Cant. 5. the Urine whose Stream he fansies resembles a silver Thred which is then broken when it distils by drops as it frequently doth in Old men But the best of the Hebrew Writers by this Cord understand the Spinal Marrow that is the Pith of the Back-bone others the Nerves others the outward Coats of the Nerves c. And there is little reason to doubt but the Marrow down the Back continued from the Brain as it were in a String or Cord unto the very bottom of it together with the Nerves arising from it and the Filaments Fibers and Tendons that proceed from them are the thing here intended Which Melancthon saw long ago the Nerves saith he and Ligaments are here meant which have literally the power of Cords both to unite and tie together and also draw But no Body that I know of hath explained this so well as our Dr. Smith in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who hath also solved that doubt why they are expressed in the Singular Number because though there be many of them yet they are the continuation of one and the same thing the Fibers being nothing else but the Nerves divided and dispersed and the Nerves nothing else but the Marrow in like manner separated as so many Arms and Branches of the same Tree they are all one in their Original the Brain they are all one in their continuation for a long space in the Spine all one in their use to convey the Animal Spirits and to be the Instruments of motion This Cord is called Silver because of its colour being not only white but also shinning bright and resplendent and that when it is taken out of the Body after Death I omit other Reasons It is loosned shrunk up or contracted or removed as others translate it when it is no longer full of Spirits and so the Body becomes void of sense and motion either in part or in whole The second step to a dissolution is by breaking the golden Bowl and as the former related to the Rivulets as one may say of sense and motion so this to the Fountain viz. the Head and all contained in it The Membranes for instance especially that which the Ancients from the great esteem and reverence they had for it call Pia Mater Which is that part which deeply insinuating it self into all the anfractuous passages of the Brain as Doctor Smith speaks and being firmly annexed thereunto keeps every part thereof in its proper place and due texture so that whatsoever is performed within the whole compass of the Brain whether the making Animal Spirits their exercise therein or their distribution therefrom is principally done by the help of this Membrane Which therefore may well be called gullath that part of the Head which is the Spring of all the motion that comes from thence And so we translate the Plural of this Word XV. Josh 19. and both Forsterus and Avenarius understand the Singular here And it is called golden Bowl like that IV. Zachar. 2 3. from whence the Oil was conveyed by Pipes unto the Lamps for such Reasons as gave the other the name of silver Cord. For instance in respect of the colour not only because that most precious and deep-coloured Liquor of life is abundantly contained in the Vessels of this Membrance but chiefly because the Membrane it self is somewhat of a yellowish colour and tends more towards that of Gold than any other part whatsoever doth But especially in respect of its excellency and universal use for it being the instrument that doth depurate the best of Blood clarifies and exalts the Vital Spirits and so prepares them for animality as they speak to what should it be likened but to that most perfect best-concocted and most exalted Mineral of Gold Now the breaking of this Bowl is its losing its use not being able to retain its Liquors as a Bowl is useless when it is broken or as Dr. Smith explains it in the extremity of extreme Old Age it can no longer continue its continuity but by reason either of its natural dryness shriveling into it self or of preternatural moisture imbibing excrementitious humours till it be over-full it oft-times snaps asunder and so recurrs i. e. runs back as the Hebrew Word signifies into it self from whence the Brain must necessarily subside and all the Part serving unto Animal motion be suddenly and irrecoverably dasht in pieces So Avenarius judiciously translates this Passage That yellow Membrane which contains the Brain be trodden down The third step is the breaking of the Pitcher at the Fountain Which is variously interpreted some understanding hereby the inability of the Bladder to retain the Urine others by Fountain understand the Liver and by the Pitcher the Bladder of Gall or the Veins which is the most common Opinion But Dr. Smith rather takes it for the heart which is indeed the Fountain of Life and hath two distinct Cavities the right and the left out of which proceed those Veins and those Arteries which carry the Blood through the whole Body and bring it back again to the heart in a perpetual Circulation And if by Pitcher we understand the Veins which are the receptacle of the Blood and the Hebrew Word signifies any containing Vessel particularly the Widows Barrel in which was her Meal 1 King XVII 14 16. as well as a Barrel of Water in the next Chapter XVIII 33. then by the Fountain must be peculiarly understood the right Ventricle of the heart which is the Original from whence the Veins have their rise For so the Hebrew Word signifies not only a Fountain but a Spring from which Waters bubble up and burst forth as we translate it XXXV Isai 7. XLIX 10. in a running Stream and therefore is so to be translated here the Spring or Original viz. of the Veins which proceed from thence Which induced Commentators to take the Fountain here for the Liver which they would not have done had they understood as we do now that the Veins do not arise from thence as their first Original but from the right Ventricle of the Heart And they are spoken of in the Singular Number as the Nerves were before because they are all of one and the same nature original and use Now the breaking of this Pitcher into shivers as the Hebrew Word signifies is the utter failing of the Veins their ceasing quite from their natural action and use When they can no longer carry back nor conveniently convey unto the heart that Liquor which they properly contain but the little Blood which remains in the cold Body of man near his end is congealed and stagnates in his Veins And so I proceed to the last thing the Wheel broken at the Cistern Where by the Wheel some understand the Lungs which by their continual motion do thrust out the Breath from them and draw it in again to them resembling the Wheel of a Well now drawing up the Bucket to it self anon letting it down again
Window or passed by when the words were spoken had flown away immediately with the report of them See Annot. t ANNOTATIONS a Verse 1. He seems in the first words of this Chapter to prosecute what he had said in the last Clause of the foregoing showing how much good one Fool may spoil by the great mischiefs that ensue one foolish action whereby a man otherwise famed for Wisdom utterly loses his reputation So most Interpreters understand the latter part of the Verse which Melancthon following the Vulgar interprets quite contrary that a little folly or rather folly for a little while is better than Wisdom and Glory That is seeming folly like that of Fabius who was condemned for his slow proceedings and thought a cowardly Fool is better than Wisdom which makes a glorious show but doth not conduct things so safely as that Captain did But this Exposition agrees not at all with the Similitude whereby Solomon illustrates what he here saith concerning Folly Which is that of dead or rather venomous Flies for the Hebrew Phrase Flies of death may better be translated deadly than dead Flies which though very little Animals yet falling into a Pot of precious Ointment spoil it all when they putrefie and not only take away the delicate scent but turn it into a filthy noisome stink For a Fly is observed to be both foedum foetidum Animalculum especially some sort of them which seem here to be particularly denoted by the Word Zebube being not merely bred out of filth and delighting to live in it but leaving behind them such a humour as is very offensive to the smell and kills those Creatures into whom they thrust their snouts From whence the God of the Ekronites had his Name of Baal zebub 2 Kings I. 2. which if it were given him by his Worshippers signified his power to destroy those venomous Flies which infested the Inhabitants of that Country if by the Israelites expressed their contempt of him as a mean and a filthy sordid Idol For therefore St. Hierom thinks the Prophet Isaiah compares the Egyptians to a Flie VII 18. not only because they were a weak people but propter sordes Idololatriae by reason of the sordid filthiness of their Idolatry which was a great reproach to their famed Wisdom and made them vile even in the opinion of Pagan people I cannot here omit the reflection which the Lord Bacon hath made upon these words L. VIII de Augment Scient C. 2. Parab 11. that the case of men eminent for Vertue is very hard and miserable because their errours though never so small are by no means pardoned But as in a pure Diamond of great lustre the very least speck or smallest cloud strikes the eye and affects it with a kind of trouble which in a grosser Stone would scarce be observed so in men of singular abilities the least infirmities are presently espied and become the matter of mens discourse and are perstringed with a heavier censure which in men of meaner parts or rank would either pass without notice or easily procure pardon Therefore a little folly in a very wise man a small sin in a very honest man and a slight indecency of manners in a man of courtly and elegant behaviour much derogates from their fame and reputation So that it would not be the worst course for excellent persons if they would mingle some absurdities so it may be done without guilt with their actions that they may maintain a kind of liberty to themselves and confound the Notes and Characters of smaller defects b V. 2. From hence Solomon takes occasion to represent more largely how much men suffer by their folly and what advantages Wisdom gives them and treats of both with respect not only to mens private but to the publick good And first he shows what a difference there is between a wise man and a Fool in the management of any business So I have interpreted this Verse which may be also thus paraphrased A Wise man always takes honest courses but a Fool turns into bye ways Thus Greg. Thaumaturgus glosses A Wise man is his own Leader and Conducter to the best things but a Fool inclines to the wrong side nor will his folly ever lead him to any thing that is excellent Which St. Hierom expresses in this manner A Wise man always thinks of the World to come which leads to the right hand but he that is a Fool only of the present World which lies on the left And quotes a famous Passage of Lactantius which I find in his Institutions L. VI. Cap. 2. concerning the Letter Y unto which the Pythagoreans resembled the course of humane life In which there is a time when a Youth finds his way cleft as that Letter is into two parts or ways and he stands doubting unto which he should incline If he be so wise as to take the right hand way he is happy if the other he is miserable Which sense Grotius follows the right hand is the way of Vertue the left the way of Vice Unto which we may reduce that of the Chaldee Paraphrast The heart of the wise inclines to the Law of God which was given from God's right hand the Fool to Silver and Gold which are the gifts of the left But if this had been the sense it would have been more proper to have said the Wise mans heart is on the right hand not on his right hand which is much different and therefore I have omitted this in the Paraphrase though I thought good to mention it here and taken no notice of many other Glosses particularly that of Melancthon's which seems something nearer to the sense The wise man hath power over his affections the right hand being the strongest and the instrument of action in most men and can moderate them as occasion requires but a Fool is under the Government of his passions and is hurried that way which his anger ambition grief and other blind affections drive him I will add this that the meaning may be A Wise man hath his Wisdom always at hand to direct him what to do in publick or in private business whether he have to do with Friends or Enemies in adversity as well as in a prosperous estate his mind being just like the right hand which we use readily upon all occasions for all manner of actions but a Fool is to seek and knows not which way to turn himself c. Which is much to the same purpose with what I have said in the Paraphrase c V. 3. And agrees with what follows in this Verse the first Words of which signifie as much as Moreover a Fool is so silly that he cannot hide it For though the rest of the Diseases of the mind may be covered by artificial Discourse as the blemishes of our Bodies are with our Garments only folly cannot be dissembled but will appear to all in every motion of him whose weakness it is There is
was love 4. Which administers the highest joys to those who taste of them and hath entertained or rather feasted me with such delicious hopes that I cannot but glory in this that I am listed under his Banner whose Motto is Love whereby He hath overcome shall I say or over-powered my heart to submit my self wholly unto his wonderful love See Annot. d 5. Stay me with flagons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love 5. Under the weight of which who can support himself when it sensibly touches his heart I faint I languish I die when I am deeply affected with that love which overwhelms my spirit and makes me call for a greater Power than my own to enable me to bear the thoughts of his mighty love See Annot. e 6. His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me 6. And whence should I have that power but from Himself who then communicates most of the Grace of his Holy Spirit to us which is the greatest token of his love when he sees our hearts fullest of love to Him See Annot. f Bridegroom 7. I charge you O ye daughters of Jerusalem by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye stir not up nor awake my love till he please 7. In which He would have us take an uninterrupted pleasure saying I beseech I charge you all you that are her Companions I conjure you by all that is dear to you not to discompose or give the least disturbance to that love but let it enjoy its satisfaction to the height of its desires See Annot. g Spouse 8. ¶ The voice of my beloved behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains skipping upon the hills 8. Which Words of Grace can come from none but Him who is worthy of all our love whom behold I see though He be afar off I see with what delight He comes surmounting all difficulties and discouragements to do the Will of God XL. Psa 7 8. See Annot h 9. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart behold he standeth behind our wall he tooketh forth at the windows shewing himself through the lattise 9. The swift motion of the Roes and wild Goats is but a weak Emblem of his readiness to come down to us And though He do not yet actually show Himself among us I see notwithstanding something of Him and behold Him approaching nearer and nearer to us like one that resolving to be our Guest doth not presently enter but first stands behind the Wall of our House then looks in at the Window and through the Lattises or Grates whereby He is still more fully discovered See Annot. i 10. My beloved spake and said unto me Rise up my love my fair one and come away 10. And I hear his voice who is worthy of all our love calling unto us to meet Him with our most forward desires saying Awake thou who art most dear unto me thou who art most beautiful in my eyes arise and stay no longer but come away from these dark representations of me 11. For lo the winter is past the rain is over and gone 11. For now that dismal time is past wherein ignorance errour and wickedness overflowed the World as Floods do the Earth in the Winter-Season those cloudy and uncomfortable days are over wherein you couldst see and enjoy but little of me See Annot. k 12. The flowers appear on the earth the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land 12. All the tokens of a new World appear and invite thee to come and partake of those joys and pleasures which the nearer approaches of the Sun of righteousness produces Who makes all manner of Blessings spring up in such abundance that it causes the heavenly Host to sing for joy and therefore cannot but fill all Mankind with joyful Hymns unto Him See Annot. l 13. The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell Arise my love my fair one and come away 13. And for this especially that their dead hopes are revived and they receive the earnest and beginnings of that future bliss the expectation of which is our greatest comfort in this life and the consummation of it our highest happiness in the next And therefore I say again Awake and stir up thy desires thou who art most dear unto me thou who art most lovely in my eyes arise and go and take possession of those inestimable benefits See Annot. m Bridegroom 14. ¶ O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely 14. And be not afraid of those who seeking to destroy thee force thee to flee like an innocent Dove to hide thy self and seek for safety in Holes of the Earth in Caves and Dens and secret places but from thence look up unto me and call upon me with praises and thanksgivings and I will save and deliver thee for I love thee inseparably who art most amiable in my eyes whose prayers and praises I delight to hear and to behold my own Image that is formed in thee See Annot. n 15. Take us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes 15. And therefore I require all those that act by authority from me and to whom I have committed the care of my Church to use their early diligence also to discover and confute the sophistry of Deceivers who craftily insinuate their false Doctrines into weak and incautious Souls and thereby seduce those who are newly converted or but infirm in the Faith See Annot. o Spouse 16. ¶ My beloved is mine and I am his he feedeth among the lilies 16. Unto which I hear the Church reply I will preserve my fidelity to Him who is my only Beloved as I am his I will have nothing to do with those seducing Spirits but adhere to Him alone whose Dwelling is not among subtile and crafty but with simple and candid Souls See Annot. p 17. Until the day break and the shadows flee away turn my beloved and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether 17. Only let Him be pleased to vouchsafe his gracious presence with me and to enlighten me more and more till we have a full knowledge of Him and of his Will XIII Rom. 11 12. and the light of it scatter all the shadows of the law Let my Beloved also make haste to succour and relieve me in all difficulties and distresses and show the same readiness for my preservation that he did v. 9. for my first salvation See Annot. q ANNOTATIONS a Verse 1. There is so little ground to apply the several Parts of this Song to the several Ages of the Church till the end of all things that I cannot think fit
suitable to what the Psalmist saith V. Psal 1. and Jeremiah XXI 12. XXV 2 3. Thus Theodoret here expounds it It behoveth us to use all sitting diligence in visiting those that have already received the preaching whether they bring forth more than Leaves and especially whether any Beginnings of Charity appear among them For so he expounds if the pomegranates bud forth And this saith he is the greatest expression of love to Him which He makes the meaning of the last Words there will I give thee my loves For what care we bestow upon them He accounts as done to Himself according to his own Words in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these ye have done it unto me The Vines may signifie the lesser sort of people and the Pomegranates the greater n V. 13. The Word Dudaim is found only here and in the XXX Gen. 14. Where we read how Jacob's Wives contended for them as a most precious that is a rare and delicious Fruit. For none can imagine they strove about that now called by us Mandrakes which are of a stinking smell and very offensive or about any ordinary Flower such as Violets or Jasemin by which some-expound this Word which they might have sent out their Maids to gather easily every where Ludolphus therefore in his late Ethiopick History L. I. C. IX n. 23. hath happily conjectured that it signifies the Fruit which the Arabians call Mauz or Muza called by some the Indian Fig which in the Abyssine Country is as big as a Cucumber and of the same form and shape Fifty of which grow upon one and the same Stalk and are of a very sweet taste and smell From which cognation as he calls it of a great many upon the same Stalk he thinks it took the name of dudaim Which some derive from dod either as it signifies love or a breast with which they fansie this Fruit to have had resemblance So the sense of this Verse is that they found more there than they expected or that by her care the most excellent Fruit was produced from people of the best rank who may be understood by this most rare sort of Fruit and that every where so that they needed not to be at the trouble to go far to gather it For at their very Gates there where Megadim all precious Spices mentioned before IV. 13. V. 1. and those both new and old a Phrase for plenty and variety which as a faithful Steward she saith she had laid up for Him with the same care that we do the most precious Treasure So the Word zephanti I have laid up is used XVII Psal 13. CXIX 11. At the gates may also signifie as much as just ready to be gathered or to be brought home Some apply new and old to the knowledge of the Old and New Testament by which Idolatry was vanquished and true Religion planted in the World and they think our Lord Himself alludes to this place in those Words XIII Matth. 52. where he speaks of a wise Scribe that bringing forth out of his Treasures things new and old Others apply new and old unto those Vertues that flow only from Faith Hope and Charity and those that are planted in us by Nature But I think it may most aptly be accommodated to the spiritual Gifts which were newly bestowed upon the Church by the Holy Ghost after our Lord went to Heaven and the temporal Blessings which they enjoyed before which were now all reserved for Him to be employed in his service And so these Words seem to me to have a respect unto the CX Psal 3. where it is said In the day of his power they should be a people of free-will Offerings For when men give up themselves to God sincerely they readily devote all they have to his uses when He hath occasion for it And thus the first Christians at Jerusalem did who brought all their Goods into his Treasury and other Nations afterward made plentiful Oblations as need required thereby fulfilling another Prophecy LXXII Psal 10.15 Unto which Megadim may have respect for such precious things as Silver and Gold as well as the excellent Fruits of Trees are called by this name as may be seen XXXIII Deut. 13 14 15 16. CHAP. VIII ARGUMENT The first four Verses belong to the end of the foregoing Chapter wherein the Spouse continuing her ardent desire to see his Kingdom enlarged He agreees to it And then begins v. 5. the ninth and last part of this Song in which all the persons speak in their turns Her Friends admiring her new advancement and the Spouse declaring the mighty power of love whereby she had attained it and hoped to keep it and was made desirous to propagate it unto those that wanted it v. 6 7 8. Which the Bridegroom favours v. 9. and they all promising greater industry in his service He testifies his acceptance of it and she her longing to see all this accomplished v. 10 11 c. Spouse 1. O That thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother when I should find thee without I would kiss thee yea I should not be despised 1. AND now having finished this Blessed Work I hope to enjoy more intimate fellowship with thee I cannot but wish at least to be made so happy as to have thy gracious presence always with me and by familiar acquaintance and conversation to be so united with thee that I may not be ashamed openly to own my love but look upon it as an honour to make a publick profession of my relation to Thee See Annot. a 2. I would lead thee and bring thee into my mothers house who would instruct me I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate 2. Whereby I would carry the knowledge of Thee from place to place till I had introduced Thee into the acquaintance of my nearest Kindred which would enlarge my knowledge and make new Discoveries to me and cause no less joy unto Thee and unto all the World to see them give entertainment to Thee See Annot. b 3. His left hand should be under my head and his right hand should embrace me 3. And thanks be to his Goodness I I feel Him communicating the power of his Spirit to me which is the greatest token of his love and then works most strongly in our hearts when he sees them fullest of love to Him See Annot. c Bridegroom 4. I charge you O daughters of Jerusalem that ye stir not up nor awake my love until he please 4. Who with his wonted care or rather with a more earnest concern than ever repeats his charge to my Companions saying I conjure you to take heed lest you discompose or give the least disturbance to this love but let it enjoy its satisfaction to the heighth of its desires See Annot. d Daughters of Jerusalem 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her
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