COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES

Saint Jerome

PREFACE

I remember just five years ago when I was still at Rome[1] and studying virtuous Blesilla's book of Ecclesiastes that I taught her to think lightly of her generation and to esteem futile everything that she saw in the world.  I remember too being asked by her to examine individually all the difficult passages in a short treatise so that she might be able to understand what she was reading without me always being present.  Accordingly, since she was taken from us by her sudden death while I was still doing the preparation for my work, and since we, it seems, dear Paula and Eustochium, did not deserve to have such a companion in our lives, I then ceased from my work, silenced by the terrible grief of such a misfortune.  Now though, situated in Bethlehem, clearly a more holy city, I can fulfil that promise to the memory of Blesilla and to you, and remind you briefly that I have used no authority in this work, but have rather translated directly from the Hebrew itself and have adapted it to the traditional language of the Septuagint in those passages which do not differ greatly from the Hebrew.  Occasionally I have taken account of the Greek versions, those of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion so that I do not deter the reader's enthusiasm with too much novelty.  I have also not pursued those streams of conjecture, which lack a factual basis, for I do not believe this to be sensible.

COMMENTARY

1:1 The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King in Jerusalem.  The Scriptures state very clearly that Solomon was known by three names:  'Peace-making', that is 'Solomon'; 'Yedidia', that is 'beloved of Yahweh'; and the name used here 'Qoheleth', that is Ecclesiastes.  He is called Ecclesiastes in Greek because he gathered together a crowd of people, a congregation, which we can call a demagogue because he spoke to the people and his sermon was not addressed specifically to one man but more usually to all men.  Moreover he is called 'peace-making' and 'beloved of Yahweh' because there was peace during his reign and the Lord loved him.  For also Psalms 44, and 71, are known by titles connected with love and peace-making.  Although these psalms pertain to Christ and the Church they exhibit Solomon's joy and strength, and according to tradition were composed concerning Solomon.

            He also produced an equal number of titles to the three volumes: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.  He teaches for children in Proverbs and gives instruction in the form of maxims almost with a sense of duty, and his sermons here are repeated continually to his son.  In Ecclesiastes he teaches a man of mature age that he should not think anything in the world to be perpetual, but that all things that we perceive are in fact vain and fleeting.  In Song of Songs he embraces an elderly man in the covenant, who has already been prepared in spurning his times.  For unless we first abandon our moral failings and renounce the pomposity of our world, and prepare ourselves so we are ready for the arrival of Christ, we will not be able to say:  "let him kiss me from the kiss of his mouth"[1].  Philosophers educate their followers in a manner similar to this type of instruction: first of all they teach ethics, then explain physics, and then anyone whom they see to excel in these first two they then go on to teach theology.  Moreover even this should be examined more closely because Solomon is named differently in the three books.  In Proverbs for example he is thus named: The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel.[2]  But in Ecclesiastes: The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King of Jerusalem. 'Israel' in fact is unnecessary here because it is not found in the Greek or Latin manuscripts.  But in Song of Songs he is neither named 'son of David', not 'King of Israel' or 'King of Jerusalem', but only as The Song of Songs of Solomon.  This is just as the Proverbs and the crude arrangement pertain to the twelve tribes and to the whole of Israel.  And although the contempt of the world only comes to city-dwellers, these are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, therefore Solomon intends Song of Songs particularly for those who desire spiritual enlightenment.  To those readers just embarking on their education paternal honour and the authority of the king are claimed in their own merit, but to those who have completed their learning, and in the case where the disciple has been enlightened not by fear, but by love, his own name suffices.  Then, he is equal to his teacher and he is unaware that he is a king.  This is the case here.  But in a more spiritual understanding Solomon was peace making and beloved of the Lord God, and Ecclesiastes can be seen as our Christ too, who destroying the inner wall and expelling evil from his flesh, makes each of them one, saying - "I give you my peace, I relinquish my peace to you"[3], about which the Lord says to his disciples "This is my chosen son whom I love: listen to him" [4], and that is he who is father of the Church.  Speaking by no means to the Synagogue of the Jews but to the crowd of people the King of Jerusalem (that which was built out of the living rocks, not that about which he says "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill prophets" [5], and "Look, let your empty house be left for us" [6]), but that by which it is forbidden to swear because it is the city of a great king.  This is the son of David, to whom the blind cried out in the Gospel: "pity us, son of David"; and the whole crowd sang out in unison: "Hosanna to the son of David".  Then there is the fact that the word of God does not come to him as is the case with Jeremiah and the other prophets, but on account of his being rich, being a king, holding power, his wisdom and his other virtues, he speaks to the men of the church himself, and he speaks words to the apostles about which Psalm 18.5 tells us: "their sound went out to the whole world and their words went to the ends of the earth".  Some scholars think wrongly, therefore, that we are tempted into desire and luxury by this book, when it teaches quite to the contrary: everything we perceive in the world is vain; nor is it fitting for us to seek those things eagerly which perish while we possess them.

2. Vanity of vanities said Ecclesiastes, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  If all things that God made are truly good then how can all things be considered vanity, and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities?  Just as Song of Songs means a song that stands out from amongst all songs, so we see that in "vanity of vanities" the degree of vanity is shown.  It is also written similarly in Psalm 38.6: "Nevertheless every living man is vanity."  If living man is vanity then a dead man must be vanity of vanities.  We read in Exodus that Moses' face is glorified so much that the children of Israel are not able to see him[7].  Paul the apostle said that his glory was not really glory when compared to the glory of righteousness: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth." [8]  We are therefore able to say that even we in this respect, heaven, earth, the seas and all things that are contained within its compass can be said to be good in themselves, but compared to God they are nothing.  And if I look at the candle in a lamp and am content with its light, then afterwards when the sun has risen I cannot discern anymore what was once bright; I will also see the light of the stars by the light of the setting sun, so in looking at the world and the multitudinous varieties of nature I am amazed at the greatness of the world, but I also remember that all things will pass away and the world will grow old, and that only God is that which has always been.  On account of this realisation I am compelled to say, not once but twice: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  Instead of "vanity of vanities" the Hebrew text reads 'abal abalim' which all manuscripts excepting that of the Septuagint translate similarly in Greek as atmos atmidon or atmon which we are able to translate as 'a breath' and 'a light wind which is quickly dispersed'.  In this way it is shown to be vain and in no way universal by this phrase.  For those things which seem to be temporal, in fact are; but those which do not are eternal.  Or since that which will give rise to vanity has been exposed, he groans and is anxious and awaits the revelation of the sons of God, and "now we know in part, and we prophesy in part" [9].  All things are and will be vain, until we find that which is complete and perfect.

3.  What profit is there for a man in exchange for all his toil, which he toils under the sun?  After the general opinion that all things are vain Solomon begins to explain with regard to mankind: because men exert themselves in vain in the toil of the world, amassing wealth, teaching children, working their way towards glory, constructing buildings, and then are taken away in the midst of their work by sudden death, they hear the words: "Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you, then whose will be those things that you have amassed?" [10]  Just as they make nothing for themselves in exchange for all this toil, so they return naked to the earth from whence they were taken.

4.  A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.  While some men die, others are born, and those you had seen, are not seen anymore, and you then see those who have not been before.  What is more vain than this vanity, than that the earth remains, which was made on account of mankind?  And that man himself, the master of the earth, should be suddenly returned to the dust?  Another meaning of this is: the first generation of Jews dies and a generation formed from all peoples takes its place; but the earth however will remain for so long as the Synagogue's influence slips away, and the Church becomes more powerful.  For when it was predicted that the Gospel would be known all around the world, then, it was said, would be the end.  When the end is approaching, it is true, the sky and the earth will pass away.  Solomon very precisely does not say the earth remains through the ages[11] but through that age[12].  More precisely we praise the Lord not in one age, but throughout the ages.

5.  The sun rises and the sun sets, then it rushes to its place, where it rises again.  The sun itself, which is given as light for mankind, shows the orbit of the world by its rising and it setting every day.  After the sun has soaked its burning orb in the ocean, it returns by routes unknown to me to that place whence it had come; and when the period of night is over, it again bursts out quickly from its bed.  In place of "rushes to its place" though, because we are following the Vulgate version, the Hebrew reads "soeph" which Aquila interpreted as eispnei in Greek, that is pants[13]; Symmachus and Theodotion write 'returns' because the sun clearly turns around to its original place and it aspires to return there, from whence it had come earlier.  But all of this is explained so that he can teach that with the passage of time and the rising and the setting of the stars man's age slips away and perishes, yet he does not know this for certain.  Another meaning of this is: the sun of righteousness, in whose wings lies reason, rises from those who fear and sets midday in the false prophets.  But when it has risen it takes us to its place.  Where is that?  Evidently it means to the Lord himself, for it happens that he raises us from the earth to heaven, saying, "when the son of man is lifted up, he will lift up all things to him".[14]  Nor is it surprising that the son lifts up men to himself, when even the Lord himself lifts up to his son: "for no one", he says "comes to me except the Father, who sent me, draw him".[15]  That sun therefore, which we have said sets for some and rises for other, and once set for Jacob the patriarch as he was leaving the Holy Land, rose again for him when he entered the promised land from Syria.  When Lot too left Sodom and came to the city, which he was commanded to hasten to, he climbed a mountain and the sun came out above Segor[16].

6.  It goes to the South and rotates to the North; turning, revolving, the wind goes and returns upon its circuits.   From this we are able to believe that the sun approaches the meridian quarter in the time of winter, and in the summer is near to the Great Bear, and does not commence its movements in the equinox of autumn, but when the west wind is blowing in the time of spring, when all things give birth.  But he actually says "turning, revolving, the wind goes and returns upon its circuits" as if he calls the sun itself a breath, like an animal that breathes and lives, completing its annual orbit in its course, just like the poet Vergil says: "Meanwhile the sun flies around the great year"[17] and elsewhere[18] "and the year flies through its own footsteps" or that bright sphere of the moon and Titan's star: "The breath nourishes within: and the intelligence stirs the whole mass infused through the limbs, and mingles itself with the mighty body"[19].  He is not speaking about the annual course of the sun, but its daily path.  For it proceeds sidelong and towards the North, and thus turns to the East.  Another meaning of this verse is: when the sun moves to the South it is closer to the Earth; when it moves to the North it is raised to higher orbits.  Perhaps therefore it moves to those parts, which are compressed together by the cold of atmospheric disturbances, and of winter.  Severe heat indeed blazes out from the North above the Earth, and that sun is closer to righteousness than those men who in fact live in the Northern region, and who are deprived of summer's heat.  The sun then moves far away and turns by its circuits to the place whence it set out.  For when it has subdued all things to it and illuminated all things with its rays, let there be the first restoration and "God may be all in all".[20]  Symmachus interpreted this phrase saying, 'it goes to the meridian, and turns around to the North; turning the wind goes, and the wind returns by those routes by which it had come around'. 

7. All torrents flow into the sea but the sea is not filled.  To the place from which the torrents come, there they return to go.  Some men believe that the fresh waters that flow into the sea are either dried up by the burning sun above, or are feed for the salt-thirsty sea.  Here our Ecclesiastes, the creator of the very waters, says that they return to the heads of the springs by means of hidden passages, and always boil out from their deep channels into their springs.  The Hebrews believed that the rivers or sea had more significance in the metaphor of man, because they return to the earth, whence they originated.  They are also called torrents not rivers because they flow that much more forcefully, yet the earth however is not filled with a great number of dead men.  More precisely if we go down to the deeper parts, the turbid waters return to the sea where they used to remain.  And unless I am mistaken, apart from the additions to the text, nowhere is the word 'torrent' found in a good context.  For "you will drink those with the torrent of your desire" [21], although "of desire" is written in an addition.  On the contrary the Saviour was taken to the brook Cedron[22], and Elisha at the time of persecution hid away in the brook of Chorat, which even dried up.  But the sea is not filled up completely, in the same manner as the bloodthirsty daughters in Proverbs[23].

8.  All things are full of toil, man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.  It is difficult to know not just about physics but also about ethics.  And discourse is not able to explain the natural causes of things, nor to see those things that are hidden, (as the scope of this work demands); nor, once you have begun to learn is it possible to arrive at the greatest understanding by listening alone.  For if we now look in the mirror in mystery and in part know and in part prophesy, consequently discourse will not be able to explain what it does not know; nor is the eye able to see where it is blind; nor are the ears filled by what they do not hear.  At the same time this must be noted, that all words are wearying and are learnt with great difficulty, contrary to those who idly make prayers that an acquaintance with the Scriptures will come to them.

9.  The thing that has been, it is that which will be.  And that which is done is that which shall be done.  And there is no new thing under the sun.  It seems to me that he now speaks generally about those things that he enumerated above: about generation after generation, the globe of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the course of rivers, the vastness of the ocean and all things which we learn either through thought or through sight or hearing, because there is nothing in nature that has not been before.  For from the beginning of the world men have been born and have died, and the earth stood level above the waters and the sun lay in its origin.  And lest I should go on to list more things, it is left to God as creator to fly with the birds, to swim with the fish, and walk with the creatures of the earth and slide with snakes.  And the comic[24] said something similar to this: "Nothing has been said, which has not been said before", about which my teacher Donatus, when he was lecturing about this verse, said: "Let them die, who have said our words before us." [25] Then if is possible to say nothing new in discourse, how great the creation of the world must have been, which has been complete right from the start, that God was able to rest from his work on the seventh day!  Read also in another book: "If everything that is done under the sun has already been done is past centuries, and man was already made when the sun was made: then man existed before he came under the sun."[26]  But he is excluded, because by this reasoning even packhorses, gnats, and each insect and large animal is said to have been made before the sky.  Unless however he should reply that talking comes from the consequences of speaking not about other animals but about the man Ecclesiastes, for he says "there is nothing new under the sun about which one can say 'look this is new!'  But he does not speak of animals but of man alone, because if he means animals to be new, then he refutes his own opinion that nothing is new under the sun.

10.  Is there anything whereof it may be said, see this is new? It has already been for ages, which were before us.  Symmachus translated this more clearly: "Do you think there is a man who is able to say: look this is new, it has already been done before because it was before us."  But he agrees with his predecessors that there is nothing new in the world, and that there is none that is able to live and say: 'look this is new', since everything that he thought he had shown to be new, already existed in former times.  But we ought not to think that the signs, prodigies and the many deeds which are done for the first time by God's judgement in the world today, have already been done before in former ages, or that it was Epicurus who found this, asserting that these same things were done in innumerable periods and in these places and by these same men.  Besides, both Judas betrayed repeatedly and Christ often suffered for us; and other things which have been done and will be done, are continually repeated in these times.  But it could be said too, that those things, which will be done have already been done, decided out of foreknowledge and the predestination of God.  For those who have been chosen in Christ before the constitution of the world existed already in previous times.

11.  There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.      In the same way as the past is concealed for us in forgetfulness, thus it is with those things which are either done now, or will be done.  And because of this those men who have yet to be born, will not be able to know these things, and will live life in silence, and will be obscured as if they never existed, and that verse will be fulfilled, which says, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity", for even the Seraphim, the first and last, cover up their feet on account of the appearance of God.  The Septuagint is similar here: "There is no memory of former things, and even of things which are to come, there will be no memory for them with those who will come after."  That is observed from the Gospel because those who were first in time are first before all others.[27]  And because God who is benevolent and forgiving remembers all things no matter how insignificant, he will not give as much glory to those who deserve to be first on account of their faults, as he will give to those who humbly wanted to be first.  And so it says consequently: "there is no memory of the wise more than of the fool for ever." [28]

12.  I, Ecclesiastes, was King over Israel in Jerusalem.  Until now the preface has spoken only generally about all arguments; but here he returns to the subject of himself, and reveals who he was, and how he knew and experienced all things.  The Hebrews say that Solomon, who was doing repentance, wrote this book, and who, having put his trust in wisdom and riches, failed God because of his wives.

13.  I applied my mind to seek and probe by wisdom all that happens beneath the sky - it is a sorry task that God has given to the sons of man with which to be concerned.  Aquila, the Septuagint, and Theodotion have all translated the Hebrew word anian similarly as peristasmon, which the interpreter expressed as occupied in Latin[29], because the mind of man is torn asunder when occupied by several anxieties.  But Symmachus uses the Greek word ascholian, which means business[30].  Since therefore in this book it is more often called either occupationem, or distentionem, or whatever else we have called it, they all refer to the higher senses.  Ecclesiastes therefore set his mind first of all to the acquisition of wisdom, and pursuing this beyond what is allowed, wanted to know the causes and reasoning why children are easily snatched by the Devil; why the righteous and the wicked are equally punished in shipwrecks; and whether these events happen as a result of fate, or by the decree of God.  And if by fate, where is providence? If by decree, where is God's justice?  With such desire to know these things, he said, I understand the great care and torturing anxiety experienced in many things, which was given to man by God, in order that he might desire to know that which he is not allowed to know.  But the cause is inborn first, and God then gives vexation.  For it is written similarly in the epistles to the Romans: "On account of what did God give them up to the suffering of dishonour?" [31] then again he says: "On account of what did He give them up to uncleanness, so that they did what was not allowed".[32]   And then: "On account of which God gave them up to desire for their uncleanness".[33]  And to the Thessalonians: "And for this cause God will send them strong delusion." [34]  But the causes why they succumb were revealed earlier: either by the suffering of dishonour, or by vile affections, or by the longing in their heart, or whatever it is they do to receive strong delusion.  In this way and because of their effectiveness God gave this wicked 'occupation' to man, with which to be concerned, because he did these things first voluntarily and entirely of his own will. 

14.  I have seen all the deeds done underneath the sun, and behold all is futile and a vexation of the spirit.  We are compelled here by necessity to examine the Hebrew words more closely than we wish.  It is also not possible to know the real meaning of the text, unless we learn it through studying the original Hebrew words.  Aquila and Theodotion translate routh as the Greek nomen, Symmachus has boskesin.  The Septuagint does not express the Hebrew meaning, but the Syriac, as shown in the Greek word proairesin.  Therefore either nome, or boskesis, is the noun coming from vexation.  Proairesis sounds more like 'will' than 'vexation'.  Every single man however is said to do what he wishes, and what seems right to him; and men  are borne with different dispositions (i.e. good and wicked) of their own free will.  And all things under the sun are vain, when we displease each other by doing what is the greatest good and greatest evil.  A Hebrew, who was instructing me as I read the Holy Scriptures, said to me that above the word routh was written "it means rather suffering and wickedness in this place than vexation and will", and the meaning does not come from the evil which is contrary to good, but from that which is written in the Gospel: "Sufficient to the day is its wickedness." [35]  The Greeks call this more significantly kakouchian, so the verse essentially means: "I have considered all things, which are done in the world, and I discovered nothing except vanity and wickedness, that is distress of the soul, by which the spirit is afflicted in contrary thoughts.

15.  A twisted thing cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be numbered.  Whoever is wicked cannot be corrected, unless he was corrected beforehand.  Anything that is already correct will receive embellishment; and that which is deviated will receive correction.  A man is not called wrong unless he has been diverted from the correct path.  This is contrary to the heretics, who entertained certain characteristics, which do not seem to be sane.  And since what is missing is lacking, it cannot be numbered.  Besides, only the firstborn of Israel were counted.  The women, slaves, children and the people from Egypt, although of a great number, were largely overlooked, being referred to as a reduction from the army, without a number.  The meaning of this can also be: such wickedness is done in the sphere of the world that the world is scarcely able to return to its completely good condition; nor is it able to regain easily its order and complete state, in which it was first created.  Another meaning of this is: when all men have been restored to goodness through repentance, only the devil will remain in his wickedness.  For all things which are done under the sun are done by his will and in the spirit of malevolence, while sins are piled on sins at his instigation.  Then it can also mean: so great is the number of deviants and of those who have been taken away from God's flock by the devil that it is impossible to count them.

16.  I said to myself: here I have acquired great wisdom, more than any of my predecessors over Jerusalem, and my mind has had much experience with wisdom and knowledge.  Solomon was not greater than Abraham and Moses, and other saints, but than those who were before him in Jerusalem.  We read in the book of Kings that Solomon was very wise, and he claimed this wisdom to have been given by God before all others.[36]  It was then the eye of his heart that saw great wisdom and knowledge in the world, since he does not say I spoke much wisdom and knowledge but my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge.  For indeed we are not able to speak out all those things which we feel.

17.  I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.  I perceived that this, too, is a vexation of the spirit.  Contrary abstract ideas are understood by looking at contrary facts; and " wisdom is the first to be lacking in foolishness" [37], but it is not possible to be lacking in foolishness, unless one has understood it.  Many dangerous things are also created from foolishness, so that while we try to avoid them, we are actually instructed in wisdom.  Solomon wanted to know wisdom and knowledge with equal enthusiasm, and equally madness and folly, so that whilst seeking some things and shunning others, his true wisdom might be proved.  But in this too, as in other things, he said he found great difficulties and was not able to grasp the exact truth of matters.  What I have said above about vexation of the spirit or suffering of the soul, as it is more often written in this book, should be sufficient to understand the rest of this verse. 

18.  For with much wisdom comes much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases pain.  The more a man seeks wisdom, the more he finds himself in vice and far from those virtues, which he is seeking.  For those who are powerful suffer torments more gravely[38], and more is demanded of the man, to whom more is entrusted.  Because of this he increases his pain who increases his knowledge, and is saddened by grief according to God, and suffers beyond his offences.  The apostle said concerning this: "and who is there, who gladdens me, unless he is saddened by me?" [39]  Unless perchance, and this must be understood, that a wise man would suffer so much for his wisdom, in secret and deep in his flank, nor would he show himself to prosper in intelligence, as light is to seeing; but rather through certain torments and intolerable toil, and through perpetual meditation and enthusiasm.

II. 1.  I said to myself: Come, I will experiment with joy and enjoy pleasure.  That, too, turned out to be futile.  After I detected that pain and labour were in the essence of wisdom and the accumulation of knowledge, and nothing else except vain and endless struggle, I felt joyful that I would overflow with excess, accrue riches, amass great wealth, and take temporary pleasures before I die.  But even in this I saw my vanity, for past pleasures do not help the present, and do not fill up what is empty.  It is not just the pleasures of the flesh however, but also spiritual joys that are a temptation for one who possesses them.  Hence I desired greatly, because I had been grabbed by this incentive and the angel of Satan too, who had knocked me down with such force that I could not recover.  Solomon says about this "Don't give me riches and poverty" [40], and immediately writes underneath "lest I be full and a liar"[41], and lest I should ask, "who is looking at me?"[42], for the devil strikes down in abundance righteous men.  In the apostles it is also written, "lest enraptured by his pride, he should fall into the judgement of the devil "[43], that is 'into such a judgement, as the Devil himself falls ".  But having said this, spiritual joy, just as the other kinds, is claimed to be vanity, because we see it through a mirror and in mystery.  But when it has been seen for what it is, then it is called vanity for no reason, but rather truth. 

2.  I said of laughter, It is madness! And of joy, What does it accomplish?  Wherever we read madness the Hebrew text has molal, which Aquila took to be planesin, that is 'delusion'[44], Symmachus has thorubon, 'commotions'[45].  But the Septuagint and Theodotion as in many places, so too in this, also agree and translate it as periphoran, which we, expressing word for word, can call 'revolution'.[46]  Those men therefore, who are carried around on the 'breeze' of all doctrines, are unstable and fluctuate between interpretations.  Thus those who guffaw with that laugh, which the Lord says must be muted in holy weeping, are seized by the delusion of time and its whirlwind, not understanding the disaster that their sins will cause, nor bewailing their former faults, but thinking that brief joys are going to be perpetual.  Then they exult in these, which are more worthy of lamentation than joy.  Heretics also believe this, who agree with false doctrines and promise themselves happiness and prosperity.