V. 2. 3. A good rumor is better than good ointment; and the day of death, neither the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of lamentation than to go to the house of drunkenness; in the latter is the end of all men, and the living takes it to heart.
This passage seems difficult because of our ignorance of the Hebrew language, which has its hidden speeches (schemata) that can only be understood from the use of language, and it seems unrelated to the preceding. To me, this seems to be the short epitome of this passage, that Solomon wants to comfort those who are impatient because of these vain pursuits, as he used to interject so far, after enumerating a considerable register of human vanities, a consolation and an exhortation to the fear of God, so that our heart may rise to God, that we may hear God's word, not be quick to speak etc. So here again he inserts 1) an exhortation after he has finished the register; afterwards he will return 1) to the same.
This passage, then, is meant to be an exhortation or a consolation inserted into the register of vain pursuits and desires, for those who are impatient about them. For in this life the human heart experiences nothing but impulses and unpleasant things (impatientiam), but especially those who are the best of men, for, as he said above [Cap. 1, 18.], "He who must teach much must suffer much." He who sees and hears much has great cause to grieve and mourn, for 2) he sees and experiences that by which the heart is grieved. 3) an enemy of the human race, since he received nothing but hatred and persecution as a reward for the many and great good deeds he had done his fellow citizens. So it could be even now
1) iteruiu is missing in the Erlanger.
2) Erlanger: Hui instead of:
3) lpisantüropos is missing in the Erlanger.
A person can do this if he has nothing but the greatest ingratitude from all his work. For his courage falls away, so that he will no longer want to do anything. This is what Solomon says about the best people who like to advise people's affairs, not about fools who do not care about wisdom and people's affairs, namely, he says about people who are in public office and have to work in the household. For those who hold a public office or rule a house experience the deceitfulness and disloyalty of men. This circumstance has deterred many from public offices. Thus the old man in Terence considers it fortunate that he has not taken a wife; on the other hand another says: "I have taken a wife, ah, what misery I have had to see; children are born, new sorrows have come etc. The human mind takes offense at all these things if it is not fortified against them beforehand by the word of God. Therefore, the people who have seen such things direct their admonition thus: He who remains hidden has a good life. But Christians must be admonished to live in the midst of the multitude, to take a wife, to rule their household etc. But if their conduct is hindered by the wickedness of men, it must be borne patiently, and one must not desist from good works. Do not leave the battle line, but persevere; do not be wearied by arduousness or impatience, nor be overcome by anger. So this is an exceedingly sweet and very good exhortation, but no one hears it but a Christian.
He now begins this consolation with a proverb, 4) saying:
A good rumor is better etc.
And this he does according to his custom, for Solomon is full of proverbs. He
But I will say this: I have already listed such great evils of human vanity that someone could despair and wish rather to be dead than to see and suffer so much misery and vanity, or completely throw away all effort and work and do nothing. But not so; do not stand still, but persevere. Do not be such a person who will have no good name or reputation. Be careful that you gain a good reputation and remain in the work assigned to you, whether in the worldly regiment or in trade. See what a lazy life those lead who live for themselves. Therefore, do not let adversity wear you down, but persevere against these evils. For it is better that thou prove thyself a man, and become a great man, an example to others, and a benefit to thyself, than that thou shouldest snore and be slothful, and be of no use to any man. For a good name is not given to the snoring and sluggish who lose heart, but to the brave and active "who are undaunted and persevere. In order that he might be said to have fled from the world, St. Jerome fled from Rome and the great crowd, and came to Bethlehem to live there in seclusion, and yet he wanted to have a name. But his heart was not firm enough, for he was very impatient and nothing less than a manly heart. Therefore he says:
A good rumor (nomen) is better than good ointment.
The name (nomen) denotes at this point again the rumor. And this proverb must be understood according to the Jewish conditions. For in this kingdom alone grows the balm, the most delicious ointment. But the ointments in this people were counted among the greatest treasures of this kingdom, as one can see in the books of the kings. Therefore, this saying was very appropriate among the Jews, but not equally among others, where perhaps precious stones are more valuable. The image is therefore this: As a delicious smell delights the nose, so a good name delights the spiritual sense of smell. Paul uses this image often. 2 Cor. 2, 15. he says: "We are a good smell of Christ" etc. For
Paul was a good teacher and right preacher and blameless in his conduct.
Therefore, the meaning of this passage is: Do not let wrath make you disobedient. As I have taught you to stand in fear of God, so I teach you to persevere toward men and to do good works. For what is it if some take offense and are spiteful against your works? Just persevere, and the divine smell, the good rumor you get from it, will attract more people, who will also be kept at work.
The day of death is better, neither the day of birth.
This too, I believe, is spoken literally. But it seems to be pagan and carnal to say that one prefers death to life. But he does not speak of death and life as such, but of what must be done and has been done, even by the cleverest people. Bring me a man who is in the secular or domestic government, who has to deal with things, and let him say whether one should not rather be dead than live in so many dangers and hardships. So Solomon compares this life with himself, not with the life to come, and wants to say: If one wants to look at this life, it is certainly true that the day of death is better than the day of birth. For how can it be worse than that those who have to deal with affairs, and wish with all their heart that everything should go well in the community, and do and suffer everything for the sake of it, have nothing from it afterwards but the highest ingratitude, contempt, harm and banishment?
So the text is to be understood simply as it reads, that it does not speak of divine works and the life after this life, but of human affairs as they are in our use and under our direction, of which we have nothing but cause for anger and impatience. For the day of birth will entangle you in these evils, death will snatch you out of them. Birth is indeed something good and God's creation; but Solomon does not speak of this, but of the use of birth, because
There is a difference between birth 1) as it is created by God and how I use it. We have nothing but sorrows from birth. Of course, this is not the fault of birth, but ours, and the wickedness of the world is to blame, since we misuse God's creatures. So life, as it was created by God, has nothing to do with this book; for it would be quite ungodly to say of this (life) that death is better than this, since God created us human beings and wants us to live. So it is an exhortation that we should not despair, but have an unbroken courage to endure these ills, as if to say: Suffer, bear; do not give way to adversity, but face it with confidence.
It is better to go to the house of complaint than to go to the house of drink; in that is the end of all men.
This is spoken after the manner of a saying. For from these two proverbs he has spun aphorisms and admonitions. A Thor would say the opposite: Do not be burdened with grief and do not lead a miserable life (as Jerome taught that one should lead a marriageless life, that is, a pleasant life). But Solomon says quite differently that one should bear the cross, and that it is better to go to a house of lamentation, because in such a house one sees what is the end of all men and of the whole world. It is true that everything is full of troubles and sorrow in the world and house regiment, but it is better to carry this cross than to flee. For he who moves in sorrow and where death proves its dominion (in mortificatione) also accustoms himself to die; he becomes full of life and dies without heartache. But he who is not accustomed to it, but always wants to live in joys without cross, his heart is not exercised, and he dies with the greatest sadness, and is in perils with the greatest complaint; but he who remains in the midst of affairs, he is exercised and hardened da-.
1) The words: DiNeruM nativitag are missing from the Erlanger.
through that he carries them. "There becomes a man." So he says: "Although a fool desires and does the opposite of this, do not let go of the reins. "Let it please thee that thou hast more displeasure than pleasure." It is better to endure evil than to yield to it. For by enduring the evils you will get your good name over, and it will be said of you, "This is a brave man who has endured in the midst of evils; he has been able to overcome all these attempts and wickednesses of the world and of Satan. For in the midst of these evils man learns to despise evils, as Ovid says: Quod male fers assuesce, feres bene (Get used to what you bear evil, so you will bear it well), as that woman did not die by drinking the poison because she was used to it, and as the proverb says: Known evils are the best. Therefore, we do not have to flee so much from the evils, nor to be afraid of them, since we know that this is the end of all men, namely hatred, slander, misfortune and death. If you want to tear through these, you must learn them by constant use. For fools, this difficulty always comes at an inopportune time, but for the godly it is overcome by long habit, since this life is little to them, but death is sweet, and what they live, they live only for the sake of God, who wants them to live this way.
And the living one takes it to heart.
"The living one," that is, one who is well fed and lives pleasantly. The Hebrews generally call the natural life "the soul", but a pleasant life or the ordinary life they call "being alive" (vivere). He beautifully explains what the experience of evils accomplishes, namely, that the pleasantly living person takes it to heart, that is, is forced to let his heart be instructed by those evils. But he who does not want to bear the adversities learns nothing and remains a fool all the time!
V. 4. It is better to mourn than to laugh, for through mourning the heart is improved.
This has the same opinion as the preceding. But how does this agree with what he said above [Cap. 2, 24. 3, 22. 5, 17,]
one should not be angry, but be joyful in all work, but here he says [in the Vulgate]: It is anger (ira) better than laughter? I answer, He speaks rather of sadness, and not of wrath; not of the foolish sadness which men invent for themselves, but as he speaks of the house of mourning, so he speaks also of wrath, so that "wrath" is sadness, or a grievousness which brings with it a certain sadness, as when thy David was told that all the king's sons were slain, the king became full of mourning [2 Sam. 13:21.]. It is the same expression there ["he became very angry") as here in this passage; but there it certainly cannot mean "wrath," but sadness, so that it is the same with what we say in German: "He became frightened, and was greatly distressed." But repugnance expresses itself in the countenances and makes the countenance sad. Thus, if someone is in the world or in the house regiment, "his laughter is well spent," if he is only a good man, and if he performs his office rightly. Then such a great number of troubles will overwhelm him that he can say: "The devil be a mayor or a regent, it is all vexation and unpleasantness" in the worldly government and in the household. Such troubles wrinkle the foreheads of those who desire to advise things, so that they think, "Go away, leave off, for you are doing nothing but complaining with displeasure and hatred. Solomon resists this, advises and admonishes: "Do not turn away, but wait for him. It is better for thee to mourn or to be sad, "that thou shouldest forbear laughter," that thou shouldest have earnestness in thy countenance and in thy actions, and that thou shouldest be compelled to show it (that is, from trouble), than that thou shouldest laugh. The cause is:
The heart is improved through mourning.
This can be understood in two ways. First, by mourning (per tristitiam vultus by sad appearance of the face) the heart is improved, namely, others. Thus Paul requires in a bishop [2 Tim. 3. 4.] an honorable character (σεμνότητα), a seriousness in his manners and walk, lest he offend others by levity etc.
Solomon also wants him who has a governmental office to be cheerful in heart but outwardly serious, so that others may be corrected. For if a man is of such a nature that he has a merry heart and a serious countenance, and is not frivolous in dress and deportment, others will hold him in honor, and his household will not be unruly. Second, it can be interpreted this way: With a wicked appearance it is well with the heart, that is, there is nothing to prevent the heart from being cheerful, even if the countenance is outwardly serious, so that the meaning is: it is better to lead a stern and serious life than a licentious one. For "laughter" is what the Hebrews call a way of life such as is found among our papists, who live quite licentiously, despising and laughing at all good things. And this conception pleases me better than the one according to which one thinks that the heart of the fool or the godless can be improved by someone's sadness or seriousness. It may seem that an ungodly person honors the seriousness of another, but his heart does not change.
I therefore take this view, that you understand it from your heart, that the heart becomes good when things are bad. For it is a Hebrew way of speaking, "a good heart," that is, a contented and cheerful heart. And Solomon speaks in this way in order to direct the listener toward his goal, which he has in mind. For this is what he has been after, that he would teach that we should be cheerful, however the matter may turn out. But since he said above that it is good to be cheerful, here he seems to assert the opposite: "It is better to mourn than to laugh." This certainly does not seem to be true, but things pertaining to godliness are difficult, and are always pulled to the opposite side. When we teach that nothing justifies but faith alone, the ungodly set aside all works. Again, when we teach that faith must be evidenced by works, they immediately attach justification to them. A fool always deviates either to one side or to the other. It is so difficult to remain on the middle path; so also here, because he does not want to
The heart must be happy, free, and calm, so that it will behave evenly in human affairs, regardless of whether they are happy or sad. The heart should be cheerful, free, and calm, so that it will behave evenly in human affairs, whether cheerful or sad. Therefore he says:
For through mourning (In malo vel malitia vultus) the heart is improved.
As if he wanted to say: I distinguish between sadness of face and sadness of heart. I want to be always cheerful on the inside; this cannot happen on the outside, because sad things happen, as the apostle says in 2 Cor. 6:10: "As those who mourn, but always rejoice," etc. so that one must refer to the outside, the other to the inside.
V. 5. The heart of the wise is in the house of lamentation, and the heart of fools in the house of pleasures.
All this would seem to be in conflict with the foregoing, if we did not distinguish between the joy of the heart and the outward joy, and likewise the inward sorrow and the outward sorrow. So he continues with comforting and admonishing, saying: "Do not follow those fools who change their hearts as outward things change, and cling to such things with their hearts; they are joyful when joyful things come, but sad when sad things come.
In the complaint house.
The Hebrews call a house not only a building of stone and wood, but everything where anything is done. Thus, among their grammarians, any letter is the house of the words that begin with that letter. But why is the heart of the wise in the house of lamentation? Because when things are bad, the wise do not become disgruntled, nor do they change, as things change. Fools chase after happy outward things and flee repulsiveness. This is a very troublesome kind of people, who begin many things with eagerness and great impetuosity, but after that, if even a small difficulty intervenes, they immediately desist. If they succeed, they penetrate strongly, but if they do not succeed
If they are not in a good position, they lose heart and flee from the line of battle. Therefore, they are not fit to govern, neither in public nor in private life, since one cannot live in any state without inconveniences and troubles. A brave courage, however, or the heart of the wise man endures the adversity and pulls through. Significantly, he says: "the heart of the wise" and "the heart of fools. For he judges according to the attitude, not according to the things themselves. The fool's heart always looks for happy things, the wise man's heart for sad things, 1) although the former is often happy, the latter sad. Therefore, these are the strengthening and exhortations for good people.
V. 6. 7. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under pots; and that also is vain.
In an excellent image he calls the opinions of the fools a "song". It does not have to be transferred or understood from music, just as the preceding does not have to be understood from external drinking, but according to the Hebrew way and figurative speech from the whole change in this life. And "the rebuke" are the teachings and admonitions concerning the passing away in all kinds of things. So he says: Even if you see that it is of no use to you, you must still do what is in front of your hands and not cease from reproving, even if the fools do not hear. This is what Paul said in 2 Tim. 4:2: "Punish, admonish, stop, whether in season or out of season." I have taught and teach that things are vain and are not directed by our counsels etc. When a fool hears this ringing, he falls on the opposite side and says, "Shall we do nothing? But therefore we shall not cease, neither from our activity, nor from the reproach of the vain, nor from teaching and preaching, however much we see them despised, but we must go through and punish the wicked. When I speak of
1) Erlanger: tristitiarn instead of tristia.!
If I had to refrain from the ministry of the word, because I see the fruit of the word only in very few, but an exceedingly great perversity of almost the whole world, and the highest ingratitude, I would have had to keep silent long ago. But God is well advised not to let us see this until we are already in the middle of the course, where one may not turn back, and it is much better to be plagued by these evils than to desist. Therefore, it is better to hear the scolding of the wise men who want us to be well advised.
For hear the song of fools.
That is, what the flesh likes to hear and what is pleasing to them. For they require only that we should speak what is pleasing to them. So Solomon, to put it briefly, says that we should not snore on account of the previous teaching, and that we should not cease from the work.
For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under pots.
"Laughter" denotes the whole life of fools, which delights them, but it is only an outward larva of mirth, not a true joy of the heart. But it is a strange similitude: the laughter of the fools and the crashing of the thorns. But the Jews have very many similes, which they take from their things. For they had much to cook and fire to maintain because of the constant washings, sacrifices etc.. Because their priests were right butchers and 1) cooks. Hence the proverb of the crackling of thorns in the fire originated, here and in the Psalms. This seems hard to us, because it is not according to our custom, as also our proverbs would seem hard to them, as when we say: "Copper money, copper soul measurement, 2) although it is common with us and taken from our services; but they would not understand this at all.
Therefore, almost this whole passage is, as it were, a figurative speech, which is taken from the fire of the thorn bushes (these are thorns, which
1) Erlanger: st", instead of: st.
2) That is, like money, like soul mass.
have intertwined with each other). This is a sudden and very crashing fire, but powerless; there is more flame than fire; it threatens a terrible fire, but soon, when the flame and the crashing cease, the fire is extinguished. Thus it is said in the 118th Psalm, v. 12. "They are extinguished 3) like fire in thorns." And Virgil, in the third book ber Georgica [v. 99 sq.], says: Ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis, furit incassum (as at times a great fire rages in vain in the stubble without power]. Now such a fire of thorns or briars does not make warm, it does not penetrate, and yet it has a greater reputation than that of glowing coals, which has not much flame, but still gives a very great heat. Thus the merriment of fools has the appearance of lasting forever, and it is thought that there is as much power as there are flames, but nothing less than that. For for a moment they are cheerful, but soon adversities come and they are thrown to the ground and all lies down in despair. So, I think, be the meaning clear, and agree well with the foregoing and the following. This also is vain, because after the end of cheerfulness, unhappiness remains in the heart. For so it is with all carnal cheerfulness, it has an end in unrest and leaves behind evil stings.
V. 8 A contumacious man makes a wise man unwilling and corrupts a gentle heart.
This also belongs to the consolation. But this is said in such a way that it is admitted (per concessionem), that is, it would be possible for a contumacious person to make a wise man restless and unwilling, and to corrupt a heart of giving (for so it is in Hebrew), that is, a mild and generous heart. For when the wise man wants to help the world and advise things, and has done everything in the most right way, he is nevertheless defiled by fools and experiences the highest ingratitude. The histories of both the pagans and the Jews testify to this, as does daily experience. Thus Antiochus ignominiously killed a man who had
3) Thus Luther translates in his first translation of the Psalms. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. IV, 101.
He had earned great merit after his two children had been killed before his eyes. This was the thanks for his merits. Belisar, a very good and wise man, was killed by the emperor Justinian in a very unjust way. Such examples are all full.
Therefore, whoever wants to serve in public life or in the household must expect to lose his good deeds, just as God loses the good deeds of the sun and all His gifts to ungrateful and ungodly people, Matth. 5:45. Thus, malice corrupts a mild heart, so that a person, out of impatience, thinks to desist from his actions and allows himself to be made unwilling through ingratitude, unless the heart is instructed by the word of God. This is also what happens to wise people, as Jerome says: "When patience is violated too often, anger arises. And man cannot do otherwise, but God can. 1) God has given the sun, kingdoms, principalities etc. to the wicked. What do they do? What do they give him in return? They crucify his son. This is the thanks. He can suffer this, men cannot, but what Solomon says here happens to them: Wickedness makes the wise unwilling and corrupts a mild heart. But thou let not evil overcome thee, but persevere. For:
V. 9. The end of a thing is better than its beginning.
That is, perseverance brings the crown, expect the end. "It is not in the lifting up, but in the carrying out." It is far better to have reached the end than to have undertaken the beginning. For before his last day thou shalt praise no man; not he that began, but "he that persevereth shall be saved" [Matt. 10:22.]. What I say of the things of godliness must also be said of all other things, as the common proverb says:Principium fervet, medium tepet, finis abhorret [in the beginning heat, in the middle lukewarmness, in the end abhorrence. "So it lies even 2) in the ashes."
1) The words: veus vsro xotest are missing in the Erlanger. /
2) "gar" ^ehlt in der Wittenberger.
Especially we Germans are accused of this fault, that we are addicted to novelty, start many things, continue in none nor stop. And we encounter this most in teaching, since we take hold of new things every day. But this is the fickleness of the human heart; therefore you must think not of the beginning but of the end; therefore see that you persevere. You will suffer your wisdom to be slandered, you will experience ingratitude, your good deeds will be forgotten, your best counsel will be belittled, and evil will be repaid for good. If now thy heart should be weak, it will desist. But you continue bravely, persevere, for God will finally give you the fruit of your labor.
A patient mind is better than a high mind.
He still remains with the exhortation. In human affairs, it is necessary to look at the end. This does not require a high spirit that changes immediately, since it wants everything to be done at once and does everything with a certain impetuosity, but a patient spirit that overcomes the evils that oppose and hinder through patience and suffering, which is also taught by these sayings of the sages: Hasten with haste, and: Suffer and endure, etc.
V. 10. Be not quick to anger, for anger rests in the heart of a fool.
Solomon makes many exhortations to persevere in what we have begun, however little our counsels are carried out. But he speaks of the wrath of the heart, as he said above of the outward wrath. He says, Be not quick to anger, whatever occasions of anger may occur. "Nar
ren shall be angry." Fools have anger in their hearts and at the same time by heart. But keep a merry heart, and be outwardly serious.
For anger rests in the heart of a fool.
This is a Hebrew way of speaking. For this we would say in German: "Zorn hängt
to the fool," that is, they like to anger.
1502 L. xxi, iss-iss. Interpretations on Ecclesiastes. W. v, how-iss. 1503
V. 11 Do not say, "What is it that the former days were better than these? For you do not bear these things wisely.
The human heart, when it experiences the ingratitude of the world, laments: "It is worse than it has ever been before. But you do not speak like that, because you do not ask and do not speak right. For so old people use to say: When I was a child, everything was better, as the poet says: A praiser of the past time (laudator temporis acti). But Solomon says: This is wrong, "it never happened right". But that you see and understand this only now, this is the cause that, as we grow, also the experiences in things and the occasions for anger grow. A child does not care, nor is it moved by the fact that one deceives another, kills, etc., but plays, hunts, rides, and thinks that this is the highest disgrace, when one steals the other's pellets; then it is angry. But when a man becomes a householder, then he feels the complaint and disloyalty of the servants; then he is angry when a horse breaks a leg, or an ox does not want to get fat etc.
The world has always been evil, of course, but we have not always been in the well, and still are not. Since we were children, nothing was clouded for us; we were in a calmer life, but the world has always remained the same. This is true, of course, that the world erupts more at some times than at others, but this happens because from time to time there are other incidents and also greater occasions, but the wickedness of the world always remains the same. Julius Caesar shook the whole world because he had great occasion to do so; if Esau or Absalom had had the same, they would have done the same. Therefore, the same evils are always in the world. Therefore, be careful to have a quiet and calm heart; do not be angry when you see these evils; you will not change the world, but see to it that you shape yourself into a different person.
V. 12. 13. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and helps that one may rejoice in the sun. For wisdom shields, so does money; but wisdom gives life to him who has it.
Solomon's only problem here is that he should not be regarded as approving of sloth, as those who hear the doctrine of godliness tend to do. They say, "If all our doings are condemned, then we will do nothing; we will be completely idle. But Solomon opposes this and says: "I do not condemn goods, nor do I approve of sloth; rather, I approve of both goods and wisdom, but I prefer wisdom to goods because it gives life to man. By the way, I reject the human advice for the acquisition of wealth and all things. And you, I say, do not be full of effort, but do not be idle either, be neither a fool nor a wise man, for neither is good, that is, do not do your counsels for this purpose, nor direct your efforts with all your might to attain goods or wisdom, but take care of what God wants to be taken care of, and do your own of it, which is nothing but vanity. For the wisdom of God is not held out to you for the sake of it, so that you may accomplish it, but look upward that God may work this righteousness, wisdom etc. Thus he likewise rejects human counsels for procuring any things, and yet he exhorts that men should remain in the midst of things, governing and directing affairs, but in the present, and expect God's hand when they see that it does not succeed etc. For if you begin to enforce your counsels, you will get nothing out of it but vanity and heartache etc.
Wisdom is good with a hereditary property, and helps that one can look forward to the sun. 1)
"To see the sun" means to be cheerful and of good cheer in this life, or to live pleasantly. He wants to say: wisdom with an inheritance surpasses the most pleasant life in this world. And he adds the simile, "Wisdom shields, so does money," as it is said, "Good makes courage," that is, those who have grates have a good confidence, those who have wisdom also have
1) In Latin: KspieMin euw kerettititte M6lior est vittsntibus "olein.
a good confidence (he admits this), but still I make a difference. In this, wisdom has an advantage over goods or money, because wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it. Money cannot do this; it does not keep alive, nor does it save from death. This he says, lest it should appear that he rejects goods altogether, but he rejects only the abuse 1) which the wicked have; then he prefers wisdom, because the knowledge of wisdom gives life to him who possesses it.
V. 14. Behold the works of God, for who can make bad that which he bendeth?
Here he concludes this whole teaching, which he started to strengthen the people who are impatient and angry [because of the wickedness of the world], with a beautiful final speech. He says: Why are you angry? Why are you impatient against the unthankful? Behold the works of God, that no man can make straight him whom he himself hath made crooked; let this comfort thee. For by this evidence you can know that God governs all things, and does not require of you that all be good and thankful, and that it is not up to you to make them such people. Therefore, be equanimous and let it go as it goes, for it cannot be otherwise than it goes. It is not in my hands to make the crooked straight. I do good to many, and behold, I receive ill-talk and ingratitude in return; but this is not to be wondered at, and nothing new happens in it. For if God has not given you an understanding and grateful heart, you will lose all your benefits. So there is an excellent teaching in this passage, that it is not in the free will of man to make his heart righteous (rectificare), but by human free will not even any burdensome thing can be improved. You can teach, admonish etc., but no one but God alone can amend. That we know this is the only remedy for us against the so great ingratitude and so much spitefulness. Therefore, if your punishment and instruction do not help
1) Erlanger: usum instead of: ndusum.
If you want to be a heretic, then follow Paul's rule [Titus 3:10]: "Avoid a heretical man after he has been admonished once and again. If you do your part, God will do His part. For if thou wilt not abstain, unless thou hast first repented, it means that thou hast put thyself in God's place, that is, thou art evidently senseless.
V. 15. Be of good cheer on a good day, and take the evil day also for good; for this God has created along with that, that man may not know what is to come.
This is the other part of the final speech. Thou shalt do thus: When a happy day is given thee, be happy, that is, enjoy the present, lay aside thy cares, lay aside thy counsels, set a measure to all thy movements of mind, let God be thy wisdom, command him thy past and thy future. And so may you be joyful in the present.
Take the evil day also for good.
That means: You should prepare yourself in such a way that you can also have tribulations. Enjoy the present in such a way that you do not draw confidence from it as if it will last forever. Do not be secure by looking only to the good, but also be prepared for the evil day, always be free and equanimous. In this way he eliminates the mind and confidence of fools who are so attached to the present pleasures and immerse themselves in them as if the good day must always last. But we should be happy in such a way that we do not sink into it, but keep a part of the heart according to which we can also suffer the evil day. Thus it will happen that the foreseen evil will afflict us less.
For God creates this one next to that one. 2)
He leads all our thoughts toward God and snatches them away from things, For God does all this, he says, namely, the evil day next to the good, "sending misfortune next to happiness." And that according to his
1506 L. xxi, 158-iso. Interpretations on Ecclesiastes. W. v, 2253-2257. 1507
If you do it in your own way or order (where again there is a Hebrew expression in the word XXX, which is also found above in the third chapter, v. 18, and in the 110th Psalm, v. 4: "According to the way of Melchizedech"), that is, as it is written and said of him, "according to his way", "the way he uses", then behold, you will easily overcome the temptations. But we completely immerse ourselves either in joy or in adversities. But the godly speak when they suffer the alternation of good and evil: This is God's order or way, and do not allow themselves to become discontented.
That man shall not know what is to come. 1)
This means that he is instructed that he cannot have more good than God has given him, even if he strives for it. Man strives beyond what God has done, but he finds nothing. God has given happiness, and you seek more happiness, but you will not find it. For no one can add even the slightest thing to God's works; "if our Lord has made out God, you will add nothing to it." When the heart is filled with joy, it cannot be grieved, and again. Thus God ordains everything, so that you may learn to be satisfied with what He Himself offers and enjoy it in moderation, so that our joy may be in the Lord.
V. 16: I have seen all manner of things in time above my vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness; and there is an ungodly man who lives long in his wickedness.
After he has finished the exhortations and consolations, he returns to his register, looking around. He says: "As I was examining the individual things, among the other vanities, I also encountered this one, which will now be enumerated.
There is a righteous man and he goes under etc.
Here again we have to pay attention to Solomon, so that we do not think he is talking.
find
Here he speaks of divine righteousness or the righteousness of faith, but he speaks of worldly righteousness, so that by the "righteous" you must understand a man who presses for righteousness, "who wants to make people righteous," as a man is who is in the worldly regiment, or a good steward. He says, "I have seen a righteous man who had excellent rights and laws; when he began to insist on them and required everything to be done according to the rule, he did nothing but make everything go backward; as that Thor did who stood bent in the sunlight, accusing the crooked shadow, though he did not straighten himself in the meantime. We are such people too. We see the splinter in other people's eyes, but we do not pay attention to the beam that is in our eye. Summa Summarum: The highest right is the highest wrong. Whoever wants to rule and make everything straight in the worldly regiment and in the household, will have a lot of trouble, but no success. Again, another wants to do nothing and is a despiser of justice, which must be required. Neither of the two is good for anything, neither that one is wise, nor that one is unwise, one must be neither just nor godless. What then is one to do? This shall be the middle way:
V. 17, 18: Be not too righteous, nor too wise, lest thou corrupt thyself. Do not be too ungodly, and do not be foolish, lest you die untimely.
That is, let the highest right depart, and measure thyself by thine own foot, and sing: Γνώ&ι σεαυτόν [know thyself], then thou shalt find in thine own bosom an abundant register of infirmities, and shalt say, Behold, I myself am yet unrighteous, and yet God tolerates me, and I am not outcast from men. Why then do I allow myself to be so carried away by impetuosity that I demand of others so strictly what I myself do not perform? That is called "being too righteous. The things of this world do not suffer this. Therefore, keep the laws with teachings and preaching, and give thanks to God if the servants or listeners agree that the laws and teachings are holy and just, even if they do not keep everything according to the rules. So you are truly righteous
and wise. But you are "too wise and too just" if you have to manage in the worldly or in the house government, and have good laws, and so insist on these, and want to have them kept in such a way that you do not want it to be missed even by a jot. For this means: The highest right is the highest wrong.
A prudent person in authority and a householder must make a distinction between a good law and the obedience of the subjects to it. It is better that we suffer a small rebellion (modicam rebellionem) than that the whole state goes to ruin. This tends to happen to the strict drivers of the laws. Therefore the laws must be carried out, and they must be insisted upon as far as the cause suffers, but no further. This is also what doctors do. They do not judge and cure diseases merely by books or by what is prescribed, but often have to make changes according to the constitution of the body. Thus, people's minds are very different, so that even the laws often have to be moderated. This requires very wise men, of whom there are very few in the world. Therefore, only people like David, Abraham, Solomon, Joshua and the like of them should be made stewards and rulers, if they could be found who could use the laws properly. For it is very important that a community is well administered.
Don't be too godless etc.
This is the other part of the final speech. See to it that just as you are not too righteous, so you are not too ungodly, that is, that you do not despise and neglect all the government that is commanded you, and let everything go over and under. It is good to overlook some things, but not to neglect everything. If wisdom is of no avail, one need not be senseless in anger and revengefulness for its sake. Then do not give yourself over to idleness, so that you do not care about anything. Do not act like that ungodly servant [Matt. 25:24 ff] who buried the penny and would do nothing with it etc. Up! be righteous, and others with you;
demand godliness, stop, however it may be. Why?
Lest thou perish, lest thou die untimely.
For it is to be feared that he will come suddenly and call thee to judgment, as he took away the soul of the rich man by night, when the rich man was not careful [Luc. 12:20]. If this life were heavenly and angelic, nothing would be done unjustly, but the sinful nature cannot but sin, but be foolish. Those who do not know this do not yet know the world. We must think that we are here as in a shipwreck or conflagration, where one must strive to pluck at least one fire out of the fire, if one cannot manage or extinguish the whole fire. Therefore, if you are in housekeeping, be satisfied if you can pull even one out of the general conflagration of godless people. If you are a schoolteacher, strive to raise up at least one and instruct him properly etc. If you are a preacher of the gospel, preach in such a way, not as if you could win all for Christ (for not all obey the gospel), but if you can bring three or four souls to Christ and convert them, as it were, as the ends of smoking fires 1) give thanks to God. For you do not have to stop for the sake of it, because so few improve in the preaching of the Gospel, but, as Christ did, so do you also. He has plucked out the elect, and let the others go. So did the apostles; you will be no better. You are foolish if you alone fail to do everything, or if you fail to despair of everything.
V. 19 It is good that you take hold of these things and do not let those things out of your hand, for he who fears God escapes them all.
Christ uses a similar saying Matth. 23, 23: "This is what should be done, and
1) eauäas titionum kunuMntiui". This passage confirms (against Dietz) the explanation which we have given to the word "Brandsthwanz" in our edition Vol. XX, 2390. Compare Vol. XIX, 963, § 2 unv the note to it.
1510 L. xxi, 162-165. interpretations on Ecclesiastes, W. v, 2260-2204. 1511
not leave that." So also here he demands both, righteousness and yet not the highest righteousness, so that you should neither be too lax nor too strict. At times overreach laws and rights, as if you were an ungodly man. At times take hold of the laws, and again become a righteous man; but be mindful that he is not speaking here of personal righteousness, as is also said above, but of common righteousness, or that in worldly government, which is not before God, but in the government of others and before the world. For in personal righteousness, justice cannot be too great.
He who fears God escapes all this.
That is, the fear of the Lord will easily judge both. When I fear the Lord, my heart says, "I have often lived this way and still live shamefully. I will therefore have patience with those who err. If I can keep them in check with idle discipline, I will do so; if not, I will let them go until they receive their justice by the sword. But even if they escape all this, they will not escape the judgment of God. Thus he who fears God walks rightly in these things; seeing that he cannot do it, he therefore calls upon the Lord. Therefore do thine own, remind, exhort, do not desist. Whoever does not hear you will be punished, even though you do not punish, for there will be one who will punish, as happened recently to the peasants. Since they would not accept our rebuke, they are sufficiently punished by others etc.
V. 20. Wisdom strengthens a man more than ten mighty men who are in the city.
This is a price of the already mentioned wisdom, namely of equity. It is not through power that things rise, but through wisdom that everything is driven and flourishes in government, in laws, in administration, in the arts. This is how we humans were created, to act with reason, and to be able to do more with it than all animals with their powers. Thus man tames the wild horse and the mighty lion by his reason. Therefore, no matter how many
If laws are given, if the regiments are well ordered and written, things will often go very badly if wisdom is not added. For when a wise man gives laws, it is impossible for him to see all the different circumstances and conditions. Therefore, much is left to the handlers of the laws. Thus also the jurists call the emperor a living law, because he is in such a position that he can direct the laws as a charioteer directs the chariot, and arrange everything according to place, time, persons etc. For with laws that are strictly kept, the Thor does more harm than the wise man by setting them aside. All this is still said as an admonition. Do not be angry, he says, if things do not turn out as you wish; it is enough for you to keep the laws so that everything is not trampled underfoot. For this is the highest wisdom, not that one should know the laws and rights, but that one should know that in this world one does not obey wisdom. This life does not suffer everything to be done in the right way. The brief epitome of this passage is therefore: One must not trust in power, but rule with wisdom, which often preserves everything in a kingdom where power corrupts everything. Why is that?
V. 21 For there is not a man on earth who does good and does not sin.
Always keep in mind that Solomon speaks of those who are under the sun and of the things that are done. He does not actually instruct the conscience here, but teaches the peace of heart in difficult and burdensome things of this world. That is why he expressly adds: "On earth", namely by talking about earthly justice and about the sins that we commit one against the other, as if he wanted to say: Why do you strive to require everything according to the law? That will never happen, that everything will go quite right. If you want to live in the worldly regime, you must overlook many things, tolerate many things, and not want to know many things, in order to receive at least some justice.
Look at yourself, and you will see how often you yourself act unjustly, and deal with that which rightly displeases many; therefore
Do not be too righteous, because you also sin and give offense in many things. So also Christ says Matth. 7, 3: "You see the mote in your neighbor's eye, and are not aware of the beam in your own eye." But there he is talking about heavenly justice. If we looked at ourselves in our own house, we would no doubt find the infirmities that rightly vex others. This should certainly remind us that we should not be so strict judges of others and not all too righteous promoters of other people's justice. For that is why the strictest promoters generally have the greatest infirmities. They do not know the spirit of mercy and compassion; they are burdensome and unbearable to themselves and to others.
So Solomon wants this: Do not be angry when you see that what annoys you happens and is done, because you do not always do what you should do. For in very many things you must close your eyes and suffer them. For as it belongs to the righteousness of faith and to spiritual righteousness to bear the weak in faith and to instruct them with gentleness, so it belongs to worldly righteousness (of which he speaks here) to bear the infirmities of others, so that forbearance is a mutual one, by which we bear and overlook something in one another. Cicero, in the book on friendship, wants nothing to be overlooked in friends. 1) And Erasmus, in his book on foolishness (Moria), wants all the infirmities of friends to be punished. These are also thoughts of people who are often moved by the highest passion. The fools rule the world with their books, and do not see that no one can perform what they prescribe. Thus the Stoics have portrayed the wise man in an exceedingly foolish way as a man without feeling, and are themselves the most troublesome people of all. So it only remains that we carry and overlook the other. For there is no man who does not sin, who does nothing that is burdensome to others.
1) Wittenberger: dissiiuutari; Erlanger and Jenaer: äissiinulare. The former seems to us to be better.
Neither take to heart all that is said, lest thou hear thy servant cursing thee. For your heart knows that you have often cursed others.
As I have told you of the experience you have when you look at yourself [v. 17 f.], so I say also of what you hear from others. It is true that the servants must be governed, and the ungodly must be punished; but if thou canst not mend anything about it, let it go; the ungodly do not go unpunished. For this is a true saying: "You will not escape the executioner, for God himself is the executioner."
So that you do not have to hear your servant curse you.
Some people are so curious to hear something about themselves that they lie in wait for all the sayings and hints of all the people, so that they also listen at the windows and the cracks in the walls to what everyone is saying about them. It serves them right that they hear even from their servants what grieves them. Therefore, if you want to lend your ear to all their talk, expect that you will also hear your own cursing you; indeed, this may happen, since you do not understand it. For as you learn many things, so you will also hear many things that you do not like to hear, so that it is not necessary that you curiously catch the speeches of all people. Therefore, do not be angry immediately and take up arms, but rather leave it unnoticed, because you have also missed many things against others. If Jupiter should hurl lightnings as often as men deserve, he would soon be without weapons, as Horace 2) says.
These two things are therefore necessary in the management of affairs; namely, one who makes the laws (legislator), and another who applies the law rightly (moderator). The legislator to shape and order the community with good laws, but the moderator to apply the laws themselves and use them rightly and wisely according to the nature of the places, the people and the persons etc. A right administrator
2) Wittenberg and Jena: Horatius; Erlanger: Ovidius.
In a community, the law is more necessary than the lawgiver himself, as can be seen from examples in the household. A prudent householder assigns to each his expenses at certain hours and in certain places; then he arranges for certain food and clothing for the servants and maids. But if an accident occurs, such as the servant becoming ill, then the law must be broken and consideration given to the time. A sick person is not required to do the prescribed work, is given better food and drink, better lodging than the others etc., and is exempted from the rule. Otherwise the householder would be foolish and ungodly if he did not do so. So here the precept of the law falls, because of the change of the person. Therefore, if we often deviate from the law and sin in word and deed, we should suffer the same in others.
V. 24, 25: All these things I have tried wisely. I thought I would be wise, but it came farther from me. It is far off; what will it be? And is very deep; who will find it?
He gives his experience by telling what happened to him before, when he was investigating these things. He says: I instruct you by my example, I teach that one must desist from this wisdom, and that there is indeed a wisdom, but there is not such a wise man. I, too, was forced by this experience to learn, because I wanted to be too wise, and to teach that the world should be governed by the very strictest laws. But since I undertook this, I did not succeed at all. Therefore, as I have said, human life must have these two things: A lawgiver and a right administrator of the law, and this no less than that, as it is not enough for a carter to have good horses and to know the way from which he drives, if he does not steer the carriage according to the way of the road. Therefore, equity must also be connected with the law which shall say thus: You have indeed ordered this and that law well and it must be kept; but, if it is necessary, exceptions must also be made.
And is very deep etc.
Thus it is also said above [Cap. 1, 8]: "Everything is so full of trouble that no one can talk it out" etc. Those who make the laws have only the general in mind, that it should be so; but those who have to do with the administration, they have to deal with special and individual things, and see whether it can be done so. There are innumerable cases, also innumerable circumstances. This depth cannot be fathomed. Therefore the summa of the seventh chapter and this exhortation is: As much as you can, uphold the law, and as much as you can, temper the law. Do not take it into your head that everything should be kept in the strictest way, nor be weary through weariness, but only fear the Lord, and he will teach you everything rightly; for those who are without the fear of God are either too righteous or too impatient.
V. 26. I turned my heart to know, and to search, and to seek wisdom and art, to know the folly of the wicked, and the error of the foolish.
This is a kind of addition to the previous exhortation and teaching, as if he wanted to say: I have been very careful to see what happens to those who want everything to be done in a righteous way and are too righteous in demanding righteousness, namely, how they do not succeed and how they become fools by being too wise, and I have found that instead of this being unwise is the highest wisdom. Again, I have searched all ranks to learn how the wicked do things, how fools do things, whether it is better to let all care go (as fools do) or to be too righteous. For he again speaks of things that have been done or are to be done by fools and the wicked, as he spoke before of the deeds of those who are righteous in the world.
V. 27. And found that such a woman, whose heart is a net and a snare, and her hands are bands, is more bitter than death. He who pleases God will escape, but the sinner will be caught by her.
Among the affairs of fools, I have also considered that which comes from the women. For since he wrote the register of vanity, this also did not have to be passed over. It happens to the fools who withdraw their hand and want to do nothing and be free of everything that they get into the hands of the women and have to serve the women. For he speaks of a woman who is in command, who ascribes wisdom and dominion to herself, not of the wrath of women, although it is true that a woman has such a mind that she can temper herself less than a man. Nor is the sex condemned here, which is God's creature. For a distinction must be made between the sex and its infirmities, as he distinguished above the works of God from the counsels of men. Man is the work of God, but beyond this work he also wants to follow his counsels and not be governed by God alone, while he alone was created and made by God. Thus one must also distinguish the sex from its infirmities. For the woman, insofar as she is a creature of God, must be regarded with reverence, for she was created to be around the man, to feed the children and to raise them honorably and godly, to be subject to the man. But the men are commanded to rule and have dominion over the women and the servants. But if the woman wants to leave her office and take over the dominion of the man, then she is no longer doing the work for which she was created, but something that is out of her own infirmity and evil. For God did not create this gender for dominion, therefore her rule never prospers.
Against this one could object the histories of the Amazons, which are often quoted by the Greek writers, of whom one reports that they had the rule and led wars; but I believe that this is a fable, which one tells about them. But that the Moors (Aethiopes) choose women both as kings and as princes, they do according to their custom (as in the Acts of the Apostles [Cap. 8, 27.] of Queen Candace in
(The first mention of this is in Mohrenland), but they do it foolishly, just as foolish rulers are often set over a kingdom. But it is never permitted by God that a woman should rule. It may happen that she is appointed to rule in the place of the king, but she always has a council (senatum) of noble men, according to whose opinion everything is directed. Although therefore a woman is put in the royal place, the rule of the women is not confirmed by it. For the text is clear
[Gen. 3:16: "Thou shalt be subject unto thy husband, and he shall be thy lord." The woman is created for his benefit, that she may use her prudence and use her reason in the rearing of children. For as each one is created, so he also works most appropriately. "A woman grasps a child much better with the smallest finger than a man with both fists." Therefore, let each one remain in the work to which he is called and ordered by God.
The sum of this passage is therefore this: Among the other hindrances to the peace that the human heart should have is also the woman, namely such a woman who does not let the man accomplish what he is able to. Thus Samson, the exceedingly excellent man, was seduced by Delilah, a rejected woman. For they are not satisfied with their distaff and their wool, but also want to dictate to men in the things that belong to the government of public affairs. Such wives, I say, saith Solomon, I hate greatly, for they are more bitter than death, being a great cause of our vanity. For when men begin to give themselves to them, all things perish, as happened to Samson. So also Solomon himself became a fool through women. So he says this: As I have seen men who were too righteous and too wicked, so I have seen women who ruled, namely, a great vanity, not because of sex, but because of ropes and nets. Therefore the wise flee these ropes by the word, not About the sex itself.
V. 28. 29. Behold, these things have I found, saith the preacher, one by one, that I have found art.
I invented. And my soul still searches, and has not found it. Among a thousand I have found one man, but among them all I have found no woman.
That is, through my experience and observation I have learned many things in other things, namely that everything is vain; others may learn the same. For this is the highest human wisdom, that one knows that no wisdom is able or achieves anything, except as far as God gives prosperity. So Socrates also said: I know that I know nothing; if he understood it differently. Unum post unum, "one thing after another," that is, I have examined every single undertaking; everywhere I find that no one can live rightly according to his advice. "And my soul still searches," that is, I see vanity in myself and in others, and yet I do not cease to be senseless, and cannot restrain myself from searching for what I know I shall not find. "One man in a thousand," that is, who see that his wisdom is nothing, however much they may see that things always turn out differently from what they have considered. But the people are rare who have acquired this negative wisdom. So also Demosthenes, after having spent all wisdom in vain, said that wisdom is nothing. Therefore the philosophers also said that everything happens by chance and by the roll of luck. For they could not think that the divine wisdom was greater and higher than our counsels and presumptions.
But I have not found a woman among them all.
If the men cannot do this, or only so few, the women can do it even less. Again, he speaks of the female sex as it is outside of grace in nature and under the sun. For nature cannot dictate God's works and miracles. He says that among a thousand men, one can hardly be found who, through experience, has finally come to the point where he says: "My counsels and noble deeds do not work out, do not accomplish anything," and thus has become fit to govern. Of the
But not even one woman gets there, because of the order of God. Therefore, they should not be heard in these matters.
V. 30. See this alone, I have found that God has made man upright; but they seek many arts.
This is what the school theologians have twisted up to now, in order to align the free will against grace, against the opinion of Solomon, since Solomon speaks of bodily things in this whole book. And (as was also said before) he does not instruct the consciences before God (only that he sometimes remembers the fear of God), but instructs man in the worldly regiment, so that he keeps his heart in check.
Therefore, this is the opinion: God has placed man in things, has given him certain works, certain labor, but man does not remain in these works, but loads himself with foreign things through his desire. "God has made man upright", "straight before 1) Himself", that he may see what is before him and under his eyes, that is, the present things, and be satisfied with them. But man lets this straight being (rectitudine) go and makes himself content with what is to come. Solomon therefore wants to say this: I have found through my research that no one lives contentedly with his fate, that all have crooked and evil eyes, as Ovid said:
Fertilior seges est alieno semper in agro Vicinumque pecus grandius uber habet.
(In German: In a foreign field the seeds always stand better than in ours, and the neighbor's cattle give more milk than ours]. And [Horace 2) says]:
Optat ephippia bos piger, optat arare caballus, [The lazy ox would like to be a riding horse, the riding horse would like to plow] Such were Peter's eyes when he said [John 21:21], "But what is this?" It is therefore this sincere nature in outward things, that each one looks straight before himself in his doing and negating, and does not look elsewhere.
1) In the old editions: "for".
2) liorat. Lp. I, 14, v. 42.
But they look for a lot of arts.
That is, they occupy themselves with many counsels and anxious thoughts about how they want to govern everything in the future, leaving the present and what God has set before them. Thus the woman occupies herself with the duties of the man, the man with what is of the woman. Therefore, this saying is a summa of human vanity.
Cap. 8, 1. Who is so wise? and who can interpret it?
That is, all things are difficult, it cannot be said sufficiently [Cap. 1:8]. For we are so immersed in our presumptions and our counsels that we even do not realize that we are so immersed in them; as if he wanted to say: I will be silent about the doing itself; indeed, even the doctrine and the law (jus) itself men do not understand, so much is lacking in it that they can do it, and it is an indication of how vain the human heart is.
The wisdom of man enlightens his face; but he who is insolent is hostile.
I believe that this belongs to the preceding. But this is a figure of speech that Solomon uses here, which is partly known to us from other passages of Scripture that have a similar figurative speech, as, Proverbs 7:13, where it is said of the fornicating woman whom the young man goes to meet: "She flatters him with impertinent
(forti vultu), likewise [v. 10.): "There met him a woman with an insolent face, (fortis facie). Thus Daniel Cap. 8:23 says, "An insolent (fortis facie) king." But this image denotes the impudence and insolence of the countenance, where there is no fear, no timidity, as in Proverbs [Cap. 21, 29. Vulg.] it is said of the fool, "The fool makes his face firm," that is, he has a stiff neck, is without fear and shame.
This passage can be understood in two ways, first in an active way, so that "wisdom enlightens the face of the righteous" is as much as: wisdom gives him a lovely expression of the face. On the other hand, the hypocrites walk sadly, as Christ says of the Pharisees, Matth. 6, 16: "They disguise their faces," that is, "they look sour. But the wise man always walks with a cheerful face because he does what he can; the wicked man always has a hostile and gloomy face. So it is a kind of proverbial saying, as if to say, "You can tell by the eyes where there is a merry heart." But the wicked almost always have a wrinkled brow, for as their heart is, so are their countenances. Secondly, the passage can be interpreted in a passive way, almost in the same way, namely: "He who has a cheerful face is also pleasant to others, pleases others, and the intercourse with him is pleasant and cheerful. But it is in this way a resolution to the praise of the wise.