Author of this Book than Solomon Who if he did not write it himself it is certain spake the things contained in it and calls himself the PREACHER because of the great gravity and dignity of the Subject whereof he treats of which he was wont to speak frequently Chap. XII 9. desiring it might be understood and laid to heart by the whole Congregation of Israel as the Word Coheleth seems to import which in the Aethiopick language signifies a Circle or a Company of men gathered together in the form of a Circle as Ludolphus hath lately observed For the scope of this Discourse is concerning the chief Good or happiness of man the great end he should propose to himself all his life long Which is not that he shows which men generally follow but that which is generally neglected For most men mind nothing but just what is before them which they will find at last as he had done by sad experience to be mere vanity utterly unable to quiet their minds Which must therefore seek for satisfaction in something else and after all their busie thoughts designs and labours come to this Conclusion that to fear God and keep his Commandments is the happiness of man who ought therefore to use all the pleasures of this World which is the only Good it can afford us with a constant respect to the future account we must all make to God V. This it appears by the beginning and the end of this Book is the Scope of it Vnto which they that will not attend are wont to pick out here and there a loose Sentence which agrees with their desires and then please themselves with a fancy that they have got Solomon on their side to help to maintain their infidelity Not considering what he asserts directly contrary in other places Where he presses the greatest and most serious reverence to Almighty God IV. 17. V. 1 2 c. VIII 12 13. XII 13. together with a remembrance of the future Judgment III. 17. XI 9. XII 14. Works of mercy and charity also whereby we may do good to others XI 1 2 c. and the contempt of those frivolous pleasures which draw our hearts from God and from good works II. 2. VII 2 c. All which plainly shew that those words which seem to countenance men in their neglect of Religion and open a Gap to licentiousness are only Opinions which he intends to confute according to the method he had propounded to himself in this Book Wherein he first represents the various ends men drive at which in the very entrance of it that men might not mistake his meaning he pronounces to be so vain that he had not words significant enough to express their vanity and then their different Opinions about God and his Providence and their own souls and what thoughts he himself had tossed up and down in his mind which at last came to that resolution I mentioned before wherewith he ends his Book In the close of which to give the greater weight unto what he had said he adds this That these were not only the result of his own thoughts but the judgment of other Wise men with whom he had consulted Let no man therefore deceive himself to use the grave words of Castalio as some I wish I could say a few have done who not minding the end and drift of this Book but having met with some one place in it that seems to favour their beloved lusts lay hold on that Scrap alone and with that endeavour to defend their licentious course of life As if they expected they should find God just such a Judge hereafter as they are of themselves at present VI. To comprise all in a few words The sense of the whole Sermon as we may call it seems to be comprehended in this Syllogism Whatsoever is vain and perishing cannot make men happy But all mens designs here in this World are vain and perishing Therefore They cannot by prosecuting such designs make themselves happy The Proposition is evident in it self and needs no Proof The Assumption therefore he demonstrates in the six first Chapters by an enumeration of Particulars as I shall shew in the Argument before or Annotations upon each Chapter And then proceeds in the rest of the Book to advise men unto the best course to make themselves happy evidently proving all along from this inconstancy and vanity of all things here that he who wishes well to himself ought to raise his mind above them to the Creator of the World and expecting to give an account to Him so to demean himself in the use of all earthly enjoyments that he devoutly acknowledge his Divine Majesty fearing and worshipping Him and doing his Will Such indeed is the dulness of Mankind that hearing all was but vanity they might condemn every thing as evil and hurtful and declaim too bitterly against this World Which was so far from Solomon's intention that having explained the vanity of all our injoyments here and the vanity of humane cares solicitous desires and endeavours he perswades all men to be content with things present to give God thanks for them to use them freely with quiet minds living as pleasantly and taking as much liberty as the remembrance of a future account will allow void of anxious and troublesome thoughts what will become of them hereafter in this life VII But it may not be amiss perhaps to give a larger account of this Sermon and let the Reader see in what method it proceeds For many men imagine it to be a confused Discourse which doth not hang together and therefore have explained this Book only by giving an account of the meaning of each Verse as if it were a distinct Sentence independant on the rest like those in his Proverbs But Antonius Corranus a most excellent person in a small Discourse of his upon this Book written above an hundred years ago hath drawn such a Scheme of it as I believe will satisfie those who consider it that Solomon proceeds after an exact order to deduce what he intended And therefore I will translate the sense of what he saith into English which is to this purpose VIII The design of the Author is to find out and to shew What it is in which the chief good and compleat felicity of man doth consist As appears by this that reflecting upon various things in which men place their happiness at the end of his Discourse upon every one of them he rejects them as utterly insufficient for that purpose but continues his search so far till at last he finds it and declares in the concluding Epiphonema that he had been seeking it through the whole Discourse saying the summ of the matter is this Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole of man Now there are two principal Parts of the whole Sermon The first of which contains a recital and confutation of mens false Opinions about their Chiefest Good the other
Effigies Reverendi in Christo Patris D Simonis Patrick Eliensis Episcopi A PARAPHRASE UPON THE BOOKS OF ECCLESIASTES AND THE SONG of SOLOMON WITH ARGUMENTS to each Chapter and ANNOTATIONS thereupon By SYMON PATRICK D. D. Now Lord Bishop of Ely LONDON Printed by W. H. for Luke Meredith at the Star in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCC To the Right Reverend Father in God and the no less Honourable HENRY Lord BISHOP of LONDON one of His MAJESTY'S most Honourable Privy Council MY LORD WE see in Your Lordship such a plain and familiar Example of that Wisdom which SOLOMON preaches in the Book of ECCLESIASTES that I am invited thereby to this boldness of prefixing Your Lordship's Name before the Paraphrase I have made upon it and upon the Book that follows it A Wisdom which hath raised Your Mind above the deceitfulness of Riches and of all Worldly Glories a Divine Wisdom which hath raised You above your self and made the faithful service of God and of the King the sole scope of all Your Endeavours It is a token surely of the Divine favour towards us and ought to be reckoned among the felicities of our Sovereign's Reign that a Vertue so active and laborious in doing good is placed in such a wide and capacious Sphere as that wherein Your Lordship moves From whence Your influences are no less powerful than they are benign stirring us up to industry and quickning us by Your own great Example to do our Duties uprightly and unweariedly in our several Stations Some small service I hope I have performed in the Explication of these two holy Books In the first of which according to the ancient Opinion the foundation is laid for a due progress unto the other the Mind not being fitted for such sublime thoughts as lye hid under the Figures in the Book of Canticles till it hath learnt by the Ecclesiastes the vanity of all earthly Enjoyments and by looking down upon them with contempt be disposed to value heavenly Blessings To this purpose Origen discourses in his Preface to the Song of Songs Which is a Depth into which I have adventured to dive though it hath been famous as one speaks for the shipwrack of many great Pilots who went too far as I conceive and sought for more there than is to be found and therefore miscarried Which Rock I have carefully avoided and steered my Course by such a clear and certain Direction which I thought I espied in other holy Writings that if I have kept my eye stedfastly fixt upon it I am satisfied hath not misled me but carried me to the right sense of this admirable Piece of Divine Poetry Which I trust I have made so evident that if the Readers will seriously consider the Rise and Ground I have taken for my Exposition even they who have made bold to prophane this Book with their wanton imaginations will hereafter look upon it with reverence If in any Part of this difficult Work I have mistaken my way Your Lordship I know hath the Goodness not only to pardon the errours of my weakness but to accept of the sincerity of my endeavours to do Honour to the Holy Scriptures by representing them to the best of my power in their native Beauty that is simplicity unto the eyes of those who have the heart to make them their Study Praying God to continue Your Lordship a long Blessing to this Church by Your prudent steady and obliging Conduct in the Government of us who have the happiness to be under Your particular care I remain MY LORD Your most humble and dutiful Servant S. Patrick THE PREFACE I. THis Book not carrying in the front of it the express Name of SOLOMON it hath emboldned some to take the liberty of intitling other Authors to it Hezekiah for instance whom the Talmudists make to speak those Words in the entrance of it The words of the Preacher c. Or Isaiah as R. Moses Kimchi with some other Jews fansie Or to name no more Zorobabel whom Grotius in his Notes upon Chap. XII 11. conjectures to have appointed certain men to make this Collection For so he would have the word COHELETH translated a Collector or Heaper up of Opinions rather than a Preacher II. But there are so many passages in the Book which agree to none but Solomon that it is a wonder so great a man as Grotius should be led away from the common Opinion by such slight reasons as I shall presently mention For instance there never was any Body that could truly speak those words which we read v. 16. of the first Chapter but only Solomon For neither Hezekiah nor Josiah nor Zorobabel kept such great State as he did much less excelled him in Wisdom And who but he could boast of such things as are mentioned Chap. II. v. 4 5 6 7 8 9. to represent the splendour wherein he lived above all that had been before him in Jerusalem Or on the contrary Who had such reason as he to make that sad complaint Chap. VII 26 c. of the mischief he had received by Women And to omit the rest those words in the last Chapter v. 9 10. can belong to none but him who set in order many Proverbs as appears in the foregoing Book III. Which things are so convincing that Grotius is forced to acknowledge that Zorobabel caused this Book to be composed in the Name of King Solomon for he was no King himself but a Governour under the King of Persia repenting of his former vain and sinful life Which very acknowledgment carries in it a plain solution of the principal Argument whereby he was led to this odd Opinion Which is that he finds some words in this Book that are no where to be met withal but in Daniel and Ezra and the Chaldee Interpreters Which makes it probable he thinks that it was written after their Captivity in Babylon But supposing Solomon to write here as a Penitent after he had frequented the Company of many Outlandish Women of whom we read 1 Kings XI 1 2. it need not seem strange to us that he had learnt the use of many of their words And so notwithstanding this Objection he may still be thought to have been the Author of this Book himself which the Hebrews generally conceive to have been written by him towards the end of his Reign after he had tried all manner of pleasures even to an excess Besides in other Books of Scripture there are words for the signification of which we are fain to have resort unto other languages and particularly the Arabick because they are not to be found elsewhere in the Scripture and yet for all that might be pure Hebrew according to the language which was then spoken when such Books were written IV. But it is not fit to stay any longer in the confutation of such a weak reason as this which hath no force in it though it be the best he hath to make us think of any other
God and by Christ and by the holy Ghost and by the Majesty of the Emperour which next after God was to be loved and honoured L. 2. Cap. 5. Where he adds this remarkable reason for it because to him when he hath remarkable the Name of Augustus faithful Devotion is to be performed and all vigilant service paid as unto a present and corporeal God The violation of which Oath though made to an Heathen Prince how heinously God takes even as a despising of an Oath made to himself and a breach of his own Covenant those terrible threats do sufficiently demonstrate XVII Ezek. 12 13 14 c. especially v. 19.20 Which are denounced against Zedekiah who rebelled against the King of Babylon who had made him swear by God 2 Chron. XXXVI 13. Some of the Pharisees were the first that we read of who would not take this Oath of Allegiance but as Josephus tells us L. XVII Antiq. Cap. 3. boasting themselves to be the most exact Observers of the Law of God and therefore the most in his favour while they were full of inward pride arrogance and fraud dared openly to oppose Kings and presumed by their motions to raise War against them and annoy them refusing saith he to take the Oath when all the Jews had sworn to be faithful to Caesar Of this Sect he adds there were above six thousand who were so far from lessening their crime by this refusal and making what they did against his Authority to be no Rebellion that it heightned it very much and was in it self a piece of Rebellion they having a natural Allegiance unto him by being born his Subjects There are some who from the beginning of this Verse argue this Book not to be Solomon's because he saith of himself I observe the mouth i. e. Commandment of the King So they translate the first words which the LXX translate as we do and so do the Chaldee the Syriack and Arabick Interpreters For though the Hebrew word be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego I it signifies nothing to this purpose because he doth not say I observe but simply I do thou observe There being a distinctive Note between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I and what follows showing that it is a short Form of Speech to be supplied by some such word as this I say or I command or counsel or rather charge thee And the reason perhaps why the principal Verb was omitted might be as the learned Primate of Ireland Usher conjectures because no word could be found significative enough to express the deepness of the Charge Some may think that I have dilated too much upon this Verse but they may be pleased to consider how useful if not necessary it is at this time when men begin again to plead the lawfulness of resistance Which is so plainly condemned in this Place that the most learned Assertors of the Old Cause were extremely puzzled to make it agree with their Principles in the late times of Rebellion There is one who in his Book called Natures Dowrie Chap. 21. calls in the assistance of a great many Hebrew Doctors to help him to another Translation of the words and yet after all is forced to acknowledge that our English is right enough and is content to admit it with this Proviso that the King manage well the affairs of the Common-wealth As much as to say do what they would have him c V. 3. The first word in this Verse is capable of several senses which I have endeavoured to express in the Paraphrase For it originally signifies such a passion and perturbation particularly that of anger and terror as makes a man precipitant in his motions being translated sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the LXX And the meaning of the Wise man is that in pursuance of the foregoing counsel v. 2. we must take care if we desire to live happily to suppress our passions and not to show the least discontent with the Government especially not hastily and rashly to fling our selves as we speak in a fume out of the Kings presence on any occasion much less receive his Commands with impatience or which is worst of all incur his just displeasure by sullen disobedience For though we may think to escape the effects of it we shall find our selves deceived Princes having long arms as the Phrase is to reach those that offend them though they flee never so far from them This is the sense of v. 3. d V. 4. And it is further enlarged in this Verse where Symmachus translates the first words thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Command of the King is authoritative carries such authority with it that it will be executed For the word Shilton from whence learned men have not unfitly derived the Titles of Sultan and Soldan denotes such a power as over-powers and cannot be resisted like that of Death v. 8. to which all must submit And so it follows in the end of this Verse Who may say unto him What doest thou i. e. first Who hath any authority to call him to an account as much as to say none hath but God alone According to that of an eminent Rabbi quoted by the forenamed Primate in the entrance of his Book about Obedience No Creature may judge the King but the Holy and Blessed God alone To allow the people either collective or representative to have power to do it is to make them Accusers Judges and Executioners also in their own cause and that against their Sovereign Nor secondly Can any man safely attempt it but he shall meet with punishment either here or hereafter Which is no new Doctrine but the same with that of St. Paul as Luther here honestly notes they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation which none shall be able to avoid Therefore it is safest simply to obey Magistrates Which he repeats again upon v. 7. A man cannot do better than simply to obey So Preachers saith he should exhort the tumultuous and seditious For judgment vengeance or punishment is ordained and decreed by God to all the disobedient which none shall escape And thus much the Author of Natures Dowry is forced to acknowledge from the evident light he saw in this place that the scope of the words is that as we tender our own safety we ought not to withstand the Magistrate in his Edicts which are consonant to the Word of God And it is Wisdom saith he out of Elisha Gallico an Hebrew Interpreter in a private man when the Magistrate enjoins what is repugnant to God's Will to remove out of his Dominions rather than contest with him Which some conceive to be imported by the word telec go out or go away in the foregoing Verse e V. 5. From whence he again concludes it is the most prudent course as well as most honest to comply with those that have authority over us in a dutiful obedience or
weight of it having lost their power to support him his teeth likewise so rotten or worn away or fallen out that they cannot thew his Meat and the sight of his eyes which were wont to show him things at a great distance now so failing him that he cannot know one man from another though they stand hard by him See Annot. c. 4. And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low 4. Is this the time to gain acceptance with God when he is despised by men and excluded the publick Assemblies because his voice is so low that no Body can hear him Nay his Lips look as if they were closed and fall so inward that he can but mumble by reason of the loss of his Teeth the weakness of his Lungs and the defect of other Instruments of Speech Nor can he recruit himself as he was wont by rest for sound sleep departs from his eyes and he wakes as early as the Birds but is not pleased at all with their Songs his hearing being so dull and flat that he is not moved by the best Musick in the World though he listen and incline his ears unto it with never so much diligence See Annot. d 5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way and the almond-tree shall flourish and the grashopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets 5. For joy and all such pleasant passions being fled away melancholy fear alone remains which makes him scarce dare to tread in the High-way much less his head is so giddy to go up a Pair of Stairs nay he thinks himself unsafe in the strongest Fortress Such is the feebleness of Old Age which looks venerably by its Grey Hairs but they are an early sign of approaching death and are made contemptible by his crumpled Shoulders Hips and Back which as they are of themselves a sufficient Load so are relieved and supported by no bodily pleasures the very desires of which now fail him for there is but a very short step between him and his Grave unto which if he be carried with the usual Solemnities it is all his Friends can do for him See Annot. e 6. Or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern 6. Remember therefore thy Creator while the noble Faculties of sense and motion remain intire and are strong and lively for the time will come and that will be very unfit for this or indeed any other business when they will be totally disabled the Nerves for instance will shrink up and be dispirited the Brain it self and all those precious Vessels wherein it is contained be of no use at all unto thee For the very Fountain of Life the Heart will fail and the Veins and Arteries no longer carry the Blood round the Body but the motion will cease by the decay of that power which now thrusts it forward in a contitinual Circulation See Annot. f 7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it 7. And then what remains but that the Soul and Body being parted they go to their several Originals The Body tho' now so fair a Fabrick to the Earth out of which it was taken according to that ancient Doom passed upon it Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return but the Soul unto God to be judged by him according to what it hath done in the Body since He sent it thither See Annot. g 8. ¶ Vanity of vanities saith the preacher all is vanity 8. And if this be the Conclusion of all our labours I have reason to conclude this Book as I began it and listen I beseech you again to him who proclaims nothing to you but what he hath proved in this Discourse that there is no solid satisfaction to be found in any thing here below where all things are both full of care and trouble as well as uncertain and perishing and therefore it is the height of folly to take great thought for this present life and to lay up nothing for the life to come See Annot. h 9. And moreover because the preacher was wise he still taught the people knowledge yea he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs 9. Perhaps you may still think otherwise and therefore I have this now to add and so shall summ up all I have said that I am as likely to judge aright as another man being indued with Wisdom from above by an extraordinary gift of God 1 Kings III. 12. IV. 30 c. whose Goodness also I have imitated in communicating my knowledge freely unto others Nay knowing that by sloth or envy the greatest Wisdom may be lost the more I understood the more diligent I was in informing others Nor did Divine illuminations make me either neglect my own Studies or other mens inventions but I listned unto all from whom I might hope to learn any thing and both weighed what they said and also made an exact search into things my self of which that not only the present Age but Posterity also might reap the benefit I have gathered together and aptly disposed and fitted to all capacities abundance of excellent pithy Sentences for instruction in Wisdom and Vertue 1 Kings IV. 32. See Annot. i 10. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth 10. Thus I that preach these things have employed my pains in seeking with no less diligence than covetous men do for money both the most pleasant and the most useful and most certain Knowledge and having found what I sought I may safely affirm that Nothing is said by me but what ought to be most acceptable being apt to give the greatest contentment and delight Nothing written by me but what I found in the Divine Writings or is so exactly agreeable thereunto that it is a straight and faithful Rule of life there is nothing frivolous or doubtful in them but they contain the most solid Wisdom as sure and true as truth it self See Annot. k 11. The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastned by the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd 11. And there is the same power in them as there is wont to be in all the acute Sayings of those that are wise and good to excite and stir up the minds of slothful men to the practice of Vertue that there is in a Goad to prick the dull Oxe forward to draw the Plow Nor do they only sting and move the mind for the present but are apt to stick as
into the Well Melancthon by Cistern understanding the Stomach the Word signifying saith he a profound Cavity takes the Wheel for the Guts adjoining thereunto which are wrapt about one another in a kind of Circular form and make the Mesentery look like a Wheel Which Grotius seems also to have had in his mind But taking it for granted that a Wheel being an Instrument of Circulation is the Hieroglyphick of something that goes and makes a round in us I think Dr. Smith's conjecture is most probable that hereby is meant the great Artery with all its Branches which is the great instrument of rotation or circulation in the Body of man and so evidently thrusts the Blood forward that we perceive its Pulses forcing the Blood along its Cavity in the Wrists the Temples and other Parts of the Body Without which Instrument to compel it the Blood that naturally tends home to the heart would go no further And then the Cistern from whence this Wheel forces the Liquor and conveys it through all the Parts is the left Ventricle of the Heart to which this great Artery is annexed and from whence it ariseth For a Cistern is a Vessel made on purpose to receive a due proportion of Water and to keep it till the time of use and then conveniently to pass it into Vessels that are prepared to receive it from thence And such is the left Ventricle of the Heart which in its Diastole as they call it receives the Blood that is brought into it from the Lungs and then keeping it there a little doth in its Systole pass due proportions thereof into the great Artery to be dispensed as was said before And for this end there are little Valves or Falling doors placed at the entrance and at the going out of this Cistern which are like Cocks to let in and to let out and by their opening or shutting give convenient passage or stoppage to the Liquor which continually runs that way And so the breaking or shaking in pieces as Forsterus translates the Word of this Wheel is the ceasing of the Pulse so he in another place translates it trodden down i. e. suppressed by the decay of the instruments of Pulsations which can no longer perform that work Which being absolutely necessary for the preservation of life the ceasing of it is death g V. 7. And so the Body made of a mouldering substance being no longer a fit habitation for the Spirit and therefore deserted by it which held the parts of it together shall crumble again into the Earth out of which it originally came according to that Sentence passed upon Adam in the beginning Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return III. Gen. 19. This Body was no better in its first Principles and though now we are very fond of it as if it were some goodly thing yet when the Spirit leaves it it will appear to be indeed but Dust But the Spirit the nobler part of man being of an higher Original shall return to God who sent it into the Body to be disposed of by Him according to the Sentence that he should pass upon it For the Chaldee Paraphrase's Explication of the latter part of this Verse is very apposite It shall return that it may stand in judgment before God For Elohim the Word here for God in the Hebrew Language signifies a Judge As in the place above-mentioned 1 Sam. XXVIII 9. There is a Sentence not much unlike to this I have observed in Plutarch's Consolatory Discourse to Apollonius upon the death of his Son where he alledges amongst a great many other this Saying of Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h V. 8. And now having thus demonstrated his first Proposition he elegantly repeats the Exordium or entrance of his Book as is here observed by St. Hierom whose Words are so significant that I cannot but translate them as an excellent Gloss upon this Verse For since all the labour of mortal man of which Solomon hath disputed in this whole Book amounts to this That the Dust returns to its Earth and the Soul returns thither from whence it was taken it is an excess of vanity to labour for this world and to gather nothing for the future where he is to live for ever and to be judged according to his behaviour here This only may be added That here he enters upon the Conclusion of his Discourse and divides it into two Parts as he had done the foregoing Book First He summs up what he had said in the six first Chapters concerning the false ways men take to happiness in this Verse which he backs by several serious Considerations in those that fol ow unto Verse 13. Where secondly he summs up what he hath said from Chap. VII to this place concerning the true way to happiness which lies only in a due regard to God and his Commandments i V. 9. The first Word of this Verse is variously translated and the whole Verse applied by Interpreters either to confirm what was said before concerning the false methods men take to happiness as if he had said I have done when I have told you that you may believe me who am sufficiently able to inform you and not think to meet with better information from other mens Writings or from your own experience or as an introduction to what he intends to say ver 13 14. concerning the right method to be happy Which he prepares the Reader to attend unto and receive into his mind first by asserting his own great Authority in this Verse who the wiser he was the more desirous he was both to teach and to learn And then the weighty Doctrine which he taught v. 10. And the great usefulness of it v. 11. The like to which they would find no where else v. 12. It is not very material which of these ways we take but I have had respect to both in my Paraphrase where I have expressed the sense so fully that I cannot think fit to enlarge any further upon this Verse But only note that Luther and he alone I think expounds the first Words thus not absurdly nor disagreeing with the Hebrew Text There remained nothing to the Preacher but that he was wise c. He understood and taught aright and took a great deal of pains which was a great satisfaction to himself but he saw little or no success of it in others who would not be governed by his Advice c. k V. 10. This Verse runs thus word for word in the Hebrew The Preacher carefully sought to meet with desirable words and the writing of uprightness and the words of truth Where writing may refer both to what he read in others whether Divine or Humane Authors and to what he wrote himself and so I have expounded it in the Paraphrase which he commends from three Heads pleasure or delight usefulness and certainty Some fansie that Solomon wrote a Book called Catub Jascher the Writing of Uprightness or Jascher
former times Which plainly showed the Jews if they would have learnt it that there was no reason they should except against the conjunction of the Gentiles with themselves in the spiritual Marriage of both in one body unto Christ For Isaac married Rebecca a Gentile and the Daughter of an Idolater as appears from her Brother Laban who was no better XXXI Gen. 19 30 c. And this mans Daughters Jacob married whose Son Judah the Prince of their Tribes took to Wife a Canaanite XXXVIII Gen. 2. as Joseph did an Egyptian XLI Gen. 45. nay Moses himself their great Deliverer and Law-giver married an Aethiopian or Arabian Woman XII Numb 1. and notwithstanding the anger of his Brother and Sister at this Marriage would not be divorced from her Naasson also a Great Man of the house of Judah married Rahab of Jericho and had by her Booz who took Ruth the Moabitess to Wife by whom he had Obed the Grandfather of David And indeed the very first Institution of Marriage having as I have proved in the Preface a mystical intention in it which St. Paul unfolds in the V. Ephes these Marriages may well be lookt upon as Emblems of the uniting all sorts of people with Christ in one Body of the Church f V. 6. Here they seem to give an account how they came to degenerate and lose their Original Beauty by false Prophets and Prophetesses in the Gentile World who led them to Idolatry particularly to the Worship of the Sun which was the most ancient of all other IV. Deut. 19. XXXI Job 26. and spread it self as far as the Sun shineth For it was the Sun whom one Country worshipped under the name of Baal another under the name of Moloch another of Chemosh and others of Mithras and Osyris Which last was the name given to it by the Egyptians among whom the Sun was worshipped in the famous City of Heliopolis which took its name from thence not far from the Land of Rameses where the Children of Israel dwelt while they lived there XLVII Gen. 11. and so were more easily infected with that Idolatry g V. 7. This Verse I take to be the voice of the whole Church longing to be acquainted with his Doctrine which is compared to food as his Disciples are to Sheep Whom Shepherds were wont in those Countries to lead into cool Shades at Noon that they might not suffer by the heat Unto which Solomon here alludes representing all pious Souls as afraid also of wandring from the true Shepherd and falling like Sheep that go astray into the hands of Strangers All which Metaphors are largely pursued by our Blessed Saviour in one of his Parables X. John as comparisons familiarly known to his Disciples who found them here first used in this Holy Book h V. 8. To the foregoing Petition He here returns his Answer Which needs no other Explication than what I have given of it in the Paraphrase unless we observe a difference between Flocks and Kids The latter of Which signifies the Goats young ones and so may represent the new Converts of the Gentiles who formerly lay under an ill Character and did male olere as they speak smell rank of many foul Superstitions But I am not willing to meddle with such niceties i V. 9. company of horses c. This Comparison may convince us that Solomon doth not aim at any single person in this Song either Pharaoh's Daughter or a beautiful Shunamire or any other Woman or Virgin who would very absurdly be compared to a Troop of Horses but at a great many united in a Body i. e. the whole Company of Believers in the Messiah who may very fitly be resembled to the Horses in the Chariots of Pharaoh Whose Kingdom in those days abounded with the most excellent Horses which were famous for their strength and fitness for service as may be seen by the provision of them Solomon made for himself from thence 1 King X. 28 29 and the great number which came from thence against Jerusalem in his Sons days 2 Chron. XII 3. Long after which we read of their great force XXXI Isai 1. XLVI Jer. 4 9. and consequently the Body of Christian people that is the Church being compared to a company of them is set forth thereby as very powerful and prevailing over all Opposers k V. 10 The means of which is here represented to be by the power of the Spirit wherewith Christ hath endued his Church For the manner of Bridegrooms being to present their future Bride with Jewels or some other rich Gifts suitable to their quality and ability Solomon alludes to them as I take it in this Verse and points at the Gifts which his Father foretold LXVIII Psal 18. Christ would dispense when he ascended up on high to his Throne of Glory whereby several Orders of admirable men were constituted in the Church 1 Corinth XII 28 c. l V. 11. And the design of all those Gifts was to make men truly vertuous which seems to be intended in this Verse for love and good works are compared to Gold in the language of Christ himself III. Revel 18. which is the voice of all those that attended upon the Bride m V. 12. That which makes the greatest difficulty in this Book is the frequent change of the persons that speak and it is doubted here whose Language this is I take it to be the Bride her self that here again gratefully acknowledges his benefits and endeavours to make all the World sensible of them sitteth at his Tablt The King sitting at his Table signifying his rest and joy after all his labours I have therefore expounded it of the Throne of his Glory unto which our Blessed Saviour being advanced He received power to prefer others whose honour and dignity is expressed by these two things eating at his Table and sitting by him upon Thrones which was the same thing in our Saviours own Language XIX Matth. 28. compared with XXII Luke 29 30. Spikenard It is observed by Pliny that the most fragrant Nard comes from the Spikes of a very small contemptible Shrub which may well be lookt upon as an Emblem of the sweet odour of the Gospel wherewith such mean and despicable persons as the Apostles were of themselves filled all the World by their preaching together with the extraordinary holiness of their lives which recommended their preaching very much to all observing men So the Cabbalists expound this fragrancy in the Ancient Book Zohar Where R. Juda saith When good works are multiplied in the World then the Cheneseth Israel i. e. the Congregation of Israel the same with Malcuth in their language exhales rich in tovin good odours i. e. most sweet and fragrant odours being blessed by the holy King c. Which Words the Scholiast expounds thus She exhales sweet odours to her Husband Tipheret and is most acceptable to Him the lower World as his Words are being by this means married to the higher n V. 13. a
was the Breast-plate it self which indeed was very shining for they translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which shows they meant some covering of the Belly which was hollow as the Breast-plate was Which I doubt not is the covering of Sapphires here mentioned it being set as you read with twelve large Precious Stones wherein were engraven the names of the twelve Children of Israel And was the most precious part of all the High Priest's habit and therefore more commonly called by the Jews an Ornament than a Garment or any part of his Vesture the whole of which was contrived for Glory and for Beauty XXVIII Exod. 40. i. e. that God might be served most magnificently p V. 15. Next in order follows the description of the Thighs that is of the Garments upon the Thighs which were the very first that the High Priest put on when he went about to clothe himself for his Ministry And are here said to be made of Schesch which is a Word common to fine Linen and to pure white Marble so the LXX twice translate it Parian Marble I. Esth 6. 2 Chron XXIX 2. which the Breeches of the Priest resembled being made of Byssus or pure fine Linen a thing of great price in those Countries as appears both by Pliny and Pausanias The latter of which Authors in his Eliaca mentions this among the rare things which were worthy of admiration in that Country and saith It was not inferiour to the Byssus of the Hebrews Who were ordered to make this part of the Priest's Garments of twined fine Linen XXXIX Exod. 28. which rendred them the more substantial and made them sit the fuller and stiffer like Pillars For the Hebrews say they were made of six-thread Byssus and that they came down to the Knees where they were not gathered at the bottom but sat open Below which Breeches came down the holy Meil or Robe upon the Skirts whereof hung round about Bells made of pure Gold XXVIII Exod. 34. Which may possibly be the Basis of fine Gold here mentioned to which the Femoralia or Garments on the Thighs reached Some refer all this only to his stately gate and Princely motion others to his strength and firmness which lies much in the Thighs and his ability to march against his Enemies and pursue them And then the Sockets of fine Gold are his Sandals bound upon his feet with golden Ribbands or something of that nature The Reader may chuse which he thinks most probable for the explication of the first Part of this Verse His legs or thighs rather are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine Gold Now if my conjecture be allowed then the latter part of the Verse will not be hard to explain For this and all the rest of his habit being contrived for Beauty and Glory as was said before from XXVIII Exod. 40. it made the High Priest appear with an unusual Majesty the riches of these Vestments being not easily to be valued And so his countenance or rather his aspect his whole appearance as the Hebrew Word may signifie was as stately as Lebanon Which was one of the goodliest Sites in those Countries both for Cedars and many other things especially after Solomon had made his Garden there of which we read in the foregoing Chapter ver 15 16. Unto which lovely Forest and Garden the appearance of the High Priest may be the better compared because there were Flowers as well as Pomegranates if we may believe Philo in his third Book of the Life of Moses wrought in the bottom of the holy Robe Which the LXX also affirm in express Words that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a flowry Work as well as Pomegranates and Bells in the Hem of the Meil XXVIII Exod. 34. And indeed the Pomegranates being made of Wool of divers colours they themselves might look like divers sorts of Flowers And besides this it is to be observed that several other parts of the High Priest's habit are peculiarly commanded to be made of a Work called Choscheb which we translate cunning work Thus the Ephod is ordered to be wrought XXVIII Exod. 6. and the Girdle of it ver 8. and the Breast plate v. 15. Which some translate artificial others ingenious work and all agree to have consisted in certain beautiful Figures of Flowers and Animals and in variety of colours The Girdle moreover is ordered to be made of a Work called rokem which we translate needle-work ver 39. because it is thought not to have differed from the former save only in this that the other things were only woven curiously but this also curiously wrought with the Needle The Jews give another difference that this was wrought so that the Figures appeared on both sides the other only on one About which I shall not trouble my self but only take notice that Josephus in his third Book of Antiquities Chap. 8. explains this Work thus Flowers were woven in this Girdle with Scarlet Purple Blue c. And if Flowers and as others say Animals then in all probability Trees also were wrought in these Priestly Vestures which made the fuller representation of a Forest Among which that of Lebanon was the principal and indeed the most beautiful place in all those Countries which made the Prophet express the Glory of the Church in these Words The Glory of Lebanon shall be given to it XXXV Isai 2. see also XIV Hos 5 6 7. Some think that hereby only the tallness of his Stature is denoted which was always lookt upon as a Princely thing as it was in Saul As for mystical applications of these two Verses there are none to be sought for if I have given the true sense of them but such as relate to the excellency of Christ's everlasting Priesthood and its preheminence above the other as much as the Cedar excells all the Trees of the Forest. q V. 16. There is little difficulty here For mouth Hebrew palate which is within the mouth can signifie nothing but either his words which come from thence or his breath And words being mentioned before v. 13. the latter is probably here intended Which is said to be sweetness nay sweetnesses denoting the perfect soundness of the internal parts as the foregoing description sets forth the excellent shape and stately Vesture of the outward It is applied by Interpreters to the purity of Christ's affections and passions but may be as well to his breathing upon his Apostles when He bid them receive the Holy Ghost Which concluded in a manner what He did upon Earth as it doth his description in this place For she finding his Praises to exceed all her thoughts summs up all in a breath and comprehends his whole Character in this that He is all over lovely attracting all mens affections not only those that saw Him but those that heard of Him too CHAP. VI. ARGUMENT In the foregoing description the Spouse expressed such an unfeigned affection to Him which she