There is no memory of the first things, and indeed of the things that are to come. There will be no memory of them among those who are to come in the future. Just as the past is hidden from us in oblivion, so too those things that are happening now or that are to come, those who are yet to be born will not be able to know them, and everything will pass by in silence, and they will be hidden as if they had never existed. And that saying will be fulfilled: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. For even the Seraphim cover their faces and feet, because the first and last things are veiled. But according to the Seventy Interpreters, who said: 'There will be no memory of the first, indeed, of the last who are to come, there will be no memory of them with those who are to come in the last' (Matthew 20:16): the meaning of this passage from the Gospel is that those who are first in this age will be the last of all. And because God, as a generous and merciful being, remembers even the least and all, he will not give as great glory to those who, due to their vice, deserved to be the last, as he will to those who, by humbling themselves, wanted to be the last in the world. Therefore, it is said in the following: There is no memory of the wise with the foolish forever.
I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. So far, in general, the preface addresses everyone who is disputing (Al. disputing): now it turns to itself, and teaches who he is, how he came to know everything by experience. The Hebrews say that this book is of Solomon, repenting that he, relying on wisdom and riches, offended God through women.
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. The word 'Anian' Aquila, the Seventy, and Theodotion have alike translated περισπασμόν as 'distraction,' which the Latin Interpreter has rendered as 'distention,' because the human mind, distracted by various cares, is torn asunder. But Symmachus translates it as 'occupation.' Therefore, since it is mentioned multiple times in this volume, whether it be occupation, or tension, or whatever else we may have said, let everything be referred to the higher meaning. Therefore, Ecclesiastes gave his mind first to seeking wisdom, and extending beyond what is allowed, he wanted to understand the causes and reasons: why the innocent are afflicted by demons, why both the just and the wicked are equally consumed by shipwrecks. Whether these things, and similar ones, happen by chance or by the judgment of God. And if by chance, where is providence? if by judgment, where is the justice of God? Desiring to know these things, I understood the unnecessary worry and anxiety that torments us by various means, given to us by God, so that we may desire to know what it is not lawful to know. But, as the preceding reason is well stated, this is a tension given by God. For, as it is written in the Epistle to the Romans: For this reason, God handed them over to shameful passions (Rom. I, 6). And again: For this reason God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done (Ibid., 28). And then: Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts to impurity (Ibid., 24). And to the Thessalonians: Therefore God sends them a strong delusion (II Thess. II, 10). And beforehand the reasons are shown why either they are delivered to the passions of dishonor, or to a debased mind, or to the lusts of their hearts, or whatever they did to receive the operation of error. And therefore, at present, God has given humans this bad situation, so that they are distressed in it, because they have done these or those things of their own free will and choice.
I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. We are compelled by necessity to discuss more frequently than we want about Hebrew words. For we cannot know the meaning unless we learn it through words. Rooth, Aquila, and Theodotion translated νομὴν as 'pasture', and Symmachus translated it as 'grazing'. But the Seventy Interpreters did not express the Hebrew language, but the Syrian, saying 'preference'. Therefore, whether it be farming or grazing, the term is derived from pastio, which connotes preference rather than presumption. It is said that each person does what they want and what seems right to them, and that people are led in different directions by their own free will, and all things are futile under the sun, while we ourselves are displeased with the boundaries of good and evil. A Hebrew teacher, who guided me in reading the holy Scriptures, told me that the word written above, Rooth, in this context signifies more affliction and wickedness than passion and preference: not from evil, which is contrary to good, but from that which is written in the Gospel: Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34). What the Greeks more significantly call κακουχίαν, it means: I have considered everything that happens in the world, and I have found nothing else but vanity and wickedness, that is, the miseries of the spirit, by which the soul is afflicted with various thoughts.
The wicked cannot be adorned, and lack cannot be counted. Whoever is wicked, unless they are corrected first, cannot be adorned. The righteous receive adornment, the crooked receive correction. One is not called wicked unless they are deviated from what is right. This is in contrast to heretics, who introduce certain natures that do not receive health. And because lack, that is, what is missing, cannot be counted: therefore only the firstborn of Israel were counted. But women, and slaves, and children, and the common people from Egypt, were not a fullness, but a diminution of the army, being passed over without number. There can also be this meaning here: Such wickedness is present in the capacity of this world, that the world can hardly return to its original state of goodness, nor can it easily receive its order and perfection, in which it was first created. Otherwise, if everyone is restored to wholeness through repentance, only the devil will remain in his error. For all things that have been done under the sun, have been overturned by its judgment and the spirit of wickedness, while sins are multiplied by its prompting. Finally, the number of deceivers and those who have been snatched from the flock of the Lord by it is so great that it cannot be comprehended by calculation.
I spoke with my heart, saying: Behold, I have been magnified, and I have added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge. Solomon was wiser, not Abraham, and Moses, and the other Saints, but those who were before him in Jerusalem. We also read in the books of Kings that Solomon had much wisdom, and he asked for this gift from God above all others. Therefore, the eye of the heart of the world beholds much wisdom and knowledge; for it does not say: I have spoken much wisdom and knowledge; but, My heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge. For we are not able to express everything that we feel.
And I gave my heart, to know wisdom, and knowledge, and errors, and folly: I have learned that this also is a vexation of the spirit. Contraries are understood by contraries. And the first wisdom is to be without folly. But folly cannot be without wisdom, unless one understands it. Therefore, many harmful things are created in order that, while we avoid them, we may be instructed in wisdom. Therefore, Solomon's study was equal, to know wisdom and knowledge, and in the opposite, errors and folly, so that his true wisdom would be proven in desiring some things and avoiding others. But in this also, as in other things, he says that he has been driven by winds, and has not been able to fully grasp the truth. It is enough to have discussed about the presumption of the spirit, or the passion of the wind, which is often mentioned in this book.
Because in the multitude of wisdom, there is a multitude of madness; and he who increases knowledge, increases sorrow. The more one has attained wisdom, the more one is indignant to submit to vices and to be far from the virtues that it requires. But because the powerful endure torments powerfully, the more one is trusted, the more is demanded from him. Therefore, he who increases knowledge also increases sorrow, and he is grieved with sorrow according to God, and he mourns over his most grievous sins. And the Apostle also says: 'And who is there to make me glad but the one who is made sorry by me?' (II Cor. II, 2) ? Perhaps this should also be understood, that a wise man should feel pain at having his wisdom lie hidden in secret and profound depths, and should not reveal it to minds as light is to the eyes; but rather, through certain trials and unbearable exertions, it should arise through constant meditation and study.
(Chap. II.)
(Chapter II) I said in my heart: Come now, I will test you with pleasure, and see what is good. And behold, even this is vanity. After I searched through wisdom and knowledge and discovered that there is labor and sorrow, and that nothing else but empty and endless striving, I turned to pleasure, to indulge in luxury, gather wealth, and pursue fleeting pleasures before I die. But even in this I recognized my own vanity, as past pleasure does not bring joy in the present, and once exhausted, it does not satisfy. Not only bodily pleasure, but also spiritual temptation is experienced by the possessor, so that I may be kept humble by the goading sting and the angel of Satan may buff me, lest I become haughty (2 Corinthians 12:7). Hence, Solomon also says: Do not give me riches or poverty (Proverbs 30:8). And immediately adds: Lest I be satisfied and deny you; and say, Who sees me? (Ibid., 9). Indeed, the devil falls through the abundance of goods. And in the Apostle it is written: Lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil (I Tim. III, 6), that is, into the same judgment into which the devil fell. But we can also say this: the reason why spiritual joy is now called vanity, like other things, is because we see it through a mirror and in an enigma. However, when it is revealed face to face, it will no longer be called vanity, but truth.
I said that laughter is madness and a source of joy, what are you doing? When we read madness in Hebrew, it is Molal (), which Aquila translates as πλάνησιν, meaning error; Symmachus translates it as θόρυβον, meaning tumult. However, the Septuagint and Theodotion, as in many other places, also agree on translating it as περιφορὰν, which we can express word for word as circumlation. So, just as those who are carried about by every wind of doctrine are unstable and tossed to and fro (Ephesians 4:14), those who laugh that laughter which the Lord says should be turned into weeping in the Gospel (Luke 6:25) are carried away by the error of the world and the whirlwind, not understanding the destruction of their sins or mourning over past vices. Instead, they believe that fleeting goods are eternal and rejoice in things that are more worthy of lamentation. This can also be applied to heretics, who, embracing false doctrines, promise themselves joy and prosperity.
I considered in my heart that I should indulge in wine and satisfy my desires, but my heart led me to wisdom. I wanted to pursue foolishness and see what good could come from it, what activities people could engage in during their lives. I desired to live a life of pleasure and free myself from all worries, to numb myself with indulgence like with wine. However, my thoughts and my natural reasoning, which God has also implanted in sinners, pulled me back and led me to seek wisdom and trample foolishness, so that I could understand what good people could accomplish in the course of their lives. However, he elegantly compared the pleasure to drunkenness. For drunkenness destroys the strength of the mind, which someone who is able can change with wisdom, and (as it is held in some books) obtain spiritual joy; they will be able to attain knowledge of what should be desired and what should be avoided in this life.
I have magnified my works: I have built houses for myself: I have planted vineyards for myself, and so on, up to the point where it is said: The eyes of the wise are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Before discussing each individual thing, it seems useful to me to briefly summarize everything in one discourse, and to bring the meaning together as if into one body, so that what is said can be more easily understood. I had all the things that are considered good in the world, as if I were a king and powerful. I built for myself high palaces, and I cultivated vineyards, mountains, and hills. And so that nothing was lacking for luxury, I planted gardens and orchards for myself, establishing various trees that, when collected, irrigated the waters into pools from above, so that the greenness might be nourished with moisture extending far. I also had an innumerable multitude of servants, whether bought or native, and many flocks of quadrupeds, namely cattle and sheep, as much as no king before me had in Jerusalem. But countless treasures of silver and gold were also accumulated, which various kings and nations had bestowed upon me as gifts and tributes. Hence it happened that, with excessive wealth, I was enticed to greater pleasures, and choirs of musical arts sang for me with the flute, lyre, and voice, and both sexes served at banquets. But as these things increased, wisdom was lacking in proportion. For whichever pleasure desire drew me to, I was carried away recklessly and headlong, and I thought that this was the fruit of my labors, to consume myself in lust and luxury. Finally, turning back to myself, and as if waking from a deep sleep, I looked at my hands and saw my works full of vanity, full of filth, full of the spirit of error. For I was not able to find any good thing that was considered good in the world. Therefore, considering the goods of wisdom and the evils of folly, I burst forth in praise of that man who, restraining himself after vices, can be a follower of virtues. For there is indeed a great distance between wisdom and foolishness, and as much as the difference between day and night, so are virtues separated from vices. Therefore, it seems to me that those who follow wisdom always raise their eyes to the sky, and have their mouths turned upwards, and contemplate those things that are above their own head. But those who are given to foolishness and vices, dwell in darkness, and roll in ignorance of things. I have magnified my works, etc. He magnifies his works, which are uplifted in the heavens according to the image of the Creator. And he builds houses, so that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit may come and dwell in them. And he plants vineyards, to which Jesus ties his donkey.
I made gardens and orchards for myself: I planted in them every fruitful tree. In the house of the rich, there are not only golden and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen ones (2 Timothy 20). Therefore, gardens are also made for the weakest and the infirm. For the weak person eats vegetables (Romans 14:2). Trees are planted, not all of them fruitful, as we have in Latin codices: but all fruits, that is, of various grains and fruits, because there are various graces in the Church: and another is the eye, another the hand, another the foot, and, whatever parts are more modest, we honor them more (1 Corinthians 12). Amongst the fruit-bearing trees, I consider wood of life to hold the highest place, which is wisdom. For if it is not planted in the middle, the other woods will dry out.
I made for myself pools of water, to irrigate from them a budding tree. The trees of the pools, the trees of the forests, which are not fruitful, which do not bear fruit, are not nourished by heavenly rain, or from the waters above, but by those which are collected in the pools from streams. For Egypt, humble and lying down, like a garden of vegetables, is irrigated by earthly waters and those coming from Ethiopia. But the land of promise, which is mountainous and upright, awaits temporary and late rain from the sky.
I was a merchant, and I had slaves, and maidservants, and native slaves, and indeed I had a large possession of cattle and sheep. If we wish to refer Ecclesiastes to the person of Christ, as we have said above, we can call his slaves those who have the spirit of fear in servitude and desire spiritual things more than they possess. But we can call maidservants those souls that are still devoted to the body and the earth. And those who are indeed of the Church, and slaves, and maidservants, of whom we have spoken, come before the native slaves: nevertheless, they have not yet been given freedom or nobility by the Lord. But there are also others in the household of the Church, like cattle and sheep, because of their work and simplicity: who labor in the Church without reason and knowledge of the Scriptures, but have not yet reached the point where they deserve to be called human and return to the image of the Creator. It is worth noting that the term 'multitude' is not used for servants, maids, and slaves, but is used for cattle and sheep. I had many possessions of cattle and sheep. For indeed in the Church there are more flocks than men; more sheep than slaves, maidservants, and household servants. But that which is said at the end:
Above all, those who came before me in Jerusalem. It does not pertain to the great glory of Solomon that he, with his father as the only king, was richer, because under Saul, Jerusalem was not yet ruled, and it was held by the Jebusites, who themselves had settled in the city. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss more deeply what Jerusalem is and how the Preacher, before all the kings who came before him in Jerusalem, was richer.
I gathered silver, and gold, and the possessions of kings and provinces. I made for myself male and female singers, and the delights of sons of men, ministers of wine and female servants. Scripture always sets silver and gold above words and understanding. Hence, in the sixty-seventh psalm, the dove, which is interpreted in spirit, has more visible and exposed wings that are stripped of silver, but conceals a more hidden meaning within the pale gold. But the substance of kings, and of provinces or regions, he gathered into the Church of believers; of those kings, of whom the psalmist sings: The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together against the Lord and against his Christ (Ps. II, 2): and of those regions to which the Savior commanded his eyes to be lifted up: for they are already white unto harvest (John IV). The substance of kings and the teachings of philosophers can be called the dogmas and secular knowledge, which Ecclesiasticus, a diligent man, understandingly apprehends the wise in their craftiness, and destroys the wisdom of wise men, and reproaches the prudence of the prudent (I Cor. I). Singers, both men and women, are those who sing with their spirit and with their mind. The male singer, like a strong and spiritual man, sings of higher things. The female singer, on the other hand, is still concerned with matter, which the Greeks call 'hyle'; and she cannot raise her voice to lofty heights. Therefore, whenever a woman is mentioned in the Scriptures and the weaker sex is referred to, let us understand it in terms of matter. Hence, Pharaoh does not want males to be brought to life, but only females, who are close to matter (Exod. I). And on the other hand, it is rarely reported that any of the Saints have begotten women. Only Zalphaath, who died in sin, begot all daughters (Num. XXV). Jacob, among the twelve Patriarchs, is the father of one daughter, and for her sake he faces danger (Gen. XXX). The delights of human children are also to be understood as wisdom, which has various orchards like paradise and multiple pleasures. And it is commanded of it: Delight in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart (Psal. XXXVI, 4). And in another place: With the torrent of your delights you will give them to drink (Psalm 37:2). Now concerning the pourers of wine and the poureresses of wine (for the sake of distinction, I have wished to decline in the masculine, feminine gender, which the Latin language does not accept), Aquila interprets it differently than what is readily apparent. For he did not name men, namely, men and women, but rather the types of vessels, calling them κυλίκιον and κυλίκια, which is said in Hebrew Sadda () and Saddoth (). Finally, Symmachus, although the word cannot express the word, is not far from this opinion, saying: the shapes of the vessels, and the arrangements. Therefore, whether it is believed that Solomon had pitchers, cups, or bowls, which were arranged in the ministries, adorned with gold and precious stones: and that from one large bowl, called a crater, wine would be ladled into smaller bowls, and the crowd would receive the wine from the hands of the attendants. Therefore, since we interpret the Ecclesiastes in Christ, and wisdom invites us to drink from the mixed cup in Proverbs, now we must receive the great cup of the Body of the Lord, in which the pure Divinity, as it was in heaven, has been tempered with humanity for our sake. And through the Apostles, wisdom has been poured out to the believers in the whole world, in smaller cups, little cups, and cups.
And I was magnified and added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem, and indeed my wisdom stood by me. Ecclesiastes appears to not be suitable for the Lord, unless perhaps we connect it with this: And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor (Luke 2:52). And: Therefore God has highly exalted him (Philippians 2:9). But when he says, those who were before me in Jerusalem, he speaks of those who governed the congregation of the Saints and the Church before his coming. If we understand the Scriptures spiritually, Christ is richer than all (as compared to men); if we understand them only carnally, the Synagogue is better understood than the Church. Therefore, he has taken away the veil that was placed over the face of Moses (Exodus 34), and he has made us see his face with full light (2 Corinthians 3). Moreover, for him to stand for wisdom means that the wisdom remained in him even when he took on flesh. He who has made progress in wisdom, wisdom does not stand still for him; but he who does not receive progress does not increase even by moments, but always remains in fullness, he can say: And wisdom stood by me.
And all that my eyes asked for, I did not withhold from them; I did not prevent my heart from any joy, because my heart found joy in all my work. And this was my portion from all my work. The eyes of the soul and the mind desire a spiritual contemplation, which the ignorant sinner prohibits his heart from true joy. Therefore, the Ecclesiastes gave himself entirely to this, and in this world, he compensated for light tribulations with eternal glory. For this is our portion, and an everlasting reward, if we labor here for virtues.
And I looked back at all the works that my hands had made, and in the labor in which I had toiled. Whoever works diligently and carefully in all things can say this.
And behold, all is vanity, and the will of the spirit. And there is no abundance under the sun. Just as he considered all things as worthless, which are under the sun, and diverse due to the variety of wills. And there is no abundance under the sun (Psalm 19:6). Christ has placed his tabernacle in the sun. Therefore, whoever has not yet reached the brightness, order, and constancy of the sun, in this Christ will neither be able to dwell nor to abound.
And I looked back, in order to see wisdom, and errors and foolishness: for who among men can go after his king and creator? For in the things above, until that place where Scripture says: The eyes of the wise are in his head, I had comprehended everything with one speech, desiring to indicate the meaning briefly, and because of that, I had briefly touched upon some things in accordance with the ἀναγωγή, now I ought to explain it according to what I had started. For indeed, in this place the sense is very different from the Septuagint interpretation. But he says that after condemned delights and pleasures, he returned to the seeking of wisdom, in which he found more error and foolishness than true and certain prudence. For a man cannot know the wisdom of his creator and king as clearly and purely as he knows it, who is the author. Therefore, we think rather than understand what is true, and we estimate rather than know.
And I saw that there is an abundance of wisdom compared to foolishness, just as there is an abundance of light compared to darkness. Although, he says, I have perceived that wisdom of men mixed with error, and that it cannot flow as purely into our minds as it does into our king and creator; nevertheless, I recognized that there is also a great difference between it and foolishness, as much as day can differ from night, light from darkness.
The eyes of the wise are in their head, and the fool walks in darkness. And I know that the same fate happens to them all. The one who becomes a perfect man and deserves to have Christ as his head will always keep his eyes on Christ, and raising them up high, he will never think of earthly matters. When these things are so, and there is such a great distance between the wise and the fool, that one is compared to daylight and the other to darkness, the former raises his eyes to the heavens, while the latter lowers his to the ground. Suddenly, this thought came to me: why do the wise and the foolish share the same end, why do they suffer the same afflictions, the same fate, the same death, and the same sorrows oppress both of them.