.,. A'I gCpetktfe Baokt .-_¦ • -t

DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

BOOKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS.

Edited by the
REV. ARTHUR E. GREGORY.

THE WISDOM-LITERATURE OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT.
BY
W. T. Davison, M.A., D.D.

Itnniion :
CHARLES H. KELLY,
2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD. ; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C
1900.

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THE WISDOM -LITERATURE

THE OLD TESTAMENT.

W. T. DAVISON, M.A., D.D.,
AUTHOR OF " THE PRAISES OF ISRAEL," ETC ETC

THIRD THOUSAND!

ICottiroit:
CHARLES H. KELLY,
2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD. ; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
1900.

X 2.99*

PRINTED BY
MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED
EDINBURGH

PREFACE

THE present volume completes the short Intro
duction to the Poetical Books of the Bible
begun in The Praises of Israel, published last
year. The phraseology of the title is not per
fectly accurate, for Ecclesiastes is not poetical,
and the Song of Songs does not properly belong
to Wisdom-literature. But the books of the Bible
treated of in these two small volumes belong to
the same group of Scriptures, and are conveniently
studied together. If these brief Manuals prove
to be of service to readers who have not time or
opportunity to use larger and more valuable
works, the labour of preparing them will be fully
repaid.
W. T. D.
Handsworth, October 1894.

CONTENTS

CHAP. pa or
I. THE LITERATURE OF WISDOM ... 1
II. THE BOOK OF JOB : ITS CONTENTS . . 20
III. THE BOOK OF JOB : ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP . 34
IV. THE BOOK OF JOB : ITS POETRY . . .55
j V. THE BOOK OF JOB : THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION 75
VI. THE BOOK OF PHOVERBS : ITS STRUCTURE AND
CONTENTS ..... 106
(.VII. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS : ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING 130
VIII. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: ITS ETHICAL TEACHING 157
>¦ IX. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS : ITS ETHICAL TEACHING
(continued) . . . . .184
X. ECCLESIASTES : ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN . 211
' XL ECCLESIASTES : ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE . 234
XII. THE SONG OF SONGS .... 272
INDEX . ¦ . . 313

THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT.

CHAPTEE I.
THE LITERATURE OF WISDOM.
THE question has from time to time been raised
whether it is correct to speak of the philo
sophical books of the Old Testament. The Bible
includes within its rich domains law, history,
poetry, prophecy, familiar letters, and sublime
apocalytic visions. Does it also contain a Divine
philosophy ? In the narrower sense of the word,
which confines it to human speculations in pursuit
of abstract truth, to systematised thoughts, con
structed on a basis of metaphysics and ruled by
strict laws of reasoning, philosophy is foreign to
the Jewish habit of mind, and finds no place in

2 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
the sacred Scriptures. The word occurs but once
in the Bible (Col. ii 8), where St. Paul connects
it with hollow and disappointing human teaching,
worldly in its character and Likely to make a prey
of the Colossian Christians, who were but newly
enfranchised by the world's Eedeemer, bringing
them into a bondage worse than that from which
they had just escaped. But the high-minded and
large-hearted apostle did not intend thereby to
brand true " philosophy " as vain and misleading
because some were found abusing its lofty name.
He condemns elsewhere (1 Tim. vi. 20) the " pro
fane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge
which is falsely so called," only in order that true
Knowledge might maintain her just prerogatives
and jurisdiction. In the larger and higher sense
of philosophy — the ceaseless search after truth
whether for the shaping of thought or the conduct
of life — the pondering over all the problems which
the human mind can raise concerning things on
earth or things in heaven, till they are known as
far as may be in their ultimate essence and most
complete explanation — the tireless aim to express
the truths thus discerned in terms of human
reason, and by means of them to formulate prin
ciples of life and rules for practice, securing the
highest ends possible to man by the best available
means — "love of wisdom" thus defined is insepar-

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 3
able from the mind of man. In this sense the
Greeks are not the only people given to "seek
after wisdom." The travelled Ulysses is not the
only representative of the
spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This restless, insatiable longing of the human
spirit finds its highest illustration • in the sacred 1
volume, which alone can truly satisfy it. The
Bible reflects all forms of human desire, and it
would be strange if an exception were found in
the case of the noblest of all. The forms which
this quest of the highest truth takes in the Old
Testament, and the success which, under the
guidance of the Divine Spirit, was attained in it,
will form the subject of the following chapters.
A study of the uses of the word " wisdom " (Heb.
Chohmah) in Scripture reveals much which
escapes the notice of the casual reader, who is apt
to take the word in its modern sense. Special
mention is made, as every child knows, of the
wisdom of Solomon, but the passage which de
scribes its nature (1 Kings iv. 29-34) should be
carefully studied. The points of difference
between the Eastern notion of wisdom a thou
sand years before Christ and our own three
thousand years later, should be clearly understood,

4 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
as well as the points of similarity between the
two. Considerably before the Exile it becomes
tolerably clear that a class of persons existed in
Israel named " the "Wise," who took their own part
in the spiritual education of the chosen race — a
part of great significance and value, though it has
been thrown into the shade by the superior
brilliance and importance of prophets, priests,
and psalmists. In Isa. xxix. 14 the mention of
" the wisdom of their wise men and the under
standing of their prudent men" can perhaps
hardly be considered conclusive as to the distinct
recognition of a class of " sages," since the refer
ence might be only to sagacious politicians of
high repute. But Jeremiah is more definite.
The people who distrusted him for his apparent
want of patriotism, and who are prepared to
"devise devices against him" and "smite him
with the tongue," are confident that " the law
shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from
the wise, nor the word from the prophet." If
Torah, in the sense of the exposition of the
positive precepts of the Old Covenant, belonged to
the priest, and the word of Jehovah, which was
directly given to a chosen messenger, — a word
which burned like a fire and smote like a hammer,
— belonged to the prophet, there remained still
a field of "counsel," the sage and profitable

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 5
application of Divine teaching to the actual con
duct of life, which belonged essentially to the
Chakamim, the wise men. It is of these that the
precept is given, to " hear the words of the wise "
(Prov. xxii. 17); it is their words that are "as
goads and as nails well fastened" (Eccles. xii. 11).
Youths trained in such a school are described in
later days as coming to excel even the Chaldeans
of the royal court — men "skilful in all wisdom
and cunning in knowledge, and understanding
science, and such as had ability to stand in the
king's palace" (Dan. i 4). These, with many
similar passages, are enough to establish the
existence among the Jews of a class of sages, who
stood in somewhat the same relation to the pro
phets of the Old Covenant which was occupied in
relation to the prophets of the New, by the
Christian instructors and guides known as "pastors
and teachers." x
That this element in the history of Jewish
religion was an important one becomes clear from
the remarkable way in which Wisdom is personi
fied in Prov. ix. and elsewhere. The language of
Prov. viii. especially has been of signal importance
in the history of thought, helping as it does to
make a bridge between Eastern and Greek ideas,
and to prepare the way for the doctrine of the
xEph. iv. 11; comp. 1 Cor. xii. 28.

6 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
Incarnation. The eternal Word is the expression
of the eternal Wisdom. A voice from beyond the
worlds and the ages says —
When He prepared the heavens, I was there :
When He measured out a circle upon the face of the

When He made firm the skies above :
When the fountains of the deep became strong :
When He gave to the sea His decree,
That the waters should not pass His commandment :
When He appointed the foundations of the earth :
Then I was with Him, as a master-workman :
And day by day I had delight,
Rejoicing continually before Him ;
Rejoicing in His habitable earth ;
And having My delight in the children of men.
—(Prov. viii. 27-31.)
The delight of God in His own creation is a
fundamental thought in the Jewish Scriptures,
and in this passage it is represented as the calm
joy of eternal Wisdom working out its own high
thoughts in a world of beauty, order, and har
moniously active life and energy. In subsequent
-ages God "renews His ancient rapture." The
wisdom which found dehght in the origin of
human life, fashioned in the very image of God
and reflecting the likeness of the eternal Spirit,
still remains man's guide and counsellor. Its high
praises are sung again and yet again. Milton

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 7
strikes a Greek note when he celebrates the
charms of Divine philosophy —
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo's lute,
And a. perpetual feast of nectared sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns.
But Hebraism can triumph over Hellenism on its
own chosen ground, and there is nothing in Plato
to surpass the conception of celestial Wisdom
which dawns upon some of the writers of the Old
Testament. Even the strains with which the son
of Sirach opens his prosaic musings have a
sublimity of their own : " All wisdom cometh from
Jehovah, and is with Him for ever." And the
book which is known by the name of Wisdom
utters its praise in Hebrew music nobly wedded
to Greek words: "For she is the effulgence of
the everlasting light, and the unspotted mirror of
the energy of God, and the image of His goodness.
And being but one, she can do all things ; and
abiding in herself, she maketh all things new ; and
in all generations entering into holy souls she
maketh them friends of God and prophets. For
God loveth none but him that dwelleth with
Wisdom." 1 Traces of the influence both of canon-
1 Wisd. vii. 26-28. The whole chapter, and indeed the
whole book, should be studied, and the development of the
Old Testament ideas marked.

8 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
ical and uncanonical Scriptures are to be found
in the treatment of this subject in the New Testa
ment. Our Lord personifies the Divine Wisdom
when He represents it as vindicated, in spite of
the cavils of men, by its acts of righteousness and
mercy, on the part of all who have learned its
worth and earned a right to be styled its
children.1 St. Paul, in two of his most instructive
chapters, distinguishes between true and false
wisdom, and proclaims for all the ages the mes
sage of eternal wisdom as it is recognised among
"full-grown and fully -instructed men."2 And
St. James is partly quoting, partly adapting an
earlier description of this celestial Guide and
Friend, in his lovely picture — a companion to St.
Paul's Charity — of the "Wisdom that is from
above, first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be
entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
variance, without hypocrisy." Lofty is the flight
of the Greek Sophia, but the Hebrew Chokmah
soars higher still. Both are united in Him who is
" unto them that are called the power of God and
the wisdom of God."
What shape, then, did the pursuit of wisdom
take among the Hebrews, and what special lessons
of Divine revelation are taught by means of those
1 See Matt. xi. 19, with its various readings, and Luke vii. 35.
2lCor. ii. 6.

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. g
who contributed to the Wisdom-Literature of
the Old Testament ? The absence of systematic
thought, which is one of its characteristics, is, on
the whole, neither a disadvantage nor a draw
back. The pride of system-making has been the
ruin of many theologies. The desire to be com
plete is the besetting sin of philosophers and
dogmatists, and explains the transient character
of many of their elaborate constructions. The
predominantly practical character of the Hebrew
definition of wisdom is again a mark, not of
inferiority, but of its superior origin. The main
characteristic, however, which explains the rest,
lies in the essentially Divine qualities which
animate and distinguish it. " The fear of Jehovah
is the beginning of wisdom : a good understanding
have all they that keep His commandments."
The wisdom of the Old Testament is not that of
the pure intellect, though intellectual elements
are by no means excluded. It belongs to the
whole man, and is essentially religious in cha
racter. For true religion claims nothing less
than the whole man — mind, heart, soul, and
strength. Yet if one part of the man is to be
specially considered, it is characteristic of the
Old Testament to consider his actions. There is
true philosophy in this, for the man himself is
more truly expressed in the actions which embody

10 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
his will than in the ideas and speculations which
are the product of his intellect. The depreciation
of "Hebraism," as it has been called, in com
parison with Hellenism, is unjust. Israel had
"received through its higher religion a special
summons to ponder on the relations of all
things,"1 and the light which Old Testament
teaching sheds upon the problems of man's com
plex life not only exceeds that of all Greek
philosophers and Oriental sages, but belongs to
a distinctly higher sphere, and illumines a higher
plane of human hfe.
It is true that the area covered by the word
"wisdom" in the Old Testament is tolerably
wide, but while the subjects to which it is applied
vary considerably, its characteristics remain the
same. The language of Ex. xxxi. 3, concerning
Bezaleel and Aholiab, the craftsmen of the
Tabernacle, show that sometimes wisdom may be
apphed to what we call art. The description of
Solomon's wisdom in 1 Kings iv. 33 shows that
it may include what we call physical science.
The sphere of law and civil government is
expressly included within its range by the narra
tive of 1 Kings iii., and the definite statement of
Prov. viii. 15, "By Me kings reign, and princes!
decree justice." Even the arts of husbandry are
1 Ewald, Hist, of Israel, iii. 277.

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. n
said, in Isa. xxviii. 29, to "come forth from
Jehovah, Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in
counsel and excellent in wisdom," though the
word used for wisdom in this last case is not the
prevailing one.
The chief domain, however, of wisdom is that
of practical ethics. This is the region to which
the aphorisms of Proverbs chiefly apply. It is
here that those problems of hfe arise which
perplex Job and some of the psalmists. It was
in this field also that the Preacher whom we call
Ecclesiastes set himself to discover truth, when
he applied his heart "to seek and to search out
by wisdom concerning all that is done under
heaven," when he " turned about," and his heart
was " set to know and to search out and to seek
wisdom and the reason of things, and to know
that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is
madness."1 The fullest description of all is'
found in the first chapter of Proverbs, but it is
unnecessary to give a long quotation to prove
that for the Jews wisdom and practical religion
were substantially one. The worlds of nature
and of art were not forgotten; glimpses into
deepest spiritual truth show us that these
divinely taught Hebrews possessed a rare insight
1 Eccles. i. 13, vii. 25 ; and compare i. 16 and ch. ii.'
throughout.

12 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
into the recesses of the human heart and the
ultimate problems of human life, but the main
field of their judgments is ethical, the main stress
of their counsel is practical. " Perhaps the most
obvious lesson of the Old Testament," says Bishop
Westcott, " hes in the gradual construction of a
Divine philosophy by fact, and not by speculation.
The method of Greece was to proceed from life
to God ; the method of Israel (so to speak) was
to proceed from God to life. The axioms of the
one are the conclusions of the other." 1 Socrates
says that knowledge is virtue, Solomon that virtue
is knowledge. The Greek philosopher laid it
down that no one can knowingly be evil, the
Jewish teacher that no evil man can attain true
r wisdom. Both statements, rightly understood,
are true, but the former is a paradox, the latter
a practical principle of highest importance.
It is beyond the scope of this brief survey to
trace out the history of Wisdom - Literature.
Virtually it began with Solomon. This may be
estabhshed without contending for the Solomonic
authorship of all the writings now extant that1
are ascribed to him. In what sense the name
of King Solomon was used in some of these books
we shall see shortly. But historic probability
combines with trustworthy tradition in ascribing
1 Diet, of Bible, vol. ii. p. 850 (new edition).

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 13
to the period of Solomon's reign a remarkable
development of the national character. This was
manifested in the various departments of com
merce, art, and literature, in all that we call
civihsation ; and whatever the extent of Solomon's
extant writings, over and above those Proverbs
which "the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah,"
copied out, it is clear that it is from his time
that the strain of teaching known by the specific
name of "Wisdom" takes its rise and derives
much of its character. Many of the Proverbs
doubtless circulated orally long before they were
committed to writing. The Ghohmah strain
appears also in several Psalms, amongst them
the 1st, the 50th, the 73rd, and the 112th. In
the Book of Job, the problem which so greatly
exercised the writers of the 37th and 73rd Psalms
is treated with great fulness and power. Writers
differ as to the propriety of including the Song
of Songs in the Literature of Wisdom. The decision
obviously depends upon the view taken of the
object of that remarkable poem. Zockler says :
"The Song of Solomon must undoubtedly be
classed with the Chokmah poetry in its wider
sense, because its fundamental idea when rightly
viewed must be admitted to belong to the circle
of those ethical ideas which form the chief and
the favourite subjects of Solomon's doctrine of

14 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
wisdom."1 This question, however, must be
postponed till we examine the book itself. In
later times, the book called Ecclesiastes (Heb.
Koheleth) forms a characteristic development of
Wisdom-Literature, the nature of which will be
¦duly described in the chapters devoted to the
subject. Later developments still do not come
within our scope. It may be said, however, in a
word or two, that the contact of the Jews with
Persia on the one hand, and with Greece on the
other, produced a twofold influence, the one
modifying Jewish thought in the direction of
mysticism, the other in the direction of philo
sophical speculation. The sapiential literature
of the canonical books appears accordingly to
have changed its character and to have flowed
in two separate streams, one being that which
afterwards widened into the turbid current of
the Kabbalah, the other being represented by
the writings of Philo of Alexandria. The only
two non-canonical books which claim mention
here are Ecclesiasticus, written in Aramaic by
Jesus, son of Sirach, in the second century before
Christ, the other the Wisdom of Solomon, written
in Greek by an unknown author perhaps as late
as the beginning of the Christian era.
The primitive form of poetry employed by the
1 Lange's Commentary on the Old Testament, Introd. p. 13.

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 15
writers of these books has been called gnomic.
This, however, is simply a name derived from
the Book of Proverbs, and explains nothing. It
is better to say that the simplest form of the
Mashal (usually translated " proverb " or " par
able") amongst the Hebrews is a short saying,
such as we call proverbial, often containing a
comparison, or parable in httle, and consisting
of two brief parallel clauses, constituting what
is now called a distich. The form is familiar —
As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
So is good news from a far country. — (Prov. xxv. 25.)
A friend loveth at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity. — (Prov. xvii. 17.)
The name Mashal is, however, applied to more
elaborate utterances, hke Balaam's prophecies and
the taunting song of Isa. xiv. 4. The Book of
Job exhibits a remarkable development of the
original " proverbial " structure, since it includes
not only a strong dramatic element, but displays
remarkable power in utilising the apparently
intractable short distich for the building up of
lofty and long-sustained argument. The Song of
Songs exhibits lyrical and idyllic developments
of the original simple form, while in Ecclesiastes

16 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
such poetry as was originally present in the
" Proverb " has become entirely reflective, and for
the most part does not rise above the level of prose.
The four books which will be examined, so far
as space will allow, in the following chapters are
Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.
The uses of such an introductory study as is here
proposed are obvious. In the first place, hardly
one of the four books, unless it be the second,
can be rightly understood without such a pre-
liminary survey of its character and contents.
These books form for the Christian as well as
the Jew a part of the word of God. But with
out an intelligent comprehension of the meaning
of such a statement, every one of them may be
misused — as every one has actually been in the
history of the Church — and their language and
teaching misapplied. To take the words of
Zophar the Naamathite, or the current sayings
of worldly prudence incorporated among the
Proverbs, or the gloomy musings of Koheleth,
or the highly- wrought language of affection in the
Canticles, as part of the " word of God," can only
be legitimate when the position of each book in
the sacred Canon and the scope and true inter
pretation of each have been made plain. Texts,
taken from these books have been more frequently
ill-used than those drawn from any other part of

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 17
the Bible. Obscurities in particular passages
may indeed remain here and there after the
closest study, but flagrant violation of the general
meaning may be prevented by a survey of each
book as a whole, and this may prompt the reader
to a closer examination of details.
Further, the interest attaching to these books
is perennial in character and most practical in
its bearings. The problems of life press severely
on us still. Light has dawned in these later days
to which the author of Job was a stranger, but
we have to fight the same battle as that which
wrung his soul with anguish, and must make our
way to victory by substantially the same path.
If some parts of Ecclesiastes appear pessimistic
in strain, perhaps there never was an age in
which pessimism has ventured more boldly to
announce itself as a working creed than that
which has produced Schopenhauer and Hartmann,
Leopardi and the author of Tlie City of Dreadful
Night. But the lessons to be drawn from the
Wisdom-Literature of the Old Testament are not
confined to those who have been compelled to
feel keenly the perplexities and sufferings of
man's difficult and complex Hfe. The directness
of practical exhortation found in some parts of
these books makes them suitable for children
and for men and women with least tinifiJiaJihink

18 THE WISDOM-LITERATURE
and least capacity for study. The perpetually
recurring contrast between wisdom and folly in
their practical consequences is familiar to all.
But the point of this is sometimes lost for want
of an accurate comprehension of the meaning of
familiar words. The " fool " described by Solomon
does not recognise himself, though he still exists
and flourishes after his fashion, in the lounger and
the cynic, the voluptuary and the spendthrift,
the sceptic and the freethinker, the dilettante
and the man of the world, of to-day. A mere
study of the eight or nine words used in these
books for "fool" contains in itself a series of
moral lessons of no slight value. The portraits
of the "simple," the man easily persuaded and
easily misled, — the " brutish," coarse in grain and
dense in his stolid opposition to the loftier
truths of hfe, — the " empty-headed " man, whose
apparently incurable levity of character arises
from a lack of mental furnishing which is closely
connected with perversity of will, — are all drawn
with a skill which can only be appreciated by
the close observer. Distinct from all these is
the " scorner " (Heb. letz), whose complacent self-
sufficiency causes him to look down with an
arrogance which is its own condemnation upon
the simple, straightforward obedience of the man-
who takes the law of God for his guide,. and finds

OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 19
the doing of the will of God its own sufficient
reward. Such a portrait unfortunately never
grows old-fashioned, and least of all is it obsolete
in the closing years of the nineteenth century.
But we must not anticipate the subject-matter
of the books themselves. It remains only that
the study of this portion of Holy Writ be entered
upon in the devout and teachable spirit which
"the wise" everywhere inculcate, and with the
winning words of Wisdom, one of the choice
beatitudes of the Old Testament, sounding in
our ears —
Blessed is the man who listeneth to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors !
For whoso findeth me hath found life,
And hath obtained favour from Jehovah.
But he that misseth me wrongeth Ms own soul:
All they that hate me love death. —(Prov. viii. 31-36.)

THE BOOK OF fOB:

CHAPTEE II.
THE BOOK OF JOB: ITS CONTENTS.
LIKE a lonely pillar amidst the buildings of
the Syrian city of Baal-bek, or like one of
the massive monoliths standing apart amidst the
magnificent ruins of Luxor, is the Book of Job in
relation to the other books of the Old Testament.
It is with them, but at first sight it seems not to
be of them. Its form is unlike that of the rest.
It contains httle or no reference to Israelitish
history or Israelitish law or usages. There is a
boldness about its conceptions, an independence
in its utterances, which we should hardly expect
in a representative of a nation which was distin
guished from others by the somewhat severe
schooling which Israel needed and received at the
hands of its Divine Lord. The people were well
drilled — if the phrase may be permitted — by the
mstitutions of the Mosaic Law, by the vicissitudes
of a chequered history, by the fearless teaching of
faithful prophets, and in other ways, in order that

ITS CONTENTS. 21
the Divine purpose for which Israel was chosen
might be in due time accomphshed. The marks
of that thorough disciphne appear throughout the
Old Testament. The Book of Job at first sight
appears to present an exception to the rule. The
writer seems to be striking out a path for himself.
He is not walking in rank along a well-trodden
road, but, like a pioneer, is hewing out his own
way through a tangled forest. He strikes vigor
ously and boldly, sometimes with a sublime
audacity which makes the reader start and
wonder. The language is as full of fire and
vivacity as the thoughts are lofty and inspiring.
Finally, while so many of the marks of human
genius are present in this noble poem, all the gifts
of the writer are touched and consecrated as with
the live coal from the altar which stands in the
presence of God. The Divine Spirit has quickened
with celestial fire and informed with the glow of
Divine revelation words which would otherwise
have remained so much dead fuel. The Book of
Job fitly takes its place in the sacred literature of
the Old Covenant, in that volume which is marked
out from all others by the seal of Divine
inspiration. But the exact place which the book occupies is
not at once discerned, and the student must be
content to ascertain it by patient examination. It

22 THE BOOK OF JOB :
will be well first to survey the contents of the
hook as a whole, then to ask what may be known
concerning its composition — its age, its author, its
integrity if it be one whole, its construction, if
more than one hand be visible in the work. Then
we shall be prepared to examine somewhat more
in detail the beauty and significance of some of its
parts, and lastly, to gather up the scope and
teaching of the whole book, and understand its
place in the sacred Canon.
The book opens with an introduction, written
in prose, which prepares the way for the body of
the poem. The scene is laid partly in earth,
partly in heaven. Job is pictured in his pro
sperity, an Oriental prince dwelling in the fertile
and picturesque country on the east of the
Jordan known as the Hauran. There, in a land
lying on the borders of the desert, but itself rich
and fruitful, as volcanic districts usually are,
intersected by deep gorges filled in winter by
rapid streams, Job — pure and upright and godly,
a true servant of God — had his dwelling. He
was rich in flocks and herds, in sons and daughters,
and enjoyed all the prosperity which the " sons of
the East" desire and regard as a mark of the
favour of Heaven. But even while the picture,
drawn by a few graphic strokes, is before us, a
curtain is lifted, and a celestial background to

ITS CONTENTS. 23
these earthly scenes is exhibited, which prepares
the way for sudden and startling changes. The
overthrow of Job's solid structure of prosperity is
complete and overwhelming. His mountain stands /
strong — and in a moment it is not. Oxen, asses, /
sheep and camels; house, with happy sons and
daughters gathered in family festival, — all are
swept away as with a succession of hurricane blasts,
and then Job, " naked" to every wind of adversity,
is smitten with the most cruel, loathsome, and in
curable of diseases, and, gnawed by pain, his body
becoming corrupt before his eyes, he hes, " stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted," a burden to his
friends, a misery to himself, and a problem to the
world. From this situation rises the poem which,
like the theme of which it treats, is as full of
beauty as it is of obscurities and difficulties.
Job's own utterances, the attitude of his friends,
the appearance of a stranger, the intervention of
the Almighty, Job's confession and subsequent
restoration to prosperity, present severally and
unitedly a complex problem which precisely cor
responds to the complexities of man's tangled,
sinful, and suffering life.
For convenience, we present the following
tabular analysis of contents : —
Prologue, ch. i, ii. (prose). Job's Prosperity.

24 THE BOOK OF JOB:
His calamities permitted by God on the
challenge of the Adversary.
The Poem. Job's Utter cry (ch. iii.).
Dialogue with Friends (ch. iv.-xxvi.).
First Stage.
1. Eliphaz to Job : his remonstrance against Job's com
plaints ; he gently but firmly asserts Divine justice,
and bids Job accept chastening (ch. iv., v.). Job to
Eliphaz : protests his innocence ; complains of abandon
ment, even God has deserted him (ch. vi., vii.).
2. Bildad to Job : a sharper rebuke, and assertion of the law
that the good prosper and the wicked suffer (ch. viii.).
Job to Bildad : a bolder arraignment of the justice of
God, and a wailing cry that he is weary of life and long
ing for death (ch. ix. , x. ).
3. Zophar to Job : still harsher statement of the view that
Job is but suffering his deserts, and exhortation to him
to turn to God (ch. xi. ). Job to Zophar : he taunts his
friends with their hardness to the suffering and their
unrighteous pleading for God ; bewails his unintelligible
misery (ch. xii.-xiv.). Second Stage.
1. Eliphaz to Job : in a changed tone he rebukes Job for
presumption (ch. xv. ). Job to Eliphaz : he retorts
upon the friends, and pathetically appeals to God (ch.
xvi., xvii.).
2. Bildad to Job : strongly insists on the doom of the
wicked (ch. xviii.). Job to Bildad: indignantly pro
tests and boldly appeals to the arbitrament of a
righteous God in the future (ch. xix.).
3. Zophar to Job : a more violent insistence upon the fearful
fate of the evil-doer (ch. xx. ). Job to Zophar : passes

ITS CONTENTS. 25
from his own suffering to a general questioning of the
righteous government of the world (ch. xxi. ).
Third Stage.
1. Eliphaz to Job: charges him with blasphemy, and ex
horts him to return to a better mind (ch. xxii.).
Job to Eliphaz : would fain appeal to God, but He hides
Himself, and misery and misgovernment seem to prevail
everywhere (ch. xxiii., xxiv.).
2. Bildad to Job : a very brief assertion of the majesty of
God and the insignificance and evil of man (ch.
xxv. ). A last, straggling shot ; the friends are silent
henceforth, and the third part of the colloquy is broken
off abruptly.

Job's Monologue (ch. xxvi-xxxi.).
May be divided into two parts, the first ending with ch.
xxviii., which is ofthe nature of an episode in praise of
Wisdom. The later chapters contain a full account of
Job's earlier days of happiness and a final appeal in
vindication of his own integrity, and expressing a desire
for judgment.

Intervention of Elihu (ch. xxxii.-xxxvii).
A fresh speaker is here introduced in a few lines of prose.
After a long exordium, Elihu expresses his dissatisfac
tion with the utterances of the friends, and more in
detail with the attitude taken up by Job. He reproves
Job for self-righteousness, and dwells at some length
upon the educating power of suffering. God is both
almighty and all-righteous, it is for man to submit and
learn by His chastisements.

26 THE BOOK OF JOB:
Appearance of Jehovah (ch. xxxviii.-xli.).
At this stage God "answers Job out of the whirlwind."
His address is divided into two parts, the second begin
ning with ch. xl. 1. The former part describes the
glories of creation, earth and sea, light and darkness, rain
and snow, stars and lightnings. Then follows a graphic
description of animal life, goats and deer, wild asses and
wild oxen, peacock and ostrich, and especially of the
war-horse. The latter part of the address consists of a
more elaborate description of two monstrous creatures,
Behemoth and Leviathan, the hippopotamus and the
crocodile. Job's Submission (ch. xlii. 1-6).
In a few pregnant sentences Job acknowledges his grave
errors, the rashness and impatience of his former words,
and humbles himself under the mighty hand of God,
whom now he sees as he had never seen Him before.
Epilogue, ch. xlii. 7-17 (in prose). God pro
nounces sentence, the friends are censured,
Job is accepted, and restored to double his
former prosperity. He lives an hundred
and forty years after his troubles were over,
and dies " old and full of days."
On this outline a few remarks are necessary
before the contents of the book can be considered
as fully before the mind of the reader.
1. Is the book to be understood as strictly
historical, or is it a work of imagination, or partly
one and partly the other? Both amongst the

ITS CONTENTS. 27
Jews and during the earlier centuries of Christen
dom the book was for the most part viewed as a
veritable history. Here and there doubts were
expressed, as by certain Eabbis and a few Chris
tian teachers, of whom Theodore of Mopsuestia may
stand as an example ; but for the most part it was
held that if " Job " were not history, it could be
esteemed only as a fraud on the part of the writer.
In modern times, however, neither of these
extreme views has prevailed. Most modern in
terpreters hold that on a basis of historical fact
the writer has built up an imaginative poem deal
ing with the question of the sufferings of the
righteous and their justification under the govern
ment of a righteous God. Few are disposed to
treat the whole story as a fiction. The historical
reference to Job in Ezek. xiv. 14 (not to men
tion Jas. v. 11) points to the existence of a well-
known tradition. On the other hand, it is hardly
conceivable that the author intended the scenes in
heaven of ch. i. and ii. to be interpreted literally,
or meant it to be understood that the long
addresses of ch. xxxviii.-xli. came directly as a
voice from the skies. The numbers used in the
prologue and epilogue are evidently symbolical
and ideal. It is unhkely that the calamities
described in ch. i. should fall with the dramatic
suddenness and regularity that is there described,

28 THE BOOK OF JOB:
precisely one survivor only in each case being left
to tell the tale. Further, the character of the
speeches of Job and his friends is tolerably con
clusive. Never did sufferer in extremis compose
such elaborate poetical deliverances, or a number
of friends met to condole with him express them
selves extemporaneously in sentences and images
suggestive of the greatest skill of constructive
genius. The names of Job and his friends and
the leading facts of the story may well be his
torical, but the form is undoubtedly due to the
writer, and in all probability the whole conception
of the argument is his, though, instead of using
an imaginary case, he uses the name and some
incidents of the history of a well-known patriarch,
idealising and adapting the details in order the
more forcibly to point the moral and spiritual
lessons he wished to draw. A sacred writer may
for such a purpose use history, as the author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews does in his eleventh
chapter : he may, if he will, use parable, as our
Lord so often did, or Nathan in his attempt to
arouse the slumbering conscience of David. Or
he may, with equal propriety, use the substance of
history cast into a poetical and ideal form ; and
this appears to have been the method of the
author of the Book of Job.
2. It seems to be of little use to discuss the

ITS CONTENTS. 29
question whether the poem is dramatic, or epic, or
tragic, or didactic. It was not composed to fit the
measuring-lines of pedants. " Soul is form, and
doth the body make." The inspired writer had a
work to do, and did it in his own fashion, and
neither the category " drama " nor " tragedy " nor
"parable," nor any other suggesting Greek or
Enghsh compositions of later date, precisely fits
the case. The important element in the book is
the spiritual convictions which animated the
writer, for the full expression of which he used
history and allegory in the prologue, dramatic
elements — though without movement and action
— in the body of the poem, and narrative again
at the close. Drama it is not; dramatic poem
it may, perhaps, be called ; sublime book of God,
shedding perennial hght on the unending drama
of suffering humanity, it unquestionably remains.
3. The book must be taken as a whole, studied
as a whole, and interpreted as a whole. The
grounds for questioning whether more than one
hand has been engaged in its composition will be
examined later. But the book as it stands con
stitutes one in the sacred Canon, and the inter
preter, taking it as it has come down to us, must
give to each part its due, and no more than its
due place. The prologue contains two elements :
an earthly history, and a representation of Divine

30 THE BOOK OF JOB:
providential arrangements, couched in symbolical
form. It must be taken as part of the hypothesis,
therefore, that Job was a man of the high and
virtually spotless character therein described, and
that he was overwhelmed by a series of calamities,
permitted by the providence of God as part of a
higher purpose in which other beings than man
are concerned. But it must not be assumed that
the whole explanation is found here. These
chapters are a part, but they are only a part of
a larger whole.
Job's steadfastness under affliction must be fully
taken into account. He endures one severe, and |
as men would say, intolerable trial after another, |
but no hasty or complaining word escapes his
lips. The vehement outburst of ch. iii. is a
wail of anguish, not an angry complaint. Job's
marvellous resignation must be allowed its proper
weight in our estimate of the whole contents of
the book.
But no more than its proper weight. In the
colloquies that follow, Job is not patient, his out
cries are unrestrained, and sometimes become wild
and passionate. In some chapters we see depicted "l
the very opposite of the qualities with which the
patriarch is proverbially credited. It is to be
observed, however, that this is in his arguments
with the three friends. These are represented as

ITS CONTENTS. 31
sincere sympathisers, but as advocates of the cur
rent and generally accepted theory that man's sin
and suffering on earth exactly correspond. The
wicked are punished, the righteous rewarded ; and
conversely, those who suffer are evil, and the only
way to the restoration of happiness and prosperity
is to repent of sin and be reconciled to God. It
is in answering this line of argument that Job's
spirit is roused. Some advance is visible in the
three several stages of the colloquy. At first the
friends are comparatively moderate and general in
their statements, and Job confines himself to
vehement assertions of his own innocence, and
lamentations over sufferings which to him are
mysterious and unintelligible. But at a later
stage the friends directly charge Job with un
godliness, and Job, questioning altogether the
righteousness of the government of the world as
we see it, casts about for some higher solution of
the problem. The third stage represents the
friends as becoming exhausted, though persisting
as strenuously as ever in their contentions, while
Job at greater length asserts and reinforces his
former position.
Elihu's intervention must be considered as an
episode, but not one without meaning or relevance.
He states the controversy afresh, and sheds some
new light upon it by insisting more clearly and

32 THE BOOK OF /OB:
emphatically upon the remedial and educative
influence of adversity.
And, not to hnger over every part of the poem,
the addresses of the Almighty, while undoubtedly
of the nature of a sentence or judgment, must
have their due place — no more, no less — in the
larger whole. So also with the epilogue. It de
scribes the end of the history, but not necessarily
contains its whole explanation. It can no more
be passed over by the student of the book than
set forth as the point and climax of the whole
composition. There is some danger of losing the
due sense of proportion in viewing the various
parts of the picture, and this can only be avoided
by a survey of the whole contents of the book, in
which each part is made to fit into its place.
4. Occasional obscurities need not, and must
not be suffered to hide the view of the book as a
whole. It is easy to raise questions concerning
the meaning to be attached to the " sons of God "
and the whole scene describing the council of
heaven in ch. ii It is often difficult to trace the
exact connexion of thought in the speeches of
Job and his friends. The language of the poem
gains much of its force and vividness through a
brevity which to us sometimes becomes obscurity ;
and critics may discuss without limit the sound
ness of the text or the integrity of the book. But

ITS CONTENTS. 33
none of these things need interfere with that view
of the whole which it is desirable every reader
should gain for himself. We have been obliged
to content ourselves here with the briefest
analysis; but had it been possible to present a
full paraphrase and explanation of the various
parts, it would still be necessary for the student
to make his own, if not direct from the Hebrew,
then from the best Enghsh translation procur
able.1 To see with his own eyes is absolutely
necessary for the student of nature, and the first
thing needful for the student of Job is to read the
book over and over again for himself, till the vision
of the whole and the proportion of the parts is, in
spite of occasional obscurities, clear before his
eyes. Only Scripture that filters steadily and
completely through the mind will mould the
character and influence the life.
1 The Revised Version is more useful in the Book of Job than
in any other part of the Bible. The Authorised Version,
though here as everywhere noble, is in places faulty and unin
telligible. Dr. Cox's translation in his Commentary on the
Book of Job will be found helpful to the English reader. Dr.
A. B. Davidson's Notes (Cambridge Bible) are invaluable.

34 THE BOOK OF JOB:

CHAPTEE III.
THE BOOK OF JOB: ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP.
rnHE age in which this book was written is
J- extremely doubtful, and its author is entirely
unknown. Such a statement might seem to render
the following chapter superfluous. But it by no
means follows that an inquiry into the subject is
useless; it may be possible to determine these
questions within certain limits, and the process of
investigation will bring to hght many important
characteristics of the book itself.
The history of critical opinion does not help us
far towards a conclusion. Early Jewish teachers,
as represented by certain passages in the Talmud,
assigned a very early date to the Book of Job, and
conjecture gave Moses as its author. A long line
of Christian writers, reaching down to Ebrard
(1858) and Canon Bawlinson (1891), have followed
in the same direction. Others have held that
early traditions, orally handed down from genera
tion to generation, were shaped in their present

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 35
form about the time of Solomon (e.g. Delitzsch,
Canon Cook, and Dr. S. Cox). The tendency in
recent times, however, has been to assign a still
later date to its composition, the majority of
modern commentators, amongst whom Ewald,
Eenan, and Dr. Watson may be mentioned, inclin
ing to a period after the captivity of the Northern
tribes, somewhere between Isaiah and Jeremiah ;
whereas others, represented by Dr. A. B. Davidson
and Canon Driver, date it after the Exile ; Canon
Cheyne apparently inclining to the later Persian
period, in the fourth century before Christ.
Professor Margoliouth, in the new edition of
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, holds that the
argument from the parallel passages points
decidedly in this direction. Such division of
opinion is not encouraging. But instead of
following the views of any individual or school
of critics, it will be more satisfactory to present
as succinctly as possible some of the main
grounds on which the decision of the question
rests, it being clearly understood that only an
approximate judgment is from the nature of the
case possible.
The first aspect of the book is undoubtedly
primitive and non-Israelitish. It was said above
that it contains hardly any allusions to Mosaic
laws or observances. There is no mention of the

36 THE BOOK OF JOB .
great events of the history of Israel, the Exodus,
the Wanderings, the Conquest of Canaan, the
annals of the kingdom. The names of God for
the most part used are such as belonged to patri
archal times, El and Eloah being the oldest Semitic
titles of the Divine Being. Eloah is used some
fifty times in the Book of Job, hardly twenty
times in all the rest of the Old Testament. The
characteristic covenant-name of Jehovah is found
in the prologue and epilogue, but in the body of
the poem it hardly occurs at all (see, however,
ch. xxxviii 1, xl. .1). The civilisation of later
times is conspicuous by its absence. Wealth
consists in flocks and herds ; such communities as
exist are of a primitive type (see ch. xxix.) ; Job
himself offers sacrifice, a " burnt-offering " of the
earliest kind ; the uncoined money (Heb. Eesita)
mentioned in ch. xlii. 11 is very ancient, as are
the musical instruments, the tambourine and pipe,
of ch. xxL 12, xxx. 31. Such allusions as are
found appear to be only to the building of early
monuments like the Pyramids (hi. 14), the Flood
(xxii. 16), and the destruction of the cities of the
plain (xviii. 15). The extreme longevity of Job
forms part of an undeniably patriarchal picture.
It is contended, moreover, that the language of
the book is archaic, — it is certainly full of Aram-
aisms, the exact nature of which requires close

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 37
examination, — and the style is said to be "a
lapidary style, such as might befit an age and
country when writing, though known, was not
commonly used ; when language full of life and
power had not as yet attained to the clearness,
fluency, and flexibility which characterise a later
age." l
The question, however, arises whether the age
of Job is to be understood as the same as that of
the author. The above are features of primitive
times: are they beyond the power of a skilful
writer of later date to conceive and represent,
supposing him to be embodying early traditions
concerning Job in a poem admittedly of a very
high order, in which the problems of a later time
are discussed? Dr. Davidson says that the
features of a much later time may be perceived
"beneath this patriarchal disguise," that the
author "is a true Israelite and betrays himself
to be so at every turn, however great his power of
reanimating the past," and that it is only un
critical minds that will be deceived by the " thin1
antique colour of the book." He concludes that
Job is " the genuine outcome of the religious hfe:
and thought of Israel, the product of a religious
knowledge and experience possible among no
other people," and not possible in Israel till the
1 Canon Cook, Introduction to Speaker's Commentary, p. 12.

38 THE BOOK OF JOB :
later stages of its history. The close examina
tion of this question is evidently no matter
of mere antiquarian criticism, but it will take
us to the very heart of the book itself. Let
, us therefore see upon what its determination
depends. It is urged that occasional references to the
law are to be traced in such passages as " Thou
hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought"
(xxii. 6 and xxiv. 9), and " Thou shalt pay thy
vows " (xxii. 27), as well as in the mention of the
removal of landmarks (xxiv. 2), and of some kind of
judicial procedure in the case of " an iniquity to be
punished by the judges " (xxxi 11). The mention
of " the gate adjoining the city," and the seat in the
" street " or open market-place (xxix. 7), is thought
bo point to settled life in a long inhabited country ;
while the repudiation of idolatry in ch. xxxi. 26
shows a certain coincidence with the language
of Deut. iv. 19. It is clear, however, that no very
strong case can be built upon a few passages like
these, when set against the strong argument from
silence, derived from the fact that these are the
most explicit references to the law and usages of
Israel that can be adduced.
It is further urged that the descriptions of
misery and oppression contained here and there
in the book point to a condition of social disorder

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 39
quite distinct from Job's personal troubles. In
ch. ix. 24 we read —
Lands are given into the hand of the wicked :
[God it is who] covereth the faces of their rulers ;
If it be not He, who then is it ?
The city is as bad as the country —
From out the populous city men groan,
And the soul of the wounded crieth out,
Yet God regardeth not the wrong ! — (xxiv. 12.)
Again, when it is said "He leadeth away
counsellors stripped of their robes, and maketh
judges fools " (xii. 17), the writer appears to have
in view nations and statesmen of high civil rank :
the language, says Canon Driver, "points to
nations overthrown; the plans of statesmen
wrecked ; kings, princes, and priests led into exile."
The whole passage, ch. xii. 16-25, does indeed
point to a more fully developed national life than
obtained in the patriarchal age, but it requires
some reading between the lines to find in the
simple language of the text any explicit reference
to the national politics of later times, when (say)
Assyria intervened in the affairs of Palestine and
Syria. The argument from language is one that it is
difficult to press very far. The facts are that the
body of the poem (excluding the Elihu section,

40 THE BOOK OF JOB:
which will be dealt with separately) is marked by a
large number of words with Aramaic and Arabic
affinities, quite sufficient to give it a linguistic
character of its own. The difficulty arises when
we begin to infer a date from this unquestioned
phenomenon. One writer says that these peculi
arities are marks of an " antique and highly poetic
style " ; another, that they may be accounted for
by a very early date, the words in question being
common to various Semitic dialects, or a very late
one, the words being borrowed from closer inter
course with the Syrians ; while a third, equally
distinguished for scholarship, thinks the peculiarity
is unfavourable both to a very early and a very
late date, and he accounts for the presence of
peculiar words and idioms by the supposition that
the writer lived in close contiguity to Aramaic
and Arabic speaking peoples.1 Of these the last
appears the most probable hypothesis, but clearly
the argument from language cannot be used as a
primary determining element in the case.
The literary finish of the poem might seem to
indicate a comparatively late date for its com
position. The remarkable abihty and power
displayed in Job may to a large extent be
1 Canon Cook, Dr. S. Cox (quoting "Rabbi" Duncan), and
DiUmann are the three writers referred to, but other names
might be mentioned in support of each view.

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 41
appreciated by an Enghsh reader, and literary
critics of all ages have but one voice to describe
the genius and versatihty displayed by the writer.
But some of its excellences can only be appreciated
by a student of Hebrew, amongst these being the
skill with which the parallel structure is used in
arguments of considerable length, the beauty of the
rhythm, and the fire and force of the language in
its extreme condensation. It might fairly be
urged that these qualities and the finish given to
the whole work are characteristic of a mature
stage of literary culture. On the other hand,
there are no traces in the poem itself of that
tameness which marks (for example) certain
psalms known to be of post-Exilic date. The
originality of the author is perhaps the most
marked feature of his style, and his figures of
speech, both in their conception and their expres
sion, by no means belong to the " silver age " of a
national literature. Dante was the father of
Itahan poetry, the first great writer in the ver
nacular of his country, yet the Divina Commedia
comes forth well-nigh perfect in the force and
vividness of its conceptions and the vigorous ring
of its compact and sonorous verses, struck off as
by a single stroke of the hand of a master.
The comparison of parallel passages is proverbi
ally a dubious argument. Sometimes it may be

42 THE BOOK OF JOB :
possible to establish priority of date by this means,
but usually it is exceedingly difficult to determine
on which side the dependence lies. A tolerably
clear instance is found in Job vii. 17 compared
with Ps. viii. 4 —
What is man, that Thou dost magnify him,
And set Thine heart upon him ?
That Thou shouldest visit him morning by morning,
And try him moment by moment?
There can be httle doubt that in this case the
passage in Job is the later of the two ; the simple
adoration of the psalmist being echoed in bitter
irony by the righteous man in the anguish of his
multiplied calamities. But the date of the Psalm
is not undisputed, though it is probably Davidic.
Again, there is an undoubted parallel between
Job xiv. 11 and Isa. xix. 5. One of these writers
must have had the other passage before him, and
Dr. Davidson is perhaps justified in arguing that
the priority rests with Isaiah. In comparing Job
hi. 3-10 with Jer. xx. 14-18 it is not so easy to
decide, but the passage in Job is unquestionably
the more forcible and vivid of the two, and that
may argue priority of date. The parallels with
Proverbs (comp. Job xviii. 5, 6 with Prov. xiii. 9,
and Job xv. 7 with Prov. viii. 25, also Job
xxviii. with Proverbs generally) appear to be in
favour of an earlier date for Proverbs, while the

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 43
passages which show similarity of thought between
Job and the second part of Isaiah are numerous,
but quite inconclusive of relative date, when
studied only as literary parallels.1 By far the
strongest argument for a comparatively late date
for the Book of Job, and one which of itself is
almost conclusive, is the nature of its subject-
matter. The historical allusions by themselves
are not decisive : the finish and elaboration of the
poem might be considered compatible with an
early age; occasional touches might be ascribed
to an editor rather than to the author. But there
is one characteristic about which there can be no
question, which does not depend upon the inter
pretation of a few obscure passages, but which is
interwoven with the whole texture of the book :
it is the stage of rehgious thought which has been
reached by the writer, the nature of the moral
problems discussed, and the way in which they
are handled. Considerations of this general kind
will not of course enable us to fix the date within
a century, but they give us excellent indication
1 Examples may be found in Davidson's Job, pp. 66, 67. They
are such as these : Job ix. 28 compared with Isa. xliv. 24-28 ;
Job xxvi. 12 with Isa. Ii. 9, 10 ; Job xiii. 28 with Isa. 1. 9 ;
and the general similarity between Job and the suffering
Servant of Jehovah. See also Canon Cheyne's Essay on ' ' Job
and the Second Part of Isaiah," in his Prophecies of Isaiah, vol.
ii. p. 235.

44 THE BOOK OF JOB :
of the period within which such a book could be
written by an Israehte. For that it is essentially
Israelitish there can be little question. The
whole cast of thought, a number of minute
characteristics, and the place of the book in the
Jewish canon are sufficient proofs of this. It
must then be borne in mind that the religious
position of the writer presupposes very much. It
presupposes the belief in one God, distinctly
ethical in His nature and attributes ; a belief in
an overruling Providence and a moral government
of the world ; a creed, generally accepted, that sin
entails suffering, and that the righteous are re
warded in the present life ; a somewhat developed
psychology and view of the nature of man, and a
highly spiritual doctrine of God ; it presupposes,
further, sufficient time — a tolerably long period is
necessary — for the general theories of individual
and national prosperity and adversity to be
accepted and tested in practice; it presupposes
the growth of questioning on these subjects, not
merely the beginnings of doubt and occasional
denial of the prevailing creed, but a certain
maturity of speculation on the great theme of a
theodicy, the justifying of the ways of God to
men. Hints of this kind of questioning, which,
when it is once raised, cannot be easily silenced,
are found in certain psalms, such as the 37th and.

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 45
the 73rd. But it is impossible to deny that the
Book of Job represents this mood of the human
mind — together with the light of Divine revelation
upon it— in a remarkably advanced form. Now,
without limiting the power of the Spirit of God,
or forgetting that men of insight and genius, not
to say inspired writers, are often in advance of
their times, we may well draw a general argument
for the date of Job from the kind of discussion
which its great moral and spiritual problems are
found to receive. "The elements doubtless of
such perplexities may have existed from the day
when the blood of some unavenged successor of
righteous Abel cried in vain for retribution. But
we can hardly imagine that their full and elaborate
discussion would have found voice or echo or hear
ing, still less enshrined itself in a nation's sacred
literature, till a sadder and more perplexing
experience had opened men's eyes to darker and
more tangled thoughts than come to the child
hood of nations. . . . Great and lofty as are the
utterances, profound as are the thoughts of the
Book of Job, they would have, may we not say,
been " born out of due time," till the problems
with which they deal had been brought home to
the hearts of thinkers by familiarity with much
unexplained and inexplicable suffering, by long
and painful musing over the mysteries and riddles

46 THE BOOK OF JOB :
of human life." x The argument founded upon
these general considerations may be strengthened
at a later stage, when the scope and purpose of
the book are considered ; meanwhile it is, within
its own limits, well-nigh conclusive against the
earlier dates that have been suggested for the
composition of the book.
It is possible, however, to draw a httle closer
to the determination of our problem. The men
tion of Ophir and the gold of Ophir (xxii. 24,
xxviii. 16) seems to mark the Solomonic period
as the earhest possible assignable date, while the
mention of Satan in the prologue gives a further
indication of limit at the other end. The 1st
and 2nd chapters of Job were certainly written
later than that describing the "lying spirit" in
1 Kings xxii. 21-23. In all probability they
were written earlier than the only other passages
in which Satan is mentioned by name, 1 Chron.
xxi. 1 and Zech. iii. In 1 Chronicles the word is
used without the article, evidently marking a
later stage than its use with the article in Job
and Zechariah. A close comparison of the two
latter passages, and the way in which the work of
the " Adversary " is regarded, makes it decidedly
1 Dean Bradley, Lectures on the Boole of Job, p. 172. One of
the most practically serviceable volumes in the whole literature
of the subject for the general English reader.

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 47
probable that Job i. and ii. is the earher of the two.
If these arguments be valid, our view is narrowed
down to a period somewhere between 1000 and
500 B.C. Of the three several epochs which have
most commended themselves to scholars, (1) the
Solomonic, (2) the post-Exilic, and (3) a period
after the captivity of the Northern tribes, some
where between Isaiah and Jeremiah, in the seventh
century before Christ, the last appears to us for
several reasons the most probable. Job was in
our view written later than the parts of Proverbs
which belong to the age of Solomon. It was written
earher than the chapters of the second part of
Isaiah, which describe the Servant of God as suffer
ing vicariously for the sins of the people. It may
have been written by a Northern Israehte, and
must have been written by one familiar with the
hfe of the countries bordering upon the Syrian
and Arabian deserts — a life which we know to
have changed but httle through the lapse of
hundreds, and even thousands of years. Nearer
than this to a determination of the question of
the age and authorship of Job it is impossible to go.
Even so much is far from being proved. It is
given here as representing the impression pro
duced upon at least one careful student of the
book. But the opinion of the best authorities at
the present time tends to narrow down the issue

48 THE BOOK OF JOB:
to a choice between the period just specified and
that post-Exihc period to which some critics
appear disposed without sufficient warrant to
relegate nearly the whole of Jewish sacred
literature. There remains still to be considered the import
ant question of the integrity of the book. Analysis
has been prevalent here as everywhere. The book
has been taken to pieces by successive critics, and
this, that, or the other portion has been pronounced
not to form part of the original composition. The
prologue and epilogue have been supposed to be
later additions. The speeches of Elihu have been
assailed on all hands as an interpolation. The
addresses of the Almighty, especially the chapters
describing behemoth and leviathan, have been
condemned as due to a later hand. The colloquies
themselves, which form the body of the poem, have
been asserted to be composite, certain passages
being rejected as interfering with the progress of
the argument or inconsistent with its general drift.
On one ground and another the several portions
of the book have been assailed by critical analysts,
till the magnificent poem which has fascinated
literary as well as rehgious students in all ages
seems in danger of being set down as a mere
curious conglomerate, a botched and clumsy piece
of workmanship, due to a succession of unintelli-

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 49
gent commentators and would-be emendators of
a scanty original text.
In the latest critical edition of the text of
the Old Testament,- Professor Siegfried of Jena
pubhshes the Book of Job printed in four colours,
to indicate the various elements of which in his
judgment it is composed. Some passages are
styled "polemical interpolations directed against
the tendency of the poem." These are printed in
green, and may be represented by ch. xxviii. and
the Elihu speeches, ch. xxxii-xxxvii. Others,
found in the 12th, 27th, and other chapters,
are " correcting interpolations, conforming the
speeches of Job to the orthodox doctrine of retri
bution," and are printed in red. Others, being
" parallel compositions," are printed in blue, and
among these is found ch. xl. 6 -xlii. 6. Some
fifty separate passages are banished from the text
as interpolations, and appear only in footnotes,
while the shorn remnant of the text is rearranged
according to the editor's judgment. Another
learned scholar 1 has undertaken to reconstruct the
whole work by aid of the Sahidic version and his
own views of the metre in which he beheves the
poem to have been originally written. Both these
1 Professor Bickell, a sketch of whose views, with a trans
lation of the "original poem" of Job, appeared in the Con
temporary Review for July 1893.

So THE BOOK OF JOB:
critical theories are founded upon the view that
the primitive poem was too bold in its outbursts
of poetic passion for the rehgious opinions of
orthodox Jews, who accordingly toned it down
and modified it to suit the conventional creed of
later days. Professor Cheyne, also, gives a similar
description of what appears to him to have been
the "gradual growth of the book," which in its
present form is like a " very confused theodicy,"
but when the "disturbing elements" are re
moved, it is seen to be "simply an expression
of the conflicting thoughts of an earnest,
warm-hearted man on the great question of
suffering." 1
It forms no part of our purpose to enter into
detailed argument upon such questions as these.
But it is impossible to form a well-founded judg
ment on the subject of this chapter without being
at least acquainted with the prevaihng views of
leading scholars, and either intelligently accepting
them or for good reasons rejecting them. The
simple answer, then, to such destructive criticism
as has just been described — which might be
elaborated and supported by argument did space
permit; — is (1) that such methods of "reconstruc
tion " are subjective and arbitrary, for the most
1 Job and Solomon; see the section on the "Purpose of Job
as illustrated by Criticism,'' pp. 66-70.

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 5!
part unsupported by external evidence,1 and
capable of being set aside to-morrow by a fresh
set of critics with canons of their own. (2) The
poem as thus presented, beginning with eh. hi.
and containmg only portions of the colloquies,
selected from ch. iv.-xxxi., is literally one "with
out head or tail," without beginning or ending,
without adequate cause or sufficient explanation.
(3) There is no sufficient ground of objection
against any of the leading sections of the poem, —
the objections may be met seriatim, — nor any
linguistic or other reason for supposing that the
idea of the book has been modified, except the
views of uniformity and consistency held by latter-
day critics. But (4) an exception must be
made in the case of the Elihu section (ch.
xxxii-xxxvii.), which may be eliminated without
the slightest disturbance of the rest ; and (5) there
are difficulties concerning shorter sections, e.g.
ch. xxvii. 7-23 and xxviii, which would need to
be dealt with separately, as on different grounds it
is very difficult to fit them in in the place where
they stand.
1 It is impossible to discuss here the question of the
relation of the LXX. and other versions to the Hebrew
text. Professor Bickell, Dr. Hatch, and others hold that the
LXX., with its many omissions, represents an earlier type
of text.

52 THE BOOK OF JOB:
Without troubling the reader with the details
of a technical discussion, it may be enough to say
that in the writer's opinion all the difficulties
may be surmounted except those which refer to
the Elihu section. In every case it is a balance
of probabilities, and in . this particular part of the
poem, and this part only, the balance appears to
incline against the view that these chapters formed
part of the original poem. And this, for the
following reasons: — (1) Elihu is unknown both
to the prologue and epilogue of the poem, his
speeches interrupt the course of the argument
without need or advantage, and the excision of
these chapters would involve not the slightest
mutilation of a composition which without them
is an organic whole. (2) The second argument
is linguistic, and rests upon differences of style,
vocabulary, and other details which are generally
admitted by critics, but which would not of them
selves be sufficient to establish a difference of
authorship. (3) The subject-matter of Elihu's
speeches confuses rather than clears up the course
of the poem. He condemns both the friends and
Job, yet himself covers over again much of the
ground already covered. So far as there is fresh
ness or originality in the expressions put into the
mouth of Elihu, they belong to a different treat
ment of the great problem of the book from that

ITS AGE AND AUTHORSHIP. 53
which is presented by the consistent outline of its
argument when they are removed.
Answers have been furnished to all these argu
ments, such as to many minds may prove amply
sufficient. It would answer httle end to set
in array a number of authorities, though even
amongst conservative critics a large number are
found accepting the view above propounded. In
telligent and devout study of the book itself need'
not be disturbed by the decision of the question
for or against the genuineness of the Elihu section.
If these chapters do not form part of the original
poem, they, were added not long after its com
position by a spiritual-minded Jew, who desired
to bring out certain aspects of the great problem
of the suffering of the righteous which he thought
had not been sufficiently dwelt upon in the book
as he found it. These thoughts may be reverently
studied side by side with the rest, in the same
way that we should compare the teaching (say) of
certain psalms or proverbs, or prophetic writings.
which touched upon the important theme that.
exercises anew almost every generation of man
kind. This combination of elements proceed
ing from different authors into one composition
obtained in early times and in Eastern countries-
to an extent which Westerns of a later date hardly
appreciate. This feature of compilation is more-

54 THE BOOK OF JOB :
frequent in the Old Testament than the super
ficial reader is disposed to believe. It may easily
be shown to exist in the historical and to some
extent in the prophetical books. There are traces*
of redaction in the Psalms ; the Book of Proverbs
is, upon the very face of it, a compilation; and
if in Job there be a trace or two of composite
structure, we need not be surprised. But there
is nothing brought to hght by sober and well-
ifounded criticism which need disturb the student
¦of a poem which in its main features is as remark-
.able for its unity of purpose as for the boldness
•of some of its speculations, and the power and
beauty of its rehgious teaching as a whole. If
•one of the subordinate figures or some details of
the grouping in this august and impressive picture
rprove to be by a later hand than that which
painted the great whole, neither our admiration.
-nor our moral and spiritual edification need be
diminished. In this unique poem God teaches
.all willing disciples a series of lessons which
in a succeeding chapter it will be our business
Ao unfold.

ITS POETRY. 55

CHAPTEE IV.
THE BOOK OF JOB: ITS POETRY.
IT is the object of the following chapter to dwell
solely upon the hterary characteristics of
this wonderful book. In so doing, it must not
be forgotten that these are entirely subordinate
features. The writer was throughout under the
influence of the Spirit of God. His thoughts
were spiritual, his end was the Divine glory.
He was not thinking of the splendour of his
images, the embellishment of his diction, the
elaboration of his subhme delineations. His was
" the poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling," but its
glance was not from " heaven to earth, from earth
to heaven," it was fixed on objects beyond the
earth, while the poet's pen used with a lavish
freedom, sometimes with a splendid abandonment,
all its wealth of earthly figures to adorn and
emphasise the thoughts which moved his soul to
its very depths. This being borne in mind, a
more minute study of the poetry of the Book of

56 THE BOOK OF JOB;
Job will enable the reader to enter upon the
deeper study of its central theme which will
follow. The first two chapters and the last are in prose.
But a poet's prose has characteristics of its own,
and the opening and closing sketches are written
with the skill which disdains to use many strokes
of the pencil. The eye of the writer sees clearly
and truly from the first, and he makes the reader
see not only Job in his prosperity and in his
calamities, but the mysterious significance of the
council held in heaven, with a power which
belongs only to the highest art, that of perfect
simphcity. This is what Carlyle means in his
eulogium of this "noble book; all men's book!
All in such free, flowing outlines; grand in its
sincerity, in its simplicity ; in its epic melody and
repose of reconcilement. There is the seeing eye,
the mildly understanding heart. So true every
way; true eyesight and vision for all things;
material things no less than spiritual. . . . There
is nothing written, I think, in the Bible or out
of it, of equal literary merit." Consider for a
moment the impressiveness of the picture —
etched only in black and white, but how deeply
and truly graven ! — of the three friends who came
to comfort Job and failed to recognise him:
"But when they lifted up their eyes from afar

ITS POETRY. 57
and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and
wept ; and they rent their mantles and sprinkled
dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they
sat down with him upon the ground seven days
and seven nights ; and none spake a word to him,
for they saw that his grief was very great." The
silence of the writer, hke the silence of the
friends, is often more eloquent than speech.
The structure of Hebrew poetry does not
readily lend itself to the composition of such a
book as Job, and the victory of the writer over
his somewhat intractable medium is remarkable.
The distich with its two parallel clauses is
admirably suited to the proverb. It may be
enlarged to a tristich of three clauses, or even
further modified, and such parallelism is not out
of harmony with the strain of a lyric or didactic
psalm. But for the sustained style of a laboured
argument it is unsuited, and to maintain such a
flight through a long poem without the flagging
of a pinion — nay, often to tax the powers of a
reader to keep pace with its swift and tireless
movement; — argues the powers of a master. The
reader of the Eevised Version who studies the
structure of the verses will be enabled to discern
in some measure what it needs a knowledge of
Hebrew fully to appreciate.
It is not necessary to dwell upon what has

58 THE BOOK OF JOB:
been called the dramatic skill of the writer.
Dramatic power is not a leading feature of the
poem. The characters of the three friends are in
deed distinguished in spite of their general likeness
to one another. Ehphaz, the oldest and wisest,
is the most dignified and temperate in his speech.
Zophar, the youngest, is the most vehement.
Bildad fairly preserves the mean between the
two, less noble and more emphatic than Eliphaz,
but uttering the maxims of the sage with less
violence and coarseness than Zophar. A progress
also is observable in the dialogues. The friends
become more pronounced as Job shows himself
less amenable to their remonstrances. Job be
comes more vehement as the friends show less
sympathy with his troubles. The friends pass
from vague generahsing to personal rebuke, and
Job passes from personal lamentations to angry
complaints of the misgovernment of the world.
The momentary appearance of Job's wife, who
has received scant justice at the hands of the
commentators, also illustrates the author's power
of portraiture. Woman-like, she feels too keenly
the sympathy of the moment to be able to enter
upon abstract considerations of a higher kind.
Her single utterance is not blasphemous, but wild
and despairing, and is introduced to heighten the
effect of Job's invincible patience and fidelity.

ITS POETRY. 59
Ehhu's speeches, again, have a character of their
own ; while the addresses put into the hps of the
Almighty are clothed with sublimity.
But it is not in this direction that we are to
look for the literary power and beauty of the
poem. Job must not be judged as a drama, or
it would be easy to complain of the slowness and
heaviness of its movement and the intolerable
length of its speeches. A reader who is in a
hurry to get on cannot enter into the meaning of
this high argument, a characteristic feature of
which is its brooding intensity. We shall mark,
illustrating at some length by examples, the
passionate glow of feehng which makes the poem
in some places almost to "melt with fervent
heat " ; the lofty character of the thought, matched
by a corresponding loftiness of diction, the force
being largely derived not from expansion and
amplification, but from vigorous and intense
concentration ; and the variety, freshness, and
wealth of imagery with which every chapter
is enriched and illumined. Other characteristics
which need not be specified will appear as we
proceed. The vehemence of feeling which characterises
the book is unmistakable. Whether it be pity,
indignation, scorn, or tenderness, every emotion
is white - hot. The situation is tragic. The

60 THE BOOK OF JOB:
calamities are unprecedented. The picture is
heartrending. The problem is maddening. Such
woes and such mental anguish are not to be
described with calm, philosophic pen. Our first
specimen of Wisdom-Literature calls for and ex
hibits more than the mild reflection of the sage ;
it demands and is informed by the passionate
heart of the poet, dowered with " the hate of hate,
the scorn of scorn, the love of love." But it is
not easy appropriately to express such intense
feeling. The tragic actor usually rants, and the
excited poet is apt to rave. But the Book of Job
gives an unspeakably lofty expression to strong
feeling of all kinds. Take a few illustrations
almost at random. Job says in one place that he
will indulge himself in freedom of complaint,
he will not " curb his mouth," but will pour out
the bitterness of his soul —

Am I » sea, or a sea-monster,
That Thou settest a watch upon me?
When I say, "My couch shall comfort me,
My bed may ease my pain,''
Then Thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me with visions :
So that my soul chooseth strangling,
And death rather than a life like this !
I waste away ; I shall not live on :
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
— (vii. 12-16.)

ITS POETRY. 6 1
Listen to his passionate pleading that the All-
seeing Eye would turn away from him, the All-
encompassing Hand would simply let him go !
God visit man, and think of him, and tend him,
and bestow care on him ? Ah, if He would but
spare Himself the trouble and simply let him
perish !
How long wilt Thou not. look away from me,
Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle !
If I have sinned, yet what have I done to Thee,
0 Thou Watcher of men ?
Why hast Thou set me up as a mark for Thee,
So that I am become a burden to myself? — (vii. 19, 20.)
It is a bold thing to arraign God, but Job's
passionate assertion of righteousness seems to
pass all limits. He cries out that if he tries to
brighten up a little (ix. 27) it is of no use, he
knows that God will not relieve him, and this
burden of calamity which rests upon him will
write him down as guilty.
Were I to wash myself with snow-water,
And cleanse my hands with potash,
Thou wouldest still plunge me into a ditch,
So that my very clothes would abhor me.
— (ix. 30, 31.)
There are many pictures scattered through the
book describing the extremity of Job's pains and

62 THE BOOK OF JOB :
calamities, but they are not drawn by a feeble
aggregation of vaguely ambitious epithets. The
force of the words is so great that it is apt to
seem violent and overcharged in English. Take
one instance only, in which the Divine Being who
is apparently pouring out His wrath on Job is
viewed as a giant Antagonist, who wrestles
with and throws the poor feeble human frame,
or who sets up the miserable man as a target,
piercing him with wounds, and shedding his life-
blood on the earth —
I was at ease, but He shattered me ;
He seized me by the throat and shook me.
He set me up as His mark,
His arrows beset me.
He cleaveth my side, and doth not spare ;
He sheddeth my gall upon the ground ;
He breaketh me with breach upon breach ;
He rusheth upon me like a giant. — (xvi. 12-14.)
When Job turns upon his friends, sometimes
he can be bitter enough in his irony : " Truly ye
are the people; the understanding of the whole
race of mankind is bound up in your breasts, and
when ye pass away, wisdom will die with you ! "
(xii. 2). But he can be just as tender and wistful
in his pleading : " Have pity upon me, have pity
upon me, 0 ye my friends ; for the hand of God
hath touched me" (xix. 21). And again, with a

ITS POETRY. 63
calm confidence he can wrap himself in the
mantle of his conscious integrity, and his pas
sionate outcries are exchanged for the strength
and dignity, of such words as these —
If I have seen any perish for lack of clothing,
Or the needy destitute of covering ;
If his loins have not blessed me,
And he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep ;
If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I knew the judges would favour me :
Let ,my shoulder fall from its socket,
And my arm be broken at the joint !
For calamity from God was my dread,
And because of His majesty I could not do [evil].
—(xxxi. 19-23.)
But the graphic power of delineation does not
appear only in the expression of intense feeling.
The writer has been a close observer of nature.
Probably he had travelled much, as travelhng
went in those days, but whether abroad or at
home, he knew how to observe and how to tell
what he had seen. His knowledge of natural
history is wide and accurate for the times in which
he hved. In ch. iv. 10, 11, five different words
for hon are used : the tawny lion, the strong lion,
the young lion, the lioness and her whelps are all
distinguished. The wild ass whose home is in the
wilderness and his haunt in the " salt waste," the
ostrich hatching its eggs in the sand, and the

64 THE BOOK OF JOB :
eagle spying her prey from the far craggy heights,
carrying it through the air for her young to gorge
their fill upon its blood, — for "where the slain
are, there is she," — are all described in ch. xxxix.
with that lightness and sureness of touch which
bespeaks the hand of a master. Here again is a
figure suggested by scenes that must often have
been present to the eyes of a dweller on the east
of Jordan, amidst the gorges that come down
from the mountain-side to the very borders of the
desert. Job is describing his friends, who were
not so much treacherous as disappointing, faithless,
their promise of comfort mocking and misleading
the thirsty traveller —
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a torrent,
As a channel of torrents that vanish away ;
They are turbid with ice,
And snow is dissolved in them :
What time they wax warm, they vanish ;
When it is hot, they are dried up from their place.
The caravans turn aside [to drink of them],
They go up into the desert and perish.
The caravans of Tema looked for them ;
The companies of Sheba hoped for them :
They were ashamed because they had trusted ;
They came up to them, and were confounded
with shame. — (vi. 15-20.)
In one of Bildad's speeches (ch. viii. 11, 12) a
single clause touches on the need of water for
the papyrus reed, which withers even while it is

ITS POETRY. 65
luxuriantly green, if it is not supplied with per
petual and abundant moisture. So is it with the
dchu, the technical name for the edible Nile-grass
mentioned in Gen. xii. 2 ; both plants exemplify
ing the suddenness of the failure which overtakes
the ungodly man unexpectedly in the very midst
of his prosperity. What can be more graphic
than the brief phrase of the following verse, " His
trust is — a spider's web," lighter and more frail
than the flimsy gossamer thread of a summer's
morning, which an unconscious touch sweeps
away? The succeeding verses contain another
figure, more elaborately worked out. They de
scribe the wicked man as a quickly growing bind
weed, which seems securely fixed in its place,
twining around the stones, but which with one
pull may be dislodged, leaving no root or trace
behind it.
He swelleth with sap in the sunshine,
And his shoots push forth over his garden.
His roots twine about the mould,
He looks down upon a house of stones.
But if [God] destroy him from his place,
It shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.
—(viii. 16-19.)
Sometimes there is a wealth of meaning in a
single phrase, the phrase of a poet, who condenses
a picture into a word. In our own climate we
5

66 THE BOOK OF JOB :
know occasionally the terrible binding power of a
great frost, when the earth is iron and the breath
freezes ere it pass from the nostrils, when every
sound in the landscape is silenced and all human
labour is stilled. But the author of Job gives us
all this and more in the pregnant expression,
" He sealeth up the hand of every man " (xxxvii.
7), when "the frost is given by the breath of
God, and the broad waters are straitened." How
exquisitely chosen is the single word which de
scribes the skies and atmosphere of late spring
and early summer, when the earth is warm and
still under the breath of the south wind — " Dost
thou know the balancings of the clouds," the
delicate poise of the white fleecy vapours that
lie and move lightly as the soft breeze plays upon
them? Every reader of Euskin will remember
his description of the mysterious aspects of the
clouds, the hght mists of early morning, the
ghost of a cloud waving hke a woman's veil, the
" war-clouds that gather on the horizon, dragon-
crested, tongued with fire," the filmy crescent
bent above the mountain summit, "poised as a
white bird hovers over its nest."1 But all the
poet-painter's word-pictures lie wrapped up in the
single line from Job, which he does not fail to quote,
" Knowest thou the balancings of the clouds, the
1 Modem Painters, vol. v. pt. vii. ch. i. § 2, 3.

ITS POETRY. 67
wondrous works of Him which is perfect in
knowledge ? " The literature of all languages is
full of metaphors to describe the swift flight of
time, the fugaces anni, the rapid gliding away of
which Horace laments to Postumus. Job pours
out three in a breath : he sees the courier speed
ing across the desert, the reed skiffs shooting past
on the stream, the darting of the eagle through
the air — My days are swifter than a runner :
They flit away, they see no good ;
They shoot by like skiffs of reed,
Like an eagle that swoopeth upon its prey !
— (ix. 25, 26.)
How plaintive and how picturesque is his plea
for cessation of the sufferings which torture him,
on the ground of his frailty and inability to stand
for a moment before the blast of Divine wrath —
Wilt Thou harass a driven leaf,
And chase the withered stubble ? — (xiii. 25. )
No less graphic is Eliphaz' picture of the
arrogant self-confidence of the ungodly man who
hardens himself against the Almighty, " running
upon Him with stiffened neck, with the thick
bosses of his shields." His face may be " covered
with fatness" and his flanks with "coUops of
flesh," but there is no substance in his apparent

68 THE BOOK OF JOB:
prosperity; he is but a puff of breath, and "at
a puff of breath he shall pass away" (xv. 26,
27, 30).
The fine conceptions of the 28th chapter have
been recognised in all ages, but for the English
reader they have until lately been concealed
under the obscure and sometimes quite unintel
ligible renderings of the Authorised Version. In
the Eevised Version these are for the most part
removed, though the brevity of the original
makes it occasionally obscure and always difficult
to translate adequately. The description of the
secrets of Wisdom, more inscrutable than the
hidden recesses of the mines in which men search
for treasures of gold and precious stones, is
amongst the finest passages of all literature —
Man maketh an end of darkness,
And searcheth out to the farthest bound
The stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death.
He sinketh a shaft far from the habitations of men,
He is forgotten of the feet of those who walk above,
He swings suspended afar from men.
The earth, out of which cometh bread,
Is stirred up underneath, as if by fire.
Its stones are the bed of the sapphire,
And contain dust of gold.
That path ! no bird of prey knoweth it,
Nor hath the eye of the falcon gazed upon it ;
The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby. — (vers. 3-7.)

ITS POETRY. 69
We must not transcribe the whole chapter, bub
every verse adds to the impressiveness of LI13
description of man's irrepressible daring in
searching out the secrets of nature, and prepares
the way for the climax —
But where shall Wisdom be found,
And where is the place of understanding ?
The abyss saith, She is not in me,
And the sea saith, She is not with me. . .
Destruction and Death say,
We have but heard a rumour of her with our ears !
One there is who knows. God understandeth
the way and the place of Wisdom. He who
weighs the winds and measures out the waters,
who makes a decree for the rain and a pathway
for the lightning -flash through the riven air, He
knows the abode which He Himself has assigned
to this high Teacher, and He who knows has in
due course revealed it —
And unto man He said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.
It may well seem a work of supererogation to
point out the poetical sublimity of a book which
is rich in passages like this. But the Book
of Job is praised more than it is read. The
beginning and the end are known, but the body

70 THE BOOK OF JOB :
of the book is little studied and less understood.
A little longer, then, it may be desirable to
illustrate the subject of this chapter. Not so
much by the quotation of passages which are on
everyone's lips, like the description of the Arab
war-horse in ch. xxxix., whose neck is "clothed
with the quivering mane," who " laugheth at fear
and turneth not back from the sword," who
"drinketh up the ground" in the eagerness of
his war-thirst, and who "cannot contain himself
at the sound of the trumpet." Or the well-
known description of the crocodile - leviathan,
whose " strong scales are his pride, shut together
as with a close seal," on whose "neck dwelleth
Strength, and Terror danceth before him." Eather
may we point out the sublimity and beauty of
the conceptions of the universe, which this in
spired poet of the early world can view as one
organic whole long before physical science has
taught the lesson, because he can discern the
living Lord whose presence makes the unity of
the Cosmos which He alone created and which
He alone sustains.
He commandeth the sun, and it shineth not ;
And setteth His seal upon the stars.
Who alone spreadeth out the heavens,
And treadeth upon the high places of the sea :
The Maker of the Bear, the Giant, and the Cluster,
And the hidden chambers of the South.— (ix. 7-9.)

ITS POETRY. 71
The dweller under the nightly glories of the
Eastern skies with their clear and silent stars
had been awestruck by the sight, and when the
Almighty is rebuking Job for bis rash presump
tion, none of the questions are more unanswerable
than this —
Canst thou bind the links of the Cluster,
Or loose the bands of the Giant?
Canst thou lead forth the Constellations in their season,
Canst thou guide the Bear and her offspring? — (xxxviii. 31, 32.)
Earth, as well as heaven, teaches the same lesson;
for it takes its place in a celestial Order which
man can no more comprehend than he can com
pass its trackless bounds.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the
earth ?
. . On what were its foundations fastened,
Or who laid its corner-stone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy ?
— (xxxviii. 4-7.)
But hell itself must have its part in the message
which the universe sounds in the ear of the
humbled and helpless son of man. No con
ceivable part of it is beyond the ken of the
Omniscient, no portion of it but hes in the hollow
of the hand of the Almighty.

72 THE BOOK OF JOB :
The Shades tremble
Deep below the waters and their inhabitants.
The Unseen World is naked before Him,
The Abyss of Destruction hath no covering.
He stretcheth out the North over the void,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing. . . .
The pillars of heaven tremble
And are amazed at His rebuke. . . .
Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways :
And how small » whisper hath been heard of Him !
But the thunder of His power who can understand ?
— (xxvi. 5, 6, 11, 14.)
It will be seen even from these selected
examples that the author of the Book of Job
exhibits the higher as well as the secondary
qualities of the poet. The faculty of observation
and the power of graphic detailed description is
important in its place. When Job is complain
ing that God watches him so closely and marks
all his sins, he says, " My transgression is sealed
up in a bag, and Thou fastenest up my iniquity."
When he is describing the happy piety of his
earlier life, he tells. how "God's lamp shone over
his head," how he lived in the ripeness of his
:' autumn days " of rich and mellow fruitf ulness,
the favour and friendship of God resting like a
pillar of cloud upon his tent; his "steps were
bathed in milk, and the rocks poured me out
rivers of oil ! " What poetry as well as pathos
there is in the picture of him who was eyes to

ITS POETRY. 73
the blind and feet to the lame, who could say,
" The dew lieth all night upon my branch, and
my bow reneweth its spring in my hand " (xxix.
3, 4, 6, 19, 20). But touches such as these, which
cause every speech to glisten with points of light,
do not constitute a great poet, though they mark
a true one. It is the loftiness of conception, the
sweep of great thoughts through the mind, and
the power to apprehend and embody them, which
give Job such a high place in literature. The
truth of this statement cannot be made fully good
till we have examined the scope and purpose of
the book. But enough has already been said to
give presumptive evidence of what will be com
pletely estabhshed in the next chapter.
And, lest it be thought that too much stress has
here been laid upon the purely literary excellence
of a book which is essentially sacred in character,
let it be said in closing that these higher qualities
are due to the rehgion of the writer, and that
what Elihu calls "the breath of the Almighty"
gave him this understanding. Many Oriental
poems display some of the quahties we have been
describing in this chapter. The Arab is pictur
esque in his ordinary speech. A profusion of
metaphors is not necessarily ornamental. The
larger scope, the loftier conceptions, the wider
horizon, which distinguish Job, are due to the

74 THE BOOK OF JOB :
religion which gave the writer such views of the
physical universe as were altogether in advance
of his age, and cause him to rank amongst the
writers for all time. Of the moral and spiritual
qualities which are the chief characteristics of
the book it still remains to speak. But already
it is plain that in its very atmosphere we breathe
an "ampler ether, a diviner air," than any that
pervades Babylonian, Arabic, Egyptian literature.
The influence of the rehgion of Israel is already
felt in the very conceptions of the universe which
invest the diction of the writer with poetic power.
The work of the Almighty in creating and sustain
ing the universe as a marvellously ordered whole
occupies but a secondary place, though a very
glorious one, in the outlook of the writer upon
the life around him. The Spirit of God had
taught him thus far, but there were deeper and
harder lessons to be learned in the complex life
of man. As yet "how small a whisper" have
we heard of Him ! When the " thunder of His
mighty deeds" sounds through the startled air,
will it be possible for us to understand, or shall
we be stunned and deafened by its roar ?

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 75

CHAPTEE V.
THE BOOK OF JOB : THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION.
THE Book of Job is " all men's book." For it
deals with questions which have urged and
vexed generation after generation, old problems
which men are continually grapphng with, as if
none had ever known them before — questions as
old as man's first disobedience, problems as ancient
as the sorrow and suffering it brought in its train.
The subject of the book, as all know, is not the
punishment of the wicked, but the suffering of
the righteous. But when we begin to ask
questions concerning the government of the world
and the meaning of history, we find them multiply
on our hands. The untying of one knot only
brings us face to face with another. The enigma
of life cannot be solved in a single answer.
Thus the Book of Job furnishes points of
contact with many of the masterpieces of secular
hterature. So many great minds have wrestled
with the ultimate problems of human life, tried

76 THE BOOK OF JOB :
to lift the veil of Isis and answer the riddle of
the Sphinx. Why are we here ? How is the
world governed and the life of man ordered ? Is
the Euling Power righteous ? Why does evil
prosper so often and so long, while the upright
and the good are bowed under the yoke of suffer
ing to the bitter end? Is "prosperity," is
¦" happiness," our being's end and aim ? If not,
why do we so desire it ? If so, why is it not
always the portion of those who love truth and
seek righteousness ? If the world's balance now
hangs awry, will it ever be adjusted, and when
and how ? These questions have been asked in
the most various forms, and have received the
most various answers. iEschylus propounds
some of them, as Prometheus is being chained to
his lonely rock by the myrmidons of the tyrant
Zeus, there to suffer in proud anguish for having
striven to benefit mankind and its " new " ruler.
Plato gives one answer to these questions in his
Protagoras, another in his Gorgias, and evidently
is satisfied with neither. Shakespeare suggests
many such questions, and in "Hamlet" shows
how a noble mind may be overthrown by an'
attempt to carry their too intolerable burden. The
Stoic of ancient days had his answer ready, and
gave men the useless advice to harden their hearts
against human feeling. The Epicurean had his

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 77
answer, and as uselessly bade them hold themselves
aloof from all that would stir their hearts with any
emotions more tumultuous than the true philo
sophic moderation. Goethe's Faust in form some
what imitates Job, and represents an essentially
modern reading of the drama of man's efforts and
aspirations, " infinite passion, and the pain of finite
hearts that yea r.n " ; while Byron and Shelley re
present varying phases of the undisciplined human
spirit in bold and futile revolt against conditions
which it impotently resists because it will not.
take the only right way to understand them.
Has the Bible no special message for these dark
moods and ineffectual struggles of man? Its-
whole message is a gospel, intended to free him
from the bonds which are the real cause of his.
misery and restlessness, but has it no special
message addressed to the human mind in its-
moments of sternest self-questioning and inward
torment ? The answer is found in the Book of:
Job. It does not stand quite alone, as we shall
see, in the sacred Scriptures. The 42nd chapter
is appropriately appointed in the Anglican liturgy
for St. Thomas' Day. Some of the Psalms, some
parts of the Prophets, contain balm for the aching
wounds of the sceptic and the despairing. But
there is no part of the Bible in which there is at
the same time such a reflection of man's darkest

78 THE BOOK OF JOB:
and most hopeless moods and an indication of the
path by which he may grope his way to the light.
For the fullest light it was needful that the Old
Testament saint should be content to wait, and
believers in Christ are never content to stay long
upon the level of the Book of Job. But that
book has a unique place and a special value of its
own in a volume which contains also the Gospel
of Jesus Christ and the Epistles of St. Paul.
What that place and value are will soon appear.
There are certain presuppositions which must
be borne in mind, conditions which indicate the
exact nature and pressure of the problem raised
in Job. Israel stood almost alone among the
nations in upholding the existence of a purely
ethical Deity, a true Moral Governor of the world.
Other nations worshipped Force, either nakedly
presented or under some decent covering; while
sometimes Evil itself, in grosser or less pronounced
forms, sat in their mythologies enthroned for men
to acknowledge in foul rites and yet fouler
obedience. The chosen nation stood alone to
witness to a God "abundant in goodness and
truth." A special covenant had been made with
Israel, bearing special promises and sanctions;
and the burden of the message which one man of
God after another was commissioned to deliver
was this : " If ye hearken and obey, ye shall eat

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 79
the good of the land ; but if ye refuse and rebel,
ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the
mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." This was a
national promise, but the general tenor of the
covenant was the same throughout. " The curse
of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked : but He
blesseth the habitation of the just." This was the
charter of family life, and for individuals the
principle was substantially the same. "The
righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein
for ever: as for transgressors, they shall be
destroyed together ; the latter end of the wicked
shall be cut off." This was the traditional teach
ing of law-givers, wise men, and prophets, the
"orthodoxy" of Judaism for centuries together.
That it was the whole teaching either of law or
of prophets is not asserted, but it was a ruling
principle accepted more or less as an axiom by
the pious Israelite.
But is it true? That was a question which
pious Israelites were certain to ask sooner or later.
There are facts enough in human life to justify a
behef that well-doing brings prosperity in its train,
and that evil-doing will ere long lead to misery, as a
rule more or less fully observed in human affairs.
There are periods in a man's hfe, in a nation's
history, when there is no particular need to
question the statement. But periods come in

80 THE BOOK OF JOB:
both when facts appear not simply not to accord
with, but to give the direct lie to this convenient
theory, and such a period — in personal or in
national life, perhaps both — gave rise to the Book
of Job. The traditional opinion is represented at
length, very fully and on the whole very fairly,
by the three friends. The righteous man may
laugh at death and destruction, says Eliphaz. If
thou wert pure and upright, God would make thy
habitation prosperous, says Bildad. If thou set
thine heart aright and put iniquity far from thee,
thou shalt forget thy misery and remember it as
waters that are passed away, echoes Zophar. And
Job's constant reply, uttered in every conceivable
tone, but always the same, is — That is not true.
What is more, the author of the book says the
same. The facts are, that Job is righteous,
virtually spotless, God Himself being witness,
and that he is called upon to bear overwhelming
calamities and unprecedented sufferings. So far
as the controversy is concerned, Job is pronounced
right and the friends wrong. Whatever the
teaching of the book is or is not, it goes directly
in the teeth of the current maxims that righteous
ness and prosperity, wickedness and suffering, are
found in corresponding proportions in human life.
No repetition of conventional platitudes will meet
the heartrending questions raised by the condition

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 81
of Job under a righteous Euler of the world. The
book raises these questions in their most aggra
vated form, and is so far not the book of the
dogmatist but of the sceptic, not of the teacher
but the doubter.
And surely it is no small matter that the Bible
should thus reflect men's doubts. If it is to be a
universal book, it must deal frankly with doubt as
well as with sin. Both are forms of temptation
or trial. Man is being tested intellectually as
well as morally, and it is one of the glories of the
Bible that it meets the needs of humanity all
along the line. There is bolder questioning, a
more audacious arraignment of God's righteous
ness in Job than in Byron ; the " everlasting No "
is as fully faced in it as in Carlyle. This book is
not, it is true, quite alone in Scripture in this
respect. Abraham ventures to plead very boldly
with the Most High, as if he understood the
nature of mercy better than the All-Compas
sionate. Moses is represented as remonstrating
with his God ; the psalmists often cry aloud and
spare not ; while Jeremiah waxes very bold — a
hasty reader might say blasphemous — as he
reproaches God with failure to fulfil His promises,
and cries in his despair, " Wilt Thou indeed be
unto me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail ? "
But nowhere is the word of doubt and denial so
6

82 THE BOOK OF JOB:
fully and so uncompromisingly portrayed as in
Job. This is so marked, that some modern sceptics
have represented the book as out of harmony with
the general tenor of the Old Testament, and some
modern critics have apphed to it their favourite
method of analysis, and come to the sapient con
clusion that the bold statement of the problem
came from one hand, and what they deem the
orthodox attempts to cover it over or evade it,
from other and later pens ! But the book (with
the possible exception, as we have said, of the
Elihu section) stands as one great whole, intel
ligible, in spite of its complexity, only as a whole,
and all attempts to dismember it stand self-con
demned. That it gives not a simple, but a mani
fold answer to a question which is not really
simple manifold, but is only a proof of its greatness.
Let us see what tne answer is.
Job's doubts exhibit themselves by stages. (1)
In the first instance he has none. His attitude
under his several crushing calamities was hke the
whole of his early course, " perfect," exhibiting a
marvellous degree of submission to God's provi
dence. He " sinned not, nor charged God with
foolishness." Having received much good at the
hands of God, he was content to receive evil:
though it is to be observed that his resignation, as
expressed in ch. ii. 10, is not quite as complete as

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 83
that in ch. i. 20-22. During many days and
nights after this he was silent, his silence expressing
a negative but real submission even in the extremity
of his grief. (2) Even when he opened his mouth
with the bitter cry of ch. hi., he expressed no
religious doubt or denial. He " cursed his day,"
not God. The third chapter is one long moan.
It is a very terrible cry of human despair, but it
is not so far a complaint, still less an indictment
of Divine justice. (3) This feature of Job's utter
ances appears only after Eliphaz has applied to
his smarting sores the sharp blister of an insinua
tion that his calamities spring from unfaithfulness
to God. This is too much for him. He begins
to admit more distinctly that his sufferings are
from God (vi. 4), and yet he knows that he has
" not denied the words of the Holy One " (vi. 10).
After this he allows all the bitterness of his soul
to stream forth. Sometimes he scornfuUy re
pudiates the milder insinuations or downright
reproaches of his friends. Sometimes he appeals
indignantly to God, who knows his uprightness of
heart and integrity of life. Sometimes he remon
strates with the Most High, or complains that
direct remonstrance is impossible, for if he " knew
where he might find Him, he would fill his mouth
with arguments." (4) At a later stage he rephes
more calmly, so far as the friends are concerned.

84 TEE BOOK OF JOB :
His confidence that there is a Supreme Tribunal
before which even this high cause may be argued,
grows and deepens. He casts about for some as
yet unrevealed solution, and at the end of ch. xix.
appears disposed to rest in a sublime, unquench
able hope. (5) Yet again, this fails him. In the
course of ch. xxviii. he appears to be saying to him
self — for the friends are beyond the reach of argu
ment — that wisdom in these matters is for God
alone, man's wisdom being to give himself to the
duties of practical religion, since these alone are
within his reach. The long monologue with which
Job closes exhibits him in a comparatively calm
but altogether unsatisfied state of mind, for not
in pensive reminiscences, or in a reassertion of his
righteousness, or in a vain cry " Oh that I had one
to hear me ! " is peace to be found. But before we
come to the statement that " the words of Job are
ended," almost every mood of doubt and appeal and
denial has been passed through, and has been so
fully represented that we may say each has received
sympathetic recognition in this remarkable book.
And that that should be so is the first proof — no
small one — of the value of the Book of Job in our
sacred literature.
But of course there is much more than this.
It is so easy to ask questions ; and though it is
something to find a religion in which questioning

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 85
is not at once banned as evil and blasphemous,
yet it is the work of religion not to raise difficulties
but to remove them. What solution does the book
furnish of its great perennial problem ?
The prologue sheds on the poem the light of
another world. The truly religious character of
the work is shown by the close connexion here
exhibited between the drama of earth and the
purposes of heaven. The explanation of man's
conflicts, his upward strivings, his downward
temptations, is not to be found wholly in himself ;
neither their origin nor their end are to be found
in the sphere of the visible. The prologue in
troduces us to other orders of being. " Sons of
God " are met in the council-chamber of the Great
King, and among them appears, not the Prince
of Evil, Lucifer the arch-rebel, or Mephistopheles
the subtle tempter, but Satan the great Adver
sary, whose business it is to search and examine
into the state of the world of men, solely
with the ignoble object of spying out, dwelling
upon, and magnifying the evil that is to be found
there. Job has thus far baffled his scrutiny ; he has
detected no flaw, can make no charge. He pro
poses, therefore, a number of tests, more and more
searching and severe, to prove that Job's virtue
is but skin-deep, that it will disappear with the
prosperity which is at the same time its motive

86 THE BOOK OF JOB:
and its result. "Touch all that he hath";
"touch his bone and his flesh, and he will re
nounce Thee to Thy face." The tests are applied :
the furnace is made seven times hotter than it
is wont to be heated, the flame burns sharply
and scorches to the very quick, but Job's faith
does not yield. His integrity is proof against
Satan's most fiery temptations, and he who sub
missively says, ¦' Jehovah gave, Jehovah hath taken
away, blessed be the name of Jehovah," has proved
the triumph of truth and faithfulness in the long-
enduring human battle over the worst that the
powers of evil can do to shake its allegiance to
goodness and to God.
If this were all the teaching of the book, its
value in practice would be immense. Grant its
premisses, and we find asserted the absolute
supremacy of God in the moral world. He sits
on the throne. Angels may surround him, men
pursue their chequered and troubled hfe below,
the dark figure of the Adversary flit hither and
thither, detecting, exposing and gloating over the
evil that is only too manifest, and seeking every
where to undermine and destroy the good. But
he can only do that which is permitted him.
" Beyond his chain he cannot go." The Almighty
must put forth His hand before Satan is allowed
to put forth his. In each case there is a limit.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 87
" Touch his property, but not himself." " Touch
his flesh, but not his life." And if Job's outcries
had been ever so much louder than they were,
his moans even more piercing, his doubts and
bewilderment under such an inexplicable desertion
on the part of the God whom he honoured even
more wild and despairing, yet, so long as he held
fast his integrity, the victory of goodness would
have been assured. Disinterested goodness is
proved not to be a dream, but a blessed reality.
The servant of God who, when tried to the utmost,
may indeed cry bitterly, " My God, why hast Thou
forsaken me ? " but who to the end is
strong in will,
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,
is himself a spectacle to the world and to angels
and to men. And if there were no other explana
tion of his woes than this, that he is set to prove
that great thesis, and that in the strength which
the fear and love of God gives, it is his to with
stand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand, it would afford light from heaven which
would illumine the darkest spots and hottest
conflicts of that unceasing battle in which the
sons of men are ever being fiercely tried. Good
ness is not an attempt to secure the maximum of
comfort with the minimum of effort. It cannot

88 THE BOOK OF JOB :
be translated into terms of oxen and sheep and
camels, or happy sons and daughters, or the health
and hfe of the body itself. It. has another source,
another end, another meaning : " From heaven it
came, to heaven returneth " ; and the man who can
prove that fundamental truth of human life to wife
and friends and foes, to men and devils, has not hved
in vain, though he has groaned out his soul on an
ash-heap, instead of hving hke a prince in his halls.
But this is not by any means the sole teaching
of Job. It is but the beginning of the book.
Satan does not reappear — that is significant.
But man is not set to live and die in order to
prove a point against the mocking spirit of evil,
the Mephistopheles der ewig neint. The action of
the book, such as there is, has not begun. The
human side of this great argument has not yet
appeared. And the first light that is cast upon
it is negative in character; since, as was said,
this book gives the he direct to the philosophy of
the friends as an adequate explanation of hfe.
They were not altogether wrong. They misunder
stood and ultimately misrepresented Job, in the
way that men — friends as well as foes — are per
petually misunderstanding one another. But
Eliphaz was neither fool nor hypocrite. From
his speeches and those of Bildad and Zophar
many a text has been taken by Christian teachers,

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 89
and on them Christian discourses have been
dehvered. With a certain latitude of interpre
tation, many of the maxims uttered by the friends
were sound enough, and in many cases no advice
could be more excellent than theirs — " Acquaint
now thyself with God and be at peace." But
these maxims cannot be stretched to cover the
whole of life. What the Book of Job set out
to teach, and does teach in tones of thunder, is
that the attempt to equate righteousness and
prosperity, wickedness and suffering, in this world,
is futile. Whichever is the way out of Job's
perplexities, that is not the right one. Cut-and-
dried theories are broken like egg-shells against
the hard rock of facts. Argue as you will, the
thing is not so, cries the outraged Job, repeating
in every conceivable tone of voice the one fact
which was preternaturally clear to himself. And
the Almighty justifies him. Not justifies all his
words, or all his thoughts; for Job too has his
lessons to learn. But his position in the con
troversy is abundantly vindicated. " Ye have not
spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My
servant Job hath." They had been undertaking
throughout — excellent, pious blunderers — to
justify God and condemn Job. Now God Himself
justifies Job and condemns them. It is dangerous
to stand up as God's representatives if we do not
know God's mind.

90 THE BOOK OF JOB :
Is nothing more to be gained from the colloquies
than this ? After careful consideration, we think
not. It is quite true that Job does from time to
time appear to be groping his way towards the
light of great spiritual truths which would relieve
his difficulty. In the severe friction of his spirit
sparks are struck out, he hardly knows how. But
they are only sparks. Their light is doubtful,
feeble, momentary. Job's hold of God is alter
nately loosened and tightened ; and when by faith
he grasps firmly the truth that in spite of appear
ances God is his and on his side, then light dawns,
and once or twice day seems very near. But the
light is neither clear nor dark. We can only refer
to one example, the celebrated passage in ch.
xix. 25-27. When we have struggled through
the obscurities and ambiguities which make the
verses so difficult to translate, that sublime
apostrophe hardly implies more than this : Justice
will be done somehow, somewhen, somewhere;
and — here appears the sublime reach of faith
which exceeds and anticipates revelation — I am
convinced that I shall see it —
I know that my Vindicator liveth,
And He shall stand at last over this dust :
And after my body hath been thus destroyed,
Yet from my flesh shall I see God :
Whom I shall see on my side,
And mine own eyes shall behold Him, not another's,
— For that, my heart is sick within me.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 91
A noble monument of faith, words worthy to be
graven, as they are, with an iron pen in the rock
for ever ! But they do not contain a solution of
the problem. They are an expression of indomi
table faith, of inextinguishable hope. They have
animated many a weary and despairing heart,
and, uttered as they were in the twihght of
revelation, they put to shame the feeble confidence-
of many Christians who falter and fail in the very
presence of Him who reassures them with the
Saviour's words, " If it were not so, I would have-
told you." But all the expressions of Job's faith,
of which the one just quoted is the loftiest, do
not shed direct light upon the grievous problem
which exercised him and which exercises us.
" He trusted in God that He would dehver him,"
so runs the cruel and unanswerable taunt : " let
Him dehver him, seeing He dehghteth in him."
If the speeches of Elihu are considered to form
part of the original poem, they contribute a httle,
though it is but a little, to the solution. He
rebukes, with not a little vain confidence, in spite
of his assumed modesty, both the friends and Job.
The friends had not convinced Job, nor gone the
right way to convince him, yet Job was far more
wrong than they in Ehhu's opinion. He had not
taken his troubles as chastisement. He had failed
to recognise the educative influence of sufferings

92 THE BOOK OF JOB:
If instead of a scornful and rebellious spirit, Job
had humbled himself under the mighty hand of
God, he should have been exalted in due time.
We may not understand the Almighty's ways, but
may, and should always, bow beneath His rod.
Now, if these chapters had formed part of the
¦original poem, it is strange that in the sentence
pronounced by the Almighty no notice whatever
should have been taken of the utterances of one
who is brought so prominently forward. The
opening words of ch. xxxviii. refer to Job, not
to Elihu, yet he is represented as coming in as a
kind of self-appointed judge, to resolve the knot
which neither Job nor his friends could untie.
He does so, further, in a way which partly antici
pates and partly mars the solution given in
the speeches of the Almighty, which convey
undoubtedly the chief lesson of the book. Stand
ing, however, as ch. xxxii. - xxxvii. now do in
the midst of the Book of Job, we may certainly
learn something from them. They represent one
point of view from which this many-sided subject
may be considered. They contain truth — truth
which did not touch the quick of the contention
between Job and his friends, but which must
always be remembered as an element in human
history. " Ti.a6j)/i,a,ra, pui)ij/j,aru," says the Greek
proverb; "tribulation worketh experience," says St.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 93
Paul. One use of pain in this life, at all events,
is to discipline the unchastened spirit ; and though
Elihu possesses only the germ of this doctrine,
does not enunciate it very clearly, and too much
"assumes the god" in his deliverances, which
after all do not really touch the heart of Job's
difficulty, yet his words may take their place in
the poem, as we admit in a building an architec
tural addition which is not wholly useless, though
it is not in full keeping with the original
design. Obviously it is when Jehovah appears, that the
writer intends his own climax to be reached.
When God speaks, let all the earth keep silence.
A theophany puts an end to all doubt. Yet few
readers of Job but must have been disappointed
by the chapters which contain the words of God.
Is that all ? they not unnaturally cry. How do
all these long descriptions of clouds and stars, of
horse and eagle, of hippopotamus and crocodile, bear
upon the agony of spirit of the man, the worst of
whose sufferings was that God seemed to him to
be unjust ? Is not the writer of the Book of Job,
after all, just like the rest of us ; he can raise the
troubled ghosts, but cannot lay them, and state
problems which he is powerless to solve ? It
seems so, and the author of the book would pro
bably admit that he did not undertake to give the

94 THE BOOK OF JOB:
kind of solution which many of his readers have
expected. Yet an answer he does give, and a
wonderful one, considering the conditions under
which the question was put.
Be it borne in mind that no solution drawn from
a life to come was open to him. Job might
wonder, or hope, or dream, but he could not say,
" The balance will be redressed in a future world."
Solve this age-long problem with the light of the
present life only to guide you, and what courses
are open? One is suggested in the prologue.
God permits the grievous afflictions which often
try His people for higher ends, that they may not
learn to serve Him for what they can get, and
that it should not be said their virtue is of a
utilitarian or selfish character. The drama of
Job is being played on the theatre of the universe,
with sons of God and Satan for spectators, and
the issues of it concern — if we may say so — the
honour of Almighty God. But Job must not know
that. Even when God speaks, He will not declare
that which must remain behind the veil, else the
very meaning of the trial would be gone. The
question is, Can man hold on and hold out in God's
service without that veil being lifted? The
answer is to be Yes ; therefore God does not lift
the veil to the end, and in the words which He
does speak we miss an element which those who

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 95
are anxious fully to justify the ways of God to
men look for in vain.
The conditions, therefore, under which light is
to be given to Job are limited indeed. But, first
of all, God does speak to Job, and does not con
demn him as the friends have done. That is more
than half the battle. Job has believed in God
(so to say) against God. He has believed in the
God in whom he trusted, as against what ap
peared to be a Divine judgment of an unjust
character. He desired, as every righteous man
desires, to come face to face with the truth. He
desired the Ultimate Arbiter to speak : when He
speaks, all will be well. He spoke, and all was well.
He did not smite Job with a thunderbolt for blas
phemy, He did not blast him with judgment as an
evil-doer. He did not for the moment directly
justify Job, because Job had been in error, and
had his own lessons to learn. But what mattered
that ? Job was not really blasphemous or rebel
lious. He was prepared to learn any lesson God
would teach him, however severe ; and the lesson,
when it came, though grave, was not severe. Job
desired that God should speak, and then he was
ready to listen and learn. He did listen and
learn. God spoke out of the whirlwind and the
fire, but it was a still, small voice when it came.
Job recognised this, and in the first instance

96 THE BOOK OF JOB :
(xl. 2-5) showed himself humbled, and in the
second (xlii. 5, 6) showed himself contrite.
Hitherto he had known God, but from afar ; now
he saw Him face to face. " Wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
What was it which produced such an impres
sion upon the mind of the patriarch ? The glories
of creation and the wonders of the universe were
not new to him. Ehphaz and the others had
spoken of them, Job himself had described them.
But it is another thing for God Himself to appear
in and through them. Nature does but sit at
"Time's whirring loom and weave for God the
mantle thou seest Him by." It is one thing to
see the mantle, and quite another to see His face.
And when He looks out from behind that living
robe, His servant who had just been complaining
of His absence, His forgetfulness, His apathy, may
well be awed into trembling silence.
He stood there. Like the smoke
Pillared o'er Sodom when day broke,
I saw Him. . . . Motionless, thus, He spoke to me,
Who fell before His feet, u, mass,
No man now.
To Job no form appeared, but he heard a Voice.
The Voice said, " What is man in the presence of
God? He who created, He who sustains the
marvellous, inexplicable, infinitely complex hfe of

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 97
the world around, created and sustains thee.
What power hast thou to originate life, to main
tain it, even to understand what thou seest of it._?_^.
The conclusion to be drawn from the overwhelm
ing questions propounded in the Almighty's
address is not given in words ; there is but one
answer to them, and one lesson to be learned
from them : '' If God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into
the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, 0
ye of little faith ? " Shall He not care for that
life which is more than meat, that moral Order
which is more than life itself ? Job, like Jonah,
was angry, but he did not well to be angry.
Jonah thought that he understood the ethics of
the question of Nineveh better than the All- Wise,
who holds in the hollow of His hand more than
one city with its " six score thousand persons
that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand, and also much cattle." Job was
not merely silenced, he was softened. Not, as
Dr. Mozley expressed it, because " amazing power
softens him, and he feels himself within its grasp
a poor. and feeble creature, to be dealt with just
as that Power pleases," x but because the vision of
One who displays such wisdom and mastery where
he is impotent and unintelligent leaves him un-
1 Essays, vol. ii. p. 219.

98 THE BOOK OF JOB :
speakably humble, unspeakably safe, as regards
his moral as well as his physical life, in the hands
of One whom he had long trusted, and whom he
ought not for a single moment to have doubted.
There is in the address of the Almighty no
fresh light cast upon the problem of the suffering
of the righteous itself. The arguments — if they
may be called such — which it contains, are un
availing as against an unbeliever. The argument
from the analogy of nature is open at once to the
objection that there is no solution of moral per
plexities in the processes of inanimate or animate
nature around us. But the argument is a spiritual
one, and is cogent to a spiritual mind. When the
spiritual eye, prepared to see God, discerns not
"processes of nature" but Himself in creation,
then the man who believes in a living God is
ready to leave himself, body, soul, and spirit, his
moral character, his bodily health, his worldly
circumstances, all he has and is, safe in God's
hands. If even for a moment he has doubted or
denied God, he is sorry, and is prepared to " repent
in dust and ashes."
After this, the epilogue may appear to present an
anti-climax. It may seem a descent from a lofty
spiritual height to a very mundane level, to read
after this of Job's having twice as much as he had
before, all his relatives and friends gathering

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOL UTION. 99
about him, that " every man also gave him a
piece of money, and every one a ring of gold."
If Job really thought that this was the deepest
solution of the problem, he had been taught his
lesson in vain. But the explanation is very
simple. Under the conditions of the time this
was the only way in which to indicate Job's com
plete justification. The writer could not say,
" And Job died, and he was carried away by the
angels into Abraham's bosom." The epilogue does
but fulfil the conditions of what we call " poetic
justice," and reinstates Job in the position of which
he had been deprived for high ends which were
beyond his ken. Job's subsequent prosperity is
the translation into the concrete of the Divine
judgment that " the Lord accepted Job." Per
haps, too, as has been suggested, Job was now
able for the first time to use material prosperity,
enjoyment, comfort, and " happiness " in the only
way in which they are really healthy for man.
" As long as they are sought or prized as things
essential, so far they have a tendency to disen-
noble our nature, and are a sign that we are still
in servitude to selfishness. Only when they lie
outside us, as ornaments merely to be worn or
laid aside as God pleases — only then may such
things be possessed with impunity. Job's heart
in early times had clung to them more than he

ioo THE BOOK OF JOB:
knew, but now he was purged clean, and they
were restored because he had ceased to need
them." 1
Or perhaps it is more likely that this is to
introduce a lesson for which the times were not
fully ripe. For it is not wise to try to read into
Job more than the book really contains. It is
wonderfully rich and full of suggestion-, but it
does not completely solve the mystery of pain.
That was at the time impossible. God, man, sin,
salvation, immortality — on all these great themes
much hght remained to be shed by subsequent
revelations, and the hoary patriarch had much to
learn from a Christian child. To begin with, the
description of Job's character is comparative only.
The holiest man knows that he is not " perfect,"
and that he needs forgiveness, cleansing, the dis
cipline of sorrow, and the purification of the
inmost heart, as Job did not and could not. The
mode in which the salvation of men is to be
wrought out could not be fully understood in the
times when "gifts and sacrifices were offered,
which could not make him that did the service
perfect, as pertaining to the conscience." The
meaning of "chastening" was then but partly
understood, and the revelation of the "eternal
weight of glory" wrought out by the "light
1 Froude, Short Studies on Great Subjects, vol. i. p. 321.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. ioi
affliction which is but for a moment," had yet to
be made.
But the Book of Job has its place in the Canon
of Scripture, and that a high one. Like other
Old Testament books, it is preparatory, but not on
that account now obsolete. The author of the
Book of Job was feeling his way towards a higher
truth. . It is in the heart of the world's darkest
enigmas that we find glimpses of the highest
spiritual truths, just as the astronomer pays most
attention to the difficulties and anomahes in his
mathematical calculations, and by means of them
is guided to the discovery of a new planet. The
apparent injustice of this world's order is just
such an enigma. In it are buried the clues to
more than even Christians can at present under
stand. Job had not, it is true, unravelled the
knot so far as the author of the Second Isaiah.
The mystic secret wrapped up in the words,
" Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted," was hidden from his eyes.
But he was trembling upon its verge. A Moses
could be found to say, "Yet now, if Thou wilt
forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray
Thee, out of the book which Thou hast written " :
and a Paul, " I could wish myself accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to

102 THE BOOK OF JOB :
the flesh." Even a wild, semi-heathenish Danton
could leave this word upon record, " Que mon nom
soit JlStri, pourvu que la France soit libre ! " " Let
my name be accursed, so that France be but
free ! " And Job was feeling his way towards a
higher truth than that he who served God should
have sons and daughters, sheep and oxen, camels
and asses, and nothing to disturb him. It was a
hard battle, for he had little hght to guide him.
But so far as he was an undeserving sufferer, he
foreshadowed the Sufferer upon Calvary. "All
cases of innocent suffering that are, or have been,
or will be, are in a sense the shadows and reflec
tions of our Lord's, the true pattern and exemplar
of such suffering ; and the afflictions of Job and
the elder saints were shadows of it beforehand.
... In Him the world's ostracism was completed,
and Supreme and Divine goodness encountered a
perfect and consummate injustice. . . All other
ill returns which have been made to good men,
parents, friends, deliverers, in this wild, irregular
scene, are but faint types and reflections of this
great one ; and the Crucifixion is the one consum
mate act of injustice to which all others are but
distant approaches." 1
But the great difference between the sufferings
of Job and the sufferings of good men to-day,
1 Mozley, Essays, vol. ii. pp. 228, 229.

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 103
between the shadows beforehand of that One
Sufferer and the shadows and reflections after
wards, is this : Those who can look upon the
crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ with in
structed eyes can see the meaning of the long
history of human woe as it could not be seen
before. They can understand the meaning of
Eedemption, and the way in which it has pleased
God to accomplish it for man. They see not only
the suffering which sin brings upon the evil-doer,
but the suffering sin inevitably brings upon others,
and the suffering by which alone the victory over
it is to be gained. They can see in Christ God
Himself doing battle with this great foe, His
hatred of the sin, His compassion for the sinner,
and the Captain of man's salvation made perfect,
as such, through sufferings. They can hear the
taunt levelled at the Crucified One, "He saved
others, Himself He cannot save," and know it true
in a sense that was not intended by the speakers,
for because He would save others, therefore Him
self He could not, and would not, seek to save.
That work of redemption has been wrought out
once for all. Yet in a measure it holds that all
who would be Christ's must learn this Divine
secret of His, and " fill up on their part that
which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ, for
His body's sake, which is the Church." It is for

104 THE BOOK OF JOB :
the Job of to-day to suffer gladly, as the Job of
primitive times was unable to do. Every sufferer
for righteousness' sake may, in the Master's
words, " rejoice and be exceeding glad " ; may, in
the words of His faithful follower who at one
time rebelled so fiercely at the notion of the
Suffering Eighteous One, " rejoice inasmuch as he
is partaker of Christ's sufferings." He upon
whom rests the " Spirit of glory and of God "
cannot be crushed under any load of pain.
But we have left our proper theme. The Book
of Job is best studied quite apart from the New
Testament ; then the truths more or less clearly
taught in it may be brought into the hght of the
glory that excelleth. Our too hasty survey, how
ever, of this first specimen of Wisdom-Literature
has surely left us with a high appreciation of its
general character. Whatever be the case with
any other part, this "book of wisdom" is pro
foundly spiritual. No man can say that in Job
we find the mere repeater of wise saws and modern
instances, preaching down all high enthusiasm,
and insisting upon the importance of conventional
maxims. It is one long protest against mere
conventionalism. But it is so in virtue of a
higher wisdom. It is not, as some have hinted,
sceptical at heart, and opposed to the orthodox
religious teaching of Judaism. It is not true, as

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION. 105
some have said, that so far from being patient,
Job is really an example of splendid impatience.
That is true of some chapters, but the impatience
is splendid just because it is an episode in a
history of patience, and shows how grand and
strong a thing true patience is. Job failed for
the time, just as Moses did, and Peter, where he
was strongest. He "fought his doubts and
gathered strength," and hi3 very doubts were but
the other side of his faith. It is easy for a man
who is not jealous for God to be what he calls
patient, which means shallow and easy-going.
He who is compelled by his own or others' woes
to face the riddle of this difficult life may well be
impatient for a time, impatient of that which
hinders patience from having her perfect work.
Wisdom is justified of all her children, and not
least by those who, perplexed by some of her
paradoxes and half-maddened by some of her
riddles, have faithfully followed her steps and
steadily clung to her side, till despair has changed
into a Divine content, and the patience of hope
has braced and disciplined their souls to await the
victory which Divine Wisdom will secure for her
children at the last.

106 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:

CHAPTEE VI.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: ITS STRUCTURE AND
CONTENTS.
THE Book of Proverbs is essentially the book of
Hebrew Wisdom. It better deserves the
name than the apocryphal " Wisdom of Solomon,"
remarkable in its own way as that book un
doubtedly is.'1 The early Fathers of the Church,
Clement of Eome, Hegesippus, Irenaeus, Gregory
Nazianzen, and others, style it, " the wise book,"
" the book of wisdom," " all-excellent wisdom," or
" wisdom, mother of all the virtues." It remains
the central and most representative monument of
what the Jews understood by Chokmah, and in it
the word and all that it implies is best studied.
'The composite structure of the book appears
upon the surface. It bears in the first line the
name of Solomon, but a comparatively shght
examination is sufficient to set on one side the
view .advocated by Keil and others; that almost
the entire book came direct from Solomon's own

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 107
pen.' The first nine chapters have a character of
their own, a unity of style and scope, which dis
tinguishes them at once from those which follow.'
At the beginning of the 10th chapter we find
the title " Proverbs of Solomon," and the collec
tion thus inscribed apparently ends with ch.
xxii. 16. At ch. xxii. 17 we read, " Incline thine
ear and hear the words of the wise " ; and at ch.
xxiv. 23, " These also are sayings of the wise " ; the
two sections thus headed apparently presenting
us with two appendices to the first " Solomonic "
collection. At ch. xxv. 1 we read, " These 'also
are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of
Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out " ; and ch.
xxv.-xxix. form the second main collection of the
book. To this again are added three brief
appendices, " The words of Agur, son of Jakeh "
(ch. xxx.), " The words of King Lemuel " (xxxi.
1-9), and an acrostic poem, without name or title,
being a kind of ode in praise of the Virtuous
Woman (xxxi. 10-31).
""Three sections, then, of the book bear the name
of Solomon, but in such a way as to make it
almost certain that it was not used by the royal
author of himself.' In each case the title of the
document which follows is written by someone
of later date, who inscribes the composition with
the name of the king who was pre-eminent

108 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
throughout Israelitish history for wisdom. Did
those who penned these titles mean to imply
that Solomon himself composed all that follows ?
This is not necessarily implied by the form of
speech, and some examination is needed before
we can decide what relation Solomon bore to
these several compositions or compilations. In
the first place, quite apart from this book, we
know that an early tradition preserved the
record of Solomon's exceptional wisdom, and it
is said that he "spake three thousand proverbs,
and his songs were a thousand and five" (1 Kings
iv. 32). The character of his wisdom was partly
practical, as illustrated in 1 Kings iii. ; partly
what we should call philosophical, as when it is
said that he was " wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite
and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda " ; partly it
lay in the region of natural history (1 Kings
iv. 33) ; and partly it was exhibited in the power
to solve " riddles " or " hard questions," exercises
in those subtle apologues or analogies between the
natural and spiritual worlds, which have always
been the special delight of the Oriental (1 Kings
x. 1). Turning to the ttvo main collections of
gnomic sayings (x.-xxii. 16, and xxv.-xxix.), we
find that we certainly have not before us such a
collection as is referred to in 1 Kings. There are
no "songs " in these chapters, and nowhere near

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 109
three thousand proverbs. But these chapters do
contain a somewhat miscellaneous assortment of
pithy sayings, a large number of which may very
well have been uttered by Solomon himself, and
many of which must date from at least the early
period of the Israelitish monarchy. It is the most
probable supposition, and there is no difficulty
in the way of its adoption, that a considerable
proportion of these M'shalim are characteristic
specimens of those sayings of Solomon which
more than anything else preserved his reputation
for wisdom generation after generation.
May we, however, go further than this, and
take it for granted that the whole of either or
both these collections is purely Solomonic ? And
first of ch. x. 1-xxii. 16. An examination of this
section shows that it is not arranged on any clear
or well-defined plan, though it would not be right
to regard it as a mere promiscuous gathering of
proverbs, thrown together almost at random. Say
ings which refer to the same subject are frequently
(not always) placed together, and a close examina
tion makes it probable that of these one is earlier,
another later, in date. | Eepetitions are frequent.
Sometimes the proverb as a whole recurs; e.g.,
ch. xiv. 12 is identical with ch. xvi. 25 —
There is a way that is straight before a man,
But the end thereof are the ways of death, f

no THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
Sometimes the first member is the same, while
the second is slightly changed ; e.g., " A wise son
maketh a glad father" may be followed by "A
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother " (x. 1),
or by " A foolish man despiseth his mother " (xv.
20)./ In ch. x. 6, 11, we have an example of two
proverbs placed near together, in which the second
member is the same — "Violence covereth the
mouth of the wicked." Examples of this kind
might be multiplied, as well as of proverbs placed
near together, almost identical in phraseology,
but with some slight variation, giving a different
turn to the moral lesson taught. Compare, for
example, ch. x. 2, " Treasures of wickedness bring
no profit," with ch. xi. 4, " Possessions are of no
profit in the day of wrath," the second clause in
each case being " Eighteousness delivers from
death." Again, we read in ch. xiii. 14 —
The doctrine of the wise is a fountain of life,
To escape the snares of death.
The same proverb is repeated in ch. xiv. 27, with
the significant variation that " the fear of Jehovah "
is spoken of as the source of true life and a means
of escaping the snares of evil which inevitably
lead to death. Without pursuing this kind of
examination in greater detail, it will already be
clear that this collection of proverbs does not

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. in
read like a carefully prepared selection of the
utterances of one man, but a compilation of
saymgs of various dates, some of them almost
certainly derived from or dependent upon the
phraseology of others. When we read, for
example, in ch. xiv. 31 —
He who oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker,
But he that hath mercy on the needy honoureth Him,
and in ch. xvii. 5 —
He that mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker,
And he that is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished,
'it seems unlikely on the one hand that the same
author composed both and placed them in differ
ent parts of the same collection, or, on the other,
that the two sayings proceed from different authors,
each ignorant of the other's work. The probability
is that both sayings were current, the second being
moulded upon the first, presenting its main truth
in a sterner and more pronounced form.
This probability is heightened when we pass
to the second collection, ch. xxv.-xxix. Here-
the title distinctly tells us that certain " men of
Hezekiah" either "collected" or "transferred"'
the proverbs which follow. This may mean that
they gathered them from oral tradition and trans
ferred them to writing ; or that they transf erredi

112 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
them from one or more existing documents to
the pages of their own collection. In either
case it seems to point to a work of tradition in
relation to proverbs which would account for the
phenomena above noted, as well as the fact that
many of the sayings are not likely to have come
from a king, and other features which require
explanation. If Solomon were the earliest and
the chief author of these Mashahc sayings, a
number of his most celebrated utterances having
been handed down, while many perished ; and if
upon these as a model many wise men framed
proverbs of their own, sometimes keeping close
to the earlier phraseology, sometimes departing
from it, but in such a way as to show that the
earlier form was known to them, such a hypo
thesis would go far to explain all the facts of
these collections, and be quite consistent with the
title adopted. Thus, the compilation of the
" proverbs of Solomon " would correspond in more
ways than one with the compilation of the
¦"psalms of David." In the second collection
there are found a large number of proverbs
repeated from the first collection, either in whole
or in part. This makes it probable that the two
Collections were not made by the same persons,
a supposition which is borne out by the different
scope of the second collection. The former is

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 113
more personal, the latter more national/ the
former may be considered as a " book for youth,"
the latter as a "people's book." The opening
sentences of ch. xxv. refer entirely to the dignity
and excellence of kings and the duty of those
who move in kings' courts. Not all who are
famihar with our Lord's parable concerning the
chief seats at wedding feasts (Luke xiv. 7-11)
have caught His allusion to Prov. xxv. 6, 7, or
marked the significant variations by means of
which the Master of parables has stamped this
one as His own.
An examination of the sections described as
" words of the wise " confirms the view thus
taken of the compilation of the longer sections.
There are points of contact as well as points of
difference between the smaller and larger collec
tions, and all point in the direction of a slowly
and steadily accumulated wealth of proverbial
wisdom, on which some master-mind like that of
Solomon had set its mark at an early date, but
towards which many minds had contributed hi
the course of generations, all being animated,
however, by one dominant spirit of practical
godliness which gives, in the midst of variety, a
remarkable unity to the whole. It is possible,
of course, that Solomon himself composed every
proverb in the collections called by his name ;

1 14 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
that at different periods in his life he struck out
similar but slightly differing coins from the same
mint of wisdom. But the more carefully the
proverbs are examined in detail, the less hkely
does such a conclusion appear. The current
definition of a proverb marks it out as the
embodiment of " one man's wit and many men's
wisdom," and in all probability this collection of
sacred proverbs contains at the same time the
record of a nation's wisdom and the impress of
the mind of one inspired man. He must have
been a man of great practical sagacity and great
power of condensed and telling expression, as well
as a man of essentially religious spirit ; and in his
wake there seem to have followed a number of
inferior but divinely-guided men who handed on
the torch of practical godliness for the benefit of
succeeding generations. Such a view of the Book
of Proverbs in no way detracts from the true
glory of Solomon, while it goes far to accoimt for
the form of the compilation that has come down
to us.
The opening chapters (i.-ix.) have a somewhat
different history. They are distinguished by a
more flowing style, and apparently are written
by one hand. They are not so much proverbs
as proverbial discourses. After an exordium (i.
1-6) in which the nature and object of Proverbial

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 115
Wisdom is stated, we find a series of three some
what long addresses, or fifteen paragraphs, uttered
as by a father to his son, or a teacher to his
disciple. The subjects of these addresses are
various, the first of all being a warning against
crimes of violence, while others have reference
to sins of uncleanness, or sloth and self-indulgence,
and others again dwell on the positive excellence
and advantages of Wisdom as guide, protector,
and friend. It is impossible, however, even for
the Enghsh reader to miss observing the unity
of style and connexion of thought which makes
these chapters one whole. In parts the aphoristic
mode of expression is dropped for several verses
together, and even where it is preserved there is
a connexion between the detached sayings much
closer than any to be found in the body of the
book. These opening chapters appear to have
been prefixed as a suitable introduction to the
collections which follow. ' Taking the date
assigned to the second collection as the time of
Hezekiah, say, the end of the eighth century B.C.,
two hundred and fifty years after the death of
Solomon, the first collection (x.-xxii.) may well
date from fifty to a hundred years earher. The
introductory section, ch. i.-ix., should for several
reasons be placed after the second collection/
Most critics have noticed the similarity between

1 1 6 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
the hortatory tone of these opening chapters and
that of Deuteronomy. Without entering upon
the question of the date of that part of the
Pentateuch, we are expressly told that in the
time of Josiah it came upon both king and people
with all the force of a discovery, and its influence
may be distinctly traced in sundry parts of the
Old Testament written after that period. The
development in the form of the mashal also
points to a later date for these nine chapters.
A similar reason would, moreover, lead us to
place them earlier than the Book of Job, which
was probably written towards the close of the
seventh century B.C. The middle of that century
may therefore be assigned with some confidence
as the time when the process of collecting
previous collections of proverbs was proceeded
with and this characteristic introduction written.
It is not so easy to characterise the three
appendices to the whole book. The first is
entitled " The words of Agur, son of Jakeh, the
oracle." Neither of these proper names is
found elsewhere, and the word Massa, translated
" oracle," is usually applied only to prophetic
writings. The names Ithiel and Ucal, if under
stood as proper names ("With-me-is-God" and
"Strong- am -I") of supposed disciples, do not
help us. Taking the text as it stands, we can

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 117
only understand the title as preparing us to listen
to the words of an otherwise unknown sage, whose
utterance of wisdom is of more than usually
poetical and enigmatical character, possessing
therefore something of the nature of prophecy.
The contents of ch. xxx. do not, however,
fully bear out this title. Some eminent critics
hold the word Massa to be the name of a country
belonging to the descendants of Ishmael (see Gen.
xxv. 14), Agur and Lemuel being brothers, sons
of " her to whom Massa is obedient," that is, the
queen of the country. But this is mere specula
tion, no kingdom of Massa being otherwise known
to us. The name Lemuel, again, has by some
been taken to be a name for Solomon, his mother's
counsel being given to him when his early devo
tion to God was about to pass into sensual self-
indulgence and excess. Amidst a multitude of
conjectures with very httle foundation, perhaps
on the whole the most probable is that we have
in these chapters rehcs of ethical wisdom such
as floated amongst the neighbouring nations that
were brought under the influence of Jewish re
hgion, such sporadic inspiration as was found, for
example, in the prophecies of Balaam, or as some
think, in the Book of Job itself. We know from
2 Chron. xxxii. 23 and other sources, that during
the time of Hezekiah considerable influence was

1 18 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
exerted by the kingdom of Judah on the nations
around; and the 87th Psalm is an interesting
memorial of the hopes entertained at that time
that true citizens of Zion would be found
amongst men of Philistia and Tyre, of Egypt
and Babylon. The style and tone of these
¦chapters is in any case not very lofty or spiritual,
though they contain much that is interesting.
The closing section, ch. xxxi. 10-31, is a de
tached poem of the acrostic order. It is one whole,
being a sustained eulogium on a truly virtuous
woman, and much of its phraseology has passed
into the vocabulary of the world. We cannot
definitely fix the date on the ground of the alpha
betic arrangement, but probably we shall not be
far astray if we place it somewhat before the Exile.
Before leaving the subject of the structure of
Proverbs, we may briefly refer to a matter of
interest and importance with which it will be
impossible to deal at length. The Greek version
of the book known as the Septuagint contains
very considerable and remarkable deviations
from the Hebrew. Some of these are of the
nature of glosses, or explanations of obscure
passages, others seem to be attempts to complete
imperfect sentences, others are emendations,
whilst there are to be found in addition inter
polations of some length, omissions of many

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 119
detached verses, and the transposition of entire
passages. So great is the diversity between the
Greek and the Hebrew, that it seems tolerably
clear that in very early times — say, the second
century B.C. — there were two different recensions
of the Book of Proverbs, one current in Palestine,
the other in Alexandria. For the most part, the
Hebrew gives undoubtedly the purer text ; but
in places the LXX. may be consulted with advan
tage. Some of the additions, for example, are
quite as lofty in conception as the original, and
may perhaps be viewed as " fruits grown on the
stock of the noble poetry of wisdom among the
ancient Hebrews," or perhaps as relics of early
Solomonic wisdom which had escaped other
collectors. Some of these additions, however,
clearly betray a Greek origin, and a few are
closely akin to sayings found in Ecclesiasticus.
We append a few examples.
At ch. vi. 8, after the well-known exhortation
to the sluggard to mend his ways by learning from
the ant, the Septuagint inserts the following —
Or go to the bee, and learn what a worker she is,
And how noble a work she performeth.
Her labours kings and private persons use for health,
And she is desired by all and held in great reputation,
Although she is weak in point of strength,
Because she regardeth wisdom, she is advanced to great
honour.

120 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
In ch. ix. 12 the Greek version runs, '' If thou art
wise, thou art wise for thyself and thy neighbour;
but if thou prove scornful, thou alone shalt drink
evil to the dregs." Immediately after this verse,
which it will be seen is an attempt to improve
upon a simpler original, three verses are inserted,
which run thus —
He that stays himself upon lies attempts to rule the
winds,
And himself shall pursue birds in their flight ;
For he leaves the ways of his own vineyard,
And strays from the paths of his own farm ;
And goeth through a waterless desert and a, land ordained
to drought,
And with his hands he gathereth unfruitfulness.
The sayings of Agur are in the Greek divided into
two parts, one of which is inserted after ch.
xxiv. 22, and the other after ch. xxiv. 34, together
with the words addressed to Lemuel; that is to
say, these two appendices are placed with the
"words of the wise" appended to the first
" Solomonic " collection. These and other kindred
facts are interesting chiefly as shedding some
light upon the way in which the Book of Proverbs
was originally compiled.
/ Gathering up, therefore, the conclusions thus
far reached as to the structure of the whole book,
the analysis would read somewhat as follows : —

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 121
Section I. Ch. i.-ix. The Praise of Wisdom. A hortatory
introduction to the Proverbs properly so called, written
between the time of Josiah and the Exile.
Section II. Ch. x. 1-xxii. 16. First Collection of the
"Proverbs of Solomon," containing the chief part of
the earlier 1 sayings of Solomon and others that have been
preserved. Compiled early in the eighth century B.C.
Section III. Ch. xxii. 17-xxiv. 22. Shorter collection of the-
"Sayings of the Wise." Hortatory in character, but
miscellaneous in choice of topics.
Section IV. Ch. xxiv. 23-34. Appendix, containing a few
additional "sayings ofthe wise."
Section V. Ch. xxv.-xxix. Second Collection of the-
"Proverbs of Solomon," containing some of early date,
but for the most part later than Section II., describing,
often a later condition of society. Compiled at the end
ofthe eighth century.
Section VI. Ch. xxx. The words of Agur, son of Jakeh.
Section VII. Ch. xxxi. 1-9. The words of King Lemuel.
Section VIII. Ch. xxxi. 10-31. Acrostic Poem in praise of
the Virtuous Woman.
It may be well before closing this chapter to.
draw attention to the interior structure of these-
various sections of the book, pointing out any
distinctions observable. The basis of the whole-
composition, the ultimate atom, so to speak, in
the composite structure, is the gnome or maxim,.
pithily expressed in the form of a distich. This
is the mashal or proverb, apparently found in its
1 It may be well to note that Prof. A. B. Davidson and other
eminent critics are disposed to consider the proverbs in this-
section as later than those in Section V.

122 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
simplest and original form when the two parallel
clauses of which it consists express in the briefest
and most pointed way some comparison between
the natural and the moral or spiritual world. A
specimen of it is found in the proverb which
declares how a proverb should not be used —
The legs of the lame hang loose ;
So is «. parable in the mouth of fools. — (xxvi. 7.)
It is true the word mashal is used in the Old
Testament of many different kinds of composition,
from the brief apophthegm of 1 Sam. x. 12, " Is Saul
also among the prophets ? " or the " Physician, heal
thyself," quoted by our Lord, to Jotham's " parable "
and the elaborate taunting ode of Isa. xiv. 4-23,
" How hath the oppressor ceased ! " But the
fundamental meaning of the word is resemblance,
comparison, and its primary use is to describe the
brief maxim which is cast in the form of a simili
tude or analogy. Frequently there is no connect
ing hnk between the two halves of the comparison,
or a simple "and" fastens them together, the
illustration becoming all the more effective for
the simplicity of structure.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,
And a rod for the back of fools.
The door turneth upon its hinges,
And the sluggard upon his bed.

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 123
Iron sharpeneth iron ;
And a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
A gold ring in a swine's snout —
A fair woman devoid of discretion.
In the same form is cast that exquisite but often
misunderstood comparison, surely much more
expressive and beautiful for the absence of all
notes of comparison —
Golden apples in silver baskets :
A word spoken in fitting season.
The two parts of the distich are, however, often
contrasted —
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
When pride cometh, then cometh shame ;
But with the lowly is wisdom.
The distich is sometimes expanded into the
tetrastich, of four lines, or into a stanza of six or
eight hnes. Examples of these may be found
in ch. xxiii. 12-14, xxx. 29-31, and the longer
passages enable us to see how the mashal as proverb
developed into the sustained poem. A good illus
tration of the process of development is found in
parts of Prov. i.-ix., and the complete result is seen,
as we have already observed, in the Book of Job.
Other words used to describe forms of proverbial
sayings are m'litsah and chidah, "dark saying"

124 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
and " riddle " (see Prov. i. 6). Both these words
indicate the enigmatical character of some of the
proverbs ; the former implying an involved, and
the latter a knotty saying. The obscurity of
these utterances may be due to their taking
literally the form of a riddle, or to something
not easily intelhgible in the subject-matter, as
in Ps. xlix. 4 and lxxviii. 2. Examples of the
riddle proper are found in the history of Samson,
and it is not unhkely that such passages as Prov.
xxx. 15, 16, and 18, 19, were originally propounded
in the form of riddles ; e.g., " What four things are
never satisfied ? " 1 Even in their present shape
some of these proverbs are enigmatical enough.
But the " dark sayings " referred to in the intro
duction, ch. i. 6, do not refer chiefly to such as
might require a little ingenuity or insight into
the form of a comparison bearing a moral lesson.
The reference there seems to be rather to the
deeper questions concerning life and its meaning,
the right way of ordering conduct, and the
practical apphcation of maxims in the depart
ment of what may be called moral or religious
philosophy, with which the Book of Proverbs is
chiefly concerned.
1 To these numerical proverbs the Rabbis later gave the name
Middah. A good example is found in ch. vi. 16-19, in the
"six things, yea seven, which the Lord hateth."

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 125
It will not escape the careful reader that there
is often much true poetry condensed into these
brief, epigrammatic sayings. Not unfrequently we
read of the " low, prosaic level " on which these pro
verbs run ; they are said to be cold and prudential
in their views of life, and shallow and commonplace
in their form of expression. With their ethical
and rehgious aspects we shall deal shortly ; but it
would be a mistake to underestimate the Proverbs
even considered as poetry. They must not be
compared with the Psalms, which contain poetry
of a different and undoubtedly a higher order.
Pope is a poet as well as Milton, though he works
in a different material and by entirely different
methods. The gnomic poet condenses into a line
what the lyrical or epic- poet expands into an
elaborate stanza. It is harder to appreciate the
beauty of the figure in its condensed form, though
its substance is more easily retained in the
memory. Many of our Lord's parables have come
down to us in an abbreviated form only, and they
have on this account received much less attention
than those that are fully worked out; indeed,
books on the parables usually take no account of
them at all. Yet who can doubt that the compari
son of the well-trained teacher to the householder
bringing forth from his treasure things new and
old, the story of the strong man armed guarding his

126 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
own court till the stronger than he comes upon
him, and other similar m'shalim might have been,
perhaps were, worked out by the Master, so as to
be as impressive as the parable of the Sower or
the Labourers in the Vineyard ?
Again, these proverbs lose something of their
force, at all events for the hasty reader, by being
packed closely together in small compass. A
number of small pictures crowded together upon
the walls of a large gallery are not likely to
receive much separate attention from the visitor,
especially if he be paying a short visit in a hurry.
To do many of these proverbs justice, they should
be detached, considered separately, and each of
them expanded into the full similitude, which is
often hinted at rather than expressed.
Fresh water to a fainting soul —
So is good news from a far country." — (xxv. 25.)
It would spoil the miniature to enlarge it upon
a more extended canvas, but to understand the
beauty of the proverb, we must transport ourselves
into an age in which such comparison would
not be hackneyed and commonplace as it is with
us, and into a state of society in which a man
might easily be separated from friends and kindred
so as to receive no news of them at all for months
or years. Even now it is with a gleam of the eye

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 127
which householders with six postal deliveries a
day cannot understand, that the Englishman in
China reads these very words over the foreign
post-office in Hankow. The Christian perhaps
thinks of a certain Message of glad tidings from
a country man cannot reach by any effort of his
own, "good news" fresher and more life-giving
even than the drops of water in the desert which
save a perishing life, glad tidings of great joy
which shall be to all peoples. The wise man has
wrapped up a wealth of meaning in his short
apophthegm, the significance of which is apt to
be lost because it is short and buried in a chapter
which contains a score of others hke it. If it be
said that the comparison in this case is trite and
obvious, it will not be difficult to adduce examples
embodying more subtle thought and observation.
The fining-pot for silver, the furnace for gold,
And a man is tried by his praise. — (xxvii. 21.)
What tests a man more severely and searchingly
than praise, which is at the same time so clear and
so trying to us all ? A commonplace philosopher
might have pointed out that a man is tried by
abuse or slander or persecution; but knowledge
of the human heart shows that nothing so proves
a man as the way in which he receives and treats
praise bestowed upon him. The north wind

128 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
makes him fasten his cloak more tightly about
him, but the sunshine makes him discard his
wrappings and show himself as he is. If the
verse means, as some think, that a man should try
the praise bestowed upon him as in a furnace and
purify it from all alloy of flattery and falsehood,
a similar meaning is less suitable and impressively
suggested. As water showeth face to face,
So the heart showeth man to man. — (xxvii. 19.)
Or, as it has been paraphrased, " The face finds
in water its reflection, and the heart of man finds
in man its echo." Heart possesses the power of
reflecting and echoing the feelings of heart, and
so men are bound together in bonds of natural
sympathy, which they cannot disown without
disowning their share in a common nature.
Mutual understanding, mutual adaptation, mutual
sympathy founded on mutual relationship, he at
the very root and spring of the nature God has
given us. For, as St. Paul said at Athens, " He
made of one every nation of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth." Everywhere and
always, unless man's violence has strained or
snapped the chord which God has implanted in
the breast, soul speaks to soul, and heart responds
to heart, with a music which the human heart
only can understand.

ITS STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS. 129
These are but a few examples which might
easily be multiplied. But, truth to tell, it is an
exceedingly difficult task to comment on these
brief words of Wisdom and expand their teaching
without weakening their force and marring their
beauty. The commentator must be content to
bear the reproach of offering his readers " Scripture
and water," if he can thereby induce them to
study more closely the ample treasures in a little
room provided for all who will take the trouble
to examine and think out the full meaning of the
"Proverbs of Solomon."

130 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:

CHAPTEE VII.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING.
IN the Book of Ecclesiasticus there is found a
splendid eulogium of Wisdom. Amongst the
blessed she is pronounced eminently blessed. She
is represented as dwelling in the waves of the
sea and in all the earth and in every people and
nation, and in all these she sought for a resting-
place, asking where she should take up her abode
and find her inheritance. " So the Creator of all
things gave me a commandment, and He that
made me caused my tabernacle to rest, and said,
Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thine inherit
ance in Israel. In the holy tabernacle I served
before Him, and so was I established in Zion.
Likewise in the beloved city -He gave me rest,
and in Jerusalem was my power." 1 If we hold
these words to be true — and history has confirmed
and illustrated them — in what sense can it be
said that Wisdom pre-eminently took up her
1 Ecclus. xxiv. 7-11.

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 131
abode in Israel ? Athens has been the home of
philosophy, Eome the fountain of law, Florence
the mistress of art, and in these later days
science finds her abode chiefly among the nations
of Western Europe. But Jerusalem ? The Jews
were a nation few in numbers, obscure in origin,
narrow in prejudices, and exclusive in their ideas ;
in what sense can it be said that Wisdom found
a special home among them ? Only in so far as
the Divine origin of all true wisdom is recognised,
only in so far as philosophy is considered to be
the handmaid of religion.
It has often been said that the Book of Proverbs
is not truly religious, that it moves upon a lower
plane, contemplates lower aims, than the other
books of the Old Testament. Its sphere is safe
to be ethics, and ethics for the most part of
a utilitarian and even sordid kind. Many of
these wise saws, we are told, would receive no
respect at all were they not found .within the
covers of the Bible. There is a measure of truth
in these statements, but enough error to make
them quite misleading. If we take the Book of
Proverbs as a whole, — and as the book has come
down to us as a whole, it is best and fairest
so to take it, even though we may be sure it
was gradually compiled, — then the fundamental
character of the teaching of Proverbs is not

132 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
recognised in the above objections. Even if we
consider the parts separately, it may be shown
that in each there is salt enough of a higher kind
to preserve the Proverbs from sinking to the level
of a merely prudential morality. There is good
reason, moreover, for the very frequent reference to
the earthly rewards of .virtue which the_ Proverbs
contain. £A religious man who has no clear revela
tion of a future life is bound by his very faith in
God and in providence to cling to a belief in earthly
rewards and punishments, and there is sufficient
evidence in the constitution of the present life
to warrant a belief in a Moral Governor of the
world, even though it be impossible to verify all
the maxims of the Proverbs in the directness and
absoluteness of their statements as to the reward
\of virtue in this world. As we shall show,
however, there is, by the side of the prevail
ing " prudential " or " utilitarian " strain of the
Proverbs, a strain of spiritual teaching distinctly
present, which has hardly received the attention
it deserves. The point of view from which the book is written
could not be better stated than in its opening
words, which face the reader immediately after the
brief introduction contained in the first six verses —
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge ;
The foolish despise wisdom and instruction. — (i. 7.)

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 133
This is a motto placed before the first address
to the disciple, containing the key to all that
follows. It occurs again in similar words
towards the end of the section in praise of
wisdom —
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. — (ix. 10.)
But this point of view is not peculiar to the writer
of the opening chapters, as it certainly was not
original with him. In the first collection of
" proverbs of Solomon," we find —
The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life,
To depart from the snares of death. — (xiv. 27.)
The significance of this cardinal and frequently
repeated statement should be fully appreciated.
The wisdom and knowledge of which " the wise "
are about to speak are not mainly occupied with
what we call the " inner life " ; they have chiefly
to do with conduct. The wise man professes to
teach the most difficult of all lessons, how rightly
to master the secrets, fulfil the duties, and over
come the temptations which, meet all men in
actual life ; like St. Paul, he has " been initiated,"
or learnt the secret how to pass successfully
through varying conditions of penury and abund
ance, and he is about to impart his knowledge

134 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
to those who are willing to learn. It makes
simply a world of difference to all that follows,
when he begins by saying that the starting-point
of all such wisdom is to be found in a reverent
acknowledgment of the covenant -keeping God,
a pious and grateful recognition of dependence
on Him as the source of all good.
^i We hve in days when religion and science are
habitually represented as opposed to one another.
But this is not a phenomenonjpeculiar to the end
j^theJiineteenth century. '"-It is a very old com
plaint that the man of intellect is not religious as
he should be, and that the "pious" man is apt
to be weak in the head. Eeason is opposed to
revelation, and revelation is supposed to be sub
versive of reason. It is the strong feature of the
literature we are now examining, that it will not
hear of this mischievous divorce between con
stituent parts of man's nature. For the writers
of Proverbs, rehgion means good sense, religion
means mastery of affairs, religion means strength
and manliness and success, rehgion means a well-
furnished intellect employing the best means to
accomplish the highest ends. The feebleness, the
shallowness, the ignorance, the narrow, contracted
views and aims, are on the other side. There is a
healthy, vigorous tone about this kind of teaching
which is never out of date, but which, human

/7S RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 135
nature being what it is, is only too apt to dis
appear in the actual presentation of religion in
the Church on earth. Surely true reverence can
only lead to further knowledge, and true know
ledge can only be attained by the reverent spirit.
But the reverent man allows his godly fear to de
generate into superstition and prejudice, and the
man of research becomes vain-confident through
his very successes ; thus the rift is widened and
the severance becomes complete. Dr. Arnold,
after he had been many years at Eugby, left on
record his experience of the little world of school
in a most interesting passage, which is too long
to quote. In the course of it he says : " I have still
found that folly and thoughtlessness have gone
to evil; that thought and manliness have been
united with faith and goodness " ; and he often
used to dwell on " the fruit which he above all
things longed for, moral thoughtfulness, the in
quiring love of truth going along with the devoted
love of goodness." This is the very definition of
the Wisdom of the Proverbs. So far from looking
down upon it as a kind of obsolete excellence
belonging to the Old Covenant, the Christian
may well set it as his goal which he will strive to
reach under better auspices than the wisest of
old time could boast. Few things are more
necessary, in some regions of life at any rate,

136 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
than that " Mind and soul, according well, should
make one music as before, but vaster." Man
will never climb so high that he will outgrow
the need of this elementary lesson of his intel
lectual primer: The fear of the Eternal, that
is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is
understanding. This recognition of God is not a kind of con
venient phrase to place at the head of a treatise
and then ignore in practice. The golden thread
is intertwined with the whole web of the teaching
of Proverbs, and appears and reappears more
frequently than we can stay to illustrate. If it
be said that the well-known passage —
Trust in Jehovah with all thine heart,
And lean not upon thine own understanding :
In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall make plain thy paths,
is in the opening discourses, it is easy to find an
even stronger and fuller statement of similar
truths in the first collection —
Commit thy works unto Jehovah,
And thy thoughts shall be established. . . .
By the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil. . . .
A man's heart deviseth his way,
But Jehovah directeth his steps. — (xvi. 3, 7, 9.)
It is amongst the " words of the wise " that we
find the injunction —

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 137
Let not thine heart envy sinners,
But live thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day ;
— (xxiii. 17) ;
while it is in the second Solomonic collection that
we find the strong statement —
Evil men understand not judgment,
But they that seek Jehovah understand all things.
— (xxviii. 5.)
Eeaders of the New Testament are sometimes
startled to find the clause in St. John's First Epistle,
" Ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye
know all things." Would it surprise them to hear
that an equally lofty utterance is to be found in
a book of the Old Testament often pronounced
" unspiritual " ? The enlightenment of the in
tellectual and spiritual eyesight which belongs
to those who seek the Lord and are taught
by Him in secret would be better understood
if the path- of knowledge marked out in
Proverbs were more freely and constantly
trodden. To show that this spiritual tone is not a rare or
occasional feature of the book, or found upon
certain subjects or in certain phrases only, take
two entirely distinct examples from the 3rd
chapter. In the 11th verse occurs that tender
exhortation which the writer of the Epistle to the
Hebrews declared his readers had forgotten:

138 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
" Whom Jehovah loveth He reproveth, as a father
the son in whom he delighteth." In the 32nd
verse of the same chapter we have not only what
may be thought the trite statement that "the
perverse is an abomination to Jehovah," but
the deeply spiritual and significant counterpart,
"His secret is with the upright." The word
translated "secret" conveys all the meaning of
the most intimate intercourse, the most private
and privileged communication. It anticipates the
saying of the Saviour to His disciples, " Henceforth
I call you not servants but friends," and is one
of a select class of passages in the Old Testament
which shows that the fear of God, which was the
characteristic virtue of the Old Covenant, by no
means shut out the filial love of God, or excluded
from Old Testament religion a large measure of
that close and tender relation between God and
His devoted follower. which we associate for the
most part with the fuller revelation and richer
privileges of the New Covenant.
The rehgious spirit penetrates all parts of this
varied book and all parts of the varied life it
describes. Does the writer speak of family life ?
He says that it is Jehovah who blesses the habita
tion of the just (iii. 33). Does he connect right
eousness and longevity, wickedness and sudden
death ? It is the fear of Jehovah that " addeth

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 139
days " (x. 27). Does he enter the region of com
mercial life and in plain terms denounce the
tricks of business ? He can find no stronger
condemnation than to say that—
A false balance is abomination to Jehovah,
But a just weight is His delight. — (xi. 1.)
This proverb is repeated later on in the same
collection in another form : " A stone and a stone,
an ephah and an ephah," — that is to say, double
weights and measures, one large and one small,
so that the one may be substituted deceitfully
for the other, — "an abomination to Jehovah are
they both" (xx. 10). There are many ways in
which a moralist might point out the wicked
folly of mocking at the poor: it is cowardly, it
is cruel, it is unmanly, it may bring calamity
upon the arrogant boaster. But the wise man
of the Proverbs goes deeper still when he says,
as he does in two several places, " Whoso mocketh
the poor reproacheth his Maker " (see ch. xvii. 5,
and xix. 17). In domestic life as in pubhc duty,
his spirit is still the same —
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing,
And obtaineth favour of Jehovah. — (xviii. 22.)
The LXX. Version, the Syriac, the Targum, and
the Vulgate versions read, " Whoso findeth a good

140 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
wife," and ch. xix. 14 tells us that "a prudent
wife is from Jehovah " ; but the text needs no
eking out with explanatory epithets. The wise
man finds in all true marriage a boon that is
nothing short of Divine,' and proves once more
the essential religiousness of his whole view of
life. Is it still said that the mode of regarding life
in this book is shallow, superficial, unspiritual ?
! The Underworld and the Abyss are open before Jehovah ;
; How much more, then, the hearts of the children of
' men ! — (xv. 11.)
'Here is a man to whom the whole universe is
; but a flimsy veil into which, through which, the
All -piercing Eye can in a moment penetrate.
By such a man, therefore, the whole world of
human thought and purpose is viewed, not
from an earthly, still less a worldly standpoint,
but as by one who lives ever in the great Task
master's eye. Hence it is that he says else
where —
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
But Jehovah weigheth the hearts. — (xxi. 2.)
The next verse shows how truly spiritual is his
religion, how far removed from that "making
the best of both worlds," which seeks chiefly for
the rewards of virtue, and hopes to become

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 141
acceptable to God by multiplied ceremonial ob
servances : " To do justice and judgment is more
acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice." In the
arts of peace and the conflicts of war " there is
no wisdom, nor counsel, nor understanding against
Jehovah " ; the horse may be prepared against
the clay of battle, but victory comes from God
alone (xxi. 30, 31). Finally, one of the clearest
and most striking testimonies in the Old Testa
ment to the reality and power of conscience,
one which the New Testament rather re-echoes
than surpasses, is to be found in this book —
The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,
Searching all the inmost parts of the body. — (xx. 27.)
Our Lord may well have had this verse in mind
when He spoke of the light within, which may
so brightly illumine or itself be darkened till it
leads to outer darkness. St. John may well have
had this verse in mind when he spoke of the
" light which lighteneth every man," the Eternal
Word, the abiding source of inward light, coming,
in the fulness of time, into the world. For the
wise man, even in these comparatively early days,
had been given to see that the self-conscious
spirit of man, knowing the things of the man
within him, searching into every corner, pene
trating into every crevice of his moral and

142 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
spiritual nature, is indeed a divinely lighted
lamp, casting its rays into recesses that would
otherwise be as darkness itself. And a man who
has grasped that truth is at least fairly on his
way to become what St. Paul calls irvivpanHog, a
spiritual man. He has learned the secret of the
Inner Light, has found the ladder which stretches
from earth to heaven, and no longer can look
upon the world with the lacklustre eye of the
" carnal " man, anxious under the forms of religion,
and by the paths of a conventional virtue, to
attain to mere respectabihty, comfort, and what
the world calls success.
We have lingered, perhaps, somewhat too long
upon this point and needlessly laboured its ex
position. But the reason will be found when we
reach that which constitutes the main bulk of
the teaching of Proverbs, and the time will not
have been mis-spent if the essentially religious
character of the book has been vindicated. So
many commentators, moreover, some of them
worthy of high respect, have made it their task
to disparage the book, speaking of its "low
degree of inspiration," and its prosaic, common
place morality, that it has appeared necessary
to draw special attention to the features on
which we have been dwelling. The whole argu
ment of this chapter may be crowned by a careful

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 143
consideration of the subhme personification of
Wisdom which characterises the early chapters,
and its identification with the Divine Thought
and Purpose in the creation and maintenance of
the universe.
To see this in its full development we must
turn, of course, to the 8th chapter. But already,,
earher in the book, the writer has prepared the
way for the bold flight which he later essays.
In the 1st chapter he finds it insufficient to
describe Wisdom as an abstract quality, and draws
a picture of her as a living figure, with a living
voice of mingled entreaty and warning : " Wisdom
crieth aloud ; she uttereth her voice in the broad
streets," and strong and penetrating are the tones
of remonstrance in which she pleads with and
threatens the crowd of fools and scorners who
set at nought her counsel and will have none of
her reproof. In the 3rd chapter Wisdom is
extolled, not only as the giver of plenteousness
and peace, but as having a share in the work of
the Creator Himself —
Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth,
By understanding He established the heavens ;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the clouds drop down the dew.
But these are only hints of what is to come.
The bold and splendid personification of Wisdom

144 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
which fills the 8th chapter may be viewed only
as poetry, a lofty reach of literary imagination.
Doubtless it is this, and may be admired as
literature ; but surely it is much more. In this
chapter the philosopher becomes the prophet.
Here he is hfted above himself by the spirit of
revelation. A measure of that spirit undoubtedly
was necessary to write other parts of the Book
of Proverbs, which manifest insight both into
the truth of God and the nature of man. But
in this chapter we can almost see the change
pass over the face of the teacher as he becomes
the Seer; we watch him being caught up into
the third heavens and already anticipating
visions of wonder which belong to the seventh
heaven alone'. What these glimpses are, and
how deep the religious truths they reveal, we
now proceed to see.
It is no small matter, and no accident, that
Wisdom is here personified. The writer is com
pelled in spite of himself to extend the form of
speech he has already used. " Doth not Wisdom
cry, and Understanding put forth her voice ?
Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the
sons of men." The subject of address is one
which might be very differently treated. Men
may be urged to avoid dishonesty, to abhor
uncleanness, and to rise superior to sloth, in quite

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 145
another fashion. These are earthly vices, and
may be rebuked by an earthly monitor. If the
mentor would leave the level ground at all, it is
open to him to represent virtue in the abstract
as desirable, and to enlarge on the importance of
sound principles. But he who speaks in the
name of Jehovah feels that there is more than
this to be said. The Wisdom that he celebrates
is more than an abstraction, a metaphysical con
cept, formed by a generalisation from a number
of instances. She lives, she acts, she speaks,
she entreats. He who would describe her must
allow her hving voice to be heard, for nothing
but the voice of a living person can set forth the
imperative nature of the obligations, the solemnity
of the sanctions, or the loveliness of the attractions,
which belong to a word so sacred as Duty.
It is interesting to watch the spiral ascents
by which the speaker leads us from earth to
heaven. First the attractiveness of the quahties
which Wisdom possesses in her human aspects
are set forth, then the excellence of the gifts
which she bestows upon those who follow her
guidance. Truth, righteousness, straightforward
ness in word and deed, these are amongst the
elements of her teaching. Pride, arrogance, self-
confidence in all its bold but essentially unlovely
and unsubstantial manifestations, the children of

146 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
Wisdom will have learned to appraise at their
true value, and avoid. A more effective know
ledge, a truer and more abiding might, is hers
and theirs (ver. 14). For the domain of Wisdom
lies not only in personal, in family, in social
life: "By me kings reign, and princes decree
justice. By me prmces rule, and nobles, even
all the judges of the earth." True nobility, true
sovereignty, true power to command and direct
is the gift of Wisdom, and hers alone. More
abundant gifts are in her hand. She is no
abstract entity, but has a heart to love those
who love her, to respond to those who ask her
aid; she is an answering Spirit, ready to meet
with prompt sympathy and help those who rise
up early and seek diligently to find her. If
riches are valued, she has an embarrassing pleni
tude of them in her gift. Pure and fine gold,
choice silver, " durable riches," the honour which
attends on wealth and the power it always wields —
these are but a few of Wisdom's gifts. Those who
love her "inherit substance," and however large
their treasuries, she will fill them.
Thus far, however, we are upon the earth.
However rich and choice the qualities and gifts
that have been described, they belong to this
lower sphere. If no more is to be said, we have
hardly reached the standpoint of religion, and

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 147
some doubt may be entertained whether promises
so lofty and unreserved are likely to be fulfilled.
But such Wisdom is not human in its origin, or in
its scope, or in its issues. It may operate on
earth, its home is in heaven, its source and spring
is Divine. So Plato argued, after his Greek fashion,
that absolute beauty and goodness and truth do
not belong to the material and transient life of
earth, that Ideas are eternal, and that the soul
must draw its knowledge of these permanent
realities from a prior state of existence, and
that — The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.
So did Spenser in later days, after singing his
hymns in honour of love and beauty, pray to be
lifted on golden wings to those heights whence
he might be enabled to sing the praises of
Heavenly Love and Beauty. The poet who
would celebrate earthly beauty and affection
was conscious that he could not accomplish
even this aright, unless that " immortal light "
shone in upon his soul —
For from the Eternal Truth it doth proceed,
Through heavenly virtue which her beams do breed.
But the lesson had been taught long before. It

148 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
is the same which is taught in this " unspiritual "
Book of Proverbs, when the writer makes Wisdom

say-

Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of His way,
The first of His works of old.

Whether the word in the 22nd verse means
" possessed," or " created," or " brought forth," — a
question on which divines anxious about dehcate
questions of Christology have written hundreds
of profitless pages, — the thought is substantially
the same, and it is a very lofty one. It amounts
to no less than this, that the Wisdom by which
man is to be guided in all the affairs of this lower
life is substantially one with that which moved
and guided the Divine Mind in those first
thoughts which gave rise to the being and
order of the universe itself. Wisdom such as
man needs and may have for his guide is not
human, it is Divine. It is not temporal, it is
eternal. It is no transient expediency, no fugi
tive method of dealing with passing conditions
and claims —
I was set up from everlasting :
From the beginning, before the foundations of the earth.
At length, and in highly poetical language, it is
explained that Wisdom preceded the creation, and

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 149
then it is unfolded how Wisdom ordered and
directed every part of it when it came into being.
Not creation only, but providence is her work.
She it was who called earth and seas into being ;
she it is who sets their place and bound, who
issues to them her commandments, who "in
number, weight, and measure still doth sweetly
order all that is." But whilst it was the function
of this Divine Wisdom to take part in the work of
creation, to establish the heavens and mark out
the foundations of the earth, it is represented
that man is her chief dehght, and her joy is most
of all with the sons of men. Among all her
excellent and supernal tasks, none is so lofty,
none so congenial, as the devising and arranging
for man, in whom she specially rejoices, and who
can and should find his chief joy in her presence
and service.
Very striking is some of the language in which
this is set forth. Wisdom is represented both as
a witness of the work which God Himself accom
plishes, and as a helper in it. There is little
doubt that the meaning of the somewhat singular
word 'avion, used in ver. 30, is " master-workman,"
or " director of the work," — a strong, experienced,
skilful servant, who is more than a servant, and
who when charged with a duty may be trusted
to carry it out, as the very right hand of the

ISO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
master himself. But not less remarkable is the
language of the rest of the sentence —
Then I was by Him as director of the work ;
Then had I delight day by day,
Sporting always before Him,
Sporting in His habitable earth,
And having my delight in the children of men.
There is a brightness and sprightliness in some
of the words used in this striking passage which
it is difficult to render into Enghsh without the
appearance of levity. The joy which lights up
the heart of Wisdom in their gracious work
breaks forth into a smile upon her face. She
rejoices in God, rejoices in man, rejoices in doing
the will of God for the benefit of man. And the
writer goes out of his way to use dainty and ex
pressive words to illustrate the great truth that
cheerfulness and joy belong to the realm of order,
not of disorder ; that true gaiety of heart belongs
to wisdom, not to folly ; that in creation there is
not only Mind but Heart, not only grave and pro
found purpose, but overflowing joy. "God saw
everything that He had made, and behold it was
very good." Still He "renews His ancient
rapture." There is a dancing as well as singing
which belongs to worship and sacred things,
though a Michal may fail to understand a David's
holy and mirthful exultation. My delight, says

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 151
Wisdom, my lightsome, sportful, happy occupa
tion, is with the sons of men, who, if they will but
follow me, shall learn the secret of truly light-
hearted, joyful service. What wonder that she
turns, with that practical force which belongs to
true wisdom, and utters the irresistible appeal —
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
For blessed are they that keep my ways.
Blessed indeed is he who sits long waiting and
watching at the doors of such a teacher and bene
factor. For not long do men wait and knock in
vain at those doors. "Knock, and it shall be
opened unto you." "If any man lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and
upbraideth not."
The deeply religious significance of this teaching
is obvious. The immense superiority of the view
of the universe here presented to those current in
other "sacred books of the East," and for that
matter, of sundry scientific books of the West,
needs no exposition or comment. That which lies
at the origin and root of all things is not some
monster of mythology, not dark Fate, nor incal
culable Chance, nor blind and irresponsible Law,
but Wisdom. Wisdom benign and gracious, in
many of its aspects and operations doubtless above
human comprehension, but in its creative and

1 52 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
providential work not beyond human apprehen
sion ; the highest conceivable exercise, indeed, of
that same Wisdom which man is called upon to
seek, obey, and follow. There is an anticipation
here of the simple but profound truth which in
Bacon's hands proved so potent, and which is the
motive principle of the best modern science — man
becomes the lord of Nature by being her faithful
servant and interpreter. But there is more than
this. The fundamental kinship of the human
with the Divine, taught in the 1st chapter of
Genesis in the words, " So God created man in
His own image, in the image of God created He
him," reappears here in another form, where man
is taught to listen to the voice of that Wisdom
which brought the earth into being, and maintains
it in order and beauty. Man, too, in his measure,
may cultivate that Wisdom which was with God
in the creation, a "master-workman" directing
the establishment of the clouds and the appoint
ment of the foundations of the earth. To all this
rich and suggestive rehgious teaching there is to
be added the fruitful truth that Divine Wisdom
delights in her work in man and for man, that
she is not " harsh and crabbed, as dull fools sup
pose," but that happiness shines forth in the
brightness of her smile, and music is breathed
from the very tones of her voice.

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 153
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds ;
And fragrance in thy footing treads ;
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong,
And the most ancient heavens through thee are fresh
and strong.
But just because there is in this wonderful
chapter so much religious teaching as this, there
are also hints and foreshadowings of more. How
much more the writer himself saw we cannot say.
A prophet cannot sound the depths of his own
inspired words; and in this chapter, perhaps
alone in the Book of Proverbs, there breathes the
spirit of prophecy.
Wisdom is here represented as a firstborn of
the Creator, a Mediator between God and man,
itself Divine and personal, and finding special
delight in humanity and things human. In all
these respects the picture here drawn of the
Wisdom of God portrays in shadowy outline the
Person and Work of the Son of God. Not that the
older expositors were justified in actually under
standing the words as descriptive of the Eternal
Son. The Wisdom here spoken of is Divine, but it
is not God. It is personified, but it is not personal.
It is created, not con-substantial with the Creator.
It was before the world, but is not eternal. The
description is the original of a striking passage in
the Book of Wisdom, and forms the foundation for

154 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
some of the speculations of Philo, but it is hardly
referred to in the New Testament. It is doubtful
whether our Lord had any reference to it as pro
phetic of Himself when He said, '' Wisdom is
justified of all her children." The personification
of a Divine attribute is far from being the same
thing as the Incarnation of God Himself.
None the less, the anticipations of the passage
are remarkable and instructive. They show us
that all truth is of one piece, that when a writer
follows the guidance of the Spirit of truth in one
direction, he cannot avoid approaching the con
fines of other truths of which at the moment he
may have no conception. In following up the
pregnant thought, that the Wisdom which man is
called upon to follow in the conduct of life can
not be a mere abstraction, but is indeed a hving
principle ; that in this very Wisdom is exemplified
the thought and purpose of God in creation ; that
in it is a chief link between God and man ; that
God delights in Wisdom, and Wisdom delights in
men, and men may find their highest delight in
her and in her service ; the author of this chapter
was coming very close to those fundamental truths
which lie at the basis of the doctrine of the
Incarnation. There is no recognition here of sin
and the need of redemption, no hint here of
sacrifice and the possibility of Divine self-sacri-

ITS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. 155
fice for man's sake ; the deepest truths which are
implied in Incarnation and Atonement are con
spicuous by their absence. But on one side
of the great many-sided central truth of the
New Testament the Sth chapter of Proverbs
approaches it very closely. The Greeks seek after
wisdom ; seek it and fail to find it. But to them
that beheve, the Lord Jesus Christ is not only
the power of God, but the wisdom of God. He is
made unto us not only righteousness, but Wisdom ;
and Himself is the embodied "Wisdom in a.
mystery " which His " perfect " or fully-instructed
disciples alone can understand. The book which
helps even Christians to see more deeply into the
heart of such a mystery claims recognition as
rehgious and even evangelical in its spirit. And
if in the working out of a great theme the writers
are more occupied with the fruits than with the
roots of the religious life, it is quite clear that they
are not amongst those who expect the fruits of
righteousness without the root-principle of spirit
ual communion with God. They are servants of
the Wisdom which is a "breath of the power of
God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory
of the Almighty ; the brightness of the everlasting
hght, the unspotted mirror of the power of God,
and the image of His goodness." Thus they
helped to prepare the way for Him who is indeed

156 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
"Firstborn of every creature," the effulgence of
the Father's glory, and " the very image of His sub
stance," through whom, and through whom alone,
the Wisdom and Eighteousness and Love of God
has been made the portion of the frail and erring
children of men.

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 157

CHAPTEE VIII.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: ITS ETHICAL TEACHING.
XN the Book of Proverbs there sound in the ears
of men Two Voices ; there are set before the
feet of men Two Ways. For the Greek the same
fundamental truth was set forth in the parable of
the «hoice of Hercules ; the Buddhist Pitakas
oppose the Noble and the Evil Paths, between
which a choice must be made ; one of the earhest
fragments of Christian literature, the " Teaching
of the Twelve Apostles," opens with the words,
" There are two ways, one of life and one of death,
but great is the difference between the two ways." 1
The book we are studying has its characteristic
mode of contrasting these two courses with their
rival attractions and contrasted destinies ; and
the writers ring the changes upon the remarkable
groups of synonyms in order to bring out their
meaning more emphatically. These two diametri
cally opposed families of words are, on the one
1 Perhaps with reference to Jer. xxi. 8, which see.

158 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
hand, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, prudence,
subtilty, instruction, discretion ; and, on the other,
folly, simplicity, brutishness, stupidity, ignorance,
sottishness, villainy. The English words do not in
every case precisely correspond to a distinct
Hebrew word; there are rather more synonyms
in the Hebrew than we can find apt renderings
for in our own language. The lists remind us of
St. Paul's opposed bright and dark lists, of virtues
and vices, fruits of the Spirit and works of the
flesh ; but it is characteristic of Proverbs that the
seven or eight words which may be enumerated
in each case are strictly synonyms, and represent
only various shades of meaning of the two prevail
ing titles, Wisdom and Folly.
The first group contains the closely related
words, B'inah, i.e. the trained intelligence which
rightly discriminates between things that differ
and approves things that are excellent ; Tebhunah,
insight, discernment ; musar, the instruction and
discipline which leads to knowledge ; da' ath, the •
resulting knowledge, acquired and possessed ;
mezimmah, the meditation or counsel which leads
to discreet action ; 'ormah (more frequently in the
adjectival form) ; and sekel, the prudence which
results from careful consideration of consequences
and wise judgment in relation to them ; together
with some other words, which need not be speci-

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 159
fied. It is noteworthy how many Enghsh words
which by their etymology indicate only know
ledge or skill have come to be used in a bad sense ;
e.g., subtilty, cunning, knowingness, artfulness,
craft and craftiness. In Hebrew there is a noble
group of lofty words which we in these degener
ate days find it hard to match, some of the words
we are obhged to use in translation having
associations of a lower or secondary kind of
which we cannot rid them. For example,
" prudence " and " discretion " give a much more
worldly flavour to the virtues of which the Pro
verbs speak, than the original words convey ;
while with us " intelligence " and " understanding "
have properly speaking no moral quality at all.
The ugly and contemptible group of figures
that gather round Folly are also distinguished
from one another by names for which we cannot
readily find equivalents. The word most fre
quently used (sixty or seventy times) for the fool,
kesil, points to that dense, headstrong self-con
fidence which leads almost certainly to moral
delinquency; while another word (found some
twenty times in Scripture) points perhaps to the
perverseness, more probably to the weakness and
aimlessness of folly. The nabhal, so far as ety
mology is concerned, might seem to indicate only
the sapless, useless man who is, hke withered

160 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
flowers or fruits, good for nothing ; but in practice
it is a stronger word, and points to a character
which is rotten rather than merely withered, and
therefore corrupt and corrupting. Another word
points to the boasting of the fool and the folly of
the boaster. Another word, again, pethi, might
be translated either simple or simpleton; the
former rendering pointing to the neutral character
of the man who is but little instructed and so is
easily led ; while the latter points out the man
who- is incapable of receiving and using sound
knowledge, and has therefore already crossed the
border-line which separates the morally wise man
from the fool. But in Hebrew, as in English
and other languages, the word " simple " is rarely
used in a good sense. Both " simple " and " silly,"
as Trench pointed out long ago, are witnesses to
the depravity of man; words which originally
had a pure, if not an excellent meaning coming
to indicate folly or worse. " Innocent " is on its
way to a similar degradation. These remarks
would perhaps be out of place here, but they
contain a noteworthy moral lesson, which is
brought out more forcibly in Proverbs than in
any other book of the Bible. He who is " simple "
in a negative sense, unprovided with definite
convictions, fixed principles, and firm resolve, is
sadly far upon the way to become " simple " in a

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 161
positive and evil sense which implies moral
blame and entails corresponding punishment.
The simple who "believes every word" (xiv. 15)
is very near akin to the simple who inherits folly
(xiv. 18), and those other simple ones who " pass
on and suffer for it" (xxii. 3, and xxvii 12).
The simplicity which is void of understanding
(vii. 7) falls an easy prey to the simphcity — alas
that such a word should have such a meaning !
— which is only another word for wantonness
(ix. 13).
It is to those who are simple in the milder
sense of the word, not committed as yet either
to the obedience of Wisdom or the pursuit of
Folly, that the two voices are addressed, which
utter their invitations in the opening chapters of
Proverbs. Wisdom crieth aloud in the broad
places, uttereth her voice "at the head of the
noisy streets," "How long, ye simple ones, will
ye love simphcity?" (i. 22). And again she
takes her stand beside the gates of the city,
at the point where all who come in and go out
must pass and hear her pleading voice, " 0 ye
simple, understand prudence ; and ye foolish ones,
be of an understanding heart" (viii. 5). But
Lady Folly. — " Madame Bubble," as Bunyan calls
her — gives her invitation also. She utters her
voice as publicly, and as it would seem, even

162 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
more persuasively, "Whoso is simple let him
turn in hither," where stolen waters are sweet
and forbidden fruit is tempting. And the simple
it is who is attracted like the moth to the flame
and who yields to the dulcet tones, for "he
knoweth not that the shades are there"; the
company of those that gather in the house of
lewdness are already rotten-ripe for the grave, and
" her guests are in the depths of hell " (ix. 18).
Most striking, however, is the lengthened de
scription of Wisdom's stately palace and rich
banquet, the preparations made, the bounties
provided, the attractiveness of the maidens who
sing her praises, and issue her invitations, and
dispense her bountiful hospitality, as given in
the former part of the 9th chapter. It is a
royal feast and on a royal scale, but the dainties,
though excellent of their kind, are not seductive,
intoxicating with a delight which ends in shame
and degradation. The invitation is to all who
will come, but it is the simple who are chiefly
urged to avail themselves of it. For them there
is yet time and opportunity, if they will but
"forsake the simple and live, and walk in the
way of understanding." Many centuries after
these words were written, a wiser than the wise
man who wrote them, even Wisdom Incarnate,
uttered His voice and gave His invitation to a yet

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 163
more royal feast. The house was builded, the
pillars were hewn, the beasts were slain, the
bread was broken, the wine was mingled, and free
invitation was given to a banquet more rich and
rare than Solomon himself had ever dreamed of.
But those who were asked to the wedding made
hght of the royal bounty thus universally offered,
and both simple and scorners refused the gospel
of the grace of God. So true it has proved in all
ages, though never so clearly seen as in the
mission of Christ, that the message of Wisdom is
a touchstone which tries men, a winnowing-fan
which sifts and parts them, discriminating
between metal and alloy, between wheat and
chaff — Fining-pot for silver and furnace for gold,
But Jehovah trieth the hearts. — (xvii. 3.)
We are prepared by these opening sentences for
ethics which are truly rehgious. There is no
room for the merely superficial virtues and graces,
the apphcation of conventional standards, in a
world where such searching tests divide men ever
into one or other of two deeply contrasted classes.
If some of the maxims we are about to examine
touch only the surface of hfe, we shall know
beforehand that these are not supposed to re
present all the truth. The " minor morals " have

1 64 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
their place in a well-ordered character, and it is
well they should have their place in the Bible.
Much harm is done through lack of duly observ
ing the canons which rule in this region of hfe.
Small sins are often great offences. A dead fly
will cause the precious ointment to send forth a
stinking savour; and the fragrance of a good
man's hfe may be marred by his blundering and
offending in lesser matters, where the candle of a
proverb would be enough to guide him. The
spiritual man knows that he must not hold his
head too high in the air, or he will trip over a
httle stone. But he knows also that the guarding
against little stones will not suffice to keep him
in the right road. The wise man who is about
to speak concerning homely duties and common
place ethics is perfectly aware of this. He knows,
as well as his nineteenth-century critics can tell
him, that the fountains of life lie deep down, far
below the surface of good manners and kindly
attentions and decorous observances. The springs
of personal joy and sorrow lie apart from the well-
trodden ways along which he is erecting helpful
finger-posts —
The heart knoweth the soul's trouble,
And no stranger can meddle with its joy. —(xiv. 10.)
Not that we "mortal millions" need to "live

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 165
alone," but that, when all the maxims of the
sages are uttered and perhaps attended to, there
remains that deepest hfe of all which lies below,
which belongs to the hidden man of the heart, in
which others have no portion but that to which
he chooses to admit them, and the true sweetness
or bitterness of the cup of life depends upon the
sweetness or bitterness of those secret founts of
feehng. Wherefore —
Keep thy heart above all thy keepings,
For from it are the issues of life. — (iv. 23.)
Wisdom is not likely to be a mere whiten er of
sepulchres, or to cleanse only the outside of the
cup and platter. "He that covereth his sins
shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall find mercy" (xxviii. 13).
What more sound advice can the evangelical
teacher give than does this " moralist " of the Old
Testament ? The ethics of Proverbs undoubtedly
have their root in religion ; for the careful reader
will not fail to observe that the extracts just
given come from all parts of this composite book.
With the exception of the brief appendices,
written on special subjects, every section or
collection of proverbial sayings contains sentences
which show that the moral philosopher was first
of all the devoutly religious man.

1 66 THE BOOK OF PR 0 VERBS :
Coming, however, to the details of the moral
code as expounded by this book, we shall do well
for a moment tojiotice the emphasis laid upon
the period of youth, and the_im.portance of educa-
tion and training. It is true that the words
"my son " are hot" To be understood literally, any
more than St. John's "my little children." The
addresses of the earlier chapters, and perhaps of
ch. xxiii. 15 and 19, are to be understood as given
to the disciple rather than to the child. But when
allowance is made for this, and we bear in mind
that the young in knowledge and experience
needs training as well as the young in years,
there are still numerous passages in Proverbs in
which those who are literally children are spoken
of. Of this part of the teaching of Proverbs it
may perhaps be said that it inculcates old-
fashioned truths and methods which some who
have the credit of being amongst the wisest of
this generation are disposed to shght and dis
parage, but to which it will certainly be necessary
to return, so long as human nature remains what
it is. Education, indeed, is a word on everyone's
lips in this latter half of the nineteenth century ;
but the member of Parhament, and the candidate
for the School Board, and the publicist who dis
cusses educational questions, do not mean by the
word what Solomon meant. Intellectual educa-

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 167
tion is the modern panacea for all ills ; the moral
education which the wise man insisted on is at
a discount. Authority is at a low ebb ; disciphne
is becoming obsolete ; the young in years and the
young in experience are alike wiser than their
fathers. There is an old-world strain about the
proverbs which teach filial obedience, the need of
correction, the importance of bearing and sub
mitting to reproof, which makes them sound out
of date in modern society. There is no need to
insist upon a literal interpretation of the " rod "
mentioned in ch. xiii. 24, and elsewhere, for the
word often means only what is described in the
latter part of the above verse as correction or
restraint, whilst other passages undoubtedly refer
to chastisement in the literal sense. But the
first lesson of all which the children of Wisdom
need to lay to heart is the absolute necessity of
discipline. The word occurs twice in the first
two verses of the book, after the title has been
given. That which the Jew called "iD?D which
the Greeks called waiBa'u, and which we may
define as "instruction- imparted by way of
disciphne," is of the very essence of the teaching
of Wisdom. He who has not come to know this,
as true for childhood, youth, and manhood alike,
has his alphabet yet to learn, and needs more
than anything else the instruction which is

168 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
given in the lowest form of the school of Divine
Wisdom. The surest mark of a fool is that he
" hates correction."
The moralist must be specific in his denuncia
tions of evil, or his warnings will evaporate in
vague generahties ; he must not be too specific in
his descriptions, or his pages will scatter germs
of disease instead of diffusing health. The Book
of Proverbs is plain-spoken to a degree, but none
was ever attracted to evil by any of its undraped
pictures of wrong-doing. One of the best-known
summaries of the fruits of folly is given in the
description of the " worthless person," or man of
Belial, in the 6th chapter. In it we find a list
which indirectly formed the origin of the " Seven
Deadly Sins " which were so openly denounced in
the teaching of the mediaeval Church, but which
our more fastidious age seldom names — ¦
There be six things which Jehovah hateth,
Yea seven, which are an abomination unto Him :
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that deviseth thoughts of evil,
Feet that hastily run to -wickedness,
A false witness that breatheth out lies,
And he that soweth discord among brethren. — (vi. 16-19.)
It will be seen that this is not an accurate
description of seven distinct vices. Lying occurs

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 169
twice : the phrase which describes the evil heart
is general in its character, though it may refer to
impure thoughts ; while the description (5) of the
feet ready for mischief can hardly be distinguished
from (3) and (6). The seven deadly sins of the
Eoman Catholic Church are (1) Pride, (2) Avarice,
(3) Luxury, (4) Envy, (5) Anger, (6) Acedia, (7)
Gluttony. This clearly is a list not of actual trans
gressions, but of states or dispositions which are
the fruitful sources of transgression. It reminds us
partly of this list in Proverbs, partly of the list of
sins punished in the circles of Dante's Inferno. We
shall find all distinctly recognised in the Book of
Proverbs, even down to that sixth source of
mischief, which we have left in the original Latin
because it is hard to translate, but which might
perhaps be rendered Sullen Gloom.1 None of
the fountains of pollution which darken, embitter,
and poison the stream of human life are neglected
by this ethical philosopher of long ago. In
addition to plain and uncompromising denuncia
tion of certain obvious and glaring evils, we shall
find a number of subtle observations which mark
the close student of human nature and the wise
teacher who is himself taught by the Spirit of
1 See a most instructive essay on "Accidie," in The Spirit of
Discipline, and Other Sermons, by Dr. Francis Paget, Dean of
Christ Church, Oxford.

170 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
God. All vices spring from one source, the evil
heart. So the Proverbs tell us. But they show
us also the divers fruits of this corrupt tree ; so
many, so different, and capable of such disguise,
that without detailed exposure many of them
might escape detection. Let us, as the most
convenient way of examining the body of the
book, pursue this ethical teaching in its details.
It will not surprise us to find that such gross
evils as Falsehood, Pride, Envy, Lust, Sloth, and
Avarice are unflinchingly exposed and unsparingly
condemned. The proportion of space that is given
to each may, however, be unexpected, as well as
the treatment which each severally receives. We
cannot, in the case of a book like the Proverbs,
refer with any confidence to a particular state of
society as illustrated in the maxims, since they
probably refer to several periods, and some of
them appear to have come gradually into use, and
to have been worn into different shapes by the
handhng of successive generations. Again, it is
natural that certain forms of evil should be
animadverted upon in the proverbial philosophy
of a nation, whilst others, quite as serious in the
eyes of the moralist, comparatively speaking,
escape. If we generalise, however, upon the book
as a whole, we are probably struck with the
prominence which is given to Impurity, Sloth,

IIS ETHICAL TEACHING. 171
and Sins of the Tongue. There may have been
special reasons for this, or it may be said that in
any state of society evil tendencies in these
directions are more or less rife, and call for the
condemnation of the sage rather than the legis
lator. In any case the predominance remains,
and the Book of Proverbs has been of untold
value in exposing and lashing with unsparing
severity these sadly prevalent social sins.
Let us begin with the treatment of Anger. It
is noticeable that in the case of this, as of almost
every sin, special attention is drawn to its close
connection with Folly. Anger is one of her eldest
born. A " short madness " Horace called it long
ago, but the wise man before him had said, " He
that is soon angry dealeth foolishly," but " he that
is slow to anger is of great understanding '' (xiv.
17, 29). Anger leads to folly, is the teaching of
the Eoman satirist ; folly is the parent of anger, is
the deeper teaching of the Jewish sage. Both
are, of course, true ; but the causes of anger lie
deep down in the nature and disposition, deeper
than one who only marks the passionate ebullition
might be disposed to think. On the other hand,
while nothing seems so easy as to repress the
manifestations of hasty temper, which to a cool
bystander appear so childish, experience shows
that nothing is more characteristic of a truly

172 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
strong man than his power of self-control, whether
upon trifling or serious provocation. It is pro
verbial that many are more disturbed by the
lesser annoyances than by the greater troubles of
hfe. Temper is more tried by little trials, nature
by severe afflictions. He who can control him
self under pressure of both kinds is wise and
strong indeed.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
— (xvi. 32.)
The folly of passion is shown in the shrewd saying
(xii. 16), "The fool makes known his vexation on
the [same] day," i.e. at once ; or, as some render,
"in the daytime," i.e. allows everyone to see
it. Even prudence would suggest a measure of
reticence ; but " he that is hasty of spirit brings his
folly into full view " (xiv. 29), as no one sees more
plainly than himself when it is too late. That
anger is itself the parent of many evils could not
escape the attention of such an observer. He
tells us that the scornfully wrathful man " sets a
city in a flame " ; fuel for the flame is not hkely
to be wanting, and —
As coals to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to inflame strife. — (xxvi. 21.)
Anger is the source of many evils in the passion-

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 173
ate man's own heart and life, but it is also the
fruitful parent of all kinds of mischief around
him. He is a madman "scattering firebrands,
arrows, and death " ; his words are sown as seeds,
but they prove to be dragon's teeth, from which
spring up armed men. To show, however, that
the attitude of this book towards anger is not
superficial, deahng with the mere external mani
festations of angry feeling, take that deep saying,
" Hatred stirreth up strifes ; but love covereth
all transgressions" (x. 12). How deep the clear
water of that saying is, we might not have
observed, had it not been for the light shed upon
it by St. Peter and St. Paul, who show us how
" love covereth a multitude of sins," and " love
covereth all things."1 In a moment the wise
man who had been touching with light but skilful
hand the surface of the great sea of human
character, sinks his plummet down many thousand
fathoms to the depths, touching the sohd bed-rock
of gospel truth. How to secure that all-enduring,
all-covering love, however, it was not given to a
writer in Proverbs to say.
Pride and Envy come naturally next to anger,
1 1 Pet. iv. 8, and 1 Cor. xiii. i. (R.V. margin). If we retain
the translation "beareth all things," the meaning is not sub
stantially different. It is the " covering " of patient endurance,
not of cowardly concealment, that Prov. x. 12. commends.

174 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
" By pride cometh contention " ; how many bane
ful roots of strife would perish to-morrow if the
great tap-root of pride and envy and jealousy
were cut off. There are two ways of deahng with
pride. One is to show the proud man that his
arrogance is suicidal; he is not on the way to
promotion, but to abasement.
Pride goeth before destruction,
And a haughty sp:rit before a fall. — (xvi. 18.)
A nobler way is to show the man who would
stand well in his own eyes a better path to true
elevation of spirit ; and in the first collection of
proverbs he is twice told that " Before honour is
humility" (xv. 33, xviii. 12). Is it to be inferred
that Solomon in all his glory had learned this
profound lesson ; or that, while taught it in early
life by that celestial Wisdom which was granted
him in response to his own request, his heart
forgot its own precious lore and dechned upon the
lower path of mere earthly dignity and splendour ?
Or was this a lesson of later time which Solomon
never had the grace to learn ?
Closely akin to pride is envy or jealousy. These
are not quite identical, but one word describes
them both in the Hebrew, a word which fittingly
describes the inward raging which both excite,
like a fire glowing more and more with inward

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 175
heat, a passion which mamtains and intensifies
itself by its own self-consumption. How striking
on this subject is the proverb —
A tranquil heart is the life of the body,
But envy is rottenness in the bones. — (xiv. 30.)
Only the calm, self-possessed spirit, which has
learned the secret of doing its own work and
being content with filling worthily its own place,
can preserve and build up life and steadily pro
mote its well-being. The envious man, inwardly
fuming and perpetually exasperated by a com
parison between himself and others, nurses in his
own body a disease which is rapidly working his
own disintegration. The machine is tearing itself
to pieces by the very way in which it does its
work ; or, as the proverb more forcibly expresses
it, in the bones of the man's body decay has set
in, and rottenness is corrupting its very frame
work. As to the effect of jealousy upon others,,
language could hardly be more emphatic —
Anger is fierce, and wrath is a roaring flood.;
But who can stand before jealousy? — (xxvii. 4.)
If the manifestation of anger is a mark of folly,
to hide it by lying or cloak it by slander is no
better (x. 18). The secret snare may be more
deadly than the open assault. The har is constantly

176 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
spoken of in Scripture as the false witness, because
in Eastern courts of justice the giving of false
evidence was at the same time so common and so
terribly mischievous. But, as in the case of the
ninth commandment, so in the Proverbs, false
witness is not to be understood as confined to
testimony before tribunals. The chief mischief
is done before the judgment-seat of God and the
bar of society, and the har incurs condemnation
and punishment from both. " Lying lips are an
abomination to Jehovah," is a saying more than
once found in these pages ; and twice in the same
chapter we are told, "A false witness shall not
go unpunished " (xix. 5, 9). Falsehood surely
deserves such punishment, for — •
A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour
Is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow. — (xxv. 18.)
Like a hammer his he crushes down the tender
purity of innocence, and the cowardly bully adds to
his injury the natural but intolerable insolence of
hating those whom he has crushed (xxvi 28). But
his day is coming. He may find his momentary
triumph to be gratifying, but it contains within itself
the seeds of a bitter and shameful overthrow —
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man,
But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
—(xx. 17.)

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 177
Sins of the tongue are closely alhed together.
The flatterer is own cousin to the liar. The tale
bearer may not always be a slanderer, but he
seldom can bring himself to preserve the savour
less simplicity of the actual truth. Nay, the
talkative man — so powerful and untamable a
steed is the tongue when it is once mounted — has
by the very incontinence of his hps made himself
one of the children of Folly. To illustrate these
statements from Proverbs would mean to tran
scribe a large part of the book. The power of the
" unruly member " for good or evil has never been
more forcibly stated than in the aphorism, " Death
and life are in the power of the tongue " ; or in
the expanded forms of the same thought, " The
mouth of the foolish is a present destruction,"
" The tongue of the wise is health " (see xviii. 21,
x. 14, xii. 18). As to the mischief caused by
angry, violent, slanderous, and even inconsiderate
words, the proverbs multiply illustrations in vain
to express it. Eash words are like the piercings
of a sword, angry words are like fiery arrows.
Agur compares the violent words which compel
strife, to the " churning of milk which bringeth
forth butter, and the wringing of the nose which
bringeth forth blood," the word " pressing " being
used in each case to show the point of the com
parison. But the tattler who does not mean

178 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
mischief may be a greater pest than the man of
violent and overbearing speech. A perverse man
may diffuse contention, but it is the privilege of
the whisperer to separate chief friends (xvi. 28).
" To be wroth with one we love doth work like
madness in the brain," and it is the proud preroga
tive of the talebearer to boast that he can plant
stings in the tenderest spots of the heart's life,
that he can cause an unspeakable and intolerable
agony in the noblest breasts, such as the violent
man is incapable of producing ; for the wretched
gossip -monger, retailing half-truths that are
worse than hes, brings about misunderstanding,
estrangement, and parting between " very friends."
Even to " harp on a matter " is enough, says this
student of human nature (xvii. 9) ; mere continued
rubbing on the same place will produce an open
sore that will not soon heal. The contemplation
of such wanton and irremediable mischief sets
one longing that condign punishment should visit
such an offender. If it be any comfort to know
it, we are assured that as " a fool's mouth calleth
for stripes," so his very "mouth is his own
destruction " (xviii. 6, 7). A lying tongue, again,
we are told, is " but for a moment," and the wise
man is evidently of the same opinion as the
psalmist: "What shall be given unto thee, and
what shall be done more unto thee, thou deceitful

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 179
tongue ? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals
of juniper." It must not be supposed, however, that the
moralist contents himself with exposing and
denouncing evil. In his antithetic mode of speech
he has much to set on the other side, as he
describes the wholesome, purifying, strengthening
effect of kind and pleasant words. " The pure
speak pleasant words " (xv. 26), words which are
" as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health
to the bones" (xvi. 24). A brave, true, kindly
word spoken in season — not as of one " that singeth
songs to a heavy heart," not as of one anxious
above all things to speak " with a smooth tongue,"
but a " word of the wise," informed by judgment
and truth as well as by kindness and sympathy — of
how priceless a boon is this ! Even reproof may
be esteemed as fine gold, and the wise know how
to estimate it at its real value. " Eeprove a wise
man and he will love thee," such oil upon the
head he welcomes, not refuses. Finally — for the
subject is well-nigh inexhaustible — it is not
difficult to guess where St. James had learned
some of his lessons concerning the bridling of the
tongue, when he taught that men should be swift
to hear, slow to speak. Not in vain had he
learned from childhood that —
Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue
Keepeth his soul from troubles. — (xxi. 23.)

180 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
If there is one figure more than another in the
large and various retinue of Folly whom the wise
man in this book makes his butt and scorn, it is
the sluggard. We should come almost to pity
him, so many are the barbed arrows of raillery
sent quivering into his flesh, but that he is so
thick-skinned and dense, he feels none of them.
The "slothful man roasteth not that which he
took in hunting"; he caught it without trouble
and now is too lazy to cook it. Nay, he turns in
his bed "hke a door on its hinges" (xxvi. 14),
turns over, but does not turn out.
The sluggard burieth his hand in the dish ;
It wearieth him to bring it again to his mouth.
—(xxvi. 15.)
And— The sluggard saith, There is a lion without,
I shall be murdered in the streets. —(xxii. 13.)
It is undoubtedly with a fine irony, lost upon its
object, that Wisdom bids this heavy do-nothing
to go to the ant for instruction, to consider her
ways and be wise. For though his vineyard is
grown over with thorns and nettles, the stone
wall broken down, and the ground overrun with
weeds and desolate, the owner is the last to know
or believe it, and a masterly touch gives the
explanation that —

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 181
The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit
Than seven men that can render a reason. — (xxvi. 16.)
But while the slothful present a broad mark for
the missiles of satiric humour, the wise man who.
writes in the fear of God takes a grave and
serious, not a hght and trifling view of eviL
Fools make a mock at sin. It is not enough to-
tell the sluggard that " Yet a little sleep, a httle
slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep ; so
shall thy poverty come as a robber, and thy want
as an armed man." Sloth is viewed not as a
mere negative fault, bringing loss and trouble upon
him who indulges in it. It represents a deep*
defect of character. The slothful is " brother to.'
him that is a destroyer " (xviii. 9). It is one of
the characteristics of the fool to be sluggish of
heart, heavy, impenetrable to wisdom and good
ness, and in this deeper moral condemnation of
a character which might seem hardly aggressive-
enough in evil to be sternly judged, the wise-
man anticipates the judgment of the Master,.
who condemned to outer darkness the " wicked,"
because the "slothful servant." John Bunyan
seldom misses an impressive moral lesson of this
kind. In his allegory, Sloth is punished side by
side with Simple and Presumption. They were
asleep when Christian went by ; when Christiana
passed the same way, " behold they were hanged

182 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
up in irons a little way off on the other side." It
seemed a hard fate for those who only slept away
their time, but this was not all. As " they were
for sloth and folly themselves, they taught others
to presume they should do well at last." They
" turned several out of the way," Short-wind,
No-heart, Linger-af ter-Lust, and " one Sleepy-head,
with a young woman whose name was Dull,"
whom they persuaded to lounge about and idle
away their time instead of pursuing the sacred
but arduous pilgrimage. Thus does the allegorist
point the lesson which he had doubtless learned
from the wise morahst of Proverbs, that there is
|a closer kinship between sloth and wickedness,
between sluggishness of spirit and high-handed
presumption, than may have been supposed.
For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,
And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them. — (i. 32.)
The companion picture of Dihgence, which
serves as a foil to this, is as refreshing as it is
encouraging. The " hand of the diligent maketh
rich," the "soul of the diligent shall be made
fat," the "thoughts of the diligent tend only to
plenteousness." Seest thou a man diligent in his business?
He shall stand before kings,
He shall not stand before mean men. — (xxii. 29.)

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 183
Industry is not merely a pathway to wealth, it is
a moral virtue of no mean order. It is needed
not only in the physical world, the intellectual
world, the business world, the moral world, but
in the spiritual world also. He who has not yet
learned to " scorn delights and hve laborious days"
in order to attain in life's high enterprise, is no
true disciple of Wisdom. The need of dihgence,
of patient continuance in well-doing, is one of her
fundamental lessons. So we find it laid down in
a later book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes, " Whatever
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." So
we find it far more impressively taught and at the
same time perfectly illustrated by Him who said,
" We x must work the works of Him that sent Me,
while it is day : the night cometh, when no man
can work." When the Master deigns thus to
associate His servants with Himself as friends
and co-labourers in the lofty task of doing dili
gently the Father's will, what purer and stronger
stimulus to holy industry can we conceive ? Can
any disciple, hearing such words, ever afterwards
remain a spiritual sluggard ?
1 So the Revised Version reads in John ix. 4, instead of "I
must work," upon decidedly preponderating evidence.

184 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:

CHAPTEE IX.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: ITS ETHICAL TEACHING
(continued).
IT is characteristic of the book we are examining
that it gives due place to the human virtues
in the formation of character. Theological virtues
are not forgotten, and there is a much closer con
nexion between these distinct types of excellence
than some would have us believe. The Book of
Proverbs, as we have shown, can touch a deep
spiritual chord when necessary. But its dis
tinctive place among the books of the Bible hes
in its enforcement of the importance of "what
soever things are true, whatsoever things are
venerable, whatsoever things are just, what
soever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report."
The wise man is the enemy of the mean and
shabby, as well as of the impure and dishonest.
He finds time to praise cheerfulness and courtesy,
as well as the fear of the Lord and devoutness

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 185
of spirit. And this, because he sees the close
connexion between the two. Wisdom is justified
by her power to guide her children aright in
manners as well as in morals.
Amongst the suggestive words that are not
very frequently found in the book is "faithful
ness." Sometimes the word is simply synonymous
with "righteous," as when the psalmist com
plains that " the godly man ceaseth, the faithful
fail from among the children of men." But for
the most part it points to that rare and invalu
able quality of character which St. Paul places
among the fruits of the Spirit ; the w!ori$ which
A.V. translated " faith," but the E.V. more cor
rectly " faithfulness." He who trusts and can be
trusted ; he who " sweareth to his own hurt and
changeth not," presenting a delightful contrast
to the shallow, leaky, shuffling " talebearer " ; a
man true to his conscience, true to his friend, and
true to all men, because true to his God: the
price of such a man is above rubies. " A faithful
witness will not lie," and how hard the Oriental
finds it not to lie under severe pressure, those
who have lived in the East well know. " He that
is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter " ; not
when it is one that ought to be made known,
not when concealment involves misunderstanding
and shame and injustice to others. But those

(86 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
who attend too exclusively to the spiritual side
of religion may fail to see how great a gift it is
and how much grace it often requires for a man
simply to hold his tongue. The gossip is rarely
faithful —
Like [a drink] cooled with snow in time of harvest
So is a faithful messenger to them that send him :
He refresheth the soul of his master. — (xxv. 13.)
A faithful man indeed " shall abound with bless
ings " ; but the excellence is as rare as it is
transcendent —
Many a one meeteth them that are kind to him :
But a faithful man who can find ? — (xx. 6. )
Generosity is not forgotten. True, we do not
find in the Proverbs a recognition of that high
standard of kindness to the unthankful and the
evil which is the distinguishing glory of the New
Testament, but there is a fuller anticipation of it
than the hasty reader of the book would gather.
The blessedness of giving is recognised : " For the
liberal soul " (lit. " soul of blessing ") " shall be
made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also
himself." It is in this book, moreover, that the
injunction is found which St. James so express
ively adapts, " Say not to thy neighbour, Go and
come again and to-morrow I will give, when thou
hast it by thee." But there are costlier gifts than

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 187
food and money, and many a man can be generous
with his substance who is chary of -affection and
magnanimous forgiveness. How far has Wisdom
advanced beyond Law, when instead of " an eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," we read —
If thine enemy hunger, give him bread to eat ;
If he thirst, give him water to drink :
For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
And Jehovah shall reward thee.- — (xxv. 21, 22.)
It is true that the mocking spirit which delights
to detract and deny, has explained that the shame
and humiliation thus heaped upon the adversary
are supposed to be so grateful to the feelings of
the injured man, that he finds in this a part of
his reward. But such ignoble exposition only
reveals ignobihty in the commentator. The
burning spoken of is evidently wholesome and
purifying, though it has its painful elements. To
bring a man to a sense of his unworthiness
cleanses and raises, while it shames him ; and as
St. Paul- shows, this is the only "vengeance"
which the righteous man ever seeks, while such
reward as he looks for comes from God alone.
Another very striking injunction, which we must
not stay to expound, is found in ch. xxiv. 11,
"Deliver them that are carried away unto death,"
etc. The passage cannot mean that the righteous
course of justice is rashly to be interfered with,

188 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
but it gives a most significant hint that " mercy
glorieth against judgment"; it contains a prin
ciple which would indefinitely raise the character
of most Eastern tribunals, and needs to be borne
in mind under the more humane procedure of
Western courts in later times; while it affords
one more proof that the wise men who composed
or compiled the Proverbs of Solomon had many
a ghmpse of a Wisdom higher than that with which
their time and their order has usually been credited.
Cheerfulness hardly ranks among the virtues.
Yet how many excellent people would double
their own happiness and quadruple their influence
for good, if it ever occurred to them that it is a
duty for a Christian man to be cheerful and help
to make others so. Within limits, of course:
cheerfulness is not an end in itself, but a most
desirable means to a number of still more desir
able ends. The New Testament has its own
message to give on this matter, but the music of
the Bible would lack one characteristic note
were it not for the book which teaches that " he
that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual feast "
(xv. 15), and that —
A merry heart is a good medicine,
But a broken spirit drieth up the bones. — (xvii. 22.)
The wise man is quite aware that " the laughter

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 1S9
of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a
pot," though that particular proverb does not
occur in this book. But as an excellent machine
may grate heavily for lack of oil, or even generate
mischief by needless friction, so many a devout
and devoted man needs to be reminded of the
" time to laugh," and to lay it well to heart that
a cheerful spirit and bright, hopeful outlook, such
as is possible to a man whose conscience is at
peace with God and man, furnishes at the same
time food and medicine, lightening the toil and
easing the journey of life for himself and all
around him.
Much hght is cast by the Book of Proverbs on
the social life of the times reflected in it, and on
the social danger and duties of all times. It is
instructive to observe how closely the standard
here erected corresponds with that of the prophets.
The prophet is understood to be a man who
pours forth impassioned utterances under a direct
inspiration which impels him vehemently to
denounce evil-doers, however influential or popu
lar. The writer in Proverbs is supposed to be
a cold, calculating morahst, who indites "safe,"
conventional maxims of a commonplace character.
But we find striking parallels between the two
teachers, the substance of their doctrine being
often the same, though the form is very different.

190 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
There is, moreover, the same plain-spokenness in
seer and sage. Both go direct to the point and
denounce evil without any very nice consideration
of phrases. The prophet's words burn and glow,
they are more interesting to read and more
moving to the feelings, but there is a quiet, pene
trative power about the more severely restrained
speech of the wise man, which makes his words
to be easily remembered and readily quoted, and
which probably gave them in many cases an acute
and abiding sting.
There is one form of evil in particular of which
it is not easy to speak, but which breeds rotten
ness in society, as it does in the individual heart
that cherishes it, and this the wise man denounces
without any mincing of words. The number of
passages which warn against the " strange woman"
and her allurements is somewhat remarkable. It
might seem as if Solomon himself were placing
on record the results of his own bitter experience.
But false delicacy is here no kindness. Impurity
is a sin which must be fled from, not encountered;
but if occasionally it becomes necessary to speak
of it, the most direct and uncompromising terms
are the best. So does Hogarth rebuke vice in
his Eake's Progress ; all the superficial glamour of
temptation has vanished, and sin is seen in its
native hideousness. The secrecy in which this

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 191
evil lurks explains half its power. All evil hates
the light, but the attractions of this vice are
banished by the cold, clear, terrible, all-exposing
day. "Everything that is made manifest is
light " ; and many a young man has had cause to
bless the unshrinking directness which made him
ashamed and afraid of that loathly shape of lewd
ness which hugs the darkness and hates the
dawn. Impurity wears many disguises, and has a whole
stock of fair masks wherewith to hide an ugly
face. They are all taken off, one after another,
in the opening chapters of this book. There is
no need that we should pursue this painful,
though necessary, process of exposure. But we
should miss one key to a full comprehension of
this book if we omitted to notice that the chosen
contrast to the pure, sweet, grave picture of
Wisdom clad in virgin - white, is the gaudily-
coloured figure, with its meretricious attractions,
of My Lady Folly. The profligate youth who
" knows his way about " the purlieus of the great
sinful city is supposed to be specially knowing ;
he is the man of the world, who has graduated in
the school of unholy experience, and "knows
life," while the innocent, pure-minded youth is
held to be a greenhorn and simpleton. How
scathing the irony with which the wise man

192 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
tears off this wretched threadbare cloak ! It is
the voluptuary and debauchee who is really the
simpleton. The fool is the man who counts that
sort of knowledge worth having. The young man
" void of understanding " is he whom a creature so
impudent and bedizened as the strange woman can
attract. Coarser of nature and more dull of percep
tion than the " ox that goeth to the slaughter," this
would-be wise man goes open-eyed to his ruin.
To compare the foohsh youth to an ox going to
slaughter, or a bird entering a snare, seems unfair
to the "lower" creation. Yet the wise man no
where more clearly shows his wisdom than in not
underestimating the dangers of this suhtle and
deadly temptation. In better moments a man
may say, as Hazael did not say, " Is thy servant
a dog that he should do this thing ? " But " he
that trusteth his own heart is a fool"; and
amongst the slain of My Lady Folly have been
many of the wise and great and strong.
For she hath cast down many wounded,
Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
Her house is the way to the grave,
Going down to the chambers of death. — (vii. 26.)
Another form of evil which figures somewhat
largely in the Proverbs — at first sight it is not
easy to see why — is suretiship. It might for a
moment appear that the readiness to be bound for

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 193
a friend is a virtue, and even if such engagements
be sometimes unwisely entered upon, that the evil
is not a very serious one. It is quite certain that
the Proverbs do not disparage true friendship ; on
the contrary, they extol it in words which remind
us how rare and inestimable a blessing a loyal
friend is. He "loveth at all times, and is a
brother born for adversity." There is a friend
that " sticketh closer than a brother," and the
man who has proved the pricelessness of such a
treasure will not need to be exhorted, " Thine own
friend and thy father's friend, forsake not."
Such a friend, however, does not ask another to be
surety for him; and he who is in danger from
suretiship is not of the stuff of which such friends
are macle. It is the " stranger " who asks for
more than he is entitled to (vi. 1, and xi. 15), and it
is the man void of understanding who readily
strikes hands and becomes surety for a sum he
cannot pay (xvii. 18, and xxii. 26, 27). There may
be a decided flavour of worldly wisdom about the
adage, as if it simply bade a man take good care
of his own interests —
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it,
But he that hateth suretiship is sure.
A little consideration, however, shows that the
wise man is not as shallow as his critics. The use
13

194 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
of money is an index of character. The greatest
Teacher the world has ever known laid a surpris
ing stress upon this, when He came to apply the
parable of the Unjust Steward. The young man
who enters into such monetary engagements as
are condemned in the Proverbs is in the first
place morally weak, in the second place practically
dishonest, and in the third place he will probably
entail much suffering upon those who have
deserved better at his hands.
As a matter of fact, the common-sense teaching
of this book concerning business matters is far
more nearly akin to the higher spiritual teaching
which is usually characteristic of the Bible than
men are ready to beheve. The whole of our hfe
needs to be moralised or spirituahsed. If any
part of it is omitted as unimportant, a sure
Nemesis speedily follows. The surging sea of evil
can make its way through any undefended part of
the dyke, and then the whole country may be
submerged. In some states of society this has
been forgotten. The subject of wealth, its pro
duction, its distribution, its use, has been handed
over to the department of things secular. The
evangelical teacher, perhaps, is esteemed not as
spiritual as he ought to be, if he leaves the truths
of the gospel to descant upon the duties of capital
and labour. But Divine Wisdom is all-embracing

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 195
in her scope. She does not begin with the uses
of money, as if man's character could be shaped
from without ; but she does not omit to show
how important in their place are those material
considerations which necessarily figure so largely
in our hfe as it now is. The wise man neither
worships wealth nor despises it. He treats it as
what it is, a great power. It may be unjustly
gained, then it is hke a rich garment which infects
him who wears it with a plague he cannot cure ;
it may be foolishly squandered or abused to pro
mote injustice and oppression, then it hurts others
as well as the fool or knave who has possessed
himself of edged tools which he does not know
how to use. Wealth makes many friends (xix. 4),
and makes room for its possessor before great
men (xvih. 16). It is a high wall and a strong
tower, but it is apt to be more so in the estimation
of the rich man himself than it is in reahty
(xvih. 11). Much depends upon the use made of
this excellent servant but bad master. Much de
pends upon the way in which it has been gained —
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his gain,
And he that giveth to the rich, cometh only to want.
—(xxii. 16.)
He that augmenteth his substance by usury and increase
Gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor.
— (xxviii. 8.)

196 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
Poverty in itself, however, is no excellence. The
poor man is apt soon to lose his friends (xix. 4) ;
as a borrower, he is httle better than the slave of
the rich lender (xxii. 7). But the poor may be
" rich in faith," or, as the Old Testament teacher
puts it, in wisdom. The " poor man that walketh
in his integrity" is the subject of deserved
eulogium ; he has understanding and can " search
out," i.e. see through and rise superior to the pre
tensions of the rich man who has nothing better
than his riches to boast of. There is a whole
gospel for the poor to be drawn from the Book of
Proverbs. There are half-a-dozen Hebrew words
to describe various kinds and degrees of poverty,
as, indeed, during the later days of the Jewish
monarchy there were needy and destitute persons
belonging to all classes, from the slave to the man
of high social position who in days of war and
anarchy might suddenly be overtaken by calamity
and end his days in want. The treatment of the
poor is a subject on which this book has much to
say. They were specially cared for among the
Jews, as we know, by humane legislation, but the
proverb imposes a duty which the law could not
exact, and promises a blessing which no law ever
had the power to bestow —
Remove not the ancient landmark,
And enter not into the fields of the fatherless ;

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 197
For their Redeemer is strong,
He shall plead their cause against thee.
— (xxiii. 10, 11.)
Frequent reading at the most sacred service of
Christian worship has familiarised us with the
words — ¦
He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord,
And his good deed will He pay him again. — (xix. 17.)
Agur's prayer in the 30th chapter prevents us
from forgetting that both rich and poor have
characteristic temptations, which, however, the
man of the middle class, who is neither wealthy
nor destitute, cannot wholly escape. The experi
ence of generations cannot more accurately
express the spiritual dangers of the man of sub
stance than the words, " lest I be full, and deny
Thee, and say, Who is Jehovah ? " nor those of the
poor than his description of the danger of dis
honesty and of " using profanely the name of my
God." Extracts on this important subject might
easily be multiplied, but even this hasty survey
may teach a generation like ours, which is speci
ally occupied with questions concerning the ac
cumulation and distribution of wealth, that there
are many lessons in the Proverbs by no means obso
lete, though they were framed for a very different
state of society from our own. There is enough

198 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
even in a few of the pregnant maxims of this
book to bring to an end much of the misery
caused by the unequal distribution of wealth,
which always has obtained thus far in the history
of mankind, and which probably always will
obtain to the end. "Weary not thyself to be
rich " ; " There is that scattereth and yet in-
creaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than
is meet, but it tendeth to poverty " ; " He that
hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed '' ; " Better is
a httle with the fear of the Lord than great
treasure and trouble therewith " ; "A good name
is rather to be chosen than great riches, and lov
ing favour rather than silver or gold." So speaks
Wisdom, who at the same time nowhere dis
parages wealth, and heartily commends those who
are diligent in the lawful pursuit of it. Who will
say that on the lines laid down in Proverbs alone
the social problems which are exercising so many
minds to-day might not be largely solved ? For
their fuller solution we have to wait till a greater
than Solomon has revealed that new moral
dynamic by which alone the sage counsels of pro
verbial wisdom can be carried out in actual life.
A number of maxims bearing upon social and
civil life circle round the subjects of Woman and
Kingly Government. The Eastern opinion of
woman, speaking broadly, is low. Woman is

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 199
very largely what man makes her or allows her
to be, and in countries where polygamy is prac
tised or even tolerated, where the seclusion of
women is esteemed a necessity, and the education
of women a mistake, if not a crime, it is not hkely
that she will attain her true mental and moral
stature. Israel in this respect contrasted favour
ably with nations around. The spirit of legis
lation was lofty and humane. The types of
womanly excellence which adorned Israelitish
history established precedents of the highest
value. Still, what may be called the Oriental
taint of thought on the subject of sex prevented
the highest ideal not only from being realised, but
from being entertained. The proverbial wisdom
of a country is a reflex not of the highest, but of
the current average standard of conduct. That
the tone of the Proverbs on this subject is as
high and noble as it is, is a testimony to the ele
vating influence of Old Testament religion. In
Ecclesiasticus, dating from the second century
before Christ, and, for that matter, in Ecclesiastes,
the tone is perceptibly lowered.
The condition of woman is at the same time
an index and a test of the condition of society.
"Woman by constitutional character goes into
all, hke water ; she should be clean who phes so
close." The Book of Proverbs is never weary of

200 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS :
insisting upon the importance of Family Life, and
in its description of the home gives woman per
haps as prominent a place as has ever been given
her in any stage of civilisation. As wife and
mother, everything depends on her —
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband,
But she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his
bones. — (xii. 4.)
The disciple is bidden not only to keep his father's
commandment, but " not to forsake the teaching
of his mother." Ah, that mother's Torah ! Who
shall say for how much Israel was indebted to. it;
until the time came when Timothy was taught by
his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, or
that other Child appeared of whom it is said
in the same verse that He was subject to His
mother, and that she kept all His sayings in her
heart! The true excellence of woman is cele
brated in these Proverbs. The wise man does
not think he exalts her by putting her out of her
place. "A gracious woman retaineth honour";
the "wise woman buildeth her house." As the
31st chapter shows at length, her throne and her
glory is the home. Who rules the home, rules
the State. But woman's sway is not to be won
by a contest for pre-eminence. The Proverbs
have no pity for the contentious woman. Better
to dwell " in the corner of a housetop," or even " in

o

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 201
a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful
woman" (xxi. 9, 19). She is like "a continual
dropping in a very rainy day," and the wiser the
sage, the better he knows how foolish is any attempt
to check the irritating and irrepressible storm —
He that would restrain her restraineth the wind,
And his right hand encountereth oil. — (xxvii. 16.)
He does not spare her follies. " Like a jewel of
gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman
that is without discretion." Gallantry is out of
place here. But something far better than
gallantry, which does more honour to woman
than a half-mock respect paid to her superficial
attractions, is found in the ode to the virtuous
woman with which the whole book closes. A
society which could produce such a picture, even
though it were not often fully realised, must have
been sound and wholesome at the core. The
virtuous woman is " more precious than rubies " ;
the " heart of her husband trusteth in her " ; she
"worketh willingly with her hands," "looketh
well to the ways of her household, and eateth not
the bread of idleness." " Strength and dignity are
her clothing, thus she laugheth at the future
day"; for who feels more independent of the
chances and changes of life than he who has a
true wife and a happy home ? She " openeth her

202 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is
on her tongue." And the truly religious artist
who painted this exquisite picture shows what to
him was the deep-lying explanation of all its
loveliness and attraction —
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain ;
But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
We must not linger over the teaching of Proverbs
concerning the State. It is neither so full nor so
exphcit as that which deals with the Family. It
was not always safe to speak out on the subject
of government. Moreover, experiences differed,
and at one time in Jewish history it might seem
that the powers that be are ordained of God ; at
another, that human authority was but a gloomy
cloud of oppression, hiding the sunshine of Divine
justice. Some commentators think they can dis
cern a difference of tone between the earlier and
later proverbs, the earlier reflecting a brighter and
more hopeful tone concerning earthly kingship.
But unfortunately these " earher " proverbs are
considered by some high authorities to be in
reality a record of later times. There can be no
question, however, concerning the fundamental
principles of government; and here, again, the
wise man is in complete accord with the prophet,
though his language is more guarded and re-

I7S ETHICAL TEACHING. 203
strained. Great is the power of the Eastern king
for good or evil. Some of the figures which are
used to express this are very striking. The wise
and righteous king is like a great winnowing-fan
on the upland threshing-floor ; sitting on the
throne of judgment, he " winnoweth away evil
with his eyes," and he " winnoweth the wicked,
and bringeth the threshing-wheel over them " (xx.
8, 26). The king's wrath is " as a roaring lion,"
" as the messenger of death " ; but his favour is as
the dew and as a "cloud of the latter rain."
There is a touch of worldly wisdom, such as we
have met with before, in the advice —
My son, honour thou Jehovah and the king,
And meddle not with them who are given to change ;
For their calamity riseth suddenly,
And the end of their years, who knoweth it ?
(xxiv. 20, 21.)
This watchword of conservatism needs a httle
examination before it is indiscriminately applied
to bolster up abuses in government or errors
in doctrine, simply because they exist. The
eminently cautious spirit expressed in the words
has its uses, but general maxims are easily coined
and easily misapplied. It is more to the purpose
to observe that whatever the nature of civil
government, the wise man discerns only one
principle which can make it truly stable and truly

204 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
fruitful in those benefits to the subject for which
all legitimate government has been instituted.
The king's heart is — that is, ought to be — " in the
hand of Jehovah as the watercourses : He turneth
it whithersoever He will." It is an abomination
to kings — that is, it ought to be — "to commit
wickedness, for the throne is established by
righteousness." Finally, the day will never dawn
and the form of civil government will never ' be
discovered, in aristocracy, democracy, plutocracy,
ochlocracy, or theocracy, in which it will cease to
be true that
Righteousness exalteth a nation,
But sin is a reproach to any people. — (xiv. 34.)
This chapter may fittingly close with a few
remarks on the rewards of virtue as set forth in
the Book of Proverbs. It is perhaps this feature
which more than any other has given colour
to the charge of worldliness and selfishness to
its maxims. Their scope seems narrow, it is
said, their horizon painfully limited. Doubtless
honesty is the best policy — sometimes ; but in
any case a sacred book should be concerned with
something higher than "policy," however ex
cellent. What is more, some of these promising
generalisations concerning the prosperity of the
righteous and the pleasant earthly gifts of Wisdom

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 205
do not seem to be borne out by facts ; and so, we
are told, the promises of the book are as delusive
as the motive they hold out is sordid and un
worthy. Eeally, however, these objectors to the
teachmg of the Bible concerning the rewards of
righteousness are rather hard to please. If the
prospects of a future life are dwelt upon, the
teaching is accused of " other- worldhness " ; if
those of the present life, the tone is held to be
utilitarian and selfish. If no reward at all is
spoken of, such spiritual teaching is complained
of as being abstract and impalpable, and however
lofty, lacking in power and actuality. Eightly
understood, Scripture teaching may be defended
on all counts of this indictment. There is no
small danger lest two very different things should
be confused together. The prospect of happiness
need not be a motive for action, still less the chief
and prevailing motive. The spirit which is con
stantly asking " What shall we have, therefore ? "
is condemned by our Lord, whether the reward
sought is to be enjoyed in earth or heaven. A
man who translates the price of Wisdom into gold
and rubies has yet to understand the meaning
of the word. But one who beheves in the moral
government of the universe is bound to beheve
that sooner or later, it may be in this world or
it may be in another, consequences and conduct

206 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
will be shown to correspond. Eight and wrong
in the world within must be recognised as such
in the world without. This was Kant's argument
when he contended that immortality is a postu
late of the Practical Eeason. The reason cannot
acquiesce in injustice, or the lack of correspond
ence between right and might, duty and reward.
If the balance hangs awry here, it will be
redressed at last. So far from this being an
immoral doctrine, or one which favours selfish
and lower motives, it is one of the very axioms
of conscience. The good man must look forward
to the triumph of goodness, though he does not
follow goodness simply because it will bring him
triumph in the end.
Scripture teaches this in many tones. The
tone adopted in the Proverbs accords with the
stage of Divine revelation which had been reached
at the time. Hardly any light is cast on the
fsubject of a future life in the Old Testament. A
Jewish saint could not inculcate patience, because
in another life, " this world shall be thrust down
and we upborne." The arena was before him on
the earth, and death bounded his horizon. His
faith in God and his experience ahke taught him
that in the present life the righteous were re
warded and the wicked punished. Eetribution
is not peculiar to a future life. Wisdom leads to

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 207
success. The fool morally is a simpleton intel
lectually. It is, of course, easy to perceive a host
of apparent exceptions to the rule. The righteous
might be oppressed, the fool be in high place and
great power, and the wise man was not free from
the temptation to envy sinners and " fret himself "
because of their prosperity. But he could look
beyond. Truly there is a future,
And thy hope shall not come to nought. — (xxiii. 18.)
There will be no future to the evil man,
The lamp of the wicked shall be put out. — (xxiv. 20.)
It was the thought of this 'acharith, the " latter
end," that which should be by and by, he could
not tell when or how, which sustained the godly
Israelite among the complexities of life. On this
he rests his soul in the Proverbs. On this the
wisest must rest his soul to-day. There is One
who knows, He will requite in due time. He
requites now ; quite sufficiently for us to discern
the principles of His government, the motions of
His will. At the last — -whether in this life or
not, is after all a detail — He will requite fully,
and in the faith of this the wise man orders his
conduct continually. All the language of the
Proverbs, as of the Law, the Psalms, and the
Prophets, must be understood in the light of this
fundamental truth.

208 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS:
But it is not correct to represent this book as
laying sole or chief stress upon the external
rewards of virtue. If any part of the Bible
specially celebrates virtue as its own reward,
surely it is the opening chapters of Proverbs.
The glowing language which describes the beauty
and honour of Wisdom is not to be interpreted of
the material blessings she brings in her train.
That these were entirely absent from the mind
of the writer, is not likely ; that they formed the
chief recommendation of Wisdom in his eyes, is
incredible. As merchandise, she " is better than
silver, and her gain than fine gold." If she is
" more precious than rubies," her value cannot be
estimated in terms of gold and precious stones.
If "she is a tree of life to them that lay hold
upon her, and happy is every one that retaineth
her," it is not for what she gives, but for what
she is. True —
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee,
She shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace
her.
She shall give to thy head a chaplet of grace,
A crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. — (iv. 8, 9.)
But the reader's own eye must be strangely
coloured by earthly visions if he can suppose
that these words were intended to mean, Follow

ITS ETHICAL TEACHING. 209
Wisdom in order to gain a good place at court
and dress in purple and jewels every day.
On the other hand, it is not only a legitimate
motive with which to ply an evil-doer to show
him that calamity dogs his footsteps ; it is some
times the only one that will reach him. The
ways of transgressors are hard ; but not usually
so at first. That is a lesson of experience which
comes later, which the fool is slow to learn at the
lips of Wisdom. Accordingly, it is pressed home
in this book, sometimes with very great power.
It is not for nothing that we read of sins of
uncleanness —
His own iniquities lay held of the evil-doer,
And with the cords of his sin is he held fast. — (v. 22.)
The figures which describe the rottenness and
corruption to which impurity leads, the utter
disintegration of character and happiness which
falsehood and selfishness must result in, are some
times so literally realised as hardly to be figures
at all. So truly does Heaven make "of our
pleasant vices, instruments to plague us," or
rather, plants the very seeds of disease and death
in the fruit of the garden of which the Lord has'
said, Thou shalt not eat of it. The teaching of
the Book of Proverbs is not the whole teaching
of the Bible, there are notes in the fuller range
14

210 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
of its celestial music which the sage and moralist
cannot reach. But the teaching of the wise man
is of eternal and universal value. It can never
grow obsolete. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ does but enforce and transcend, not super
sede it. If the Proverbs teach the terrible evil
of sin, nowhere do they make it so tremendous
as it appears in the hght of the Cross, and not
till Wisdom Incarnate appeared could it be under
stood how true is the wise man's eulogium of his
gracious, heavenly Guide, " Her ways are ways of
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

ECCLESIASTES: AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 211

CHAPTEE X.
ECCLESIASTES: ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN.
IN the formation of the Old Testament Canon
there appear to have been a few books
concerning the admission of which some doubt
was entertained. It is hardly correct to
speak of these as Anlilegomena, as if they
precisely corresponded to those books of the
New Testament which for some time were
" spoken against," i.e. not universally accepted
as canonical, and only admitted into the sacred
list after centuries of probation. Our informa
tion with regard to the way in which the Old
Testament Canon was formed is scanty, and when
the light of history begins to dawn, it appears —
e.g. from Josephus — that a definite number of
books had already received the stamp of tradition
as belonging to the Holy Writings, a number
which was never afterwards altered. It remains
true, however, that as early as the first century
of our era, there was a measure of doubt and

212 ECCLESIASTES:
discussion concerning three books, numbered
amongst the Megilloth or Eolls, viz. Ecclesiastes,
Song of Songs, and Esther. The way in which
these doubts were raised shows that the books
had already received the sanction of Jewish
tradition, but it was felt that they were open to
criticism, chiefly on the ground of difficulties
raised by their contents.
In the case of Ecclesiastes such questionings
are not to be wondered at. It was objected
that its statements are contradictory, that some
of its sentiments tended to infidelity, and that it
ought to pass into oblivion because it asserts
that the creatures of God are vain, and prefers
transient pleasures to higher things. It was
defended, partly on the ground that it bore the
name of Solomon, partly that it had been very
early quoted as Scripture, and partly on the ground
that it begins with the Law and ends with the Law
— a statement easily enough borne out by ch. xii.
13, but only intelligible as regards its former part
by a characteristic rabbinical interpretation of
ch. i. 3. Some of the traditions to which we have
referred in the above greatly condensed statement
are demonstrably of very early date, others have
come down to us through Jerome and the later
tradition of the Midrash. On the whole, the
facts seem to have been these. The Canon of

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 213
the Old Testament was virtually closed by about
100 B.C. It was formally or officially closed at
the so-called Council of Jamnia about 100 a.d.
The discussions concerning a few of the books,
fragmentary accounts of which have come clown
to us, arose chiefly about the latter period. They
do not affect the historical position of (for
example) Ecclesiastes, it being imphed throughout
that the book was already included among the
sacred Scriptures. But they show that consider
able freedom of criticism was permitted within
the Jewish Church concerning the doctrine of
the several books, their internal consistency and
reconcilability with the Torah or Law, which
always remamed the standard. The book which
was felt to be one of the most difficult to harmonise
with the general tenor of Old Testament teaching
is the one which now claims our attention.
The very name of the book is more or less of
a riddle. It appears to have been coined by the
writer, and the precise shade of meaning intended
by it is still open to question. Our name
Ecclesiastes comes from the rendering given in
the Greek version of the Hebrew Koheleth. The
root Kahal means to call together or gather; it
may be understood of gathering maxims, or, more
properly, to the assembling of men and addressing
them as assembled. But a feminine participle

214 ECCLESIASTES:
of the root in question is used here, conveying
a peculiar official signification, and apphcable
either to Wisdom personified, or to the writer as
occupying an office of dignity and responsibility.
It is clear that in interpreting a word not found
elsewhere, derived from a root with more than
one appropriate meaning, and occurring in a form
open to more than one explanation, there is
abundant room for difference of opinion. The
following are some of the explanations that have
received support from recognised authorities.
One of the earliest, given in the Midrash and
substantially adopted by Jerome and Luther, is
that with which English readers are most familiar,
viz. that Koheleth means preacher, in the ordinary
acceptation of the word. This, however, is not
the meaning of the root, nor in accordance with
the facts. Grotius and others understand the
word to mean " compiler of maxims " ; others, " the
gatherer back to God of those who have wandered
in the paths of doubt " ; whilst others hold that
it corresponds to the Greek sophist, meaning a
philosopher whose professional business it is to
give oral instruction to a school of disciples.
Some high authorities x consider the feminine ter-
1 Including Ewald, Ginsburg, Kuenen, and others. Gesemus,
Delitzsch, and Cheyne adopt the view described in the latter
part of the sentence.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 215
mination to denote the personification of Wisdom,
in harmony with the language of Prov. i, viii.,
ix., etc.; whilst others see in it only a late Hebrew
usage to designate the holder of an office. The
late Dean Plumptre would render the word
Debater. The Eevisers in their margin have
suggested The Great Orator, and Professor Cheyne
suggests The Ideal Teacher. It is probably
impossible to find an English phrase which would
fully convey the meaning of the Hebrew, if it
be correctly understood by the following long
periphrasis^-one officially discharging the duties
of a teacher in the schools, conducting a discussion
concerning grave questions of faith and conduct,
which he desires to bring to satisfactory issue.
We seem to need a combination of the renderings
"Debater" and "Ideal Teacher." It will be
easiest to preserve the name Koheleth, under
standing it in somewhat the above sense.
Who is the author of the book ? How are the
opening words, "the son of David, king (over
Israel, ver. 12) in Jerusalem," to be understood ?
Does the book claim to have been written by
Solomon, and can such claim be sustained ? That
the book is in some sense ascribed to Solomon is
obvious. No one else answers to the description
given, and from the earhest times the words have
been so understood. It must not, however, be

2i 6 ECCLESIASTES:
taken for granted that Solomon is spoken of as
the author of the book. The use by another of
Solomon's name and the putting of certain words
into Solomon's mouth is a literary form which
does not imply anything of the nature of fraud
or imposition, if it is done for the purposes of the
composition. The name, the reputation, the
history and experience of Solomon as a sort of
representative of Jewish wisdom may well be
used in sacred literature for the purpose of
pointing the moral lessons of a later day. The
book known as the " Wisdom of Solomon," com
posed in Greek probably not long before our era,
thus dramatically puts words into Solomon's
mouth, though without naming him, which the
author can never have intended to be read as
Solomon's own composition.1 It is clear that
the chronicler in similar fashion puts words into
David's lips which were thought appropriately to
express his feehngs at the festival of the con
secration of the tabernacle.2 Pseudonymous
writing does not necessarily, does not usually,
imply any desire to deceive. But in this case
there is not even the ascription of the book as
such to Solomon as its actual author ; it is rather
that Solomon is represented at the outset as
1 See Wisd. vii. 1, viii. 10, ix. 1.
2 1 Chron. xvi. 7-36 ; of. Pss. cv., xcvi., cvi.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 217
actor and speaker in relation to the discussion
that follows. This will appear more clearly upon
closer examination.
The usual form of superscription (compare
Prov. i. 1, and Song i. 1) is not found. On the other
hand, as we have seen, the name Koheleth points
to a kind of ideal or representative use of Solo
mon's name. It is said in ch. i. 12, "I was king
over Israel in Jerusalem," a form of speech which
perhaps does not conclusively prove that Solomon
did not write the words, for it might be rendered
" I have been king," and be placed in the mouth
of one who still occupied the throne. But it is
not a phrase which one still sitting on the throne
would be likely to adopt, and the words of ch. i. 16,
" I have gotten me great wisdom above all that
were before me over Jerusalem," present great
difficulty, on the supposition that Solomon wrote
them. The preposition used means " over," not
" in " (though some MSS. read " in ") ; and if the
text be correct, it seems somewhat strained to
apply the phrase to a " line of unknown Jebusite
rulers." On' the other hand, we can hardly
imagine any writer using Solomon's name to
commit the glaring anachronism of making him
compare himself with a long line of royal pre
decessors, when he had only one. Instead of
insisting upon the meaning of a phrase, however,

218 ECCLESIASTES:
it is more satisfactory to point to more general
considerations which show that the description
is one of Solomon ideally conceived by another
writer, not of his actual history narrated by him
self. The language in which Solomon's -un
paralleled wisdom and wealth and greatness are
spoken of (i. 16, ii. 7-9) would be unseemly in
the hps of the king himself, even allowing for
the measure of self-laudation in which Oriental
kings often indulged. It is unhkely that Solomon,
with a recognised heir to the crown, would speak
so uncertainly of " the man that shall be after me,"
as he does in ch. ii. 18, 19. The language used
concerning the kingly office, found in ch. viii. 2-9,
in ch. x. 16-18, and elsewhere, is quite inappro
priate in the hps of a king, and seems to show that
the temporary impersonation of Solomon has been
dropped. But the strongest argument of this
kind is to be found in the general description of
tyranny and oppression implied in several parts
of the book. The 8th chapter, for example,
describes a state of affairs by no means corre
sponding with that of the early Jewish monarchy ;
and even if we may assume that under Solomon
in all his glory a great deal of oppression and of
resulting misery existed, it is almost absurd to
imagine that Solomon himself could speak of it
as does the writer of Ecclesiastes.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 219,
The matter, however, is placed almost beyond
the pale of argument by the linguistic peculiarities
of the book. The argument for date drawn from
language cannot very often be rehed upon in the
Old Testament. There are a few cases, however,
in which it may not only be used, but pressed,
and this is one of them. " If the Book of Koheleth
were of old Solomonic origin," says Delitzsch,.
" then there is no history of the Hebrew language."
The peculiar words used are not the most striking
proof of late date, though a few of these would
be almost conclusive. Some of the grammatical
forms used are much more akin to Aramaic usage
than to that of classical Hebrew. In the use of
pronouns and of words, as well as in the prevail
ing mode of connecting clauses in a narrative,
we have what almost amounts to proof positive
that Ecclesiastes is one of the latest, if not the
very latest book of the Old Testament.
This is so generally recognised now amongst
scholars, that the last few pages of argument may
seem to have been wasted. We have thought
it worth while, however, to summarise the chief
considerations which have led to this conclu
sion, because in Ecclesiastes we have a crucial
instance of vahd criticism. From the earliest
times both Jewish and Christian commentators
have been content to accept the apparent asser-

220 ECCLESIASTES:
tion of Solomonic authorship in ch. i. as con
clusive. If Solomon's name is used, Solomon's
hand must have written the book ; so the popular
logic has run, and learned opinion has freely
argued. To-day, so moderate a writer as Dr.
Plumptre, writing a Commentary " for schools and
colleges," says, " No one now dreams of ascribing
{the book] to Solomon." What is the conclusion ?
Not that destructive critics of all kinds are to be
believed on their own authority, still less that the
language of Scripture which indicates authorship
may be lightly treated ; but that long and respect
able tradition may be mistaken, that the most
obvious or most literal meaning of Scripture
language may not be the right one, that imper
sonation does not necessarily imply fraud, and that
caution is needed in rejecting as well as in accept
ing the claims of criticism. Eashness, shallowness,
baseless theorising, straining of Scripture language
to suit a preconceived hypothesis, may be found
on either side in the conflict of Criticism versus
Tradition. The Book of Koheleth has certainly
lost nothing, biblical doctrine has lost nothing — on
the contrary, both have gained much — by the
change in opinion concerning its authorship and
date. It may be so also with other books of the
Old Testament, though the evidence be not so
strong and convincing. Every question must be

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 221
judged on its own merits, but undoubtedly the
decision in the case of Ecclesiastes is an evidence
of the value of sound and carefully conducted
criticism. It is not necessary to attempt to fix a date
for the book with any precision. It is post-
Exilic, and was probably composed long after the
Exile; but it is probably pre-Maccabean. The
question whether Koheleth contains Greek words
or ideas has been carefully argued by Canon
Cheyne,1 who comes to the conclusion that there
are no Grsecisms in the language of the book, and
he does not incline to the view that the author
has been to any appreciable extent influenced by
Stoic, Epicurean, or other Greek schools of thought.
The writer is "a native Hebrew philosopher."
On the other hand, a comparison of Ecclesiastes
with Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom shows that it
was in all probability prior to both. In the case
of Ecclesiasticus, particularly, the coincidences are
numerous and striking. They can hardly be
accidental, and in almost every case are such as
to show that the son of Sirach made use of
Koheleth, which was probably numbered by him
amongst " the rest of the [sacred] books " to which
1 Job and Solomon, ch. xi. p. 260. In opposition to the argu
ments of Mr. Tyler and Dean Plumptre, who, however, present
a plausible case.

222 ECCLESIAS7ES :
he alludes in his prologue. We are brought, there
fore, to a date somewhere between the later years
of the Persian rule, say, about 350 B.C. as the
earliest, and 200 B.C. as the latest possible.1 Our
knowledge of the period in question is too scanty
to speak with precision ; but, generally speaking,
it may be said that the pohtical references of the
book point to the earher date, though they admit
of the later ; while the language, style, and perhaps
the ideas of the book, point to the later date,
though they are not inconsistent with the earlier.
If we take the latter part of the fourth or the
earlier part of the third century before Christ, as
approximately the period in which this book was
composed, we must remember that we are taking
our stand at a point 300 years after the fall of
Jerusalem, 250 after the Eeturn from Cap
tivity, and 150 after the time of Nehemiah.
Koheleth contains many allusions to the luxury,
oppression, and maladministration of the later
Persian Empire. The passage, ch. v. 8, 9, "If
thou seest the oppression of the poor and the
violent taking away of judgment and justice in a
province, marvel not at the matter, for one higher
1 Ewald, Ginsburg, Delitzsch, Cheyne favour the earlier of
these dates ; Kuenen, Dean Plumptre, and others the later.
Canon Driver speaks doubtfully but inclines to the third
century B.C.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 223
than the high regardeth, and there be higher than
they," appears to refer to the system of govern
ment by satraps, one grade of officials rising above
another, while references abound to the weakness
and incapacity of princes, and that sure sign of
misgovernment so common in Eastern states, the
rapid promotion of low-born favourites. It was
dangerous to speak even in private against such
abuses (x. 20) ; while ill weeds grew apaGe, the good
and faithful were repressed and even persecuted,
and the whole fabric of the State is graphically
represented in the words, "By slothfulness the
roof sinketh in ; and through idleness of the hands
the house leaneth." It is not to be wondered at
if hope grew dim and love grew cold and weak, if
gloomy words darkened the religious faith even
of the best men, and a certain prudential enjoy
ment of the passing hour seemed sometimes to
be the only thing left in hfe worth hving for.
The late Dean Plumptre has prefixed to his
Commentary on Ecclesiastes an " ideal biography "
of the writer. Fancy is, of course, the artist in
such a picture, and some of the touches are
fanciful indeed, with hardly the slenderest found
ation in fact. But some of the conjectures as to
the kind of life Koheleth lived are credible enough,
more or less drawn from the book itself, and
suggest at least the kind of man who wrote this

224 ECCLESIASTES :
remarkable book. According to this sketch, he
is a Jew belonging to a wealthy family, hving in
Judsea but not in Jersualem, trained in the Law,
familiar with the Proverbs of Solomon, but with
little rehgious life or fervour around him to
sustain or quicken the good impressions derived
from studying the Scriptures. The religious
fervour of the Maccabees and the movement
which gave rise to the Pharisaism of later times
is still in the distance, whilst the Jews were
surrounded by Syrian, Greek, and other influences
which diminished the zeal and rounded off the
characteristic features of their religious faith.
Formalism and hypocrisy abounded. Social life
was anything but pure, as was probable when
woman was light in character and lightly
esteemed. In manhood Koheleth travelled. He
visited Alexandria, which under the government
of the Ptolemies swarmed with Jews. Here he
lived the life of the " gilded youth " of the place,
enjoying the delights of wine, women, and song,
wasting his substance, like the prodigal, in riotous
living. After satiety, bitterness; after pleasure,
cynicism. The roue turns moralist, of a sour and
sceptical sort at best. He looks round upon life
as one who has proved its hollowness. He has
been disappointed in friendship and in love.
"Art, culture, pleasure, failed to soothe him.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 225
There fell on him the 'blank misgivings' of
which Wordsworth speaks, the profound sense of
nothingness which John Stuart Mill describes so
vividly in his Autobiography, what the Germans
call Weltschmerz, the burden of the universe, or
in Koheleth's own phrase, the ' world set in the
heart' (iii. 11); the sense of an infinity and
eternity which man strives in -vain to measure or
apprehend." He turns therefore to the Greek
sages, as represented by the Stoics and Epicureans
of the time. He became a debater in their
schools, and though attracted by some aspects of
the teaching to which he hstened, found that this
too was vanity and a feeding on wind. Then
came " premature old age " ; paralysis set in, and
he began to come to a better mind. He ex
perienced a rehgious reaction, returned to his early
belief in God and in providence, and in this, the
latest stage of his experience, set himself to
record his thoughts, which, arranged in an un
systematic and somewhat desultory^ form, are
before us in Ecclesiastes.
All this is but a dream, yet the narrative of
the dream as given by the scholarly and imagina
tive writer will certainly prove a help to the
comprehension of a difficult book, provided it be
treated with that delicate reserve with which
such stuff as dreams are made of should be
'5

226 ECCLESIASTES:
handled. We are prepared, at all events, to take
Dean Plumptre's account as one among many
possible ones of a book which has received almost
as many interpretations as commentators. Before
glancing at the design of the book, as it has been
variously understood by generations of puzzled
interpreters, we must consider for a moment the
question of its integrity. Has it come down to
us just as it left the hands of the original author,
or has it been in any way modified, or " edited "
by subsequent writers ? In particular, is the
epilogue (xii. 9-14) a part of the original com
position? It may be said at once that it is
impossible here to discuss such critical views of
the book as virtually dismember it, or change its
character. It is asserted by some that Ecclesiastes
as we have it is a " tissue of disjointed aphorisms
and contradictory theses," that as it stands it is a
maze without a plan, defying all attempts to give
a consistent meaning to the whole. Accordingly
the book must be reconstructed, and the critics
attempt to show that its present condition is due
to a transposition of some of the original sheets
of the Hebrew from their places, together with a
number of deliberate interpolations. The result
of the reconstruction, which omits altogether such
significant passages as ch. xii. 7, alters the mean
ing of others, and makes the book to end with

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 227
ch. xii. 8, is to present us with a duly trimmed
and shaped " Buddhistic " treatise, such as might
have proceeded from any pessimistic and virtually
atheistic philosopher, with Vanitas Vanitatum
for its motto and cynicism for its moral atmo
sphere.1 Such a theory is, of course, a counsel of
despair. If the book is to be taken to pieces and
only such parts of it retained as modern critics
can weave into a consistent whole which commends
itself to them, our exegesis must be reconstructed.
We think it only right to take the book as it
stands. It is still, however, open to argument
whether the last six or seven verses were written
by the author himself, and if so, what relation
they bear to the rest.
At first sight there appears much to be said for
the supposition that the epilogue forms a kind of
external attestation, like the closing verses of St.
John's Gospel, in which certain unknown brethren
testify concerning the " disciple who wrote these
things," and declare that his testimony is true.
This closing passage is a description of Koheleth
in the third person, whereas elsewhere in the
book he speaks of himself in the first ; it contains
1 The theory referred to in the text, due to Professor Bickell
of Vienna, has received support from a few scholars. A popular
presentation of it in English was given by Dr. E. J. Dillon, in
the Contemporary Review, February 1894.

228 ECCLESIASTES:
a kind of eulogiuni upon the speaker, which would
be out of place in the author's mouth ; and it is
much more explicit in its doctrine, perhaps more
orthodox, than the body of the book itself. The
epilogue seems to survey the book as from the
outside, to judge of it, appraise and commend it,
and~ reads better if understood to proceed from
another than the writer. These considerations
have commended themselves to some of the best
modern critics,1 and their arguments would
appear conclusive in the case of an ordinary book.
It is not customary for the writer of a treatise to
discuss himself and his merits in the third person
before taking leave of his readers. But this is not
an ordinary book. If Solomon were understood
to be the author of the main portion, this epilogue
would constitute an additional difficulty, but we
are proceeding on the assumption that the writer
has used Solomon's name, with a peculiar official
title, for the purpose of discussing in his own way
a number of grave and difficult questions. A
personage is introduced in ch. i. 1, bearing a well-
known name, but appearing in a new character.
In the first eleven verses the subject which
Solomon is about to discuss, like a debater in the
1 E.g., Dr. Plumptre and Professor Cheyne ; Delitzsch and
Ginsburg, on the other hand, hold that the epilogue was
written by the author.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 229
schools, is introduced, and a narrative portion
follows. From time to time he speaks in the
first person, or delivers himself of general maxims
bearing on his theme. In the epilogue it may
well be supposed that the writer drops the slight
veil which he has assumed for a special purpose,
and points out in his own person the character
and bearing of the discussion which has preceded.
It is not so unusual, moreover, for Eastern authors
to dwell on their own qualifications for the task
they have undertaken, and it is quite as hkely
that these concluding verses correspond more to
the subject-matter of an author's preface than the
contents of a printer's colophon. So at least
some of the best interpreters of the book contend,
and having presented in outhne the arguments on
both sides, we reserve till the next chapter a full
exposition of our own view, which is necessarily
bound up with the view taken of the scope of the
whole book. It will be seen, however, that a per
fectly intelligible account may be given of the
closing verses on either supposition, while a
decision can hardly be arrived at apart from a
general view of the drift of the work.
It is this which has most of all puzzled and
divided interpreters. Dr. Ginsburg, in his elabo
rate Commentary, occupies more than two hundred
full pages of his Introduction in reviewing the

230 ECCLESIASTES:
exegesis of Koheleth, both Jewish and Christian,
beginning with the Book of Wisdom — which he
dates B.c 217, and holds to have been in some
sense a commentary on Ecclesiastes — down to
1860 a.d., the year before his own volume was
published. The views propounded by this long
hne of commentators are as various as can well
be conceived. They range from the exposition of
the Midrash, which teaches that Solomon wrote
the book to expose the emptiness of all worldly
pursuits and show that the happiness of man
consists in obeying the commandments of God,
down to the views of those who hold that the
view of life here propounded inclines to fatalism,
scepticism, and epicureanism. The prevailing
view among Jews and Christians for many centuries
was that the book sets forth the repentance of
Solomon after he had been led away by his
foreign wives — and, as an old legend adds, deposed
for three years in punishment for his sins.
Luther in his "Table-talk" threw out the suggestion
which seems to have expressed his real opinion,
though he did not defend it in his published
works, that Ecclesiastes was not written by
Solomon or by any one man, but that it is a com
pilation, put together by Sirach in the time of the
Maccabees. In modern times there has been a
tendency to regard the general drift of the book

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 231
as a kind of pious epicureanism, counsels intended
for troublous times, advocating present enjoyment
in moderation and the fear of God as the only
way of passing through a state which at best is
full of disappointment and sorrow. If it be said
that the phrase " pious epicureanism " implies a
contradiction, it is just that element of apparent
inconsistency which has troubled interpreters.
Some — the older writers — emphasised the piety ;
the moderns dwell more upon the epicureanism.
But it would not be difficult to gather a sheaf of
opinions attributing the most opposite aims to
the writer. While some hold that it is ascetic in
tendency, others accuse it of favouring sensual
gratification. Some say it was written to comfort
the Jews in trouble, others that it embodies the
moody reflections of a misanthrope. Some hold
that its point may be expressed by the words,
" All things work together for good to them that
love God," others that it contains a serious indict
ment of the moral government of the world, and
recognises no god but chance or fate ; as Omar
Khayyam expresses it —
With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow ;
And this was all the harvest that I reaped —
I came like Water, and like Wind I go.
The views of the most recent commentators tend

232 ECCLESIASTES:
to emphasise the eclectic character of the book,
and the more advanced critics, as we have said,
deal very freely with the text, getting rid of con
tradictions by supposing a sceptical original
"worked over" by orthodox editors. Eenan1
very characteristically enjoys and praises the
work as containmg the only pages in the Old
Testament marked by sang-froid. It is written,
he holds, by a man of the world, a sceptic, a
materialist, a fatalist, a pessimist, only not an
atheist. He much prefers the tone of this mun
dane philosopher to that of the prophets who
write in a fury, with their heads in the clouds ;
this wise man is content to shrug his shoulders
over abuses and say to the would-be reformer,
" No use ! " Ewald, on the other hand, pictures
the author as a pious Israelite, who pitied the
calamities of his fellow-countrymen, and wished
to lessen their sorrows by giving them sound
advice for the trying times in which they lived.
He recommends them to be patient and cautious,
points out the dangers of rebellion and excess,
and reminds them of the fact that God rules, that
one day He will judge the whole earth, rectify all
1 The view sketched in the following sentences is that of the
chapter on Koheleth in the last volume of his History of Israel,
posthumously published. These pages were amongst the last
Renan ever wrote.

ITS AUTHORSHIP AND DESIGN. 233
its abuses, and clear up all its perplexities ; let
them therefore quietly enjoy what of good their
life affords, and prepare for old age and death,
which conies to all in turn.
After hstening to such various and irreconcil
able interpretations, what are we to say ? We
have purposely refrained from anything like a
broad survey of the history of exegesis, and the
views of contemporary writers such as Gmsburg
and Delitzsch, Cox and Cheyne, will be more
conveniently discussed in the next chapter. But
we have said enough to show the need of a very
careful examination into the teaching of a book
which has been so differently understood ; enough
to show the difficulties which beset its interpret
ation; enough, we would hope, to excite some
interest in the question whether it is possible,
taking the book as it stands, to find in it one
sustained, consistent scope and purpose, in har
mony with the general teaching of the Old
Testament, and entitling so strange a composition
to a place in the sacred Scriptures of the Christian
Church.

234 ECCLESIASTES:

CHAPTEE XL
ECCLESIASTES: ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE.
IT is desirable as far as possible to examine
every book of the Bible without prejudgment
as to its form and character, allowing it as far as
possible to speak for itself. But in no instance
is this more necessary than in the one before us.
All men, critics included, love to classify and
measure by their own foot-rule. A book is apt
to be judged by its readiness to fit into one or
other of the pigeon-holes to which it is assumed
it must belong. Job is said to be a drama, the
Song of Songs an idyll, the Book of Proverbs a
collection of maxims. Koheleth as it stands is
perplexingly irregular : it is not a mere collection
of maxims, but neither is it a treatise, nor a poem,
nor a record of debate. The writer seems to
pursue no settled plan, nor to observe any clearly
traceable sequence of thought; the impatient
critic of the present century proceeds therefore
to trim it into shape, allotting this passage to

77'.? CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 235
an editor, accounting others to be interpolations
or transpositions, and the book, thus improved, is
found to fit tolerably well into the pigeon-hole
labelled "Pessimistic Philosophy," where it is
allowed to rest. It is preferable to examine the
book as it stands ; its own irregularities and even
inconsistencies may be more instructive than an
artificially shaped product of modern ingenuity.
The book almost defies analysis, but some of
its chief features may be shown in the following
table : —

i. 1-11. Prologue. The subject of the book opened up — ¦
the Vanity of Life.
i. 12-ii. 26. Narrative of the experiences of the "son of
David." Vain pursuit of Wisdom and Pleasure.
iii. The ordinary routine and business of life : Disappoint
ment and Fruitlessness the end of all.
iv. A further survey : the wrongs of the oppressed : the
vicissitudes of man's lot.
v., vi. The same conclusions reached from a consideration
ofthe Church, the State, possession of riches and length
of days.
vii. A collection of proverbial sayings on kindred subjects.
viii. 1-ix. 10. A repetition of the same useless quest : human
governments, Divine retribution, apparent lack of
justice, the only course for the practical man.
ix. 11-x. 20. Proverbial philosophy concerning the conduct
of life, national and individual.
xi. 1-xii. 8. Conclusions arrived at. Counsel to use and
enjoy what is given, preparing for death and judgment.
xii. 8-14. Epilogue. Summary of the teaching of the Wise.

236 ECCLESIASTES:
An attempt to follow out the above analysis
will soon reveal the fact that after the end of
the 2nd chapter arrangement of subjects becomes
almost impossible, the same weary round being
trodden over and over again. The writer keeps
to the same topic only for a few verses at most,
and the conclusions he arrives at are not like
milestones upon a road that leads to a definite
goal, they meet us as the same objects again and
again strike the eye of the perplexed traveller
who has lost his way in the forest and finds that
hours of walking bring him no nearer to an exit.
And even so, these conclusions are often not con
sistent with one another. The baffled philosopher
does not even pursue a mill-horse round of mono
tonous moralising; or, if he does, he frequently
varies the direction in which he treads it. Not
till the close of the book, if then, does the goal
appear to which all the observation and reflection
of the writer is supposed to lead his readers.
This it is necessary to say, lest the student be
disappointed by the word " analysis." There is no .
ordered sequence of thought to analyse. On the
other hand, the thoughts of the book are not
without connexion. Eoughly speaking, they all
refer to one subject, and bear, directly or indirectly,
on one theme. The opening chapters set it forth
in what promises to be an orderly fashion. Soon,

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 237
however, and increasingly as the book proceeds,
the writer seems to be recording "jottings," some
times fragments of experience, sometimes the
results of observation, sometimes gnomic saymgs,
sometimes practical counsels. These appear not
only to have been written at different times, but
to represent different moods. Koheleth does not
stay to harmonize them, and appears unconscious
of any need of comparison and reconciliation. I
looked out upon the world, he says, and saw this
and this, and came to such a conclusion. Again
I reflected, " I returned and saw under the sun "
that in human life things happen thus and thus, and
note my observations accordingly. That all these
notes should teach substantially the same doctrine,
all point in one direction, is by no means necessary.
" Mark this feature of life," says the melancholy
sage; "this other also has come under my eye." In
view of certain characteristics of the time, he
adds, it will be well for the wise man to order
his affairs thus and thus, and the exact relation
of one piece of practical counsel to another, he
does not stay to consider. Yet out of this con
fusion a measure of order grows, through it all a
measure of unity appears. The words are many,
the man is one. There is a prevailing tone of
reflection, which gives a sense of dreary unity
amounting to monotony. The impression is height-

238 ECCLESIASTES:
ened by the fragmentary nature of the composi
tion joined to the frequent repetition of the same
thoughts. The effect is like that of the wearisome
drip of separate drops of water in the same place,
like repeated short blows iterated and reiterated,
instead of one good, honest, straightforward assault.
If Koheleth exhibits a lack of art, he does it in
artistic fashion. One steadily pursued argument
would produce nothing hke the cumulative effect
of his disjointed musings and morahsings. How
far the last chapter helps us out of the maze of
difficulty and disappointment trodden through
the main portion of the book, we shall shortly
inquire. The prologue is most impressive. It is a
melancholy theme for music — vanity, vanity, all
is vanity, a pursuit of shadows, a feeding upon
wind. But if such a mournful air is to be rendered,
it could not be more movingly played over than in
these opening bars. We have read of an Everlast
ing No and an Everlasting Yea ; this strain neither
presents us with the joy of triumphant solution
nor the stimulus of an emphatic opposition, it
pictures an everlasting Sameness, in which is
neither enjoyment, nor meaning, nor issue — a land
" where all things always are the same," and events
are as fruitless as they are monotonous. The sun
rises, sets, " pants " in its unceasing round, which

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 239
is only a round after all. The wind turns to the
south, turns to the north, " goeth ever circling,"
and when it has circled, returns, and circles again.
The rivers run to the sea, but nothing comes of it ;
the sea does not fill and overflow, but the water
returns out of the clouds to the rivers again, and
the same weary story is told again. All things
are weary to the weary man. When man has
been trying to satisfy his eye with seeing and his
ear with hearing, he is likely to be weary, and
whether he looks upon nature or on man, he will
see the same dreary picture of endless effort
followed by endless failure.
Into this universe, and why not knowing,
Nor whence, like water willy-nilly flowing,
And out of it, as wind along the waste,
I know not whithee, willy-nilly blowing.
The strains that follow are indicated by this over
ture. Koheleth appears in the guise of that.
"king over Israel in Jerusalem" who had the
best opportunity of proving how much enjoyment.
hfe can afford. Eminent alike for riches, for
power, for fame, and for wisdom, if lie drained
the cup of life to its dregs and found it unsatisfy
ing and saddening, it cannot be surprising if lesser
men come to the same conclusion. The result of
all the wise man's wisdom, his abstract knowledge,.
his study of the actual life of man upon the earth,.

240 ECCLESIASTES:
brought him only to this, that all is " vapour and
feeding upon wind." Much wisdom means much
sadness ; to multiply knowledge is to multiply
sorrow. Pleasure is no better; the wine of the
banquet, the laughter of those who are feasting,
failed alike to provide stimulus or satisfaction.
He tries occupation, builds, plants, stocks his
parks, and fills his palaces. He tries every re
source of artistic enjoyment, the pomp and luxury
of an elegantly appointed household, the charms
of music, the attendance of fair slaves, enjoy
ments not coarse and degrading, but daintily
adapted to dehcate and refined tastes — and hav
ing tried it all, "behold, all was vanity and a
striving after wind, and there was no profit under
the sun."
So far there has been little difficulty in inter
pretation. But let the careful reader who has
never studied Ecclesiastes read the first fifteen
verses of the 3rd chapter, and without assistance
of commentary try to express their general drift
and meaning. He will find it no easy task. Let
him then turn to half a dozen good commentaries
and he will find probably half a dozen different
explanations. Let him then ask himself what is
the connexion of thought between the paragraph
just examined and that which extends from ch.
iii. 16-22, and he will have formed a fair idea of

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 241
some of the characteristic difficulties which beset
the exegete. It is not our object to enter into
details of interpretation, but an inquiry into the
meaning of this passage may provide a clue to
the understanding of many others. The abrupt
ness with which the writer introduces his aphor
isms concerning the seasonable time allotted to
every kind of human action makes it difficult to
see why such a string of apparent truisms should
be rehearsed at length. Nor is the difficulty
removed when we find it followed up by the old
despairing question, Cui bono ? What is the use
of it all ? " What profit hath he that worketh
in that wherein he laboureth ? " Everything is
beautiful in its own season; it does not need a
very wise man to tell us that ; but this common
place utterance is followed by an oracular saying,
capable of two very different renderings : " He
hath set the world in their heart " (E.V.), or " He
hath set eternity in their heart" (EV. marg.),
" yet so that man cannot find out the work God
hath done from the beginning to the end." These
are riddles capable of more than one answer, but
Koheleth's meaning seems to be this. Leaving
the life of pleasure and turning to the life of
ordinary routine and business, the same fruitless-
ness and disappointment meet us. True, there
is a recognised order in such a life : every duty
16

242 ECCLESIASTES:
has its season, every time has its fitting occupation.
God, who orders all, has indeed constituted such
an order, and given to each object in creation,
each event in life, a certain beauty and fitness of
its own. But man is only pursuing a kind of
automatic round; it is a clock-work regularity,
with little variety, no interest, no purpose, no
" profit." Law reigns ; what is man the better
for that ? Also, God has so made man that he is
not content with this dull routine. He has put
Eternity,1 a sense of the Infinite, into man's heart,
which fills him with longings that he cannot
satisfy, glimpses of knowledge which he cannot
attain — ¦ Infinite passion, and the pain
Of finite hearts that yearn.
Man cannot understand God's work throughout,
let him try as he will ; he must tread his round
with little delight and less profit ; the order abides,
he cannot change it, add to it or take from it ; it
remains only that he should pursue the course
that hes before him with such equanimity as he
may, eating and drinking, waking and sleeping,
enjoying such good from his labour as he best
1 Throughout the Old Testament the word " olam " is used in
this sense. The meaning ' ' world " belongs to the later Hebrew.
If this meaning is to be adopted here, it is a mark of very late
date.

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 243
may, and leaving all the rest as beyond his reach
and ken. Man is powerless, God is inscrutable,
duty is mechanical, hfe is unsatisfying ; what hath
been is, and what is shall be. Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity !
The words fall like clods on a coffin. We
shrink from a teacher who takes a death's head
for a text, especially if he preaches a series of
sermons from it. For Koheleth's sermons must
be taken as they stand. We must be on our guard
against reading into his words a "profitable"
meaning which they do not actually contain.
Because these chapters are "in the Bible," and
because the name of God is from time to time
piously used, it does not follow that edification
may be drawn from every paragraph. Eabbis
and Christian Fathers, alike shocked at what
seemed the rank paganism of the moral that a man
should " rejoice and do good," that is, be happy,
that he should " eat and drink and enjoy the good
of his labour," have discovered all kinds of devout
meanings in the phrases — study the Law, partake
of the holy Sacrament, occupy himself in good
works, with many more such well-intentioned
glosses. Such exegesis brings its own Nemesis,
and drives critics to an opposite extreme of scepti
cism. As in the Book of Job, our wisdom is to
take every part of the book as it has come to us,

244 ECCLESIASTES:
neither omitting what seems inconsistent, nor
reading between the lines a Christian or deeply
religious meaning which the text does not contain.
Pursuing such a method throughout, we find
Koheleth in the latter part of the 3rd chapter
in dark and gloomy mood indeed. He looks at
what is called the course of justice and finds
everywhere injustice ; instead of equity, iniquity,
and his heart sinks within him (ver. 16). But
the thought occurs, This is only for a time ; God
will judge by and by, and separate between
righteous and wicked. Yet even this thought
fails to bring comfort, for if God does this to
prove men (ver. 18), that they may know that if
left to themselves they are but like the beasts,
how does that reheve the perplexity of the riddle ?
Man is indeed like the beast ; " as the one dieth.,
so dieth the other," all go to one place; "dust
thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," is true
of man and brute alike. The 21st verse has been
differently interpreted, and the meaning depends
on whether a certain particle is to be understood
as an interrogative or as the definite article. The
Massoretic punctuation, followed in our A.V.,
adopts the latter, apparently as furnishing a less
sceptical meaning. But the best scholars render
(with E.V. and all the older versions), "Who
knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth up-

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 245
ward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth
downward to the earth ? " The question is indeed
sceptical. It does not deny, but still less does it
affirm, that there is a distinction between the
" breath " of man and the breath of beasts. It is
the very motto of the sceptic in all ages — Quien
sdbe, who knows ? If God is sifting and proving
men, His sieve is fine indeed, for there seems no
distmction between man and beast, and the best
thing any man can do is. to enjoy himself while
he may, for who knows what shall be after him ?
Such is the strain to which this "Preacher"
recurs again and again. He breaks off occasion
ally into moralising over life, but his pensive and
perturbed spirit remains unlightened, uncheered.
"Two are better than one" (iv. 9), but that is
because in hard times men need to help one-
another and stand shoulder to shoulder. The
poor are oppressed and judgment is perverted
(v. 8); it is of no use to complain, appeal from
court to court, from official to official; no good
can come of it, all are bent on their own advan
tage, the highest in the kingdom not excepted.
The day of death is better than the day of birth,
the house of mourning than the house of feasting ;
better is the end of a thing than the beginning
thereof. Man is sinful (vh. 20), and woman is
even worse (26-28) ; Providence may have ordered.

246 ECCLESIASTES:
well in the beginning, but the world as it is is
full of man's evil devices, and a fruitlessness that
baffles and mocks man's best endeavours throws
a dark shadow over his life. Wisdom is excellent,
but it is not successful ; it is acknowledged that
it is better than weapons of war (ix. 18), but one
perverse fool may undo all the good which many
wise men have endeavoured to establish.
If this were the whole teaching of Ecclesiastes,
as it does undoubtedly convey the spirit of its
larger portion, we might here lay down the pen.
A man who has only this to say is neither a good
Jew nor a good Theist ; it may even be questioned
whether he is a good man. Doubtless there are
facts in life which bear out most of these utter
ances. A cynic has never yet lacked material
for his unholy gibes in any country or any state of
civilisation, and doubtless there was in Palestine in
the third and fourth centuries before Christ only
too much reason for a philosophy of despair. But
the people among whose sacred writings Koheleth is
found were distinguished amongst the nations for
the " fear of God," and so far as we have at present
¦noted, this religiousness of spirit has been conspicu
ous by its absence. A man who looks at human
life only might thus speak ; a man who believes
in a God should have a different hght to shed
upon the same saddening and depressing scenes.

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 247
Accordingly, we do find another strain recurring at
intervals. It is true the gracious covenant-name
of Jehovah is not found in this book, but the
name Elohim, which points to the Creator and
Euler of mankind, occurs thirty -seven times.
Providence is recognised. All good gifts and the
joys they bring are God's gift. That which He
does is right. The very phrase in question, the
" fear of God," occurs not once but thrice, and
that in the earlier part of the book. God doeth
this " that men should fear before Him " (iii. 14) ;
" there are divers vanities among men, but fear
thou God" (v. 7); "I know that it shall be well
with them that fear God" (viii. 12). The critics
who are anxious to chp this book into uniformity
of teaching have proposed to delete several verses
as interpolations, but they will be compelled to
mutilate the text much further before they can
banish the element of piety 'which is discernible
even in the writer's darker moods. That
Koheleth's is essentially a reverent, though a
greatly desponding spirit, is plain from such
passages as ch. v. 2, " God is in heaven and thou
upon earth, therefore let thy words be few." " Our
safest eloquence concerning Him is our silence,"
said Hooker ; but not amongst the utterances of
this apparently morbid philosopher should we
have expected to find the original of that fine

248 ECCLESIASTES:
saying. " God hath made man upright " (vii. 29).
He must not be blamed for evil. The righteous,
the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God
(ix. 1) ; they are safe there. Man cannot find out
His work, but it does not follow that . He works
not, and the recognition of that work is to be
found in almost every chapter, in almost every
dark and desponding train of reflection of this
saddening book.
Thus far we have purposely refrained from
making reference to the two last chapters. It is,
of course, impossible to understand any book
aright till it is finished; the whole explanation
may be found in the last page. But before
coming to that, we may pause for a moment to ask
whether there is anything essentially incredible
and impossible in the apparent inconsistencies
of the earher part of Ecclesiastes. We can hardly
avail ourselves of the hypothesis that these
chapters are to be understood like Tennyson's
poem of the " Two Voices." Most of us know the
sound of those diverse voices — the spirit which
asserts and the spirit which denies, the voice
which suggests doubts and difficulties and sus
picions and fears, and the voice which silences
these discordant notes in a burst of triumphant
faith and hope. But in the modern poem the
voices are sharply distinguished. The " dull and

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 249
bitter " tones cannot be confused with the " little
whisper silver-clear " of the voice which " bade to
be of better cheer." In Koheleth there is no such
distinction, and the attempt to parcel out the
contents of the chapters between two speakers
fails utterly. The "I" is the same throughout,
and in spite of St. James' question, we seem to
find the same fountain pouring out sweet waters
and bitter. Some allowance may be made for
different moods. There are days for all of us
when " our bosom's lord sits lightly on his throne,"
when the heart is elastic and hopeful, and all
seems possible. There are days, agam, when the
clouds hang low and the sun is blotted out, and
from the window, dim with our sighing and tears,
little can be seen, and from that little no hope
gathered. It seems quite legitimate to find in
these chapters the scattered records of many
moods, because the paragraphs themselves are so
loose and disjointed in construction, and because
a portion of the book is as clearly aphoristic in
character as the Book of Proverbs. We do not
expect all the " Thoughts " of Pascal or the
maxims of Joubert to tally with one another
hke mathematical formulas.
But this explanation by itself is not sufficient.
We do not find the moods of Koheleth pointedly
contrasted, as for example in the 77th Psalm,

250 ECCLESIASTES:
where the psalmist pours out his sad questions
and complaints, then turns round upon himself
with an indignant " This is my infirmity. I will
turn to better thoughts, and call to mind God's
work in history and deeds of olden time." It is
not here as in the Book of Job, where the
sufferer first moans, then argues, then denies, and
at last is brought to a better mind by the inter
vention of Jehovah. Throughout the writer is
pious, but throughout — thus far — he is more or
less desponding, more or less sceptical. We have
not found inconsistency which amounts to violent
and incredible self-contradiction, but we have
found diverse tendencies in the same breast, a
gloomy outlook upon life, however, prevailing for
the most part over a very sincere but not very
vital or vigorous faith in God. The tone of the
whole picture thus far is low. Neutral tints
prevail. In parts of it gloom overshadows all,
and at best the light is neither clear nor dark.
Such very " moderate " faith and devotion is at
least half-sister to scepticism and despair.
What, then, is the drift of the closing chapters ?
It has been already shown, in discussing the
integrity of the book, that it is possible to read
the epilogue, ch. xii. 8-14 or 9 - 14, either as
written by the author, or as added by a subse
quent hand. There is nothing in the style or

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 251
contents of these closing verses to determine the
question either way, except that one or two of
the expressions would seem to come more appro
priately from the pen of an annotator than from
the original writer. The considerations which
determine every critic in his view of the epilogue
are probably derived from his view of the whole
book. Without discussing alternative theories,
therefore, we proceed to give the view of the
closing verses which seems to us most probable
and most in harmony with the book to which
they form a close and a climax. If the text of
Koheleth be allowed to stand as it is down to ch.
xii. 7, it cannot be said that the epilogue really adds
anything to the doctrine of the book. Professor
Cheyne and others argue for the "excision" of ch.
xii. 7, because " this no doubt is a direct contra
diction of ch. hi. 21." Strangely enough, however,
Dr. Cheyne adds : " The excision of these words
would of course not be justified in a translation
intended for popular use, but for the purposes of
historical study seems almost inevitable." The
morahty or desirabihty of such a distinction
seems very questionable. Even taking the darker
and more sceptical meaning of which ch. hi. 21
is capable, it by no means follows that the same
writer could not have written both passages.
The earlier verse at worst expresses doubt and

252 ECCLESIASTES:
ignorance, not denial ; and surely no student of
Old Testament language concerning the future
life can wonder at finding a measure of incon
sistency or hesitation upon this subject in the
writings of the same author at different times,
especially in a work of such loose construction as
Koheleth. The language of ch. xii. 13, 14, con
cerning the judgment, harmonizes with the teach
ing of the latter part of ch. xi. 9, another passage
which critics, anxious for consistency, are com
pelled to exscind.
If, then, there be no reason on the score of
doctrine to attribute ch. xii. 9-14 to a later hand,
neither need the form of the closing verses occa
sion insuperable difficulty, if they are supposed to
proceed from the original author. This is only
possible, however, on the supposition that the
writer has used the name of the " son of David "
for the purposes of his composition. Undoubtedly
the change in person and tone obvious in the
closing verses is too marked and unnatural,
unless we understand that the writer of Ecclesi
astes, having used his impersonation far enough,
drops the mask and appears for a moment or two
in his own person, commenting on the general
drift of the utterances which he has put into the
mouth of a certain " Preacher." The speaker is
introduced in the third person in the prologue

I7S CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 253
(i. 1). He begins to speak in the first person at
the opening of the main portion of the book (i. 12-
xii. 7). Then in the close, for the first time, the
definite article is used with the noun Koheleth,
hitherto employed like a proper name, to indicate
that the writer of the closing verses is discussing
the utterances of the " Preacher " who has thus far
been giving a series of addresses. This new
Solomon has not spoken in a way altogether easy
to understand, and the writer takes up his cha
racteristic refrain in ch. xii. 8, and makes his own
comments, summing up the whole in characteristic
fashion in the last two verses of all.
If this be the correct account of the relation of
the epilogue to the rest of the book, what is to be
said of .the teaching of the whole? The first
thing that strikes us is the general similarity
of strain perceptible throughout. Ch. xi. and xii.
are not fundamentally different from the rest.
The practical counsels to provide for the future,
to use opportunities as they come and redeem the
time, which mark the 11th chapter, are little more
than an echo of the language of ch. v. 18-20 and
ix. 1 0. What has been called the " agnosticism " — a
misleading term — of earlier verses, e.g. ch. hi. 11
and viii. 17, reappears in ch. xi. 5. The limits of
human knowledge which here give difficulty to
Koheleth are only such as those which St. Paul

254 ECCLESIASTES:
acknowledged when he said, " We know in part,
and we prophesy in part." It is not the impossi
bility of apprehending the Divine existence of
which the Preacher speaks, but the impossibility
of comprehending all the order of His providence
— quite another matter. The rational enjoyment
of the present life which is enjoined in ch. xi. 9,
reminds us of ch. v. 18 and ix. 7. The teaching
concerning judgment which we find in the latter
part of ch. xi. 9 and xii. 14, finds some parallel in
ch. iii. 17 and viii. 12, 13. The language used
concerning old age and death in the 12th chapter
is quite in harmony with that of the 9th. If
the fear of God is dwelt upon in ch. xii. 13, it is
likewise the moral of ch. v. 7 and viii. 13.
There is, nevertheless, a difference observable in
the closing section of the book which entitles us
to regard it as giving the conclusion in which the
writer ultimately rested. The moral teaching of
the last chapters is more definite and pronounced
than anything that has preceded. Before this,
the Preacher, with almost exasperating iteration,
has repeated his favourite formulae after every
separate experience. Even when for a time he has
appeared to get a glimpse of higher truth, he has
lost it again, pulling down the very structure of
belief in Providence which he himself had reared.
Now he speaks more pointedly. The young man

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 255
is indeed to rejoice in the days of his youth, and
enjoy all of good that life brings with it, — words
which we can never believe are to be understood
ironically, — but he is so to pass the time of early
vigour, as knowing that God will require account
of all, and that he will be wise to " remember his
Creator in the days of his youth." This last
phrase, the critics who wish to " harmonize " the
different parts of the book have been obliged to
interpret in a fashion which, if it had been
adopted by conservative theologians, we venture
to think they would have been amongst the first
to pronounce grammatically impossible and con-
textually absurd.1 Another difference observable
is the way in which the refrain " All is vanity " is
treated. In ch. xi. 9 we read that youth and the
prime of hfe are vanity, and in ch. xi. 8, " all that
cometh is vanity," but these clearly are warnings
not to build on strength or length of days upon
earth, in view of death which overshadows every
life. The old strain in which hopelessness
darkens all, and everything is subject to vanity
and purposelessness, does not recur in these last
chapters. Of course, if the exclamation in ch. xii. 8
be supposed to come from Koheleth, this point
cannot be made good. But there are several
reasons for following the old Massoretic punctua-
1 "Bethink thee of thy fountain," that is, thy wife !

256 ECCLESIASTES:
tion and making the epilogue to begin with ch. xii. 8.
It is more natural to suppose that in this verse
the writer of the book takes up the saying which
the Preacher has repeated so often, quoting it as
the keynote of the body of the book, and giving
to it a characteristic turn and application. It is
not likely that one who has hitherto spoken of
himself in the first person, and without the
article, should here place himself outside himself,
whilst repeating once more his customary f ormula.
The 8th verse should then be printed in inverted
commas and connected closely with the phrase of
ver. 9, in which the writer shows the relation of
the " Book of Wisdom," just concluded in ch. xii.
7, with other " words of the wise," which he fully
characterises, then adds his. own practical con
clusion. On this supposition the book forms one whole,
and no serious inconsistency in doctrine is observ
able in it, unless it be thought that the teaching of
ch. xii. 7, " The dust shall return to the earth as it
was, and the spirit return unto God who gave it,"
contains too explicit and definite a belief in a
future life to find a place in a book of so prevail
ingly gloomy a cast. On this subject a few
remarks are necessary. First it must be said
that the language is not very definite. It has
been understood by many as not implying separate

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 257
personal existence after death; and though we
think it undoubtedly does imply a future life for
the human spirit, it does not speak in a tone
anything hke as clear and assured as, for in
stance, Dan. xii. 2. But secondly, assuming that in
this verse there is a clear declaration of faith, it
cannot be said that the man who wrote "Who
knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth up
ward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth
downward to the earth ? " at one time in his life,
could not write " The spirit returneth unto God
who gave it " at another. If the book be, as we
have seen, the record of moods, and quite apart
from this particular subject, exhibits views of life
varying with the writer's hopes and fears, inquiries
and disappointments, such diversity is only what
we might expect. Such variation might occur in
the moods of a Christian, has probably occurred
in the fitful experiences of tens of thousands.
But we are not examining the writings of a man
upon whom New Testament light has dawned.
No clear revelation has been made concerning a
future hfe, and as in the Psalms, so elsewhere in
the Old Testament, the tone in which death and
that which lies beyond the grave are spoken of
varies from time to time, hke the lights and
shadows that chase one another across the hills
upon an April day of sunshine and showers. If
17

258 ECCLESIASTES:
we find a measure of variation in this book, doubt
passing into assurance, scepticism into faith, need
we be surprised ?
It remains, however, when all is said, that the
doctrine of a future life does not dominate this
book, and is not pressed as the solution of its many
problems. Apparently the soul of the writer
tended, at least in his better moments, to rest
in this issue of man's present perplexities, but
this is only a gleam of light which shines in upon
his darkness. It does not stay. His moral is
not, Prepare for a better life, but, Make the best
use of the present. That God will judge, the
writer seems well assured ; but probably, if pressed,
he would have acknowledged, as Job did, that he
knew not when, or how. A God or Vindicator
would arise ; every work and every hidden thing
should be brought into the light, its good or evil
character shall be made plain, and judgment
pronounced accordingly. But Koheleth could
not say how this was to be done. Sometimes he
had hoped to see it with his own eyes, but again
and again he had been disappointed. Beyond the
dark cloud-wrack which obscured for him the
close of human life he could not see, but he rested
in this, that to fear God and keep His command
ments was the one thing for man ; his whole duty,
his only safety. If the writer himself did not

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 259
pen the last two verses of the book, and even if
we do not insist upon the apparently exphcit
teaching that the spirit after death should return
to its Maker God, we might still without unfair
ness say, " This is the end of the matter ; all hath
been heard." Koheleth has spoken in many tones,
sad and hopeful, wise and scornful, stimulating
and despairing, but this is his last and prevailing
word. For the son of David in Proverbs the fear
of God is the beginning of wisdom, for the son of
David who speaks in Ecclesiastes the light is not
so clear and hope is often well-nigh extinct, but
he ends where he began, and the last word of
wisdom is the same as the first.
It is only after careful study of the whole book
that we become assured of this. The tone
changes so often that it is difficult to know when
we hear the voice of the real man. There is
much ground for the complaints of inconsistency
so freely made against Koheleth. Down to the
very last we are left in doubt whether the
Preacher has risen above his " Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity." If pleasure is a striving after wind,
and one event happeneth to the wise man and the
fool, the righteous and the wicked, if oppressors
multiply and no comforter be anywhere found, if
riches avail nothing and length of days bring no
relief, if all man's searching cannot enable him

260 ECCLESIASTES:
to understand the ways of Providence, and all the
joys of youth lead but to the pitiable infirmities
of age and then to the grave, in which is " no work,
nor desire, nor knowledge, nor wisdom," life is but
a dreary farce, a " tale told by an idiot, full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing." True, in the
background there remains a hope, sometimes
strengthening into faith, sometimes quite vanish
ing away, that God will judge all in His own
good time, but it remains in the background only.
God is, that is certain ; He ought therefore to be
feared and obeyed at all costs. But as to enjoy
ment, let a man get what he can, in moderation
and under the allotted conditions of life, for there
is enough around to depress the most sanguine,
and httle to be said concerning the future. The
highest flight of all which the book contains soars
but little above the earth, and the main course of
its argument cleaves to the very dust.
It is only after we have recognised and admitted
all this, that we perceive the essential piety of
the writer underlying the whole. It answers no
good end to deny tolerably obvious facts, to ex
plain away the natural meaning of texts, or to
argue that because Ecclesiastes is " in the Bible,"
it cannot be sceptical in its tendency. The
question is, What does Koheleth say ? not what
do we think it would have been edifying for him

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 261
to say. And — especially if we understand the book
to close with ch. xii. 8, and the epilogue to be
written by a later hand — the level of the religious
teaching which the book contains must be admitted
to be low indeed. But it is religious. The author
is no atheist, no agnostic in the modern sense, no
fatahst, no pessimist. He takes for the most
part a gloomy view of life, but the darkness is
never quite unrelieved, and sometimes he reaches
a modest cheerfulness. He can fear God himself
and urge similar piety on others, in spite of there
being so much in the ways of Providence which he
cannot understand, and which sometimes drives him
to utter despondency. He can give good counsel
for " the present distress," though he has none of
the outlook of the seer upon a sunlit and steadily
brightening future.
If this seem to be a tone unworthy of a book
that took its place among Jewish Holy Scriptures
and now occupies a place in the Christian's Bible,
there are several things to be said in arrest of
such judgment. And first we might ask, What
else was given to a godly Jew living (say) in the
third century before Christ to say upon these great
and difficult questions ? Koheleth lived in the
midst of perplexities, on which he reflected with
an insight by no means usual, and — what is still
more unusual — he recorded his reflections with

262 ECCLESIASTES:
complete candour. His lot was cast upon a
time of anarchy, or of misgovernment which was
almost worse than no government at all. He had
opportunities of judging of the attractions of
various pursuits and modes of hfe ; he tried them,
and found them wanting. The pleasures and
business of the world he found alike hollow, when
tried by the searching test of their abihty to
satisfy a human soul. He compared men's
characters and the conditions of life in which they
are severally found, and while there appeared to
him to be many indications that man upon earth
is placed under the moral government of a
righteous God, he failed to find an adequate
correspondence between condition and character,
and despaired of ever finding such upon earth. No
clear revelation of a future life had been made to
him. He did not deny its reality ; nay, at times
he was convinced of it. But he had no sufficient
grounds to enable him dogmatically to announce
it, or to silence the doubts and questionings of
his anxious heart. When the Christian poet is
impelled by the losses and perplexities of earthly
life to utter cries similar to those of Koheleth, he
has but one answer —
0 life as futile, then, as frail !
What hope of answer, or redress ?
Behind the veil, behind the veil.

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 263
But the veil had not yet been withdrawn in the
measure to which He has withdrawn it, who has
passed beyond it as our Forerunner, and enabled
us to cast the anchor of a sure hope within the
precincts it hides. Koheleth did not possess, any
more than the writers of the 49th and 88th
Psalms, the clue to the maze all alike had to
tread. Many of the psalmists were similarly
exercised, and they found relief sometimes in the
moral purity and worth of the Law, sometimes
in the recollection of God's dealings with Israel
in the past, sometimes in the character of God
Himself. Sometimes again, as in the 37th Psalm,
the poet can only reiterate, Wait, wait ; and when
thou hast waited, wait. But the psalmists' rephes
to their own darker thoughts and fears are not-
reasoned arguments, they are more or less sublime
reaches of faith. Koheleth represents another
temperament. He avers, hke an earher Thomas,
" Except I shall put my finger hito the print of
the nails, I will not beheve." He affirms, like Job,
" It is all one ; therefore I say, He destroyeth the
perfect and the wicked." But he does not, like
Job, hear the voice of the Almighty and so see
His pure and awful Face as to cry, " Wherefore I
abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Still
less does he, like Thomas, surpass in the later
faith, which he slowly and cautiously reaches, all

264 ECCLESIASTES :
the attainments of his fellow-disciples, and cry,
" My Lord and my God ! "
But the Preacher does retain a very real and
very valuable measure of faith, and he is not to
be classed with mockers who were to come in
the last days, scoffing and walking after their own
lusts. As Delitzsch says, the Book of Ecclesiastes
is not as Heine calls it, the Song of Scepticism, but
the Song of the Fear of God. Only it does not really
possess the characteristics of a song. The writer
could not rise high enough above his troubles to
sing. He barely holds his head above water, and
needs all his breath to retain what faith remained to
him. It is in this that he differs from, for example,
the writer of the 73rd Psalm. No one yet called
the writer of that beautiful lyric a sceptic, for he
passed through the dark clouds of doubt and fear,
soared above them, and broke forth into a song
like the lark's, brighter and sweeter as he nears
the skies. It is well that in the Bible we have
examples of such trial and triumph. It is well
also that we have a reflection of the heart-search-
ings of a sadder temperament, less easy to con
vince, less easy to satisfy, because unwilhng to
essay a flight of faith, insisting that the firm
ground of experience shall be always under his
feet. Men of such temperament have for the
most part a hard time of it in the life of religion.

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 265
But their task would be harder did the Bible
present us with no Job, no Thomas, no despondent
Elijah, no sad-hearted Koheleth. Human moods
of all kinds are reflected in the wonderful mirror
of the Scriptures ; and amongst them, that which
it is perhaps hardest of all to bring under the
yoke of devout and lowly service, the hard, bitter,
ironical mood of a man who is far on his way to
wards despair. But that such a disease can find its
appropriate medicine in the Bible is largely due to
the fact that Ecclesiastes is included in the Canon.
It is not asserted that the book supplies a
sufficient balm for its own pain. It is enough
that it does not create pain, but faithfully reflects
that which many feel, that it supplies a measure
of relief according to the measure of revelation
vouchsafed, and that it points to the need of
further light and help. This last feature is
important. It was the function of the Old
Covenant to point forwards. Law, Prophets,
Psalms, all bear witness to their own temporary
and preparatory function. All awake stronger
cravings than they can satisfy. None of them
"made perfect as pertaining to the conscience,"
all foreshadowed the "bringing in of a better
hope." If Ecclesiastes gives louder and clearer
voice to the longing, if it proclaims in sharper
and more uncompromising tones a human sense

266 ECCLESIASTES:
of dissatisfaction with "the world" and its in
sufficiency to answer the questions or slake the
spiritual thirst of humanity, shall it be denied its
place and function in the history of revelation?
It is not a product of the spirit " that ever denies,"
but it shows where and how the cry of humanity
for spiritual satisfaction meets with no answer
but the sound of its own wailing. It exhibits the
picture of those of whom it is true that God
" hath put eternity in their heart," trying to fill
that vast capacity with the world, and failing. It
suggests the tremendous question, " What is a man
advantaged, if he gain the whole world and lose him
self 1 " If it has done nothing besides this, and has
written its trenchant preliminary lesson, as it has
done, upon the conscience and imagination of a
world, Koheleth has not found its place in vain
within the limits of a Jewish and a Christian Bible.
But there is more to be said than this. It is a
distinct feature in the universal character of the
Bible that it finds a place for the questionings of
the sceptical and despondent, and by anticipation
answers them. It must not be assumed, however,
that the body of Ecclesiastes is composed of
moody vapourings. The book reflects accurately
enough a large number of undeniable facts in
man's present condition. The fruit of the tree
of knowledge is hard and bitter at its core. The

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 267
irony of history is no mere fancy of a misanthrope.
Man's life on earth is not precisely a vale of
tears, but it is not a child's holiday, nor an easy
realisation of a youth's fond dream. " To think,
is to be full of sorrow." A man of gloomy
temperament colours the windows out of which
he looks upon the landscape with sombre hues
of his own imposing, but the majority of men,
women, and children never study the landscape
at all. He who looks at life ever so sanely and
steadily, if he fairly looks it in the face, must
turn away with a sigh, often with a shudder. It
is a dark picture, in spite of the lovehness of
nature's summer moods and the indestructible
beauty and power of human affection. Heine
pictures the youth on the seashore, vainly ques
tioning waves and winds and clouds concerning
the age-long riddle of hfe, and comes to the
conclusion that " only a fool waits for an answer."
If we as Christians believe that an answer is to
be reached by the truly wise, that does not
lessen the terrible perplexities of the riddle.
Koheleth faces them, more fully, more candidly,
more completely determined to meet them face
to face, than most men, and this is a service
for which humanity is indebted to him. It is
not everyone's business to deal with these stern
questions, but those who " pore into the madden-

268 ECCLESIASTES:
ing riddle of the Eoot " could hardly be satisfied
with a sacred Book which put all such anxious
heart-searchings on one side with a smile.
Ecclesiastes does not encourage Pessimism. It
is not really akin to Buddhism, but opposed to
some of its fundamental tenets. Buddhism re
gards individual existence as an evil — a radical
he which Koheleth contradicts on every page.
Pessimism regards the world as becoming steadily
worse, and bound to reach the worst at last. It
may be reasoned or un-reasoned. As elaborated
into a system,1 it is Atheistic or Pantheistic, and
falls back upon an Unconscious or Unintelligent
Ground of the universe. Koheleth on the other
hand writes, " There are dreams and vanities, but
fear thou God." For the most part Pessimism
is not reasoned, but felt. It cries out in pain
and terror, and such cries are not to be too rigor
ously analysed or too rigidly interpreted. It
becomes poetical in its wrath ; indignation drives
a man to verse, as Horace said long ago. A
Byron bears through Europe " the pageant of his
bleeding heart," a Leopardi unburdens his soul
in sighs ; a James Thomson pens The City of
Dreadful Night. But self-conscious poets who
1 By Schopenhauer and Von Hartmann. It is noteworthy
that Pessimism hardly dared thus to justify its existence in
philosophy till a century ago.

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 269
pour out their souls with one eye on themselves
and the other on an admiring public, know
little of the real difficulties of life, and still less
of the way in which to meet them. The misery
of human life is a starting-point from which men
may travel in many directions ; and not those
who start from the same premisses, but those who
reach similar conclusions, are to be classed to
gether. The Book of Ecclesiastes as a whole does
not teach that "All is vanity and feeding upon
wind"; and even where that melancholy con
clusion is reached, the reader must be careful to
understand from the context what the "all" in
question includes.
A Christian, however, regards his Bible as an
organic whole, and is not careful to insist upon
the completeness of the teaching of its parts
taken severally. His view of the Bible prevents
him, or should prevent him, from resting upon
the teaching of " texts," or even of books viewed
singly and apart. The Christian is not concerned
to prove that Koheleth had solved satisfactorily,
even for the times in which he lived, the problems
which he unfolds with so much vividness and
power. A sound interpretation of the book must,
as we think, admit that while difficulties abound
upon the surface of the book, some answers to
them may be found by patient study, and only a

270 ECCLESIASTES:
superficial reader or an unscrupulous critic who
tampers with the text can come to the conclusion
that the writer was a pessimist, an epicurean, or
a worldly philosopher marked by sang-froid such
as Eenan saw and loved in him. But the highest
conclusions to be found hi Koheleth are only
the lowest rounds of the ladder on which the
Christian climbs upward. The Preacher pursues
his quest amidst repeated disappointment, the
gospel kindles and sustains an inextinguishable
hope. The Preacher groans over evil in the
ascendant, Christ brings deliverance from it. The
Preacher beholds misery here, and dimly hopes
that the balance may be redressed hereafter ; but
" life and immortality are brought to light through
the gospel." The Preacher describes a need such
as the prodigal felt when he came to himself in
the far country, his money spent, his body hungry,
and his soul sore with vain regret and longing ;
but when Wisdom Incarnate spoke, He described
also the satisfaction of the need to be found in a
Father's home and a Father's heart.
There is no need to point at length the contrast
between Ecclesiastes and Christ's gospel. There
is perhaps some need to insist on the fact that
the appearance of the new Evangel has not made
void or useless the Wisdom - Literature of an
earher age. It did its work in its own time, and

ITS CONTENTS AND SCOPE. 271
it has work to do still. There are times in a
man's history when he is not ready to sit at
the feet of Jesus, and when it is better for him to
go to school to Koheleth. The heart must be
emptied before it can be truly filled. The modern
preacher has often to enforce the lesson, not yet
obsolete, nor ever to become obsolete, " Fear God
and keep His commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man." He must come to Christ
to learn how to do this effectively, and to be
taught those higher lessons for which this does
but prepare the way. But Wisdom is justified of
all her children, and he who follows with toil of
heart and knees and hands the wise man of old
time in his quest of the chief good will find it in
the service of Him who came that we might have
hfe and have it more abundantly.

272 THE SONG OF SONGS,

CHAPTEE XII.

THE SONG OF SONGS.

fTlHE book we are now about to examine has
J- been pronounced the enigma of the Old
Testament, as the Apocalypse is the enigma of
the New. A riddle the Song of Songs certainly
is, though not for the same reasons which make
the Apocalypse so difficult to understand. Some
eminent commentators have even held that it is
intentionally enigmatic, and that it has come
down to us as one of those " dark sayings " in
which Solomon especially delighted.1 In any
case, the book has alternately dehghted and
perplexed both the Jewish and the Christian
Churches, and to-day devout readers are troubled
how to gain spiritual profit from a book which they
1 So Godet, who considers that it closes with "four enigmas
in regular form," that of the apple-tree (viii. 5), the little
sister (viii. 8), the two vineyards (viii. 11), and the flight of
the beloved (viii. 14.) See his Old Testament Studies, p. 257,
etc.

THE SONG OF SONGS. 273
yet hesitate to pass by. The difficulties arise partly
from its form, partly from its substance. As to
its form, even when taken in the greatly improved
and much more intelligible rendering of the
Eevised Version, a careful reader who has no
commentary is bewildered by the rapid change
of speakers and an apparent lack of coherence in
the dialogue, if it be dialogue, which is main
tained. Here and there, too, occur passages
which in any translation appear hopelessly
obscure. The subject-matter presents even more
serious difficulties, supposing all the obvious ones
of outline and connexion to be surmounted. The
book appears to be concerned with human loves,
with the details of marrying and giving in
marriage, the transports of the betrothed and
the joys of idyllic affection. It seems almost as
hard to believe that a sacred book, forming part
of God's word to man, should be concerned merely
with such matters, as to suppose that without the
shghtest indication to that effect, words which
appear to refer to the loves of man and maiden
are to be understood of high spiritual verities, the
devotion of Israel to Jehovah, or that love of
Christ to His Church which is the supreme con
summation of all that man has ever known or
dreamed of in the region of sublime and self-
sacrificing devotion. Yet there are so obviously 18

274 THE SONG OF SONGS.
to be found in it passages of surpassing beauty
and attractiveness, and some of its expressions
have had for Christians of all ages such high and
holy associations, that it seems tantahsing and
wrong to neglect or pass over it. Will not this
" garden enclosed and fountain sealed " yield up
its secret and disclose its beauty, if reverent
hands try to turn the key in the lock which pre
vents access to its treasures ?
The title of the book is almost certainly of
later date than the book itself, and is probably to
be ranked (e.g.) with the title at the beginning of
Isaiah's prophecies, in ch. i. 1, ii. 1, xiii. 1, etc.
The meaning of the phrase Shir ha-shirim, Song
of Songs, unquestionably is "The song which is
loveliest of all." The Hebrew idiom hardly
requires explanation, and is most familiar to us
in the name "Holy of holies." The book is
attributed to Solomon in some sense. It is
probable, though not certain, that the editor who
prefixed the title considered Solomon to be the
author of the book. The mention of Solomon's
name in ch. viii. 11, 12, would be sufficient to
warrant the title " to or for Solomon " ; but there
can be no question that the tradition of centuries
has ascribed the authorship to Solomon, in the
same way that psalms with a similar prefix have
been ascribed to David or Solomon respectively.

THE SONG OF SONGS. 275
Whether Solomon could have been its author or
no, depends somewhat upon the interpretation
given to the poem.
Any difficulty of interpretation that may have
been felt by Jew or Christiaii has done nothing
to interfere with its reception into the sacred
Canon. Eabbi Akiba, writing in the first century
A.D., says: "No Israehte has ever disputed the
canonicity of the Song of Songs. No day in the
whole history of the world is of so much worth
as the one in which the Song of Songs was
given to Israel ; for all the Scriptures are holy,
but the Song of Songs is most holy."1 It was
translated into Greek by Aquila, probably during
the first century of our era, and again before the
end of the second century. It is contained in
the catalogue of sacred books found in the
Talmud, and has long been read in Jewish syna
gogues annually on the Feast of the Passover.
It was, of course, a part of the sacred Scriptures,
recognised as such by our Lord and His apostles,
though we do not know that the book was ever
quoted by any of them, nor does there appear to
be any distinct reference to any part of it in the
New Testament. It comes down to us, therefore,
as part of a sacred deposit, nor must any modern
views of its character and design be allowed to
1 Mishna Yadaim, iii. 5.

276 THE SONG OF SONGS.
deprive it of the place which its history as a
sacredly cherished document entitles it to receive.
At the same time, ¦ searching inquiry into its
character is necessary. The most sacred tradi
tions are the better, not the worse, for such
examination, if only it be reverently and properly
conducted. No intelligent appreciation of the
sacredness of any book can be ours so long as we
do not understand it. And the history of the
interpretation of the Song compels us to examina
tion and decision of some kind for ourselves.
Two modes of understanding the book are
possible — the hteral, and the allegorical or
spiritual. If the former of these two be adopted,
then again two chief modes of interpretation hold
the field amongst scholars. Thus, three in all
will claim our attention, each seeking to do
justice to the place of the book in the Canon of
Scripture, but reaching the end by very different
paths. 1. The traditional line of interpretation for
centuries in the Jewish, and subsequently in the
Christian Church was the allegorical, mystical, or
spiritual. It is adopted in the running tables
of contents prefixed to the chapters in the
Authorised Version, and the subject of the whole
book according to this exegesis may be described
in the words prefixed to the 2nd chapter,

THE SONG OF SONGS. 277
"The mutual love of Christ and His Church."
Perhaps the best modern exponent of it that can
be found is Bishop Wordsworth, who speaks for
a long line of ecclesiastical expositors when he
says : " AU these unitein teaching that the Song
of Solomon is not to be interpreted literally. All
the ancient Christian expositors agree in the
opinion that the Song of Solomon represents the
pure love and mystical union and marriage of
Christ and His Church. They teach us to see in
this Divine book of Holy Scripture a prophetical
representation of Christ's Incarnation, of His
Preaching, of His Passion, when He purchased
His Bride with His own blood, of His glorious
Eesurrection and Ascension into heaven, of the
sending of the Holy Ghost, of the propagation of
the gospel, the call of the Gentiles, and the future
conversion of the Jews."1 According to this
mode of dealing with the text, the opening words
of the poem, " Let him kiss me with the kisses of
his mouth," are, without the slightest introduction
or explanation, to be understood as uttered either
by the Church of God longing for the Incarna
tion, when God should meet man in lowly con
descension, embracing and taking upon Himself
our nature, or by the Church of Christ longing
for union and communion with the Saviour who
1 Introduction to "Song," p. 123.

278 THE SONG OF SONGS.
loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Ac
cording to this method, the words in the 3rd
chapter, in which the maiden describes her search
for her beloved and bringing him to her mother's
house, describe the longing of the Church for the
conversion of the Jews ; her vain appeal to the
"' watchmen," the unfaithful priests and Levites
who could give no help towards finding Christ ;
and the coming of the beloved to the mother's
house signifies the Lord's triumphal entry into
Jerusalem and the longing of the Church for the
conversion of the Jews. " I charge you that ye
wake not my love till he please," means that this
"" evangelisation of Israel will demand much
-patient faith and waiting on the Church's part " ¦
'The description of the prince's daughter in ch.
~vii. is supposed to represent the beauty of the
Church in her missionary work.
The arguments in favour of this mode of inter
pretation — if we were to illustrate it in detail it
might seem almost too extravagant for behef —
«eem to resolve themselves into the statement
that the literal interpretation is too low and
unworthy for the book to deserve a place in the
isacred Scriptures. Wordsworth says : " We must
accept this spiritual interpretation of the Canticles
if we would not degrade it into an amatory ballad
.and voluptuous ditty, and distort it into a strange

THE SONG OF SONGS. 279
and chimerical portraiture of unnatural and por
tentous monstrosities, unworthy of the Divine
Author of Holy Writ." We need not stay to
point out that the " strange and chimerical por
traiture " lies rather with those who seek to make
words mean something so exceedingly different
from their usual acceptation, without the slightest
indication in the book itself that any other than
the ordinary meaning is intended. It is to be
remembered, also, that this same line of argument
has been apphed in earlier generations, from
Philo onwards to the narratives of the Pentateuch
and other parts of Scripture, the literal interpre
tation of which appeared to the whole Alexandrian
school of exegesis " carnal " and " unworthy of
Holy Scripture." Origen argued at length that
Jews and heretics could not be converted by the
hteral sense, that the letter killeth but the spirit
giveth hfe, therefore the story of Eebekah going
to draw water and meeting the servant of Abraham
cannot mean anything so commonplace as appears
upon the surface, but teaches us that we must
come daily to the wells of Scripture in order to
meet Christ. Bishop Wordsworth argues that
the literal meaning of Canticles will "give
countenance to carnal sensuality," just as
Clement, Origen, Augustine, and others argued
with regard to Genesis. They held that it would

280 THE SONG OF SONGS.
occasion many evils if men were permitted to
remain satisfied with the literal and obvious
meaning of Scripture.
Piety of motive, however, can never justify
false and misleading methods of teaching. The
so-called "spiritual" mode of using Scripture
which long prevailed in the Christian Church
was the parent of many evils of which the
excellent men who practised it and those who
now would revive it seem hardly to have
dreamed. It can only bring contempt upon
Scripture to treat it by an exegetical method
according to which words might be made to
mean almost anything. If in a Hebrew docu
ment, written (say) a thousand years before
Christ, which gives not the shghtest indication
of its being prophetic or of suggesting any
ulterior meaning, the words, " Come, my beloved,
let us go into the field, let us lodge in the
villages," can be understood to mean that a
community which did not come into existence
till centuries afterwards, invites " Christ," whose
name would not then be intelligible, to "assist
her in preaching the gospel to the heathen in
wild lands and to the inhabitants of rural villages,
as well as populous towns and cities," then
indeed the science of exegesis is reduced to
absurdity, and any words may be made to convey

THE SONG OF SONGS. 281
almost any meaning that the interpreter chooses
to read into them.
The allegorical method has indeed long been
abandoned by sober students of Scripture. It
would have been unnecessary to linger even so
long upon this matter, but that the Song of Songs
forms the last refuge of those who cling to this
method, and there are some reasons why it natur
ally dies harder here than elsewhere. The
religious feeling of many good persons is so
bound up with this traditional interpretation that
one may well be loth to disturb or shock it.
And, as has been said, a hteral understanding of
the words of the Song seems at first sight to
furnish so little for edification, that the devout
reader shrinks from what is at the same time a
novel and an unwelcome series of associations.
The only sound maxim, however, in reading the
Bible, is to find out at all costs the primary,
obvious, natural meaning of the words as penned
by the original writer. If there be any consider
ations which modify this original meaning, they
may be taken account of subsequently. It is easy
to ascertain, for example, how far the laws which
govern the use of figurative language apply in a
particular case. It is not difficult to discern in
some cases that a deeper and more far-reaching
application of the words than that which lies.

282 THE SONG OF SONGS.
upon the surface is justifiable, or even necessary.
But to set aside the primary and obvious meaning,
without warrant in the document itself, for an in
terpretation remote and recondite, in order to
make the passage "minister to edification," is
dangerous in the extreme. The plain meaning
once clearly ascertained, we may rest assured that
edification will not be far off. This principle is
now almost universally conceded, except in the
case of the Song of Songs. It will not be difficult
to show that in this case also, the sound principles
of exegesis being followed, the book fits easily and
beautifully into its place in the literature of the
Old Covenant, and contains teachmg which can
never become obsolete.
2. Admitting, however, the literal as the primary
meaning of the poem, it is yet possible to maintain
that it has an ideal and typical significance. The
well-known commentator, Delitzsch, may serve as
perhaps the best representative of those who take
this view. According to him, the Song is, as it
appears at first sight, a love-poem. The maiden
who figures so largely in it is not the daughter of
Pharaoh, but " a country maiden of humble rank,
who by her beauty and by the purity of her soul
filled Solomon with a love for her which drew him
away from the wantonness of polygamy, and made
for him the primitive idea of marriage, as it is

THE SONG OF SONGS. 283
described in Gen. ii. 24, a self - experienced
reahty. This experience he here sings, idealising
it after the manner of a poet ; i.e., removing the
husk of that which is accidental, he goes back to
its kernel and its essential nature. We have
before us six dramatic figures, each in two
divisions, which represent from within the growth
of this delightful relation to its conclusion. . . .
The Song represents paradisaical, but yet only
natural love. It stands, however, in the Canon
of the Church, because Solomon is a type of Him
of whom it can be said, ' a greater than Solomon
is here.' Eeferred to Him the antitype, the
earthly contents receive a heavenly import and
glorification. We see therein the mystery of the
love of Christ and His Church shadowed forth,
not, however, allegorically, but typically."1 It
will be seen that this mode of applying the words
to the Church of Christ differs materially from
that before described. It violates no rule of
exegesis, and if it can be maintained, reconciles
the obvious meaning of the words with that
deeper meaning which spiritually-minded readers
have delighted to find in them.
According to this view, the outline of the poem
is somewhat as follows. The Shulamite (vi. 13) is
a country maiden from the north of Palestine,
1 Introduction to Commentary (T. & T. Clark), p. 3.

284 THE SONG OF SONGS.
who has been raised by Solomon to the rank of
queen. She is a stranger among the daughters of
Jerusalem, in appearance, in habits, and in her
thoughts and feelings. The development of the
little drama is very slight, the only progress in it
being that by which the simple country girl
teaches the wise man the superior joys of wedded
love in its purity, weaning him from the luxury
and indulgence of court-life as enjoyed by Oriental
monarchs, to the delights of the pure affection of
one husband for one wife. A number of graceful
pictures succeed one another, all heightening the
effect of the chmax when it is reached, and help
ing to set forth the value and Divine significance
of marriage as a holy bond uniting two souls
together, who pass readily enough from thoughts
of earthly to thoughts of heavenly love. The
transition from this train of thought to the level
on which St. Paul describes marriage as a mystery,
a pattern of the relation between Christ and His
Church, is easy and natural. The poem, as thus
interpreted, divides itself into six parts : (1) The
Anticipation, i 2-ii. 7 ; (2) The Awaiting, ii. 8-
iii. 5 ; (3) The Espousal and its Eesults, iii. 6-v. 1 ;
(4) The Absence, v. 2-8 ; (5) The Presence, v. 9-
viii. 4 ; (6) Love's Triumph, viii. 5-12 ; and a Con-
elusion, viii. 13, 14. The scene is laid partly in
Jerusalem, partly in Solomon's park, partly at the

THE SONG OF SONGS. 285
Shulamite's home in the country. The persons
who speak in this lyrical drama are the Shulamite
maiden, Solomon the king, and the daughters of
Jerusalem who serve as chorus. " In the first
half of the dramatic pictures, Shulamith rises to
an equality with Solomon; in the second half,
Solomon descends to an equality with Shulamith.
At the close of the first, Shulamith is at home in
the king's palace; at the close of the second,
Solomon is at home with her in her Gahlean home."
3. It has been increasingly felt, however, for
the last half-century, among the majority of
scholars, that the difficulties in the way of this
hypothesis are insuperable. That Solomon should
appear alternately as a stately king and as a
simple shepherd, and that he should be found
abandoning his court for a country cottage, ap
pears on the face of it improbable ; while a closer
examination of the structure of the poem reveals
the fact that it is not as simple as the above
theory would make it. The view which Ewald
was the first to work out, and which has been
adopted since his time by Gmsburg and others,
though with many subordinate modifications,1
may be described as follows.
1 Oettli, in the Kurz-gefasstes Kommentar, works out a more
elaborate hypothesis of his own, which is very interesting, but
makes, as we think, the dialogue too complicated.

286 THE SONG OF SONGS.
The poem is a pastoral drama, in which the
action is represented by a number of lyrical
monologues, with occasional dialogue of the very
simplest form. The persons are Shulamith, the
maiden-heroine; her shepherd-betrothed, whose
home, like hers, is in North Palestine ; Solomon
the king, the ladies of his court, the Shulamite's
brothers, certain citizens of Jerusalem, and per
haps one or two minor interlocutors. The scene
opens in Jerusalem, where the Shulamite is
detained against her will by Solomon, who desires
to take her as his bride among the many ladies of
the royal household. She, however, is full of the
thought of her shepherd-lover, to whom, in spite
of all the attractions held out to her, she con
tinues faithful. The poem describes, in by no
means regularly sustained fashion, the admiration
of Solomon, the devotion of the Shulamite to her
absent betrothed, her dreams of the past and her
home among the Northern hills, the unsuccess
ful attempts made to excite her ambition and
induce her to assume queenly rank, closing by
a description of her return to her parental
home, her reunion with her shepherd - lover,
and the triumph of pure and loyal natural
affection. More in detail, the scheme would be
as follows : —

THE SONG OF SONGS. 287
Part I. i. 2— ii. 7.
1. The Shulamite and the ladies of the court in conversa
tion ; they fail to understand her longing for her absent
friend.— i. 2-8.
2. Solorhon seeks to win the Shulamite's love. Her thoughts
are elsewhere ; she begs that there may be no attempt to
excite and transfer her affections. — i. 9— ii. 7.
Part II. ii. 8— iii. 5.
1. Reminiscences of scenes from the past life of the Shula
mite, when she was happy with her beloved in her
Northern home. She hopes that their separation may
speedily end. — ii. 8-17.
2. A dream, in which the Shulamite seems to go in search
of her lover. — iii. 1-5.
Part III. iii. 6-v. 8.
1. Citizens of Jerusalem describe the royal pageant which is
seen approaching ; Solomon in his palanquin, with his
crown of state. — iii. 6-11.
2. Solomon seeks again to win the Shulamite's love, and
praises her beauty. — iv. 1-7.
3. The Shulamite and her lover in real or ideal interview. —
iv. 8-v. 1.
4. A second dream, in which the maiden seeks her beloved
in vain throughout the city. — v. 2-8.
Part IV. v. 9-viii. 4.
1. Ladies in conversation with the Shulamite concerning her
shepherd-lover. — v. 9-vi. 3.
2. The king enters, and seeks again to win the maiden's
affection ; but with less success than ever, as she de
clares her unswerving love for the absent one, and
desire to be with him once more. — vi. 4— viii. 4.

288 THE SONG OF SONGS.
Part V. viii. 5-14.
The Shulamite approaches, leaning on her lover's arm. She
recounts her history, her brother's care for her wel
fare, her own purity and constancy ; and the poem
closes with a brief song expressive of the happiness
of the pair reunited in their home among the hills. —
viii. 5-14.
This may be described as the generally prevailing
modern view of the poem. Some of the chief
arguments which have led to its adoption in pre
ference to the simpler and perhaps more spiritual
interpretation previously described are these.
First, the difficulty of supposing that Solomon
could fill the various parts implied in such a
hypothesis ; appearing first as a shepherd in a
country home, then as king in his palace, then
returning again to the simplicity of country life
and remaining in it. Secondly, the unlikelihood
that a self-respecting maiden, with the feehngs of
pure affection expressed in the poem, could con
sent to be one in a royal harem consisting of
many queens and concubines, as described in ch.
vi. 8. Thirdly, the difference in language and tone
observable in the addresses both of Solomon to
the Shulamite, and of the Shulamite to her
beloved, make it difficult, if not impossible, to
suppose that only two persons are concerned in
them. One supposition introduced to relieve
this difficulty, and make what has been called the

THE SONG OF SONGS. 289
" King-hypothesis " seem more probable than the
" Shepherd-hypothesis," implies an estrangement
between bride and bridegroom almost on the morn
ing after their marriage, and in ch. iv. 6 it would
appear that the bride proposes on her very wedding-
day to withdraw from the company of her husband.
Other arguments on either side imply a closer
examination into details than it is possible here
to give. It must be remembered that difficulties
arise upon every interpretation, and that we can
hardly expect, with the bare text of the poem
before us, — a text which in certain crucial places
is very obscure, — to propound an explanation which
will meet every difficulty and answer every
question. On the third hypothesis, it seems
strange to suppose on the one hand that a
shepherd-rival could be permitted to hold any
kind of an interview with a maiden detained in
the king's palace ; x and on the other hand, quite
foreign to our ideas that the apostrophes of the
Shulamite should be throughout addressed to an
absent lover, and her conversations with him be
purely ideal or visionary. But it is replied, that
under the very simple dramatic conditions of the
1 Dr. Friedlander has lately propounded the theory that the
scene of the whole poem lies in the country, that it contains
nothing to remind us of Jerusalem or a king's palace. See
Jeioish Quarterly Review, July 1894, p. 648. 19

290 THE SONG OF SONGS.
poem, this was the only way in which the Shula
mite's fidelity to the absent one could be set forth.
On any hypothesis, the paragraph, ch. vi. 13-vii. 9,
presents great difficulty. The previous verses are
obscure, and of the explanations given of "the
chariots of Ammi-nadib" no one seems quite satis
factory. The passage, ch. vi. 11, 12, appears, how
ever, to describe the circumstances under which
the Shulamite allowed herself to be surprised and
taken away among the retinue of King Solomon —
I went down into the nut-garden,
To look among the green plants of the valley,
To see whether the vine was budding,
Whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
— Unwittingly my soul had set me
Among the chariots of my prince's companions.
How, then, are we to understand the following
words ? The Shulamite, even while describing
her unwilling detention, begins to move away.
The ladies of Jerusalem, now in different mood
from that described in the opening of the poem,
address the Shulamite in admiration, and beg her
to return to her place in the court, where her
beauty will be duly appreciated —
Return, return, 0 Shulamite !
Return, return, that we may look upon thee.
What will you behold in the Shulamite,
Like a dance of Mahanaim [double choirs] ?
Whether the last two lines should be put into

THE SONG OF SONGS. 291
the mouth of the maiden, or the last line ascribed
to the king or the ladies of the court ; who utters
the description of the maiden's beauty that follows,
and in what sense ; where the description ends,
and how the closing words in ch. vh. 8, 9, are to
be understood, — these are questions which puzzle
all interpreters, and have driven some to suppose
that an interpolation has taken place here, a
passage having crept into the text which upon
any theory is very difficult to fit in with the rest.1
Another difficulty at a critical point is found
in the enigmatical language of ch. viii. 11, 12,
which is thus rendered in E.V. : — •
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon ;
He let out the vineyard unto keepers ;
Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand
pieces of silver.
My vineyard, which is mine, is before me :
Thou, 0 Solomon, shalt have the thousand,
And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
On the second hypothesis, this reference to one of
Solomon's vineyards is supposed to prepare the
way for a request that Solomon, who had obtained
in the person of the Shulamite so precious a
"vineyard," would generously remember her
brothers, who are spoken of as "keepers of the
fruit," and make suitable provision for them !
1 So apparently Prof. Robertson Smith, in his brief but very
full article in the Encyclopoedia Britannica, 9th edition.

292 THE SONG OF SONGS.
On the third hypothesis, the Shulamite is dwell
ing upon the value of an estate which Solomon
had offered to consign to her if she became his ;
she enthusiastically declares that she prefers to
keep her own modest position, and that Solomon
may use as he will, and let out to whom he
will, the vineyards and possessions which are as
nothing to her in comparison with her love.
Both of these explanations may seem arbitrary ;
but the passage in any case is difficult, and the
latter explanation certainly seems the easier
and better fits in with the context, see ch.
vhi. 6, 7. These are specimens of obscurities
which remain on any view of the poem, and which
we may allow to remain without being obliged to
give up the whole problem as insoluble.
In seeking to form a judgment as to the general
meaning of the Song, and the way in which it is
to be read as a part of the Bible to-day, it may
be well to take a very rapid survey of the history
of opinion upon the subject. Evidence seems to
show that the book was not in the first instance
understood allegorieally by the Jews, but by the
time of Christ, or not long afterwards, this view
began to prevail over all others. Many passages
might be quoted from the sayings of Eabbis
between 200 and 500 a.d., showing that the inter
pretation adopted in the Targum (about 550 A.D.)

THE SONG OF SONGS. 293
had become general, according to which the Song
of Songs is an allegory, the Shulamite representing
the congregation of Israel, the bridegroom being
Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and the whole
book regarded as a prophetic history of the Jewish
people from the Exodus to the coming of Messiah.
The same idea obtained in the Middle Ages, when
the Song came to be used in connexion with the
services of the Passover, the feast which celebrated
the Exodus from Egypt as the beginning of the
true conjugal relation between God and His people.
In the eighteenth century discussion arose among
Jewish scholars concerning the validity of the
highly elaborated allegorical interpretations which
had obtained in the Jewish Church, and the
view that the Song represents the victory of
true and virtuous love in humble life over the
temptations of royalty and affluence may be said
now to have estabhshed itself amongst the best
Jewish exegetes. A similar history may be
traced amongst Christian expositors, who in the
early centuries were certainly influenced in their
interpretation of the Old Testament by Jewish and
Alexandrian modes of exegesis, whilst Christian
scholars in later days have doubtless exercised
considerable influence upon the thought of
Judaism. Origen, about the middle of the third
century, admits the historical sense of the book

294 THE SONG OF SONGS.
as forming a kind of epithalamium on the marriage
of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter, but the real
meaning in his view is developed in an elaborate
allegory, in which the bridegroom is Christ, the
bride the Church, the companions of the former
being angels and saints in heaven, and the maidens
of the latter believers on the earth. Athanasius,
about a century later, says : " The whole book is
an allegory, and is to be understood enigmatically
from beginning to end. Its doctrines are secrets,
and those only who are well versed in allegory
ought to study it, as it is sure to be corrupted in
the hands of others. It is an epithalainium in
celebration of the marriage of Him who is the
loved of God and human flesh. The book is full
of dialogues between the Son of God and the
human race ; sometimes between men in general
and Christ, sometimes between Him and His
ancient people ; sometimes between Him and the
Gentile Church, sometimes between the Gentiles
and Jerusalem, and sometimes between minister
ing angels and men." Augustine does but re
present the prevalent opinion of the Church for
centuries when he interprets ch. ii. 15, "Take
us the foxes," etc., by saying, " That is, withstand,
confute, subdue heretics that injure the ecclesi
astical vines. Bind them by Scripture testimony,
as Samson bound the foxes together and put fire

THE SONG OF SONGS. 295
to their tails, by warning them of the condemnation
they have deserved." Again, on ch. i. 7, "Tell
me, 0 thou whom my soul loveth, where thou
feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at
noon ? " he writes, " The Church asks Christ to tell
her where the one true Church is, where it feeds
and reclines. The bridegroom answers, In the
meridian, I feed in the meridian, I recline in the
meridian. The Church exists in other parts, but in
Africa is its meridian." The only exception to
the prevailing tendency is the commentary of
the sober and accurate Theodore of Mopsuestia,
who adhered to the literal and obvious sense
of the words, and was condemned by his contem
poraries accordingly. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, as
is well known, delivered a long course of sermons
on the Canticles — eighty-six sermons on the
first two chapters — in which the mystical mean
ing is elaborated to the fullest extent. Some
parts of these sermons appear now to be little
less than childish, but the spirit and methods
of the mystic theologians of the Middle Ages
must be taken into account if their value is to be
fairly estimated.
Luther in this, as in so much else, broke through
the prejudices of generations. He rejected the
allegorical interpretation of the Fathers, and sub
stituted one of his own, which can hardly be said

296 THE SONG OF SONGS.
to have survived him, that the bride of this poem
is the happy and peaceful state under the dominion
of Solomon, the Song itself being a hymn of praise,
in which Solomon thanks God for the obedience
rendered to him as a Divine gift. In succeeding
centuries, amongst Eoman Cathohcs, the book was
largely used to justify Mariolatry, while Cocceius
characteristically regarded it as a kind of Old
Testament Apocalypse, containing a prophetical
narrative of all the events to happen in the
Christian Church to the end of time. Puritan
writers for the most part enlarge upon the
spiritual truths which the book appeared to them
to contain, with the laborious minuteness which
was characteristic of all their exegesis. Wesley
held that the descriptions of the book could not
with decency be used concerning Solomon and
Pharaoh's daughter, and that they must therefore
be understood " concerning that spiritual love and
marriage which is between Christ and His Church."
Towards the end of the last century, however,
a better understanding of the meaning and use
of the Old Testament Scriptures began to prevail.
On the one hand, there was a tendency to ration
alism ; but amongst orthodox teachers a close and
critical study of the text, combined with simplicity
and fidelity of exegesis, brought about a more
sober and healthy mode of treatment of Scripture,

THE SONG OF SONGS. 297
both in Germany and England. The details of
this history we need not pursue ; enough to say
that the allegorical interpretation of the Song is
now abandoned by almost all scholars, though
fifty years ago Keil and Hengstenberg, and thirty
years ago Bishop Wordsworth, may be named as
representatives of nineteenth-century allegorisers.
At the present time, the view of Delitzsch, which
represents the Song as a poem in honour of
marriage, in which Solomon is the bridegroom
and the Shulamite the bride, typically and ideally
setting forth the relation between Christ and the
Church, is represented by such writers as Zockler
in Lange's Bibel-werk, Mr. Kingsbury in the
Speaker's Commentary, and Mr. Deane in the
new edition of Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.
Godet may also be named in this connexion,
though his view is difficult to classify. The view
which represents the poem as a celebration of
true and virtuous affection, untainted by the
splendour and luxuries of a court, and found
faithful to its early vows and allegiance, has com
mended itself to scholars such as Ewald and
Ginsburg, Driver and Eobertson Smith, and, as we
have said, may be regarded as at present the theory
prevailing amongst scholars and critics. We
proceed to give our own view of the poem and the
way in which it may be profitably regarded as

298 THE SONG OF SONGS.
a part of Holy Scripture by the Christian of
to-day. The Song of Songs is a sacred poem of North
Palestine, not written by Solomon, but dating
from a period not long after his time, probably
about the middle of the tenth century B.C. It
is pastoral in character, a lyrical drama of the sim
plest and most primitive kind. Its action is carried
on partly by monologue, partly by dialogue, but,
the persons not being specified, nor always
explicitly recognised, it is impossible to mark out
definitely the details of its progress. The attempt
to judge it by the rules of later drama must be
ineffectual ; its light and graceful structure does
not describe, but only suggests action, and to
modern and Western minds this absence of definite-
ness produces obscurity. The poetry is exquisite,
and the pictures it presents most attractive,
even when it is difficult to fit them into a con
nected whole. The vineyards upon the hillsides
with their sun-browned keepers, the shepherds
with their flocks, resting in shady places under
stress of the noontide heat, the fawns feeding
among the hhes, the apples and citrons with their
rich fragrance, the clusters of henna-flowers, the
gardens like beds of aromatic spices, the fountains
which refresh them, the gentle winds which blow
upon them, the hills and valleys of the land that

THE SONG OF SONGS. 299
floweth with milk and honey, from Sharon to
Gilead, from Lebanon to Engedi, are all touched
by a living hand in a series of lovely pictures.
An air of springtime is diffused over the whole —
My beloved spake, and said to me,
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away !
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over, is gone ;
The flowers appear in the fields ;
The time of singing is come,
The cooing of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
The fig tree sweetens her green figs,
And the vines blossom,
They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away !
It is a love-poem. The tenderness of affection
breathes through every line, through all the
abundant figures of speech which make the verses
glisten as with jewels of price. The mode of
speech is Eastern — richer, warmer, more ornate
than colder climes permit. The poem should not
be read by any who come to it with preconceived
ideas of taste and fitness, drawn from other habits
of thought and life. They will find its luscious-
ness pall and cloy, they may easily misunderstand
its wealth of detail. It is pure as the driven
snow, and should be read only by those whose
hearts and hands are pure enough to fit them to
handle it.

300 THE SONG OF SONGS.
How fair is thy love, my sister, my betrothed !
How sweet is thy love above wine !
And the fragrance of thy perfumes above all spices !
Thy lips, 0 my betrothed, drop honey :
Honey and milk are under thy tongue ;
And the odour of thy garments is as the odour of
Lebanon.
A garden enclosed is my sister, my betrothed ;
A garden shut up, a fountain sealed.
Awake, 0 North wind ; and come, thou South,
Blow upon my garden,
That its perfumes may flow out !

It is a love-poem. The history of the pure
affection of man and maid, its tender upspringing
in youthful days among the firs and cedars of the
North country, its sorrows and longings in the
time of separation, its tenacity and fidelity under
pressure of strong temptation, its wistfulness in
absence, its power and triumph at the last, can
only be traced with difficulty amidst the many
rapid turns and frequent obscurities of the poem.
The colours are rich and deep, but the outlines
of the picture are faintly drawn. The history
is clear enough, however, to enable us to trace in
it the Trials and Triumph of Love. The refrain
which meets the ear at intervals 1 is a key to the
whole. 1 See ch. ii. 7, iii. 5, viii. 4. Compare the significant variation
an ch. v. 8.

THE SONG OF SONGS. 301
I adjure you, 0 daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles and by the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up nor awaken love,
Till it please.
True love springs up in the heart unbidden. The
pure flame of ardent attachment which kindles in
the language of the Song does not belong to the
court, but to the "wilderness." No inmates of
an Eastern harem, with its luxury and self-indul
gence can artificially arouse a passion so tender
and strong as that which makes the notes of this
music still tremulous after the lapse of centuries.
It is beyond question that, whatever the now
untraceable allusions and details hinted at rather
than described in this charming poem, its pith
and core, its main lesson and memorable message
intended for all time, are to be found in the
impassioned words —
Oh set me as a seal upon thy heart,
As a seal upon thine arm !
For love is strong as death ;
Ardent love is inexorable as the grave:
The flashes thereof are flashes of fire,
A very flame of Jehovah !
Many waters cannot quench love,
Neither can the floods drown it :
If a man would give all the substance of his
house for love,
He would be utterly despised.

302 THE SONG OF SONGS.
This is the strain which gives character to the
book. This gives the strength to its feeling, the
beauty to its language, the warmth to its imagery.
This is the salt which preserves from decay forms
of speech which in so many respects are ahen to
our tongues, and which preserves from the taint
of sensuous corruption language which may easily
be misinterpreted. Love, true and pure, of man
for maid, of maiden for her beloved, is a very
flame of Jehovah ! Here is a link between earth
and heaven; in these words a ray from beyond
the skies pours light and warmth into a cold and
selfish world —
Its holy flame for ever burneth;
From Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth.
He who setteth the solitary in families, who said,
" It is not good that man should be alone, I will
make him an help meet for him," He who knows
the needs and longings, the capacities and aspira
tions of the human hearts Himself has fashioned,
has crowned all His earthly gifts to man with the
supreme gift of love. This recognition of the
meaning and value of pure human affection is to
be found in many parts of the Bible, but nowhere
so fully and richly as in the Song of Songs. It is
surely no small matter that this sphere of man's
life should be hallowed by the express seal of

THE SONG OF SONGS. 303
religion. Human nature tends on the one hand
to sensuous indulgence, so that pure affection
loses the fineness and delicacy of its bloom ; then
it runs to the other extreme, denounces the flesh
as in itself evil, and marriage as a mere conces
sion to human frailty. The religion of the Bible
claims the whole of life for God. The Song of
Songs increases the range and strengthens the
hold of Old Testament teaching in this its
testimony for God on the earth. If it is a gain
that in Job we have man's questionings and
searchings into the problems of life recognised
and turned to highest account ; if it is a gain that
in Proverbs the ordering of daily conduct in
business and in society, the prudence and pro
vision for things honourable in the sight of men,
is brought into relation to the loftiest motives
and springs of action; if the Old Testament is
the richer because in Ecclesiastes it does not
disdain to recognise even the dark moods of
pessimism and describe them at length in order to
show their true remedy ; then surely we may rejoice
that in the Song of Songs the sphere of sexual
love, and what is sometimes called romance, is
purified by the recognition of its beauty and value
in the complex nature which God has made, and
which He designs should be consecrated to the
highest ends. Tennyson only renders into modern

304 THE SONG OF SONGS.
language a lesson which poets and sages of all
generations have repeated —
For indeed I know
Of no more subtle master under Heaven
Than is the maiden passion for a maid,
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But teach high thought and amiable words,
And courtliness and the desire of fame,
And love of truth, and all that makes a man.
But the Bible teaches us more than this. It is
its function to build a ladder between earth and
heaven, and it leaves out no single round which
may help to raise man upwards. Man's passions
may debase and degrade him ; if he will learn the
lesson of the Song of Songs, they shall not only
be purified and help to purify and sweeten his
whole life, but pure earthly love shall lead God-
wards and heavenwards.
For we at least do not believe that the full
significance of the Song has yet been declared.
If it had been discovered alone, as a fragment of
Oriental literature, it would hardly be legitimate
to draw more meaning from it than we have thus
far found in it. Even so, its ethical standard is
indefinitely higher than that of most Eastern
nations, and higher than the standards practically
recognised amongst the Jews in the time of
Solomon. But this poem has not been discovered

THE SONG OF SONGS. 305
by itself in some Persian or Babylonian city ; it is
part of a sacred hterature with a recognised
history and scope. Whilst this does not warrant
us in reading into the poem ideas altogether
foreign to it, it does enable us to say what were
the associations in the minds of the Jews for many
generations connected with this subject of human
affection and marriage. It does enable us to say
that this nation was accustomed to link together
the ideas of the love of God and the love of man,
was accustomed to speak of Israel as affianced to
God, a true bride of Jehovah, whose duty it was
to be faithful to that allegiance, and not to form
impure and adulterous attachments to idols and
forms of idol-worship. The language thus used
was no doubt figurative, but these modes of speech
had become so inwoven into the language as to
form part of its very fibre and tissue. Passages,
too, may be found in which it is almost difficult
to tell whether the bond of love and marriage
between man and woman is spoken of, or the
bond of devotion and service which bound Israel
to her Lord and God. A few only may be men
tioned. So early as in the Book of the Covenant,
Ex. xxxiv. 15, Israel is warned not "to go
a-whoring after other gods," a note which is re
echoed in Deut. xxxi. 16, and in many other
places. In Isa. liv. 5, God deigns to say to

306 THE SONG OF SONGS.
His people, "Thy Maker is thine husband, the
Lord of hosts is His name " ; in ch. lxii 4, 5, it is
said of the land that it shall be called " Beulah,"
Le. Married ; for " as the bridegroom rejoiceth over
the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."
Very tender is the language of Hosea, as at some
length he dwells upon the relation between God
and His people, under this figure : " I will allure
her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably unto her. . . . And it shall be
at that day, saith Jehovah, thou shalt call me
Ishi, my husband, and shalt call me no more
Baali, my lord. . . . And I will betroth thee
unto me for ever." The Books of Jeremiah and
Ezekiel abound in language which imphes the
same underlying thought. Finally, in the 45th
Psalm we have the nearest approach to the
language of the Song of Songs that is to be found
in the Old Testament, and as to it some are
still doubtful whether it be the epithalamium of
a royal marriage, or describes the relation between
the Church and her Eedeemer, or whether the
poet, having begun with the one subject, passed
insensibly into the other. It is hardly needful to
add that in the New Testament the figure of the
Church as the Bride of her Saviour is fully sus
tained, or to quote once more the language of St.
Paul, " The twain shall become one flesh. This

THE SONG OF SONGS. 307
mystery is great, but I speak in regard of Christ
and of the Church."
These quotations do not warrant us in saying
that the subject of the Song is the relation
between Jehovah and Israel. They are mostly
subsequent in date, and all of them are exphcitly
metaphorical, the context sufficiently indicating
the meaning. But they do warrant us in saying
that there was a close connexion in the mind of
the Jews between what may be called earthly
and heavenly affection, earthly and heavenly
marriage-bonds. It would in our judgment be
going too far to say that the writer of the Song
of Songs ever contemplated the shepherd-lover of
the poem as a type, but it is quite admissible to
say that in his mind and the minds of his readers
there was a close connexion between the earthly
love which rejected the attractions of a court
with its " threescore queens and fourscore concu
bines and virgins without number," — wives who,
as we are expressly told in 1 Kings, " turned
away Solomon's heart after other gods," — and
that devotion to Jehovah which was ever to be
maintained by His faithful servants. If the
connexion is not close in the minds of modern
critics who treat the Song as an independent
piece of literature, it is because they have not
sufficiently realised the conditions and entered

3?8 THE SONG OF SONGS.
into the spirit of a literature which must be read
as a whole if it is to be read aright.
This connexion of thought once established,
the legitimacy of employing the language of a
poem which celebrates the one kind of affection,
in order to set forth the delights and excellences
of another, is manifest. This is not to say that
the writer had in his mind, when writing, the
thoughts which moved in Hosea when he penned
his 2nd chapter, or the feelings which prompted
Bernard to write his sermons on the Canticles.
But the fact that the Jews were for centuries
famihar with this tender and gracious analogy as
unfolded by the prophets, and the fact that
Christians have for a still longer period made use
of similar language to express the inexpressibly
lofty relation between Christ and the Church
which He loved and for which He gave Himself,
makes such an application of the words of the
Song appropriate and impressive. Interpretation
is one thing, application another. But how pure
and lofty is that strain which, when written of
constant and devoted human love, is capable of
being used to express the greatness and excellence
of love Divine. The words of the Song, if thus
applied, must be very cautiously used. We draw
near to sacred ground. Pearls, when cast before
swine, will only be trampled under feet hi the

7Y77i SONG OF SONGS. 309
mire. The language of some Christian teachers
when giving what is called a spiritual exposition
of this book has not been restrained by that holy
shame which the deepest reverence teaches. But,
rightly used, the language of this book may
become a help to devotion. Who could or would
eliminate from Christian literature the allusions
to ch. i. 7, which have inspired so many medi
tations and lent beauty to so many hymns ? —
The pasture I languish to find,
Where all who their Shepherd obey
Are fed, on Thy bosom reclined,
And screened from the heat of the day.
The use of the term " Eose of Sharon," which has
become famihar to Christians, is founded on a
mistake. It is not the Beloved, but the Shulamite,
who speaks in ch. ii. 1, and she describes herself
as a modest meadow-flower, not as the queen of a
garden. But another figure has enshrhied itself
in sacred art and in sacred song, one which was
first suggested by ch. v. 2, and then taken up in
the well-known passage of the Apocalypse —
I was asleep, but my heart waked :
Hark ! my beloved ! He knocketh, saying,
Open to me, my sister, my love,
My dove, my undefiled :
For my head is filled with dew,
My locks with the drops of the night.

310 THE SONG OF SONGS.
Significant, again, and true to the original imagery,
is the description of the Church in the words —
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
Fair as the moon,
Bright as the sun,
Terrible as bannered hosts ?
The aspect of the Shulamite in her maiden purity
and devotion is fair in the eyes of the world, but
it is terrible also. Clothed with the might which
consecrated love imparts, she goes forth on her
way to conquer by her beauty, to conquer also
by the awe she inspires. The world still asks, as
did the daughters of Jerusalem, "What is thy
beloved more than another beloved, 0 thou
fairest among women ? What is thy beloved more
than another beloved, that thou dost " refuse the
ease and pomp and blandishments which await
thee, and hold on thy way clad in the resplendent
armour of stainless loyalty and invincible devo
tion? And the Bride makes answer as of old,
" My beloved is . . . the chief est among ten thou
sand. . . . His speech is most sweet ; yea, He is
altogether lovely. . . . My beloved is mine, and
I am His ; He feedeth His flock among the lilies."
" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ?
Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or sword ? " Shall luxury,
or ease, or wealth, or dignity, or honour, or power ?

THE SONG OF SONGS. 311
Nay, we are persuaded that "neither death nor
hfe, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.''
Our survey is ended, however slightly and
inadequately made. The " Wisdom-Literature "
of the Old Testament is but a section of a much
greater whole, a section usually considered sub
ordinate in character and importance. Yet it
becomes full of instruction when we give to
it the meed of thoughtful attention it deserves.
Whilst travelling for the most part on the high
roads, it is well to tread sometimes the bypaths
of Scripture. Flowers are there, and shady
banks; trees whose fruit is good for food, and
their leaves for medicine ; glimpses into pleasant
places of thought, sights of far Delectable
Mountains ; and every path, wisely trodden, leads
into that Way of holiness, in which even the
ignorant wayfarer shall not go astray, guided at
last to Him who for every pilgrim-child of man,
is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

Genesis.

i. 7
ii. 24
xxv. 14
xii. 2

1522S3117 65

Exodus.

xxxi. 3 .
xxxiv. 15 .

. 10
. 305

Deuteronomy.

Job.

iv. 19
xxxi. 16

. 38
. 305

1 Kings.
iii. .
iv. 29-34 32, 33
33 .
x. 1
xi. 3
xxii. 21-23

10 3
10S 10
10S307 46

1 Chronicles.
xvi. 7-36 . 216
xxi. 1 . . 46
2 Chronicles.
xxxii. 23 , . 117

i.

20,22

S3

ii.

10 .

82

iii.

3-10

-12

14 .

36

iv.

10, 11,

03

vi.

4, 10

83

15-20

64

vii.

12-16

60

17 .

42

19, 20
61
viii.
11, 12
64
16-19
U5
ix.
7-9.
70
24 .
39
25,26
07
27 .
61
28 .
43
30,31
61
xii.
2 .
02
16-25
311
xiii
25
07
28 .
43
xiv.
11 .
42
XV.
7 .
42
XVI.
xviii.
xxi.
xxii,
26 .
12-14
5, 6,
15 .
21 25-27
12 6,27
024236 62 9036 38
PAGE
xxii. 16 36
24 46
xxiv. 2, 9 . 38
12 . 39
xxvi. 5, 6, 11,
14 . 72
12 . 43
xxviii. 3-7 . 68
12, 14,
22, 28 69
16 . 46
xxix. 3, 4, 6,
19, 20 73
7 . 38
xxx. 31 . 36
xxxi. 11, 26 38
19-23 . 63
xxxvii. 7 . . 6Q
xxxviii. 1 . .36
4-7, 31,
32 . 71
xl. 1. . 36
2-5 96
xlii. 5, 6, 96,
263
11 . 36
Psalms.
i. . .13
viii. 4 . .42
xxxvii. . 13, 263
xiv. . . 306
xlix. . . 263
xlix. 4 . .124
314

INDEX OF TEXTS.

Psalms.

PAGE

X.

27 .

PAGE
. 139

XX.

8, 26

PAGE 203

1. .

ia

xi.

1 .

. 139

10

139

lxxiii. .

is. ;:oi

4 .
. 110
17
176
lxxvii. .
249
13
. 185
27
141
lxxviii. 2
124
15 .
. 193
xxi
2
140
lxxxvii. .
118
xii.
4
. 200
9, 19
201
lxxxviii.
263
16 .
. 172
23
179
xcvi. .
216
18
. 177
30,
31
141
cv. .
216
xiii.
9 .
. 42
xxii
3.
161
cvi. .
216
14 .
. 110
7.
196
cxii. .
13
24 .
. 167
13
180
xiv
10 .
. 164
16
107, :i:''>
Proverbs
.
12 .
. 109
17
5,107
i. 1 .
217
15,18
. 161
26,
27
193
6 .
124
17,29
. 171
29
181
7 .
132
27 .
110, 133
xxiii.
10,
11
197
22 .
161
29 .
. 172
15,
19
166
32 .
182
30 .
. 175
17
137
iii. 11 .
137
31 .
. Ill
18
207
19,20
143
34
204
xxiv
11
187
32, 33
138
XV
11 .
. 140
20,
21
203,
iv. 8, 9.
208
15 .
. 188
207
23 .
165
20 .
. 110
22,
34
120
v. 22 .
209
26 .
179
23
107
vi. 1 .
193
33 .
. 174
xxv
1
107
8 .
119
xvi
3,7,9
. 136
6,;
113
16-19
15
4,168
18 .
. 174
13
186
vii. 7
161
24
179
IS
176
26 .
192
25 .
. 109
21,
22
187
viii.
5
28 .
. 178
25,
15, 120
1 .
144
32 .
. 172
xxvi.
7
122
5 .
161
xvii.
3 .
. 163
14,
15
180
14 .
146
5 .
111, 139
16
181
15 .
10
9 .
. 178
21
172
22,23
148
17 .
. 15
28
176
25 .
42
18 .
. 193
xxvii.
4
175
27-31
6
22 .
. 188
12
161
30 .
14
9, 150
xviii
.6,7
. 178
16
201
32 .
151
9 .
. 181
19
128
34-36
19
11, 16
. 195
21
127
ix.
5
12 .
. 174
xxviii.
5
137
10
133
21 .
. 177
8
195
12 .
120
22 .
. 139
13
165
18 .
162
xix
4 .
195, 196
xxx.
1
116
x. 1, 2, 6,
1]
110
5, 9
. 176
15,16,
18,19
124
12 .
173
14 .
. 140
xxxi.
1-9
, 10
14 .
177
17 .
139, 197
31 .
107
18 .
175
XX
6 .
. 186
30
202
INDEX OF TEXTS.

3i5

Ecclesiastes.
i. 1 . 220, 228,
239, 253
3 . .212
7 . .239
12 . 215, 217
13 . .11
16 . 217, 218
ii. 7-9, 18, 19 218
iii. 9 . .241
11 . 225, 241
253, 266
14 . . 247
16-22 240, 244
21 . 251. 257
iv. 9 . ' 245
v. 2, 7 . 247, 254
8, 9 . 222, 245
18-20 253, 254
vii. 20,26-28. 245
25 . .11
29 . 248
viii. 2-9 . . 218
12, 13 247, 254
17 . 253
ix. 1 248
7 . 254
10 . 253
IS . . 246
x. 16-18 218, 223
20 . . 223
xi. 5 . . 253
9 252, 254, 255
xii. 1 . .255
7 226, 251, 256
8 227,253,255, 256, 261
9-14 226, 250,
252, 256
11 . . 5
13, 14 212, 254
Song of Songs.
i. 1 . . 217
7 . 295, 309
ii. 7 278, 300, 301

ii. 10-13 299
15 294
iii. 5 300
iv. 6 289
11 . 300
v. 2 309
8 . 300
10, 16 . 310
vi. 3 . 310
8 . 288
10 . . 310
11, 12 . 290
13 283, 289, 290
vii. 8, 9 . 291, 298
11 . . 280
viii. 4 . .300
5, 8, 11, 14 272
6, 7 292, 301
11, 12 274, 291
Isaiah.
i. 1 . . 274
ii. 1 . . 274
xiii. 1 . .274
xiv. 4-23 15, 122
xix. 5 . 42
xxviii. 29 . 11
xxix. 14 . 4
xliv. 24-28 . 43
1. 9 . . 43
li. 9, 10 43
liv. 5 . 305
lxii. 4, 5 . 306
Jeremiah.
xx. 14-18 . 42
xxi. 8 . .157

Ezekiel.
xiv. 14 .
Daniel.
i. 4 .
xii. 2

27

5
257

Ecclesiasticus.
xxiv. 7-11 . 130

Matthew.
vii. 7 . .151
xi. 19 . 8
Luke.
vii. 35 . . 8
ix. 25 . 266
xiv. 7-11 . 113
John.
ix. 4 . 183

xx. 25 .

203

Romans.
viii. 38 . . 311
1 Corinthians.
ii. 6 .8
xii. 28 . 5
xiii. 4 . 173
9 . .254
Ephesians.
iv. 11 . . 5
COLOSSIANS.

1 Timothy.
vi. 20 . . 2
Hebrews.
ix. 9 . .265
James.
i. 5 . . 151
v. 11 . . 27
1 Peter.
iv. 8 . . 173

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