V. 2. I wait for the mouth of the king, and the oath of God.
We have seen that Solomon in this book deals with sending people away from doing. Since he does this, it requires no less effort to bring them back to activity. In the same way, when we preach the faith, we also exhort people from works altogether, so that we can
praise the refraining from our doings (sabbatum). Again, if faith is planted, one must be eager for Christians to be exceedingly busy toward their neighbor, and not at all keep a day of rest (sabbatum) here, but be zealous for good works [Tit. 2, 14.], be inflamed with love toward their neighbor, and only keep the rest (sabbatum) toward God. Thus he teaches here,
1522 L. xxi, 17S-I7S. Interpretations on Ecclesiastes. W. v. 2278-2280. 1523
that we should not do anything according to our own counsel and our own judgment, but everything according to the word of God. This is the subject of about half this chapter.
Since he now says: "I wait for the mouth of the king", he admonishes to the worldly obedience. For it must be understood of a worldly king and kingdom, although it could also be taken of GOtte, but not according to the context of the text. But he assumes the person of the subjects. I, he says, would pay attention to the mouth of the king; I advise you to be your king's subject; do not follow your suggestions. You have enough what you should do in the worldly regiment; do only what the king commands, who is decreed by God that you hear him. But quite significantly he says: "The mouth of the king", because he wants to bind us to the word and obedience to it. He says: Everything that the authorities say according to the laws, that you shall do.
And keep (observa) the oath of God.
Here you must understand the oath, not with which God swears, but the one that is sworn to God. He says: Obey the authorities according to the oath of God, that is, as you have sworn to God. For he who swears to the authorities does not swear to a man, but to God. Here you see perfectly how worldly obedience is included in obedience to God. So also Paul wants [Eph. 6, 5. 6.] that the servants should be obedient to the masters, not as men, but as gods.
V. 3. 4. Be not in haste to depart from his presence, and stay not in evil: for he doeth that which he lusteth after. There is power in the king's word, and who can say to him, "What are you doing?
"To depart from the face" is a Hebrew expression that is frequent in the Scriptures in Jonah, in Job, likewise in Matthew Cap. 18, 28: "When the servant departed from the face of the Lord, he found one of his fellow servants" etc. But "to depart from the presence" is nothing other than to depart from obedience, or to fail to obey, or to lack obedience.
Do not remain in evil.
Do not persevere in disobedience, but persevere in obedience, as if to say: Though the thing which the king hath commanded should not prosper as the king hath commanded, though the king should err, yet persevere, and work that the king's mouth may remain in his majesty, that thou resist not, because thou shalt not escape his punishment.
For he does what he desires.
Namely in his kingdom. For he speaks of the worldly government. He will, he says, administer and defend justice. For this he is appointed by God, therefore fear him. It is completely the same thing that Paul says Rom. 13, 2: "But those who resist will receive judgment upon themselves." And it is not possible that he who opposes the authorities should escape judgment. Therefore, the safest thing is to obey the authorities absolutely. And he shows the power of the king: Whatever he desires, that will he do. For it is a divine order. Therefore you will not be able to do anything, you will not be able to resist, even if you cause turmoil and violence. So either obey him for your good, or flee for your misfortune, because "there is violence in the king's word. The word of the king "is a right sultan" [XXXXX]. For this comes from the word XXXX, which means to rule. All this is said so that he may exhort us to keep obedience and perseverance in the work we are commanded to do, even if we do not succeed in it immediately as we wish.
V. 5. Whoever keeps the commandment will experience no evil.
This is the resolution of the preceding. But this can also be interpreted in two ways. First, he who keeps the commandment will not want to suffer evil, that is, he will guard himself and keep himself from doing evil. Second, he who keeps the commandment will suffer no evil. Both make good sense, but I like the former better.
1524 2- xxi, i7s-i82. Interpretation of Ecclesiastes Solomon, cap. 8, 5-8. W. v, 228V-22W. 1525
But a wise man's heart knows the time and the way.
When the word "judgment" (judicium) is used alone, it generally denotes retribution (vindictam), "punishment. Thus Rom. 13:2: "They will receive judgment (judicium) upon themselves", that is, "they will not go unpunished". This is also how it is taken here: The wise man knows that there is a certain hour for the punishment (judicio) against the disobedient, and that no one can escape this hour. Therefore, he fears God and does no evil.
V. 6, 7: For every purpose has its time and manner, for there is much misfortune in man. For he knows not what hath been; and who shall tell him what shall be?
This is a threat of future punishment to the disobedient, as if he wanted to say: I advise you to be obedient and subject to the authorities; but if anyone does not want to be subject to the authorities by disobeying them, he may still go, but he will receive the reward of plunging into much misfortune and incurring much heartache and sorrow. He must fear at every hour, but still cannot escape. Therefore he can do nothing better than to obey absolutely. For what is the use of not wanting to obey if one cannot escape judgment? This is what happened to the peasants. This is how the preachers should admonish the troublemakers and the rebellious. For judgment is decreed and determined by God for all the disobedient, and vengeance or punishment no one escapes. It is therefore an immense comfort for the authorities, fathers and teachers, who, if they do what they can, but those are stiff-necked and disobedient, and do not want to be punished and escape their hands, should be of calm and good cheer, certain that they will not escape their punishment.
For man's misfortune is much with him.
Not with the one who is obedient, namely the mouth of the king.
Because he does not know what has been.
With a general sentence, he proves the peculiar, as if he wanted to say: A Un
The obedient one turns away his eyes and does not see what is before his eyes; he does not see what he should do or how great an evil disobedience is.
And who wants to tell him what should become?
That is, the disobedient person does not know what will happen. Through disobedience he desires many things, hopes that he will gain great things, and is deceived. He promises himself impunity, but when he is least aware of it, the judgment and the hour are there, and he perishes in his disobedience. In short, the wicked despises the present obedience, he does not look at the future punishment. The wise man, however, does not act in this way, but recognizes that disaster awaits the disobedient; therefore he obeys.
V. 8. a man hath not power over the Spirit to resist the Spirit; and hath not power in time of death, neither is loosed in battle.
He interprets for himself what he said above about obeying the king: "There is authority in the king's word. For it is so ordained of God that he cannot escape unpunished who despises to obey. Man does not have such great power that he can resist the king. Why then does he disobey? "He cannot resist the spirit", that is, he cannot resist the life, the breath of life, "he must endure". He will not escape. "He has not power at the time of dying, and is not let go in the strife." Summa: God has so many judgments and so many ways to punish that no one can escape His hand, and if he should escape other things, He casts him into war that he may perish there. Therefore, he concludes:
And the ungodly does not save the ungodly.
That is, therefore, be obedient, do what you must, for you will not be let go, and your disobedience will not go unpunished. No one means that I teach rebellion or omission.
V. 9 I have seen all these things, and have given my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. One man at times rules over another to his misfortune.
Now he returns to his register, enumerating again the miseries of human vanity. Among all that I have mentioned, I have also seen this, that one man rules over another to his misfortune. This is to be referred to the person who is in subjection, that is, it often happens that tyrants rule; but they rule to the heartbreak of the subjects. Nevertheless, one should wait for the mouth of the king and not stir up a riot. For even if there is a good ruler, there is no thanksgiving, and not only no thanksgiving, but the people become even more angry, as now the common man, since he has become free from the papal laws and bonds. All desire that tyranny be removed, but when they become free, they cannot endure that either. Solomon therefore admits that evil authorities are there to punish the subjects, but nevertheless one must also bear them.
V.10. And there I saw the wicked buried, which had walked, and had walked in the holy place, and were forgotten in the city, because they had done so. This is also vain.
A similar passage is Amos 6:1: "Woe unto you that are rich in Zion, which enter into the hall of Israel with great pomp." But to enter the community or the house of God is, according to Hebrew figurative speech, to administer the same as a magisterial office in the people of God. Thus, Deut. 23:3 forbids the Ammonites from entering into the community of God, that is, from ruling in the community of the Jews. For the Ammonites could be in the people of God, but could not administer a magisterial office. So also here: "They have walked in holy places," that is, they have governed the commonwealth. Hence he says, "I saw ungodly men buried," that is, that the tyrants had died, and a good prince followed, as after Saul's death David. But when the wicked of
When they are freed from tyranny, they forget about salvation. People do not even recognize the benefits. We too immediately forgot about the extremely good Prince Frederick, who gave us peace (pacis autoris). No one remembers what good we have gained through him and from what evils we are freed through him. We always desire other things, but we neglect and forget the present. But all this is said by Solomon for this reason, so that we may learn to recognize the world and use the foolishness of the world wisely.
Therefore, new rulers in particular should read this book, who, having a head full of their own opinions, want to rule the world according to their advice and demand everything according to the guideline. But these should first learn to recognize the world, namely, that it is unjust, obdurate, disobedient, wicked, and in sum, ungrateful. They should thank God, however, if they can only persuade the hundredth part to keep the laws. Thus, even our red spirits are not satisfied with the present good, the preaching of the faith and the grace of the gospel; they confuse everything with new and void doctrines. Solomon's advice, therefore, is that we should recognize their vanity and teach against it as much as we can. Moreover, we should abandon those whom we cannot convert to the faith with our exhortations and keep them there, because the wicked are even hardened by constant punishment. Therefore he says:
V. 11: Because judgment is not soon passed on evil works, men's hearts are filled to do evil.
This can be interpreted in two ways. In an active way (active) so: that is, the wicked continue in iniquity because of the postponement of their punishment. Because God does not immediately avenge as men do, they become insolent. But we, who see that they go unpunished, become full of much evil, we become indignant, we become disgruntled through weariness, and we cease to do good. For the postponement of punishment has this twofold effect: first, it makes people more angry and hardened,
On the other hand, it also makes others who see this lukewarm and causes them to desist. Both views are good.
V. 13. 13. Whether a sinner does evil a hundred times, and yet lives long, I know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear His face. For it will not go well with the wicked, nor live long like a shadow, who do not fear God.
Now he does not comfort a man, but a godly heart. For a man cannot bear this, nor see such great ingratitude, and David also could not bear the ungrateful Nabal, and wanted to kill him, 1 Sam. 25, 13, according to human thoughts. Therefore he says: Only learn to recognize the world. You cannot make it otherwise; "it will not be guided by you, you must be guided by it," so that you know that it is ungrateful and unmindful of all good deeds. If you know this, it will be well with you. Therefore he wants to say: "Even if a sinner does evil a hundred times", that is, even if you delay the punishment a hundred times and do not avenge the evil, he will still have to suffer the punishment at last. It is not possible that those ingrates should not be punished. Therefore, do not hurry to make the world just or to punish everyone. Be satisfied if you can convert even the thousandth part to be grateful. Let the world sin, not you, for it will not escape punishment. Thus the Jews found Vespasianus their punisher, however much the murderers of the prophets and of Christ received respite in punishment.
"And shall not live long." It seems, indeed, as if the punishment of the wicked were long deferred, especially to the afflicted, but when the day and the punishment of the wicked come, it seems to us all too sudden, as Job [Cap. 15, 32.] says, that the wicked have their day come without delay, and the 55th Psalm, v. 24. "For the wicked people will not bring their life to the half," that is, since they always undertake and hope for infinite things, they will die sooner than they have accomplished or obtained the half.
V. 14. It is a vanity that is done on earth. There are righteous people, who are like
If they have the works of the wicked, and are wicked, it is as if they had the works of the righteous. And I said, This also is vain.
These two things are very annoying to the human heart, that the ingrates have their punishments postponed, and evil happens to the pious, that the good are hated, but the wicked are held in esteem; and yet this happens. In the past, the godless priests were given everything; now the godly are not given their food, and those who teach in the schools are not given their sustenance. To those who have made the world free, no other thanks are given than that they are trampled underfoot; but to those who ruin the world and sink it into misfortune, to them everything is given abundantly, just as now the servants of war are given more than those who teach rightly. This is said so often, that we may instruct the heart and teach the good, that they may learn what the world is, namely, a raging and ungrateful beast, puffed up by benevolence, which can do nothing but exalt the wicked and oppress the godly. We must not expect anything else.
V., 15. Therefore I praised the joy that a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat and drink, and to be merry; and such shall be his lot all the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
This is a repetition, but a necessary one, because he said so many sad things that it seemed as if he had forgotten his goal (scopi). The race is ungrateful, always looking for something else, and tired of the present, however good it may be. It makes you work, mows you down, and despises and persecutes you. Therefore, mock the world, as it has mocked you. Do what you have to do and leave the worries and troubles behind and have a happy and calm heart, knowing that the race is such that it does not give its reward to the good.
V.16. I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the toil that is done in the earth, that even one may not see sleep with his eyes day or night.
1530 L- xxl, 187-189. interpretations on Ecclesiastes Solomon. W. v. ssss-sssi. 531
That is to say, as I went about torturing my heart and pondering the wisdom of how to do everything right on earth, I did nothing but cause myself sleepless nights. The same will happen to you, if you do not want to be happy, but toil with your presumption and your counsel. For this is no different from what is said of a fool who strives to carry the whole world on his shoulders, for this means that he wants to rule with his efforts and his laws. Rather, therefore, command all things GOtte, and be not forward in other people's affairs.
V. 17. And I saw all the works of God. For a man cannot find the work that is done under the sun; and the more a man labors to seek, the less he finds. Though he say, I am wise, and know it, yet can he not find it.
Here is a fullness of speech of Solomon. The sense is similar to what is said above [Cap. 1, 15.]: Behold the works of God, that no one can make better him whom he himself has bent. So also here: No one presumes that he can make everything straight.
For this is the work of God alone, and not of man. For it is impossible that men are brought to do what God alone does. For man does not look at the present, nor is he satisfied by it, but looks only to the future. The human heart is full of its manifold counsels, but God has circumscribed everything with a certain limit; the present is present to Him, the future future; but we never calm ourselves with the present, nor are we satisfied by the future. This is nothing else than that the present is not present, likewise also the future is not future. The experience of this thing has led the poets to say that everything is governed by fate, and to invent that the parcels break our thread, even when we want to live in the best life. Thus Julius Caesar did not find his work, that is, he did not complete it; his memory failed him in the midst of his deeds. For while he was thinking of establishing the Roman Empire, or more correctly, of restoring it, he died in the midst of his undertaking. Because Absalom had his mind set on the kingdom, he perished most miserably.