Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1 part 3/10

This life we have while being in the flesh and while still passing our time in it.

It is under time, it is under the number of days.

But to live truly is eternal;

and such a life is eternal and unending.

So he speaks concerning the life here, the material life.

And he made them in shadow;

For who will declare to the man what shall be after him under the sun?

The life of men, which they lead here, is shadowy.

You have in the Gospel that which is said by the Saviour:

Seek, he says, first the righteousness and the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

It is impossible for there to be a shadow if a body does not previously exist.

There must be a body, so that thus a shadow may follow.

The life here, then, is a shadow, there being a prior life which precedes it, of which that which comes to be here is a sequel.

On account of these things it is said somewhere:

And moreover Job said formerly:

The life of men upon the earth is a shadow.

This life upon the earth, or the material life—the transient life, the life lived with the flesh—this is a shadow of the life above.

It is a created thing, easily moved, easily led astray.

So too the Apostle, wishing to show forth this shadowy life, said:

'If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most to be pitied.'

Let there be, then, someone who sets his hope upon the shadow of a visible helper—as one who contemplates in a mirror the face of a king who is not present—[and ask] whether the shadow or the mere appearance will profit him.

For can there be secured for him the things that can be secured for him by a true king who rules according to the laws?

Our life, then, is shadowy.

But it is a good thing, once a man has recognized this—that this life is shadowy—to attend to it as to a thing that does not abide, as one content to draw his sufficiency from elsewhere; and this too he must consider, that there is another life, upon which the shadowy one follows, and to live and act according to that one.

For thus can a man please God.

By the words 'who shall declare to a man what shall come after him while he is yet under the sun,' there is thereby removed all divination, all human foreknowledge.

For the phrase 'under the sun' is added.

For those who have risen above this sun and drawn near to the Sun of righteousness—so that it is said of them that 'they shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father'—these are able to declare what shall be hereafter, what succeeds them.

And what I said [before], I will say also now:

We were saying that we are in ignorance of the judgments of God, since they prove to be unsearchable.

'The judgments of God are a great deep.'

And the deep is incomprehensible, or hard to comprehend.

And we were saying: let there be certain men condemned to an island by a most just king, each according to his own sin; and we all know that they were condemned justly—yet not indeed why this particular one [was condemned].

So too here we may say [the same].

And conversely, many from among rulers have been reduced to the state of common men.

This same Preacher says:

'I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking on foot'; and we cannot say why this one has this [lot].

But this we can say in general: that the affairs of men are subject to reversal.

But if, passing beyond these things, we come to be on high, no longer regarding the temporal and the visible, then shall we attach ourselves to God, being then able to know the things that follow upon what comes after.

And each man receives his wage according to his deed and his work.

And this is said to God by the psalmist:

'Thou shalt render to every man according to his works.'

For even if the works are manifest, yet we do not know with what disposition [men] perform them.

'And he made them in shadow.'

The anagogical sense: it says this:

Those who have shone forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father passed their lives in the true days.

By way of a promise, then, he spoke to a certain one concerning a certain one:

'With length of days will I fill him.'

These long days, which come from the true Light, are not shadowy; they are the archetypes:

but shadowy are the days which we are able to receive while still clothed about with flesh.

Then a man knows in part, when the perfect has not yet come, when he is [living] in the earnest of the Spirit and of the true Light.

So a man made these days in shadow, but he does not know what shall be after him—whether he shall pass beyond the shadow, or fall down beneath it.

And that we may take the contemplation from yet another example:

The Jews came to be in a shadow—in a shadow of days—not in the days themselves.

For Moses interprets the days that go before and are true, saying:

'This is thy life and this is the length of thy days: to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.'

And love toward God, arising from the whole soul and from the whole disposition, does not work an increase of these [material] days.

For many earnest and God-fearing men were swiftly taken out of this life, while others, most wretched, lived to a great age.

For 'who shall declare to a man what shall be after him under the sun?'

Since the phrase is ambiguous, it must be taken in both senses, so that it means this: what shall be declared to him under the sun, and who, while yet being under the sun, is able to declare it.

The anagogical sense: this is the anagogical sense:

And to the man who strives after the things that are truly sweet to him, who shall declare to him what shall be after him under the sun?

Here may be meant the things that shine through, the things that lead up out of the shadow, the things that lead a man by the hand from the temporal to the eternal.

But it is possible also to take this with reference to the shadow of righteousness: that who shall declare to him what shall be of these things under the sun, while he still draws near to righteousness.

For this very man—the one who has passed beyond the shadow and come to be in the truth itself, beholding it face to face—is no longer under the Sun of righteousness.

'A good name is better than oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth.'

He urges [us] to give heed to a good reputation.

[As for] the one who conducts himself basely acquiring a name—

he therefore urges [us] to give heed to reputation.

For above the oil, which seems to be pleasant, this name is good.

The literal sense is plain: those who fare well in this life seem to be objects of pity—yet it is possible to have this along with ill repute:

such as was the rich man remembered together with Lazarus; the one who heard [the word]:

'Fool, this night they require thy soul of thee;

and the things thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?' Therefore, above this seeming oil, prefer and choose the good name.

It is possible, too, to understand the good name as [meaning] to be called by the chosen name of God.

So that the name be not a bare [name], the good name is established according to virtue.

And with toil and labour and sweat does a man acquire this.

But that pleasant thing which comes on the instant often arrives effortlessly and apart from any effort of their own.

This is that which the holy one deprecates, saying:

'Let not the oil of sinners anoint my head'—that which they deem pleasant to themselves, and [with which] they anoint themselves: let it not be mine.

For not every reputation is praiseworthy.

And 'name' here can be equivalent to reputation.

There are many who are well spoken of, who are able to oppress others—because they are rich, because they are rulers.

This name, then, is not better than oil.

For it is nothing other than a thing to be pitied.

But that which is truly to be chosen, and that which is [precious]...

...bringing [good repute] to its possessor above the pleasures of life.

In like manner he speaks concerning the day, namely, that those who truly hold the place of honour according to the inner man, and who lead an unstained life, possess a good name.

And this is that which is 'above oil,' above the pleasures.

But some acquire this name not from works, not from their manner of life, but from the [favour] and eagerness of certain persons.

That name is not more to be chosen than oil.

A man ought to have mercy upon himself.

And together with this mercy, if he sets his life aright, the true name is more to be chosen and is to be preferred.

'And the day of death is better than the day of his birth.'

The day of birth is the beginning of affliction and of misfortune.

The day of birth brings a man in...

...into life, where there are many wicked and evil things;

but the day of death sets an end to the toilsome life.

He, then, who does not cling to temporal things nor think highly of himself on their account, but knows that it is better to be dissolved and to be with Christ, prefers the day of death to the day of birth.

For the one is the beginning of many evils, while the other is the end and the bounding-limit of evils.

And here by 'evils' we mean the toilsome things, the indifferent things:

poverty, ill repute, and things akin to these.

'It is good to go into the house of mourning rather than to go into the house of feasting.'

There is no dilution of character where mourning is.

For there men turn away from rejoicing and from laughter;

this calamity does not permit such things to happen.

And sometimes also, out of consideration toward those who are unfortunate and who suffer the calamity, we guard ourselves against being seen even cheerful.

But in the house of feasting the opposite things happen: dancing too, and songs that bring reproach, being tokens of a vulgar life.

It is good, therefore, for the wise man to go into the house of mourning rather than into the house of feasting.

This drinking together, when it does not lead to evil, yet neither brings any good.

That we may not incur blameworthy mourning; rather that mourning which the Saviour pronounces blessed.

And with regard to the literal sense we have said that to be together with those undergoing calamity does no harm.

The house of mourning altogether serves as a reminder of our nature, making clear that we are neither the first nor the only ones who, in misfortune, have mourning;

there is a house of mourning where the ethical doctrines concerning sins are, and the punishments that follow upon them.

For when men hear these things they [are moved]...

...to grieve and to mourn and to lament over themselves.

Mourning, then, is something good.

'For blessed are those who mourn now, for they shall be comforted.'

Mourning is the prelude and beginning of comfort.

But the Saviour does not pronounce blessed those who mourn in just any manner whatsoever.

For sometimes they themselves who mourn are also culpable, since the Word says:

'Weep not for the dead, neither lament him;

weep sore for him that goeth forth from the presence of the Lord, for he shall no more return.'

This one is worthy of weeping.

The dead man who has fallen away from the blessed and eternal life.

In many ways, then, one who has fallen into sins is able to mourn for himself, if he becomes aware of it.

And he is pronounced blessed who mourns for himself, having done things worthy of mourning and having fallen from the blessed life, in order that he may be comforted.

But he mourns for others also, when he is one who loves his children.

So indeed Paul said:

'lest, when I come, I should mourn for many.'

By 'many' he means those who had not repented.

This one who mourns does not mourn for himself, but for the others who have been put to death—or rather who had become his children through instruction, or in whatever manner.

And the 'house' signifies a certain condition and a course of conduct, not a place.

'He knew this to be the end of every man, and the living will lay it to his heart as a good thing.'

He who goes into the house of mourning knows that the end of every man is to die.

And if he knows that he will die, he will not be high-minded, nor will he count himself to possess anything worth eager striving, if he possesses such things as a dead man is able to lose—wealth, glory, rank—according to the saying, 'Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, and when the glory of his house is increased; for at his death he shall carry nothing away.'

'And the living will lay it to his heart as a good thing.'

It belongs to the living to pursue what seems to him to be good.

For the dead man, who undergoes things worthy of mourning, does not lay a good thing to his heart.

But if a good and noble man is drawn away from life, he finds the truly good thing as he enters into the joy of his own Lord.

But if he is base, then even there he undergoes weeping.

For there is the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

And it is possible also for the living man to say:

such as were those about Abraham, concerning whom it is said:

'God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.'

He who truly lives, who possesses the blessed life, finds good for his own soul.

'He knew this to be the end of every man.'

The base man is called 'man' according to another signification, as it is said:

'But ye shall die like men,' and:

'for where there is strife and jealousy among you, are ye not men?'

He who has cast off this life, according to which he is a blameworthy man, is mourned in a blessed manner.

But the one who lives by pursuing such a course and life hunts after what is pleasant for himself, and does not seek the salvation that comes thereafter, which is achieved with much toil.

For 'through many afflictions we must enter into the kingdom of heaven,' and:

'being afflicted in everything,' these have nothing pleasant.

He, then, who has mourned has known the end of every man.

So then he mourns as though the very life of the one whose case has been made public had been cut off.

Therefore the living man will not simply give what is good, but will give it toward his own heart, which is inclined to pleasure.

Anger is better than laughter, for in a man's wickedness he shall be made better.

And from the matters at hand one may see this:

If someone has those under his charge, such as children or servants, whenever he is so angered and provoked against them as to restrain their wickedness, this anger is good—not anger in the absolute sense, but the anger of a father toward his child, of a guardian toward those he protects.

For 'in a man's wickedness he shall be made better'—the one who seeks laughter, who goes where the jesters are;

but he who holds anger against those who do such things will also be angry with himself, whenever some such thought or deed comes upon him, as I was saying just now, so that he is angered at himself, laying the blame of his anger upon a man's wickedness.

How does this apply to the higher, anagogical sense? When we read the divine Scriptures and come to know that God is indignant against sinners and that He rouses His wrath—which the saint, deprecating, spoke of, saying:

'Rebuke me not in Your anger, neither chasten me in Your wrath'—this anger is not better than living in virtue;

but insofar as a man is worthy of being punished, it is more choiceworthy for him to be reproved through anger and to be chastened by that very punishment.

For he who has the power to punish grows angry before he punishes.

Do we not then hear in Scripture that a threat is laid up against sinners? If it is anger that is announced, it is a kind of threat;

by the fulfilling of the threat.

In the punishment is not the anger greater? Yet it is not this that he calls good, if one should experience it, but rather if the anger should prevent sins from increasing, so that punishment need follow.

Anger, then, is the good thing, above laughter,

above taking delight in evil deeds.

'for in a man's wickedness he shall be made better.'

Laughter is made 'better' in a man's wickedness;

and the maker of jests brings wickedness both upon himself and upon others.

So then, in a man's wickedness the one who hunts after pleasures is 'made better'—he who prefers a watered-down, dissolute life to the austere one.

The face of this laughter seems to be brightened in wickedness.

But if we say this concerning the one who is angry—that the evil manifested in the threat is not the wickedness opposed to virtue, but the harm inflicted upon those who go astray—concerning which it is also written in Amos the prophet:

'Is there evil in a city which the Lord has not done?' There is no harmful state of affairs arising in a city apart from God.

'The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of fools in the house of mirth.'

Behold, he has shown how the face of anger is more choiceworthy than that of laughter, on the basis of what men choose:

for the heart of the wise inclines rather toward the house of mourning than toward the house of drinking and laughter.

The comparison that is drawn, so as to choose some of these things and to flee others, arises in several ways, one of which is that based on the things chosen.

The wise man chooses virtue, piety, to please God, to be zealous for piety, even should it be necessary to die.

But the common man, the fool, does not choose these things.

From the things chosen, virtue is preferred, because the wise choose it—not the vulgar man, not the dissolute, not the fool.

And again, from the things themselves the comparison is taken—the aforesaid contemplation drawn from those who judge and compare.

And the sense of 'what is fitting' is taken up when we say that the soul is more choiceworthy than the body, and that it befits one to care for it rather than for the body.

From the thing itself, toward which the choice and comparison are made, we take up what is honorable, since the soul is more honorable.

He who spares and cares for it, cares in truth for what is honorable and superior.

And there are times when the preference is drawn also from the accompanying consequences.

Thus one ought not simply and absolutely to prefer living to dying.

For even if someone should prefer living to dying—when about to die by reason of some clamor, or a judge, or someone else persecuting Christianity and the truth—it is only for a little while.

For even if he does not die at the hand of the one killing him, sometimes a disease overtaking him removes him from life.

It differs only in time, in that the one immediately subject to the wrath of a judge will die, whereas when disease will destroy life is uncertain.

Yet this is not for an unlimited time, but it can persist for a somewhat longer while.

And here too the judgment arises from the permanence or the swiftness of the matter.

'It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than for a man to hear the song of fools.'

To the many it seems that the rebuke coming from the wise man is to be avoided, especially when they are lovers of sin.

For he who has a longing to take pleasure and to sin shuns the one who prevents these things.

He who has no judgment rejoices in flatterers;

he wishes rather to hear the songs of flattery than words of reproof.

For it belongs to a wise man to love the one who reproves.

For it is said in the Proverbs:

'But the ungodly and the evil man hates the one who reproves.'

'He who reproves the ungodly will bring reproach upon himself as well.'

For he who reproves the ungodly brings reproach upon himself.

For the ungodly man is to be rejected and given up as hopeless.

And just as a physician who subjects to cutting or cautery one who cannot be healed by these is rather no physician, not a skilled physician, so too he who subjects the incorrigible to reproof rather brings blame upon himself.

For he provokes those men too to speak against him.

And he shows that this man too bears blame, as one who does not know whom he should reprove and whom he should not.

Thus the rebuke of the wise man is above the song of fools.

Flatterers in a manner sing;

and even if they speak moral words, they wish rather to delight than to profit their hearers.

They are to be shunned and rejected.

Is it the rebuke of the wise man who rebukes, or of the one being rebuked? It is the rebuke of the wise man—not the one he himself undergoes, but the one he enjoins upon others.

But if you wish to take it thus, that it is the rebuke of a wise man which he himself endures, the saying is somewhat forced, yet nonetheless it says this:

The wise man, having received rebuke, corrects himself and casts off those things on account of which the rebuke came upon him.

And this is good for him.

But this is not what he means; rather it is the rebuke which he himself brings upon those deserving of censure, so that the saying may be similar to this one:

'He who utters wisdom from his lips smites with a rod the man who is without heart.'

'For as the crackling of thorns under a cauldron, so is the laughter of fools.'

The thorns, when they are burned under a cauldron, produce a great resounding din.

And so too the laughter of fools is of this kind—reaching only so far as to produce noises and clatter, not for the sake of gladdening the soul.

But if the soul does not laugh, it did not reach so far as to admonish.

In many places in the Scriptures the cauldron signifies punishment.

For out of the north a fire shall be kindled upon those who dwell in the land.

When the people beheld the prophet, they laughed.

Fools do not laugh merely to give their soul a little rest, but so as to make a din and clatter.

Rather, they are buffoons.

And just as the very thorns, being plants set ablaze beneath the cauldron, give off a crackling noise, so too the laughter of such men is brought forth out of their kindled and wicked soul.

It is good to hear the rebuke of a wise man.

The divine word of the Scriptures is wise, and each of those who keep it is wise according to God — he is taught of God in wisdom.

When, therefore, such a one rebukes, is the zeal good or not? Indeed, he rebukes rightly.

But many rebuke people also for not playing the buffoon, for not dancing and doing such things.

The wise man, however, brings forth a reproof that restrains sin.

And such a rebuke from the wise man, being conducive to improvement — even if the one being corrected is not improved — is nonetheless good, being better than the song of fools, that is, the flattering and unreproving word.

And even if a man be harmed by the song of fools, how much more a woman or a child.

The thorns, then, are the cares of this life, the shameful desires, the unbridled pleasures.

And this is what he says: that such things — which those who play the buffoon suppose they do to their delight — are thorns, bringing men under punishment and leading them to it.

And this very thing is vanity.

For they shall gain nothing from their laughter.

It is as though you were to say to one who lives wickedly:

For slander drives a wise man about and destroys the firmness of his heart.

Often someone speaks evil of the wise man and finds many following after him.

And unless he were exceedingly firm and perfect, he is at times even shaken.

Susanna, though her wise soul was not carried away, was slandered on a charge of adultery.

And the slander was not spoken by one or two false accusers.

The rulers of the people and the judges of such charges were the very ones who brought the accusation.

All the people gave heed to them as to judges and as to those who governed the people.

And there was scarcely a single person who could expose the calumny as false.

When therefore she, being taught of God, considered that any defense of hers would be in vain — for she would find none to hear her — she fled for refuge to God; and while she kept silent in outward speech, in her mind she cried out:

O eternal God, who knowest the hidden things, who knowest all things before their coming to be, thou understandest that they bear false witness against me.

The slander did not carry her away, nor did it bring her into misery, but rather it confirmed her in her chastity.

And especially in the time of the persecutions many were slandered and yet were not carried away.

Here, then, by 'wise man' he does not mean the perfect one, but the one who is at the beginning, the newly established.

In this way we have also understood the saying, 'Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.'

The perfect wise man is not subject to any reproofs.

'The wise turn not aside from the mouth of the Most High' — here he speaks of the perfect.

Many, at any rate, offered sacrifice, not even having the deliberate intent, because the firmness of their heart had been destroyed.

It is a heavy thing to beat off a resolve when one is not altogether all-powerful.

Better is the end of words than their beginning; better is the patient in spirit than the lofty in spirit.

The end of words already possesses something more good than the beginning of words.

He who is beginning a word — take 'word' here to mean the effective, the practical word — is in an uncertain state as to whether he will complete the word, whether he will act in accordance with the word.

But he who has already arrived at the very end of the words — the end of the word being that for the sake of which it comes to be, not that toward which the word is directed —

A word is spoken in order that a deed may come to pass, or that ...

For the hearers, then, there is an end ...

The word forbids the end ...

For it is said, 'By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned,' so that to be justified ...

The end of the blameworthy words ...

Of the introduction, then, the ...

For it comes to pass that the one who has begun ...

Better is the patient in spirit than the lofty in spirit.

By 'lofty in spirit' he means the boaster, the ...

... which the Saviour said ...

And it has often been said that 'spirit' signifies the disposition of mind, according to the phrase 'the virgin holy in body and in spirit.'

... proud in spirit is ...

... the patient man does not become lofty in spirit; he is not arrogant.

Often, at any rate, in instructing someone who is not quick in understanding, he brings the teaching to bear with patience.

And in rebuking he does likewise.

He does not give up after a single reproof or a second, but brings the remedy to bear in yet other ways.

This patient man, then, is better than the haughty-necked and the one lofty in spirit.

Many, at any rate, when teaching some lesson to certain persons, if one is somewhat slow in speaking, say:

'Ha, you rubbish, be gone! You are good for nothing.'

The uncouthness? That very thing is uncouthness.

But since you wish for this:

The patient man is he who from among the Gentiles believes on the Saviour; while the one lofty in spirit is the people from the circumcision, who say:

'We have no king but Caesar.'

'We are disciples of Moses.'

In comparison with this people lofty in spirit, sprung from the Hebrews, the one who has become patient from among the Gentiles — because he has come to know his own condition, namely that he was without hope and godless in the world — is to be preferred to that other.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Of the spirit, thus, that ...

That man sins in spirit ...

For they are from what presents itself ...

And having also composed and ...

... they procure, either by pleasure ...

Do not be hasty in your reasoning to give way to anger.

...that God is angry and speaks to me as well...

Man is composed of soul and body.

...when it comes to pass by the soul alone...

Wisdom is the presence of the Spirit; such a one...

Thus bestowing grace, he supposes...

...and if something is sent from God...

...being ..., the natural man does not receive this very thing...

...it is said in this way, even the phrase 'he does not receive the things of the Spirit.'

It is not by nature...

He regards the things of the Spirit as foolishness.

For he seems unwilling to be a fool.

He does not accept the things that prove him to be a fool, as he supposes.

This man, then, does everything in his soul.

But he who has risen above this and acts with divine reasoning, or with reason at all, this man acts in the Spirit.

This, then, I call a knowledge that is not properly knowledge, but one that appears to those who employ it to be harmful.

For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

He who is not a fool but wise and attentive to prudence, even if at some point something appears or is heard or stirs up anger, goes only as far as the first movement of passion.

For in many places of the divine teachings the bosom signifies the governing faculty, as when it says:

This their scorn in the land of Egypt has come into their bosom.

Because all things come into the bosom for the unrighteous.

Because when he touches his own evils, he brings the harm and the blow against his own governing faculty.

My prayer shall return into my own bosom: the zealous man asks for those things, sending up his prayer to God, which it is both profitable for him to receive and fitting for God to give.

And his prayer returns into his own bosom, bringing the things he had asked for.

For he asks for nothing more—not bodily strength, not wealth—but for that which makes the mind better.

If, then, he obtains what he asks for, since the things given do not remain outside him but are within his disposition and in his governing faculty, his prayer returns into his own bosom.

What has come to pass, that the former days were better than these? This—'better than these'—is not only said but also reasoned:

He who begins in virtue and in the illumination of knowledge and in being lit by the sun of righteousness, I am ever advancing in illumination.

And just as the zealous man, I press on toward the prize of the upward calling.

He has left behind the things given, forgetting those things which he has passed by, in that he no longer turns back or returns.