the Church than men: more sheep than slaves, slave-girls and natives. But that which is said at the end- "more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem" does not pertain to the glory of Solomon, or that he was richer than his father the King, since Saul did not rule in Jerusalem, and the city was held by the Jebusites who had themselves occupied the city at that time. Ecclesiastes however was richer at a younger age than were all men, who had preceded him as kings in Jerusalem.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:8

  "I amassed even silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and the provinces; I provided myself with various singers and musical instruments, and with every human luxury- chests and chests of them." Divine scripture always places silver and gold above speech and meaning. The dove in the sixty-seventh Psalm represents this too, which is interpreted as a spirit, and is more noticeable because of its silver wings, so that it hides the underlying significance of the pallor of gold. But he gathers the treasures of kings and of the provinces or kingdoms into the Church of believers. He refers to those kings about whom the psalmist writes "the kings of the earth were there and the chiefs gathered together" [Ps. 2, 2.]. And he refers to those kingdoms to which the Saviour orders us to raise our eyes [Cfr John 4.], since now they burn with fear. The treasures of kings can be called both the doctrines of philosophers and also secular knowledge [Cfr I Cor. 1.], which Ecclesiastes understands well: he takes hold of the wise men in their wisdom, and squanders the wisdom of the wise, and reproves the discretion of the prudent. The choirboys and girls are those who sing with vitality and with intelligence. A male singer sings like a man who is both strong and spiritual about heavenly matters. But a girl flits about the matter, which the Greeks call "hulen". Nor is she able to raise her voice loudly into the air. Therefore wherever a woman is mentioned in the Scriptures and the weaker sex, we are to translate it according to an understanding of the context. Pharaoh does not want the male children to be allowed to live for example, but only the females in this matter. [Cfr Ex. 1, 16.] And another point is that none of the saints is said to have had a daughter [Cfr Num. 26,32 ; 27, 3.], and it is only Salphaat, who died for his sins, that had all girls. Jacob is the father of one daughter amongst the twelve patriarchs, but is endangered by her. [Cfr Gen. 30, 21 ; 34.] The pleasures also of mankind over wisdom must be understood, which have many fruits and desires like paradise. We are admonished against them, saying, "take delight in the Lord and he will give you the request of your heart" [Ps. 36, 4.], and in another place, "you will drink them as the torrent of your desire". [Ps. 35, 9.] (I had wanted to shun reference to the female sex, and even now use the distinction of the male, because the Latin language does not take readily to this.) Aquila explains about the wine-pourers, male and female, in a manner very different to the fashion written here. For Solomon is not naming the sexes of man, clearly either male or female, but types of dish, and he calls them "kulikion" and "kulikia", which is written in Hebrew as "sadda "and "saddoth". Then Symmachus, who was not able to express the idea word for word, translates this in a similar way: "types of table and equipment". Therefore Solomon is believed to have had either pitchers, wine goblets, or bowls arranged in chests, and which were ornate with gold and with jewels. And he drank from a "kulikio" in one, (that is, a bowl) and from "kilikiois" in other places, which are clearly smaller dishes; and the crowd of drinkers received wine at the hands of his servants. Because we explain Ecclesiastes as being Christ, therefore wisdom, having mingled her wine (as it says in Proverbs) calls out to those who wander to come to her. [Cfr Prov. 9, 2.3.] Now we must see the body of the Lord as a very great bowl, in which is not pure divinity as there is in heaven, but there God is blended with humanity on account of us, and wisdom is then poured out by the apostles to smaller "kulikia", small goblets and bowls held by believers throughout the world.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:9

  "Thus I grew and surpassed any of my predecessors in Jerusalem; still, my wisdom stayed with me." It seems to me that Ecclesiastes, acting grandly, agrees less with the Lord, unless by chance we adapt this to him: "He [Jesus] increased in wisdom and age and grace" [Luc. 2, 52.]. And, "on account of which God took him on high [Phil. 2, 9.]". He also says "those who were before me in Jerusalem" and is referring to those who, before he arrived, steered the congregation of holy men and the Church. If we explain the text in a spiritual way then Christ is richer than all men; and he only perceives the Synagogue better in bodily form than the Church. Therefore he wears a veil, because it was placed over the face of Moses and he let us see his face in daylight. [Cfr Ex. 34,33. ; II Cor. 3, 13.] More precisely "wisdom has stayed with me", means even in respect to the temptations of the body wisdom stayed with him. For he who receives a profit from his wisdom will not keep wisdom long, but he who does not receive a gain, nor grows through change, but always has plenty- he is able to say, "and wisdom has stayed with me".

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:10

  "Whatever my eyes desired I did not deny them; I did not deprive myself of any joy. Indeed my heart drew joy from all my activities, and this was my reward for all my endeavours. "The eyes of the heart and the sight of the mind desire to gaze on spiritual matters, which the sinner does not see, so forbids his heart from true happiness. Therefore Ecclesiastes gave himself completely over to this cause and balanced eternal glory lightly in an world of discord. This is our lot, and our continual reward if we work for our virtues.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:11

  "Then I looked at all things that I had done and the energy I had expended in doing them. "He who does all things with diligence and wariness is able to say this. "It was clear that it was all futile and a vexation of the spirit, [and there is no profit under the sun.]" As if he considers that in comparison with other things, all things are cheap which are under the sun, and are different according to the variety of desires. "And there is no profit under the sun". Christ placed his tabernacle in the sun. So Christ will not be able to live, nor be plentiful in whoever has not yet obtained the lucidity of the sun, its regularity and constancy.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:12

  " Then I turned my attention to appraising wisdom with madness and folly - for what can man who comes after the king do?" This seems to discuss heavenly matters until the place where he says, "the eyes of a wise man are in his head". I had summed up all things in one explanation, intending to show the meaning briefly, and because of that, again according to "anagoge [Allegorical interpretation bearing out a deeper sense of the Scriptures.]," I had only touched lightly on some things, but now I ought to explain in a manner similar to that in which I began. For the meaning is quite different here from the interpretation found in the Septuagint. But he says he had returned to seeking wisdom after pleasures and those desires he had condemned, in which he found more foolishness and stupidity than true and recognised knowledge. For man, he said, is not able to know so clearly and truly the wisdom of his creator and of his king, as his creator knows it himself. And so he says that those things that we know, we only think we have grasped and value more than know what is true.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:13

  "And I perceived that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. "I am allowed, he says, to see through that very wisdom of mankind, which is mixed with uncertainty. Nor is it possible, he adds, for it to flow into our minds so clearly as it does into the king and our creator. I know however that the difference between wisdom and folly is great even as much as one can differentiate between day and night, between light and dark.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:14

  [Daniel 2:28] "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." Therefore it is only in vain that thou inquirest (other MSS have: "that he inquire") of men as to something which is known only to God in heaven. Also, by indirectly drawing Nebuchadnezzar away from the worship of many gods, Daniel directs him to the knowledge of the one (true) God. "Who hath shown thee, King Nebuchadnezzar, what is going to take place (the Vulg. reads: "the things which are going to take place") in the last times." Avoiding the blemish of adulation but cleaving to the truth, he courteously suggests that it is to the king, for it was to him that God had revealed secrets concerning what was to occur in the last times. Now either these "last days" are to be reckoned from the time when the dream was revealed to Daniel until the end of the world, or else at least this inference is to be drawn, that the over-all interpretation of the dream applies to that final end when the image and statue beheld is to be ground to powder. "Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed were as follows." He does not say, "The visions of thine eyes," lest we should think it was something physical, but rather: "of thy head." "For the eyes of a wise man are in his head" (Ecclesiastes 2:14), that is to say in the princely organ of the heart, just as we read in the Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are ones who shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Again: "What are ye meditating in your hearts?" (Matthew 9:4). To be sure, other authorities in treating of this chapter, conjecture that the authoritative part of the soul (to hegemonikon) lies not in the heart but, as Plato says, in the brain.

  St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO

• Ecclesiastes 2:14

  "The wise man has his eyes in his head, whereas a fool walks in darkness. But I also realised that the same fate awaits them all. "Whoever attains complete wisdom and has deserved Christ to be his aim always raises his eyes to the heavens and will therefore never think about terrestrial matters. When these things are considered in this way and there is such a distinction between a wise man and a fool, one being compared with day and the other with darkness, the former raises his eyes to heaven, the latter looks on the ground. Suddenly this thought occurred to me, why both the wise man and the fool are constrained by a common mortality - why the same wounds, the same fate, the same death and equal troubles confine each one.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:15-16

  "So I said to myself: the fate of the fool will befall me also; to what advantage then have I become wise? But I concluded that this, too, was vanity. For there is no comparison between the remembrance of the wise and of the fool at all, for as the succeeding days roll by, is all forgotten? How can the wise man's death be like the fool's? "I have stated that the wise man and the fool, the righteous and wicked are destined to die by the same fate and all wicked things in this world will suffer a similar fate; what profit is there for me then, that I have sought wisdom and worked more than others? On reconsidering the matter and applying myself to it diligently I saw that my opinion was unfounded. For the wise and foolish will not have similar remembrance in the future when the end of the world comes; and they will be confined for no reason by equal death because the wise man will continue to the joys of heaven and the fool to his punishment. The Septuagint translates the meaning of the Hebrew here more clearly, for it doesn't necessarily follow the Hebrew word order: "and to what purpose have I become wise?" Then I said to myself copiously, (for the fool is he, who speaks too much), 'for this is also vanity, because there is no remembrance of the wise with the fool for ever, and so on.' Since he tried to convince us that his prior thoughts were foolish, he bore witness that he had spoken foolishly, and that he had erred, and it was by doing this that he realised his folly.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:17

  "So I hated life, for I was depressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is vain and a vexation of the spirit." The world has been given over to unkindness [Cfr I John. 5, 19.] and the apostle moans about the tabernacle saying "I am a wretched man, who will free me from the body of this death?" [Rom. 7, 24.], and he hates quite rightly everything that is done under the sun. That is however only in comparison with paradise and the beatitude of that life, in which we would enjoy the fruits of wisdom and the pleasures of virtues. But now as if we are in a prison camp or cell, and with a wall of tears, we eat our bread in the sweat of our brow.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

  "Thus I hated all my achievements labouring under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who succeeds me. And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? - And he will control all my possessions which I toiled and have shown myself wise under the sun. This, too, is vanity. "He seems to be reconsidering wealth and riches, because according to the Gospel, being snatched by sudden death, we do not know with which kind of heir we die - whether he will be a fool or wise who will enjoy the fruits of our toil. This was also the case with Solomon: for he did not regard his son Roboam as similar to himself. We learn from this that a son is not worthy of his father's heredity if he is foolish. But to me studying the work it seems that he is speaking more about spiritual labour, because a wise man will work on the Scriptures for days and nights, and will compose books and will hand down his memory to his descendants, and nonetheless all this will come into the hands of fools, who repeatedly find in them the seeds of heresy, according to the perversity of their own mind, and waste other men's efforts. For if the text now refers to Ecclesiastes' personal wealth, it was necessary to say about toil and wealth: "and he will control all my possessions which I toiled and have shown myself wise under the sun." For what is wise in the pursuit of earthly riches?

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:20-23

  "So I turned my heart to despair of all that I had achieved by toiling under the sun. For there is a man who laboured with wisdom, knowledge and skill, yet he must hand on his portion to one who has not toiled for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. For what has a man in return for all his toil and his stress, which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are painful, and his business is a vexation; even at night his mind has no rest. This, too, is vanity!" Previously he has spoken about the uncertainty of an heir and not knowing whether he will be foolish or wise, the master of the works of another. But even now he seeks the same things but this time the meaning is different, because he might leave his wealth and labours perhaps to his son, to a neighbour, or someone he knows. Nevertheless it happens time and time again that one man enjoys in the work of another, and "sweet toil is to the dead while pleasures are for the living." He thinks of himself as every single one and he will see with how much toil he composes his books, how "often he turns his pen, again he will write those things which are worthy of law" [Horat. Sat. I. 10, 72/73.], and for the man who does not work he will give him his own share. For what good to the wealth of the earth, as I have said clearly, are wisdom, knowledge and virtue, in which he said he had laboured? For although he may be virtuous, wise and knowledgeable he spurns worldly things.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

  "Is it not good for man that he eats and drinks and shows his soul satisfaction in his labour? And even that, I perceived, is from the hand of God. For who should eat and who should make haste except me? To the man who pleases Him He has given wisdom, knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He has given the urge to gather and amass - that he may hand it on to one who is pleasing to God. That, too, is vanity and a vexation of the spirit." After I examined all things and saw that nothing was more unjust than one man enjoying the work of another, then this work seemed to me to be the most righteous, and like a gift of God, seeing that a man may enjoy his own labour, drinking and eating, and for a time refraining from amassed wealth. And sometimes it is a gift of God, that such a mind as is bestowed upon righteous men, that they squander those things, which they have sought with great attention and vigilance. In fact on the other hand, it is the character of the anger of God, which is set against the sinner, so he amasses wealth day and night and uses if for no purpose, then he bequeaths it to those men who are righteous in the sight of God. But, he says, looking at this more closely and noticing that all things come to a common end with death, I have judged it to be the most vain of all. These readings are very close to the text though, so that I do not seem to completely miss the plain meaning of the words, and while I follow spiritual riches, disdain the poverty of history. For what is good then, or what kind of gift of God is it, either to covet his wealth and like a man in flight gather desire prematurely, or to turn someone else's work to ones own pleasures, and then to think that this is a gift of God, if we take pleasure in others' discomfort and toil? It is good though, to take our own food and drink, which we have found by divine will, from the flesh and blood of a Lamb. For who is either able to eat or when there is need to spare in the absence of God? He warned that sacred food must not be given to the dogs [Cfr Matth. 7, 6.], and he teaches how rations ought on occasion to be given to slaves [Cfr Matth. 24, 45.], and similar to another meaning, that is we ought to eat only honey that has been found, and only as much as is needed. But God gives wisdom and knowledge and happiness to the man who is good. [Cfr Prov. 25, 16.] For unless he was good and corrected his ways beforehand by his own judgement, he will not be worthy of that wisdom, knowledge and happiness, according to that which is said in another place: "Plant for yourselves in justice, make a vintage of the fruit of life, enlighten for yourselves the light of knowledge." [Os. 10, 12. (as in LXX)] In fact, righteousness ought to be planted first, and the fruit of life must be reaped, only then, afterwards the light of knowledge will be able to appear. Therefore just as God gave the good man wisdom and other gifts, in the same way he has forsaken the sinner according to his own judgement, and made him amass riches and contrive false doctrines therefrom. When a saintly man who is pleasing to God sees these things, he understands them, since they are vain and composed of the conceit of the spirit. Nor should we admire what he has said: "he gave vexation to the sinner" and so on. For this must be seen in concordance with that meaning which I have often explained: that for this reason anxiety or vexation has been given to him, since he was a sinner, and the cause of vexation was not in God, but in himself, who had sinned previously by his own volition.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:1

  "Everything has its season, and there is a time for everything under the heavens. "He has taught in the previous verses the doubtful and changeable state of humanity; now he wants to show that all things are opposed to each other in the world, and that nothing remains forever of those things, which are under the heavens and beyond time, since the other spiritual substances are contained neither in the heavens nor in time.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:2

  "A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot that which has been planted." No one doubts that men are born and die, and God knows that what he has planted will grow full and well; for to pull out what has been planted is to die. But since we read in Isaiah [Is. 26, 18.] "we have conceived, laboured with and given birth out of a fear for You", this must be said, because when a man is ready, that man in particular, who was born from fear, will die as soon as he has begun to love God. Since indeed "perfect love sends fear outside" [I. John. 4, 18.]. The Hebrews understand all that he has written about the contradiction of times, (until it says " a time for war and a time for peace") as concerning Israel. Because it is not necessary to go through each verse in turn here, commenting on how they are to be interpreted and what they mean, I will list them briefly, leaving a more detailed study to the reader's discretion. There was a time for growing and planting in Israel, a time for dying and leading it into bondage. A time for killing them in Egypt, and a time for freeing them from Egypt. A time for destroying the Temple under Nebuchadnezer, and a time for rebuilding under Darius. A time for bewailing the plundering of the city and a time for laughing and dancing under Zorobabel, Esdra, and Nehemiah. A time for dissemination from Israel and a time for gathering them together again. A time like a belt or harness put around the Jews by God, and a time for leading them into bondage in Babylon and there for them to rot across the Euphrates. Read "perizoma" of Jeremiah [Cfr Ier.. 13, I-II.]. A time for seeking them out and rescuing, a time for losing and a time for forsaking. A time for schism in Israel and a time for reunification. A time for hushing the prophets, now when in Roman bondage and a time for proclaiming them aloud, when even in enemy lands they weren't lacking in God's presence or comfort. A time for loving, in which He loved those men before our fathers, a time for hating, since they threw their hands up against Christ. A time for war, only not for those who are doing repentance for themselves and a time for peace in the future, when all the tribes return, and all Israel will be safe.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:3

  "A time for killing and a time for healing." It is both the time for killing and the time for healing, he says: "I will kill, and I will revive" [Deut. 32, 39.]. He cures, provoking one to repentance. 'I killed' has the same meaning as "in the morning I murdered all the sinners of the Earth." [Ps. 100.8.] "A time for destroying and a time for building. "We are not able to build anything good unless we have first destroyed what is bad. Just as the word of Jeremiah came from God so that he first rooted out, undermined and killed; then he built and planted. [Ier.. I, 10.]

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:4

  "A time for weeping and a time for laughter." Now is the time for weeping and in the future it will be the time for laughter: for "the blessed weep, since they themselves will laugh." [Luc. 6, 21.] "A time for bewailing and a time for dancing. "For this reason they are seized in the Gospel, those to whom God says " I have lamented for you and you have not moaned; I sang and you did not dance." [Luc. 7, 32.] We must moan at present so that afterwards we can dance that dance, which David danced before the arc of the covenant [Cfr II Reg. 6, 14.], and displeasing to the daughter of Saul he was more pleasing to God.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:5

  "A time for dispersing stones and a time for collecting stones." I marvel how an learned man could have said this ridiculous note about this passage: "this passage speaks about the destruction and killing of Solomon's houses, because men first destroy, then build". Some amass stones to construct buildings, others destroy those buildings which have been erected, according to Horace's lines "he demolished, he builds, exchanges squares with wheels, he fluctuates and disagrees with the whole order of life itself." [Horat. Epist. I. I. 100, 99.] Whether he is correct in saying this or not I leave up to the reader to decide. Nonetheless we should follow the sequence of the prior explanation-they say it is a time for scattering and collecting stones, similar to what is written in the Gospel: "God is powerful enough to raise up the sons of Abraham from these stones". [Matth. 3, 9.] For there was a time for dispersing the nation and a time for gathering them again into the Church. I have read in a certain book, (like the Septuagint however, which says "there was a time for throwing stones and a time for collecting them") that the harshness of the ancient law of the Gospel was tempered by grace. In fact the stern law, unkind and unforgiving, murders the sinner, he pities with the grace of the Gospel and provokes men to repentance. And there is a time for throwing stones, or collecting them, because stones are thrown in law and are collected in the Gospel. Whether this is true fact or not is credited to the author. "A time for embracing and a time for being far from embrace. "The meaning of this is seemingly the simplest understanding- the apostle agrees with the same words: "do not cheat each other, unless by chance it is agreed for a time that you give yourselves to fasting and to prayer." [I Cor. 7, 5.] Attention must be given to children, and again to self-control. Or perhaps it was the time for embrace when the opinion was flourishing that we ought to "grow and multiply, and fill up the Earth" [Gen. 1, 28.]. And the time became far from one of embracing when it passed away: "the times are hard; it remains that both they that have wives be as though they had none". [I Cor. 7, 29.] But if we wanted to climb to the higher parts, we would see wisdom embracing its lovers: for he says "honour it and it will embrace you" [Prov. 4, 8.], and hold them in its arms and lap in a tighter embrace. More precisely, it is not always possible to stretch the human mind to heaven and think about the divine and higher things, or continually consider celestial matters, but meanwhile to indulge in the necessities of the flesh. On account of this there is a time for embracing wisdom, and holding it more tightly, and a time for relaxing the mind from the study and embrace of wisdom, just as of the care of the body, and we have those things that our life needs in the absence of sin.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:6-7

  "A time to acquire and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. "As is in many verses before the meaning is the same here too, which is apparent before and following this verse, in that he says: "A time to destroy and a time to build. " And then "A time to rend and a time to mend. "Just as the Synagogue is destroyed so that the Church can be built and schism is only brought about by the law so that the Gospels are unified, because each preacher has carried it out one by one, unifying from the law and the prophets the testimonies of the arrival of the Lord. And thus there was a time for seeking and guarding Israel, a time for losing and discarding it. Or perhaps in fact a time for seeking a nation in the tribes and a time for losing the people of the Jews. A time for guarding the believers of the nations and a time for dismissing the faithless from Israel. "A time for silence and a time for speaking. "I think that the Pythagoreans, whose discipline is to remain silent for five years and afterwards to speak to learned men, took the origin of their decree from this. Let us learn therefore and so remain silent first, so that afterwards we open our mouths only to speak. Let us be silent for a set period and depend on the utterances of our teacher. Nothing seems right to us unless we learn that after much silence we are made into teachers by our pupils. Now though instead of the world slipping day by day into a far worse situation, we teach in churches what we do not know. And if by composing words or at the bidding of the devil, who is the patron of madness, we have aroused the applause of the common people, then we think we understand, (contrary to our conscience), what it is we were able to dissuade others from. We do not learn all the arts without a teacher, only those which are so common and easy that they don't require a tutor.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:7

  "A time for silence and a time for speaking." I think that the Pythagoreans, whose discipline is to remain silent for five years and afterwards to speak to learned men, took the origin of their decree from this. Let us learn therefore and so remain silent first, so that afterwards we open our mouths only to speak. Let us be silent for a set period and depend on the utterances of our teacher. Nothing seems right to us unless we learn that after much silence we are made into teachers by our pupils. Now though instead of the world slipping day by day into a far worse situation, we teach in churches what we do not know. And if by composing words or at the bidding of the devil, who is the patron of madness, we have aroused the applause of the common people, then we think we understand, (contrary to our conscience), what it is we were able to dissuade others from. We do not learn all the arts without a teacher, only those which are so common and easy that they don't require a tutor.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:8

  "A time for loving and a time for hating." The time for loving God, children, wife, and relatives is afterwards, and the time for hating those in martyrdom since hostile piety attacks those steadfast men for the sake of the confession of Christ. Or maybe there is a time for loving the law, and those things that the law decrees- that is circumcision, sacrifices, the Sabbath, Neumania [The Jewish feast of the New Moon.], and a time for hating them when the grace of the Gospel has been lost. But we cannot say this, since now we look through the mirror in mystery, the time for loving is the present, and in the future there will come a time when we will see face to face and then, more accomplished, we will begin to hate and despise what we love. [Cfr I Cor. 13, 12.] "A time for war and a time for peace. "Although we are in the present world, it is the time for war: when we have left this world the time for peace will come. For the place of God is in peace and so too is our city of Jerusalem, for it is called 'chosen in peace'. Therefore no one now thinks he is safe: you must prepare yourselves in the time of war and put on the apostles arms, so that we may rest in peace at last victorious.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

  "What gain, then, has the worker in exchange for all his toil? I have observed the task which God has given the sons of man to be concerned with: He made everything beautiful in its time; He has also put an enigma into their minds so that man cannot comprehend what God has done from the beginning to end." The opinion of many other scholars on this passage does not escape me, because in this world God conceded to the teachers of perverse doctrines their true occupation, lest man's idle mind should become slow and while thinking that God's creations are good, yet nonetheless not be able to see them as the natural knowledge of the world. But the Hebrew who taught me the Scriptures explained it in this way: when all things are placed in their own time and there is a time for destroying or building, weeping and laughing, silence and speaking, and others things which are said about time, why do we try to survive in vain and believe the labours of this short life to be perpetual? And according to the Gospel we are not even happy, and it is called wickedness since we think nothing of tomorrow. [Cfr Matth. 6, 34.] For what more are we able to have in this world than continual striving in that toil, which God has given to man, so that one man may gain more by following others, in a situation where he is able to learn and exercise himself? For all that God does is good, but good in his world. It is good to wake and to sleep, but it is not good to be always awake or asleep, since in turn each and every thing can be considered good, when there is need, according to God's plan. Moreover God also created the world to be inhabited by men, so that they should enjoy the variation of time, and not seek the causes nature, how all things are made, why He made this or that grow or change from the beginning of the world until now.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

  "Thus I perceived that there is nothing good for each of them than to rejoice and do what is good in his life. Indeed every man who eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his labour- it is a gift from God." Therefore the settler and the foreigner of the world has been charged that he should enjoy the time of his short life, and when the hope of a longer life has been removed, he sees everything that he has as if he is about leave this life, and he sees also what he can do well in his life. And his thoughts are not in vain thus twisted, on account of his amassed wealth. And he doesn't think that he is able to acquire more from his toil than his food and drink and if he expends anything from his wealth into good work, then only this is a gift of God. We are not provoked, as some scholars think, by such words into luxury, pleasures, and desperation as are animals, according to that phrase of Isaiah: "let us gorge ourselves and drink, for tomorrow we will die." [Is. 22, 31.] But according to the apostle: "having sustenance and clothing, we are content with these." [I Tim. 6, 8.] And whatever we have that is more than this, we use in feeding the poor and our need for charity. More to the point, since the true food is the flesh of the Lord, and his blood is the true drink, according to "anagoge [See footnote 60.]", we only regard this as good in the present world, if we actually do feed from his flesh and drink from his blood, not only in secret but even in reading the Scriptures. For true food and drink, which is taken from the word of God, is knowledge of the Scriptures. But no one believes the word of Balaam of the prophets, who says "there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel" [Num. 23, 23.]. It is in fact contrary to this, because it is said to be a gift of God: "If anyone eats and drinks and shows he is good in all of his work" [Cfr Eccl. 3, 13.]. In fact these are the many troubles of the righteous. And the apostle complains about these, saying he has sweated in toil and suffering. But the Lord freed us for our future in toil and suffering also: "there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel". And we read how " the blessed weep, since they will laugh" [Luc. 6, 21.], and our laughter follows the words of Job the prophet: for the "mouth will be filled with the joy of truths" [Cfr Iob. 8, 21.]. Thus now we enjoy our toil in good work, by which we restrict and restrain ourselves so that afterwards we may cease from working.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:14

  "I realised that whatever God does will endure forever: nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away, and God has acted so that man should fear Him. "There is nothing in the world that is new. The course of the sun and moon in turn and the dryness and verdure of the earth and trees are born and take shape with the world itself. And therefore God governed all things by a defined plan and commanded the elements to be at the disposal of man, for his use, so that when men see these things they know that there is providence and fear the appearance of God; while from the equality of the world, the natural season, order, and constancy they understand their creator. "For his invisible work in the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even his eternal virtue and power" [Rom. 1, 20.]. If we want we can read this as if from the beginning, with the meaning of the first part already understood: "and God has acted so that man should fear Him" then this is the meaning: God made all these things, so that men fear him, and reject for another what God once created for man. But he governed perfectly, saying: "so that they should fear his appearance". [Ps. 33, 17.] The image of the Lord, indeed, is powerful over those who are wicked.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:15

  "What has been, already exists, and what is still to be, has already been, and God seeks him that suffers persecution." All things we perceive in the past, present or future, they themselves have been, are, and will be. That same sun which now rises, existed before we were in this world, and after we die, it will rise again. But we have mentioned the sun, so that we understand other things to be the same as they have been before. Because if they are seen to die by what we call death, they do not really die, but grow again given a second life, and nothing dies forever but is reborn and relives as if with a certain new seed. For this is what he says: "and God seeks him that suffers persecution", which is said better in Greek "kai ho theos zetesei to diokomenon "that is what dies, what has perished, and has ceased to be. But if that speaks about all that are in the world there is no doubt about man, that having died he will be reborn. But if anyone likes to choose a beginning as if his own, "and God seeks him that suffers persecution", he uses this evidence in the persecution of certain people: to comfort him, who had persevered in martyrdom. And since all in this world, who want to live religiously, follow the apostle, they suffer persecution and take consolation in the fact that God seeks him that suffers persecution, just as he seeks out the blood of a man who has been murdered, and comes to seek what has perished, and carry the wandering sheep back to the flock on his shoulders. [Cfr Luc. 19, 10 ; 15, 4-7.]

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

  "Furthermore, I have observed beneath the sun: in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. I mused: God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for everything and for every deed, there." The meaning of this is clear but is cloaked by the cloud of interpretation. He says: I sought truth and righteousness under the sun and I saw that even among the benches of judges truth is not valued, but gifts. Or differently: I thought some kind of justice present in this world and either took the pious man on his own merit, or punished the impious for his crimes; and I found the opposite to that which I had been thinking. For I saw a righteous man here suffer much injustice and an impious man made to rule instead of being punished for his crime. But thinking to myself afterwards and considering it carefully I understood that they judge not in respect of God and treating each case one by one, but rather reserve judgement for the future, so that all are judged equally and receive there according to their will and effort. For this is what he says: "and there is a time for everything and for every deed, there", that is, in judgement when God will have begun to judge, then there will be truth, now injustice prevails in the world. Such as when we read in Wisdom, Sirach wrote: "lest you say, what is this or what is that? For all things are sought in their own time" [Eccli. ?].

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:18

  "Then I said to myself concerning men: God has chosen them out, but only to see that they themselves are as beasts." I considered the eloquence of the sons of man, whom God chose. Only this eloquence, he says, God wanted to be between men and beasts, since we speak, they are mute; we possess the will for conversation, they are stupefied with silence. And though we only differ from beasts in language, though it is shown to us, how we are like the beasts - weak in body.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:18-21

  "Then I said to myself concerning men: God has chosen them out, but only to see that they themselves are as beasts. For the fate of men and the fate of beast - they have one and the same fate: as one dies so the other dies, and they all have the same spirit. Man has no superiority over beast, for all is futile. All go to the same place; all originate from dust and return to dust. Who perceives that the spirit of man is the one that ascends on high while the spirit of the beast is the one that descends down into the earth?" It is not surprising that there is no distinction in this life between righteous and wicked, nor that none values virtues, but all things occur with uncertain outcome, where nothing seems to differ according to the worthlessness of the body between sheep and men: there is the same birth, common end in death; we proceed similarly towards the light and are equally dissolved into the dust. But there seems to be this difference, that the spirit of man ascends to the heavens, and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth, but from where do we know this for certain? Who can know whether what is hoped is true or false? But he says this, not because he thinks the spirit dies with the body, or that there's one place set aside for beasts and for man, but because before the arrival of Christ all were led equally to the nether regions. Jacob said that he was about to go down to those regions. [cfr Gen. 37, 35 ; 42, 38 ; 44, 31.] And Job complains that the pious and impious are held back in the lower world. [cfr Iob. 7, 9 ; 17, 13.16.] And the Gospel says that with an abyss blocking the way even Abraham and Lazarus were rich in prayers in the underworld. [cfr Luc. 16, 26.] And in fact before Christ accompanied by a robber opened the wheel of flames, and the fiery rumpias [A long missile weapon of barbarian nations.] and the gates of paradise, the heavens were closed and the equal unworthiness of the spirits of sheep and of men was abridged. One also seems to be dispersed and the other saved; but there is not much of a difference between dying with the body or being held in the darkness of the underworld.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:19

  "For the fate of men and the fate of beast - they have one and the same fate: as one dies so the other dies, and they all have the same spirit. Man has no superiority over beast, for all is futile." It is not surprising that there is no distinction in this life between righteous and wicked, nor that none values virtues, but all things occur with uncertain outcome, where nothing seems to differ according to the worthlessness of the body between sheep and men: there is the same birth, common end in death; we proceed similarly towards the light and are equally dissolved into the dust. But there seems to be this difference, that the spirit of man ascends to the heavens, and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth, but from where do we know this for certain? Who can know whether what is hoped is true or false? But he says this, not because he thinks the spirit dies with the body, or that there's one place set aside for beasts and for man, but because before the arrival of Christ all were led equally to the nether regions. Jacob said that he was about to go down to those regions. And Job complains that the pious and impious are held back in the lower world. And the Gospel says that with an abyss blocking the way even Abraham and Lazarus were rich in prayers in the underworld. And in fact before Christ accompanied by a robber opened the wheel of flames, and the fiery rumpias and the gates of paradise, the heavens were closed and the equal unworthiness of the spirits of sheep and of men was abridged. One also seems to be dispersed and the other saved; but there is not much of a difference between dying with the body or being held in the darkness of the underworld. Let us look over these things one by one in paragraphs, and discuss them briefly. I considered the eloquence of the sons of man, whom God chose. Only this eloquence, he says, God wanted to be between men and beasts, since we speak, they are mute; we possess the will for conversation, they are stupefied with silence. And though we only differ from beasts in language, though it is shown to us, how we are like the beasts - weak in body. Just as a beast dies, thus man dies, and one breath is for all, and that is the air that we breathe. For he says this: "and one spirit is for both, and there is nothing more for man than for beast."

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:20

  "All go to the same place; all originate from dust and return to dust." It is not surprising that there is no distinction in this life between righteous and wicked, nor that none values virtues, but all things occur with uncertain outcome, where nothing seems to differ according to the worthlessness of the body between sheep and men: there is the same birth, common end in death; we proceed similarly towards the light and are equally dissolved into the dust. But there seems to be this difference, that the spirit of man ascends to the heavens, and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth, but from where do we know this for certain? Who can know whether what is hoped is true or false? But he says this, not because he thinks the spirit dies with the body, or that there's one place set aside for beasts and for man, but because before the arrival of Christ all were led equally to the nether regions. Jacob said that he was about to go down to those regions. And Job complains that the pious and impious are held back in the lower world. And the Gospel says that with an abyss blocking the way even Abraham and Lazarus were rich in prayers in the underworld. And in fact before Christ accompanied by a robber opened the wheel of flames, and the fiery rumpias and the gates of paradise, the heavens were closed and the equal unworthiness of the spirits of sheep and of men was abridged. One also seems to be dispersed and the other saved; but there is not much of a difference between dying with the body or being held in the darkness of the underworld. Let us look over these things one by one in paragraphs, and discuss them briefly. ...And though we only differ from beasts in language, though it is shown to us, how we are like the beasts - weak in body. Just as a beast dies, thus man dies, and one breath is for all, and that is the air that we breathe. For he says this: "and one spirit is for both, and there is nothing more for man than for beast." Since lest we think the text refers to the soul he adds: "all are made from earth and return to the earth." But nothing else except the body is made from earth, and quite relevant, regarding the body he continues: "you are earth and to the earth you will return."

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:20

  [Daniel 7:17-18] "These four great beasts are the four kingdoms which shall arise from the earth. But the saints of the Most High God shall take the kingdom." The four kingdoms of which we have spoken above were earthly in character. "For everything which is of the earth shall return to earth" (Ecclesiastes 3:20). But the saints shall never possess an earthly kingdom, but only a heavenly. Away, then, with the fable about a millennium! (Revelation 20:4-6) "...And they shall possess the kingdom unto eternity, even forever and ever..." If this be taken to refer to the Maccabees, the advocate of this position should explain how the kingdom of the Maccabees is of a perpetual character.

  Commentary on Daniel

• Ecclesiastes 3:21

  "Who perceives that the spirit of man is the one that ascends on high while the spirit of the beast is the one that descends down into the earth?" But this seems to be blasphemy: for who knows if the spirit of the sons of man ascends upwards, or if the spirit of beasts goes downwards into the earth? He does not contend that there is no difference between animals and men in reference to the dignity of the soul, but in adding "who?" he wants to show the difficulty of the matter. For the pronoun "who" is used in the Holy Scriptures not on account of impossibility, but a difficulty. So here it is said in that passage, "who will describe that man's generation?" [Is. 53, 8.], and in the psalm: "Lord, who ascends in your tabernacle, and onto your sacred mountain?" [Ps. 14, 1.], and other examples that follow this pattern. And in Jeremiah it can be said differently in Hebrew: "And he is a man, and who knows him?" [Ier. 17, 9.]. This then, is the only difference between beast and men, that the spirit of man ascends to the heaven, and the spirit of the beast descends into the earth and is dispersed with the flesh; but let any man, who is of the Church and learned in the religious disciplines, be the real champion of the matter, which is rather doubtful. Then he adds just how much it refers to a spiritual understanding: "since the Lord will keep both men and beasts safe" [Ps. 35, 17.], and in another place he says, "beasts, I am among you" [Ps. 72, 23.], and all the prophets say that both men and beasts will be saved in Jerusalem, and that the promised land will be filled with sheep and cattle. Who knows whether the saintly man, who is worthy of the name of man, will ascend to heaven, and whether the sinner, who is called beast, will go down into the earth? For it is possible in light of the uncertain and dangerous condition of his life, that the righteous man falls and the sinner rises, and it sometimes happens that man, having more reason and learned in the Scriptures, does not look about himself, and although worthy of his knowledge lives out his life and is led down to the nether world; and the simpler and unlearned man, who is said to be compared to the beasts of men, lives better and is crowned in martyrdom, and he is then to live in paradise.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes

• Ecclesiastes 3:22

  "I therefore observed that there is nothing better for man than to be happy in what he is doing, for that is his lot. For who can enable him to see what will be after him? " Instead of that which we have as "to see what will be after him", Symmachus interprets it more clearly saying, "so that he sees those things which will be after these ones". Therefore nothing is good in life, unless a man is happy in his work, doing acts of sympathy, and obtaining his future reward in the realm of heaven. We have this one lot, which nor neither thief nor robber values, nor any tyrant has the power to take away, and which follows us after our death. And we will not be able to enjoy our toil again when this life will be over, or know what things will be afterwards in the world. Another explanation of this is: I am disturbed by the wickedness of what I have said above, that I think there is no difference between men and beasts, and I have been led into this opinion by wrong conclusions, so that I said nothing else was good, except grasping ones present desire. Nor when death has destroyed us is it possible to enjoy these things, which we, ungrateful, leave behind. Some have referred to that understanding because it says, "for who leads him, so that he sees those things, which will be after him", so that they say, "it is better for a man to enjoy his work" because it is only this that he is able to take away with him from his possessions. For when death comes he will not know what kind of heir he will die with, whether worthy or unworthy, who will enjoy his wealth.

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes