[254] For the convenience of the reader I give the chapters and verses as
they are in the ordinary Hebrew Bible, so that they can be found
at once in the Authorised Version. The letter a after the
verse number indicates the first half of that verse, the letter
b the second half.
[255] The meaning is almost the opposite of that of the Authorised
Version. Eye and ear are wearied and bewildered by the incessant
whirl of the vast machinery of the universe. Cf.
Schopenhauer, ed. Grisebach, vol. v. p. 295, § 144. The metre of
the strophe is identical with that of the "Poem of Job."
[256] It is interesting and instructive to compare this with the
identical doctrine of Buddha, as set forth in the canonical book,
"Samyuttaka-Nikayo," vol. i. vii., 2 P, 2 Suttam. It is
accessible to most readers in the admirable German translation of
Dr. K. E. Neumann, Leiden, 1892. Pp. 156, 157.
[257] The Authorised Version has "shall not be satisfied with silver." The meaning is that he who loves silver shall not enjoy the good things it can purchase.
[258] I.e., The care and anxiety which accompany the possession of wealth. The Authorised Version has: "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep." The Hebrew word saba' can signify both wealth and repletion. Here it manifestly means the former; but some well-intentioned person whose ideas of physiology were defective, having taken it to mean repletion, confirmed his view by interpolating the words: "whether he eat little or much."
[259] Here a portion of the original text has been lost, as is evident from the passage beginning "What profit," two sentences lower down, which sums up the troubles of the rich man and makes them consist not merely in the loss of what he actually possessed, but likewise in the hardships and privations which he endured in order to produce his wealth. I give in brackets the words which Professor Bickell conjecturally supplies in lieu of the lost passage.
[260] And therefore extremely doubtful. When Koheleth wishes to express the idea of inexorable law, or Fate, he has recourse to the notion of God.
[261] It is only on earth that one can hope for some approximation to happiness. If we fail to obtain it here—and the odds are very much against us—there is no hereafter to look forward to; for we all—the miserable as well as the fortunate—are drifting steadily into one place—the dreary Sheol, where there is no pleasure, no striving, no life.
[262] I.e., not merely, as commentators generally suppose, that desire is not satiated; but that the enjoyment for the sake of which alone we desire life, and toil to sustain it, is never attained. The aim of labour is enjoyment, without which existence is a burden; but the real result of it all is the mere support of life without its redeeming pleasures. Cf. Schopenhauer, vol. v. pp. 300, 301.
[263] That is to say, is a very uncertain outlook.