The Sceptics of the Old Testament: Job - Koheleth - Agur Part 31

4. And I saw that all striving and all painstaking in the working of men is but the jealousy of one with another; this too is vanity and the grasping of wind. 5. True,

The fool foldeth his hands, And eateth up his own flesh.

6. And yet better is a handful of quietness than both fists filled with drudgery and the grasping of wind.

7. And again I beheld a vain thing under the sun: 8. one who toileth restlessly without enjoying his riches. For whom do I wear myself out and bereave my soul of pleasure? This too is vanity and irksome drudgery.

II. 12. For what manner of man will he be who shall come after me? 18.

Then I loathed all my toil, wherewith I had wearied myself under the sun, in order that I should leave it to one who shall come after me. 19. And who knoweth whether he be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have sway over all the fruits of my labour which I have gained by toil and wisdom under the sun; this likewise is vanity. 20. And I turned away to let my heart abandon itself to despair because of the pains wherewith I laboured under the sun. 21. For here is a man who hath performed his work with wisdom, knowledge and painstaking, and to one who hath not laboured thereat he must leave it, as his portion. This also is vanity and a sore evil.

22. For what hath man of all his striving and of the worry of his heart wherewith he labours under the sun? 23. For all his days are sorrows and his work grief; yea, even at night his heart taketh no rest; this too is vanity.

24. There is no good for man, save that he should eat and drink and make glad his soul in his labour. Yet I saw that even this lieth in the hand of G.o.d.[266] 25. For who can eat and who can enjoy except through him?

26. For on the man who findeth favour in his sight he bestoweth wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to him who is not pleasing in his sight[267] he giveth drudgery, to gather and to heap up in order to make it over to him in whom he is well pleased. This also is vanity and a grasping of wind.

PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS RELIGIOUS AND MORAL ASPECTS[268]

_(a) Because in the Chances of Life and Death the Just are Nowise Favoured_

II. 12_a_. Then I turned to behold wisdom, madness and folly, 13.

and I saw that wisdom excelleth folly as much as light surpa.s.seth darkness:

14. The wise man hath eyes in his head; But the fool walketh in obscurity.

But I perceived that the same fate overtaketh them all. 15. Then I said in mine heart: As it happeneth to the fool, so shall it happen also unto me; and why then have I been so very wise? Whereupon I said in my heart that this too is vanity. 16. For there is no more remembrance of the wise man than of the fool for ever; because in the days to come all shall have been long since forgotten, and how the wise man perisheth like the fool!

17. Then I loathed life; because the turmoil under the sun weighed upon me as a calamity, for all is vanity and a grasping of wind. III. 1. To everything there is a season and each thing under heaven hath its hour.[269] 2. There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3. a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; 4. a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5. a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek and a time to throw away; a time to keep and a time to destroy; 7. a time to rend and a time to repair; a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8. a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace. VIII.

6. For every thing hath its season and its destiny,[270] for the bane of man presses heavily upon him. 7. Because he knoweth not what shall be; for who can tell him how it will come to pa.s.s?

8. No man swayeth the storm-wind, None controlleth the day of his death; There is no discharge in war, Nor can riches rescue their possessor.

_(b) Because the Just are very often Treated worse than the Wicked_

VIII. 9. All this have I seen, and I have applied my heart unto every event that happens under the sun, at the time when one man ruleth over another to his undoing. 10. And so I beheld the evil-doer honoured, even in the holy place, while they who had done uprightly must go away and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.

11. Because sentence against misdeeds is not executed forthwith, therefore the heart of the sons of man is fully set to work evil. 12. For I know that many a miscreant hath committed bad deeds for a protracted time past, and yet lives long, 13. while the G.o.d-fearing prolongeth not his shadow-like days.

14. There is a vanity which is done upon earth: to righteous men that happeneth which should befall wrong-doers; and that betideth criminals which should fall to the lot of the upright. I said: This too is vain.

16a. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to consider the goings on upon earth, 17a. then I perceived that no man can find out the whole work of G.o.d that is carried on beneath the sun.[271] How much soever he may labour in seeking, he will not discover it; 16_b_. even though by day and by night he should keep his eyes from seeing sleep; 17_b_.

yea, though a wise man set himself to fathom it, yet shall he not find it out.[272]

IX. 1. For all this I laid to heart, and my heart beheld it all; that the righteous and the wise and their doings are in the hand of G.o.d; neither love nor hatred doth a man know in advance;[273] everything lies before him.

2. All things come alike to all indiscriminately;[274] the one fate overtaketh the upright man and the miscreant, the clean and the unclean, him who sacrifices and him who sacrifices not, the just and the sinner, him who swears as him who dreads an oath. 3. This is an evil amongst all things that are done under the sun, that one chance betideth all; therefore the sons of men pluck up courage for evil, and madness abideth in their heart.

VIII. 15. Then I commended mirth, because for man there is no good under the sun save only to eat, drink, and make merry, and that abideth with him in his toil during the days of his life which G.o.d hath given him under the sun.

PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS ASPECT AS PRUDENCE AND PRACTICAL APt.i.tUDE

_(a) Because Success is Contingent upon Circ.u.mstances beyond the Control of Man_

IX. 11. Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill; but time and chance overtake them all. 12. For man knoweth not even his own time; like the fishes that are taken in the evil net, and like the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men entrapped in the season of misfortune, when it breaks in upon them unawares.[275]

_(b) Because of the Difficulty of obtaining recognition for it, and of the Ease with which it may be Thwarted by Folly_

IX. 13. This also have I seen under the sun, as wisdom, and it appeared great unto me. 14. There was a little city and few soldiers therein, and there came a mighty king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. 15. Now he found in it a poor wise man who, by his wisdom, delivered the city; but no one remembered this poor man afterwards. 16. Thereupon I said:

Wisdom is better than strength; Yet the poor man's wisdom is despised.

17. The words of the wise are gently uttered; But the clamour of fools is deafening.[276]

18. Wisdom is better than war weapons; Yet a single oversight bringeth ruin.

X. 1. A dead fly causes balsam to putrefy; So a little folly destroys much happiness.

VI. 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? What, the poor who knoweth how to walk before the living? 10. That which is happening was long ago named, and it is known beforehand what a man shall be; neither can he join issue with him who is mightier than he. 11. For there is much prattle that only augmenteth vanity. Of what avail is it to man? 12. For who knoweth what is helpful to man in life during the brief vain days of his existence which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall come to pa.s.s after him under the sun?

PART II

RECOMMENDATION OF THE RELATIVE GOOD; AND IN THE FIRST PLACE OF WISDOM, AS RENUNCIATION

_(a) Of Claims to Happiness_

VII.1_a_. Better is a good name than choice unguents,

X.1. But better wisdom than glory; [Better not being than existence,][277]

VII.1_b_. And the death-day than the birthday.

2. Better to enter the house of mourning Than to go into the tavern; Because there is the end of every man, And he who survives will lay it to heart.

3. Better is sorrow than laughter; For a cheerless face makes a blithesome heart.

4. The heart of the wise is in the mourning-house; The heart of fools in the house of mirth.

5. Better to hearken to the rebuke of the wise, Than to listen to the song of the foolish.

6. As the crackling of thorns under a pot,[278]

Is the inane laughter of the fool.

VI.9. Better look with the eyes than wander with desire; This too is vanity and a grasping of wind.

VII.7. For extortion maketh the wise man foolish, And bribery robs understanding.

8. Better the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; Better is patience than haughtiness.

9. Let not thy spirit be hurried into anger, For anger lurketh in the bosom of fools.

10. Say not: Why were old times better than these? For it is not from wisdom that thou askest thus.

13. Contemplate the work of G.o.d! Who can straighten what he hath made crooked? 14. In the day of prosperity be of good cheer, and in the evil day bethink thee: the latter G.o.d hath made even as the former, to the end that man at his death shall have left nothing unaccomplished.