And I said in my heart, as the fool's fate, so it will also happen to me; why then have I been so wise? And I spoke in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there will be no remembrance of the wise or the fool forever, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. And how will the wise man die with the fool? I said, the wise and the fool, the righteous and the wicked, will all die the same way, and they will all experience the same evil in this world. So what advantage is there for me in being wise and working harder than others? Again, thinking and carefully considering within myself, I realized that my opinion was in vain. For the wise and the foolish will not have a similar memory in the future, when the consummation of the universe comes: and they will not be held in equal outcome, for one will go to refreshments, and the other will proceed to punishment. More clearly in this place, the Septuagint translators rendered the Hebrew sense, although they did not follow the order of the words: And why have I become wise? Then I spoke abundantly in my heart, for the fool speaks from abundance: for this too is vanity, because the memory of the wise man does not remain with the fool forever, and so on. Manifestly proving that his previous foolish opinion was false, he testifies that he spoke foolishly and erred, because he had felt that way before.
And I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun is evil to me, for all is vanity and a chasing after the wind. If the world is in the power of the evil one, and even in this mortal body the Apostle laments, saying: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. VII, 24). Therefore, rightly does he hate everything that is done under the sun. For compared to the bliss of paradise and that life in which we enjoyed the spiritual fruits and delights of virtues, we are now like prisoners in a dungeon and in a valley of tears, eating bread in the sweat of our face.
And I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. It seems that wealth and possessions can be taken back, as in the case of a rich man who suddenly dies, leaving everything to an heir who may be wise or a fool, and who knows how they will use the fruits of our labor. What happened to Solomon also happened to Roboam: for he did not have a son worthy of his inheritance. From this we understand that even a father's son is not worthy of inheritance if he is foolish. But to me, who contemplates more deeply, it seems to speak of spiritual work, that a wise man labors in the Scriptures day and night, and writes books, so that he may leave a memorial of himself to his descendants, and yet they still fall into the hands of fools, who frequently, according to the perversity of their heart, seize the seeds of heresies from them, and calumniate the labors of others. For if the sermon now is about bodily riches, why was it necessary to speak about labor and wealth: And he shall rule over all my labor, in which I have labored, and in which I have become wise under the sun? What wisdom is there in gathering earthly riches?
And I turned to consider all my labors that I had labored at under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a pursuit of the wind, and there is no profit under the sun. For who is there of all men, that labors with the wisdom, and knowledge, and skillful work under the sun, and yet his portion passes to a man who has not labored in it? This also is vanity and a great evil. For what happens to man in all his labor and in the striving of his heart, which he labors at under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his occupation is vexation, and at night his heart does not rest; this also is vanity. He speaks above about an uncertain heir, because it is unknown whether he will be a foolish or wise master of another's labors. Now indeed he repeats the same thing, but in it there is a different meaning, that even if he leaves his substance and labors to a son, a relative, or a friend, nevertheless the matter returns to the same circle, so that one may enjoy the labor of another, and the sweat of the dead may be the pleasure of the living. Let each person consider and they will see how much they compose books by labor, how...
Often let him turn his pen again, [to write] those things worthy of being read; (From Horace, Satires, Book I, Satire 10). and let him give his share to the man who has not labored. For what, as I have already said, do wisdom, knowledge, and virtue pertain to the riches of the earth, in which he has testified to himself to have labored, when it belongs to wisdom, knowledge, and virtue, to trample on earthly things.
It is not good for a man, unless he eats, and drinks, and shows the good of his soul in his labor. And indeed I have seen this, because it is from the hand of God. For who will eat, and who will spare without Him? For God has given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy to the good man before His face, and He has given solicitude to the sinner, that he may increase and gather together what is given to the good man before the face of God. But even this is vanity and presumption of spirit. After I examined everything and realized that nothing is more unjust than one person enjoying the labor of another, it seemed to me that this is the most just thing in all matters and almost a gift from God, that each person should enjoy the fruits of their own labor, eating and drinking and, for a time, saving the wealth they have accumulated. For it is a gift from God to grant such a mind to a righteous man, that he may himself consume what he has sought through cares and sleepless nights. On the other hand, it is the wrath of God upon the sinner to gather wealth day and night and never make use of it, leaving it behind for those who are righteous in the sight of God. But even this, he says, carefully examining and seeing that all things end in death, I judged to be most vain. These things, meanwhile, according to the literal meaning, so that we do not seem to pass over the simple sense entirely, and while we pursue spiritual riches, to despise poverty in history. For what good is it, or what gift of God, to desire and snatch away pleasure with one's own resources, and to turn another's labor into one's own delights: and to think that this is a gift of God, if we enjoy the miseries and labors of others? Therefore, it is good to consume true food and true drink, which we find in the divine Scriptures from the flesh and blood of the Lamb. For who can eat or refrain when necessary without God? He who commanded that what is holy should not be thrown to dogs (Matthew 7:6), and teaches how provisions should be given to servants in due time (Matthew 24:45); and according to another interpretation, it is found that only as much honey should be eaten as is sufficient (Proverbs 25:16). But God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to a good man; unless he is good and corrects his own manners by his own free will, he does not deserve wisdom, knowledge, and joy, according to what is said elsewhere: Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap in the fruit of life, enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge (Hosea X,12, according to the LXX). For righteousness must be sown before, and the fruit of life must be harvested, and then the light of knowledge can appear. Therefore, as God gave wisdom in front of him, and so on, by forsaking the sinner to his own will, he caused the gathering of riches, and stitching together pillows with wicked doctrines from here and there. When the holy and pleasing to God man sees this, he understands that they are vain and composed of presumption. It is not surprising that he said: He gave anxiety to the sinner, and so on. For it is necessary to refer this to the sense I have often discussed: Therefore, it is given to him to have anxiety or affliction because he is a sinner, and the cause of the affliction is not in God, but in the one who sins willingly.
(Chap. III.)
(Chapter III.) It is the time of all things, and the time of every thing under the heavens. The uncertain and fluctuating state of human condition has been taught in the previous chapter: now it wants to show that all things in the world are contrary to it, and nothing stands perpetually, except for those things which are under the heavens and within time, because other spiritual substances are not contained by the heavens or time.
There is a time to give birth and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. There is no doubt that both the birth and death of humans are known and predetermined by God, and it is the same to give birth as it is to plant: to die, and to uproot what is planted. But because we read in Isaiah: We conceived and gave birth, and we brought forth from Your fear, O Lord. It must be said that once this birth, which is born out of fear, begins to love God, it dies. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). The Hebrews understand all this, which is written about the opposition of times, until that place where it says: 'A time for war, and a time for peace' is understood about Israel. And because it is not necessary to explain and understand every verse, briefly touching on the broader discussion, leaving it to the reader's intelligence. There was a time for begetting and planting Israel, a time for dying, and a time for leading into captivity. A time for killing them in Egypt, and a time for delivering from Egypt. A time for destroying the temple under Nebuchadnezzar, and a time for building under Darius. A time for mourning the city's destruction, and a time for laughing and dancing under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. A time for scattering Israel, and a time for gathering together. A time for being encircled like a belt and girdle by God's people of Judah, and a time for leading them into the Babylonian captivity, and there rotting away across the Euphrates. Read περίζωμα ( lumbare) of Jeremiah (Jerem. XIII, 1 seqq.). A time to seek and save, and a time to lose, and a time to cast away. A time to tear apart Israel, and a time to mend again. A time to silence the Prophets, now in Roman captivity, and a time to speak to them, then when even in a hostile land they did not lack God's consolation and address. A time of love, when He loved them under their fathers, and a time of hate, for they laid hands on Christ. A time of war, when they will not repent, and a time of peace in the future, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel will be saved.
A time to kill, and a time to heal. And a time to kill is also a time to heal, as it is written: I will kill, and I will make alive (Deut. XXXII, 19). He heals while provoking to penance. He kills, according to that sense: In the morning I would slay all the sinners of the earth (Psal. C, 8).
A time to destroy, and a time to build. We cannot build good things unless we first destroy bad things. Therefore, this word was given by God to Jeremiah, that he should uproot, and dig, and destroy; and afterwards, build and plant (Jeremiah 1).
A time to weep, and a time to laugh. Now is the time to weep, and in the future to laugh: Blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh (Luke 6:21).
There is a time for mourning, and a time for dancing. Therefore, in the Gospel, those are reproached to whom the Lord says: We have mourned for you, and you have not wept; we have sung, and you have not danced (Luke 7:32). It is necessary to mourn for the present, so that later we may be able to dance with that dance with which David danced before the ark of the Covenant; and displeasing to the daughter of Saul, he pleased God even more (2 Samuel 6).
There is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. I wonder how the eloquent man said something ridiculous in this place: He says it is about the destruction and building of Solomon's houses, that men now destroy, now build: some gather stones for constructing buildings, others tear down those that have been built, according to that saying of Horace (Epist. lib. II, ep. 1):
He destroys, he builds, he changes squares into rounds. He boils, and goes against the order of life. Whether he said this correctly or incorrectly, I leave it to the judgment of the reader. Let us follow the order of the previous explanation: Saying that it is the time to scatter and gather stones, according to what is written in the Gospel: God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones (Matthew 3:9). The time for scattering the pagan people, and the time for gathering them back into the Church. I read in a certain book (according to the Septuagint translators, who said: 'There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones') the severity of the ancient Law tempered by the grace of the Gospel. For the Law is rigid, unkind, sparing no one, killing the sinners. The grace of the Gospel has mercy and incites to repentance. And this is the time for casting away or gathering stones, that stones are cast in the Law and gathered in the Gospel. Whether this has truly been said or not, let it be attributed to its author.
There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. According to simple understanding, the meaning is clear, as the Apostle says in the same words: Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer (1 Cor. 7:5), to give attention to children, and again to self-control. Or there was a time to embrace, when that sentiment prevailed: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28). And it is time to be far from the embrace, when it comes: Time is restricted. It remains, so that even those who have wives may be as if they do not have (1 Corinthians 7:29). But if we desire to ascend to higher things, we will see wisdom embracing its lovers: Honor her, for it is said, and she will embrace you (Proverbs 4:8), and she will hold you closer in her arms and embrace. Furthermore, since the human mind cannot always strive toward the sublime, and think about divine and higher things, nor constantly be in contemplation of heavenly matters, but sometimes indulge in the needs of the body; therefore, it is time to embrace wisdom, and hold it more tightly, and it is time to relax the mind from the contemplation and embrace of wisdom, so that we may attend to the cares of the body, and to those things that our life needs without sin.
Time to acquire and time to lose. Time to guard and time to discard. Under different discourses, the same meaning is now, as before and after, in that which it says: Time to destroy and time to build. And then: Time to tear and time to sew. For just as the synagogue is destroyed in order to build the church, and there is a division from the law in order for the Gospels to be sewn together, which each Gospel writer accomplished by consulting the testimonies of the law and the prophets regarding the coming of the Lord: so there was also a time to seek and guard Israel, a time to lose and discard it. Indeed, a time to seek the people from the nations, and a time to lose the people of the Jews. A time to keep the believers from the nations, and a time to cast away the unbelievers from Israel.
There is a time for silence, and a time for speech. I believe in the Pythagorean philosophy, which dictates silence for five years, and then allows the learned to speak. It is said that this practice originated from their decree. Let us also learn to refrain from speaking, so that later we may open our mouths to speak. Let us remain silent for a certain time, and hang on to the words of our teacher. Nothing appears to be right for us, unless we learn it, so that after much silence, we may become masters of our disciples. Now truly, due to the daily worsening of the world's faults, we are teaching in the Churches what we do not know. And if, by the arrangement of words or by the prompting of the devil, who is a supporter of errors, we have stirred up the applause of the people, we consider ourselves to know against our conscience, what we could persuade others of. We do not learn all skills without a teacher; only this one is so cheap and easy that it does not require an instructor.
There is a time for loving and a time for hating. A time for loving after God, children, wife, relatives, and a time for hating them in martyrdom, when relentless piety opposes them for the confession of Christ. Or certainly a time for loving the Law, and the things that were commanded by the Law, circumcision, sacrifices, Sabbath, new moons, and a time for hating them, with the grace of the Gospel succeeding. Moreover, this can also be said, since now we see through a glass in an enigma (I Cor. XIII, 12), that the present time is for loving, and the future time will come, when, seeing face to face and making progress for the better, we will begin to hate and despise what we loved.
It is the time of war, and the time of peace. As long as we are in the present age, it is a time of war: but when we have migrated from this age, the time of peace will come. For in peace there is the place of God, and our city Jerusalem, which has received the name of peace (Ps. LXXV, 3) . Therefore, no one should now consider themselves safe: in the time of war, we must prepare and handle weapons, so that once victorious, we may find rest in peace.
The abundance that exists is a result of people's work, in which they themselves toil. I have observed the occupation that God has given to the children of men, so that they may be occupied with it. God has made all things good in their time, and He has also put eternity in their hearts, so that man cannot discover the work that God has done from beginning to end. It is not unknown to me what has been said by many in this place, that God has granted occupation even to the teachers of perverse doctrines in this present age, so that the mind of man may not grow idle. And this is the good that God has done in His time, yet they are unable to comprehend the nature and knowledge of things. But I have been taught by a Hebrew, who is well-versed in the Scriptures, as follows: Since everything falls apart in its own time, and there is a time for destruction and building, weeping and laughing, being silent and speaking, and all the other things that are said about time, why do we foolishly strive and exert ourselves, thinking that the labors of a short life are perpetual? And we are not satisfied according to the Gospel, to be concerned with the evil of the day and not to think about tomorrow (Matthew). For what more can we have in this age by working, in which only this has been given to humans by God, that one person may have one thing and another another, in which they may be taught and exercise themselves? For indeed, everything that God has made is good, but good in its own time. It is good to be awake and to sleep; yet it is not always good to be awake or to sleep, for it is good for each thing in turn, as God has ordained. Moreover, God has given the world for humans to inhabit, that they may enjoy the changes of the seasons and not seek the reasons for the natural things, how all things came to be created. Therefore, He has made various things to grow, remain, and change from the beginning of the world to its end.
I know that it is not good, except to be joyful, and to do good in his life. And indeed every person who eats, and drinks, and shows goodness in all his work, is a gift from God. Therefore, man has been given as a cultivator and tenant of the world, so that he may enjoy the brief time of his life, and with the hope of a longer age cut off, he may look upon all that he possesses as if he were about to set off to other things, and may do as much good as he can in his life: nor is it in vain that he is tormented by thoughts of accumulating wealth. No one can believe that they can gain more from their own work than food and drink, and if they have spent anything from their possessions on good works, this alone is a gift from God. From these, not, as some think, for luxury and pleasure, and for despair, according to that of Isaiah: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (Isaiah 22:13), we are provoked like animals; but according to the Apostle: Having food and clothing, we are content with these (1 Timothy 6:8), so that whatever we can have above this, we may consume in supporting the poor and giving to the needy. Furthermore, because the flesh of the Lord is true food, and His blood is true drink, in accordance with the interpretation, this alone we have as a good in the present age, if we eat His flesh and drink His blood, not only in the mystery (Eucharist), but also in the reading of the Scriptures. For true food and drink, which is taken from the word of God, is the knowledge of the Scriptures. And let no one think that the prophecy of Balaam applies to this: There will be no sorrow or distress in Jacob (Num. 23:23). On the contrary, it is said to be the gift of God: If anyone eats and drinks and shows good in all his labor. For many are the tribulations of the righteous. And the Apostle complains about this, saying that he has labored and suffered in labor and pain (2 Cor. 2). But when the Lord delivers us from these in the future: There will be no labor in Jacob, nor pain in Israel. And how do we read that: Blessed are those who weep, for they themselves will laugh (Luke 6:21): and our laughter will follow the words of Job the prophet: The mouth of the truthful will be filled with joy (Job 8:21); so now we enjoy our labor in good works, through which we are constrained and pressed, so that later we may cease from laboring.
I have come to know that everything that God has made will exist forever; nothing can be added to it, nor can anything be taken away from it. God has made it so that people may fear Him. There is nothing new under the sun. The course of the sun, the cycles of the moon, the dryness of the earth, the greenness of the trees, all were born and created with the universe. And thus God has ordered all things by a certain reason and has commanded the elements to serve human needs, so that people, by seeing these things, may understand His providence (or prudence) and fear God, as they observe the equality, course, order, and constancy of creation. For the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, his eternal power also and divinity (Rom. I, 20). But if we wish to read with the preceding finite sense, as if from the beginning: And God made it so that they might fear from his face, this sense is: God made all things so that men might fear from him, that they might deviate once God has ordained, to another. He wisely tempered it, saying: That they might fear from his face (Ps. XXXIII, 17). For the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
What is, that which has been? It is the same as what is and what will be, for they have already been: and God will seek him who endures persecution. Whether past, present, or future, they themselves have been, are, and will be all things that we perceive. The sun that now rises, before we were in the world, it was, and after we have died, it will rise again. But we have named it the sun, so that from this we understand that the rest are the same as what has been. But if they seem to perish through the condition of death, they do not perish, because they grow again when revived, and nothing perishes forever, but is reborn and as it were revived with interest. For this is what he says: And God will seek him, who endures persecution; which is better expressed in Greek as καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ζητήσει τὸν διωκόμενον, that is, what has passed, what has been expelled, what has ceased to exist. But if this is said of all things in the world, there is no doubt that a dead person is reborn. But if anyone pleases to read from a different starting point: And God seeks him who suffers persecution, let him use this testimony in the persecution of the Gentiles, to console him who perseveres in martyrdom. And because all, according to the Apostle (II Tim. III), who desire to live piously in this world, suffer persecution, let them have consolation, because God seeks the one who patiently suffers persecution, just as He seeks the blood of the slain, and He comes to seek what is lost, and He carries the wandering sheep on His shoulders and brings it back to the flock (Luke XIX, XV).
And still I have seen under the sun a place of judgment: there is impiety; and a place of justice: there is iniquity. I said in my heart: God will judge the just and the wicked; because there is a time for every will and for every work there. The meaning is clear, but it is obscured by the cloud of interpretation. Under the sun, he says, I sought truth and judgment, and I also saw that even among the judges themselves, truth does not prevail, but bribes. Or else, I assumed that something of justice was taking place in the present age, and that the pious would be rewarded for their merit now, or the impious punished for their wickedness: and on the contrary, I found something different than what I expected. For I saw the just suffer many evils here, and the impious reign for their wickedness. But afterwards, conversing with my heart and considering, I understood that God does not judge now in parts and individuals, but reserves judgment for the future time so that all may be judged equally, and receive according to their will and deeds there. For this is what it says: 'There is a time for every desire and every deed;and there, that is, in judgment, when the Lord begins to judge, then truth is to come, now injustice reigns in the world.' We read a similar statement in the Book of Sirach, which is titled 'The Wisdom of Sirach': 'Do not say, 'What is this?' or 'What is that?' for everything will be sought in its own time.'