Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary from 18 fathers
Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, εἶπεν ὁ ἐκκλησιαστής, ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, τὰ πάντα ματαιότης.
Сꙋета̀ сꙋ́етствїй, речѐ є҆кклесїа́стъ, сꙋета̀ сꙋ́етствїй, всѧ́чєскаѧ сꙋета̀.
Let us see what is the “vanity” to which the creation was subjected. My own opinion is, that this is nothing else than the possession of bodies, for even though the stars are composed of ether they are nevertheless material. This, it seems to me, is the reason why Solomon arraigns the whole bodily universe as being in a way burdensome and as impeding the activity of spirits, thus: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, said the Preacher; all is vanity.” “For,” he adds, “I looked and I saw all things that are under the sun, and behold, all is vanity.”
On First Principles 1:7.5
The insubstantial is deemed “futile,” that which has existence only in the utterance of the word. No substantial object is simultaneously indicated when the term is used, but it is a kind of idle and empty sound, expressed by syllables in the form of a word, striking the ear at random without meaning, the sort of word people make up for a joke but which means nothing. This then is one sort of futility. Another sense of “futility” is the pointlessness of things done earnestly to no purpose, like the sandcastles children build, and shooting arrows at stars, and chasing the winds, and racing against one’s own shadow and trying to step on its head, and anything else of the same kind which we find done pointlessly. All these activities are included in the meaning of “futility.” … [And] so also “futility of futilities” indicates the absolute extreme of what is futile.
Vanity may be described as something which lacks existence but exists only in the utterance of this word. The reality behind the word is nonexistent; only the letters transmit a useless, empty sound. These meaningless sounds randomly strike the ear as in a game when we create names which lack meaning. This is one form of vanity. Another refers to persons who zealously accumulate objects with no goal in mind. For example, children’s sand buildings, the shooting at stars with arrows, trapping the wind and racing with one’s shadow while trying to reach its head. If we take another example, we see that they all fall under the term “vanity.” Often human custom calls vanity the looking towards a goal and the pursuit of something profitable; should a person do something contrary or foolish, he invests his energy to no avail. This is too is called vanity.… [And] so “vanity of vanities” demonstrates the incomparable excess of vanity.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 1
David, who had experienced those very glances which are dangerous for a man, aptly says that the person is blessed whose every hope is in the name of God. For such a one does not have regard to vanities and follies who always strives toward Christ and always looks upon Christ with his inner eyes. For this reason David turned to God again and said, “Turn away my eyes, that they may not see vanity.” The circus is vanity, because it is totally without profit; horse racing is vanity, because it is counterfeit as regards salvation; the theater is vanity, every game is vanity. “All things are vanity!” as Ecclesiastes said, all things that are in this world. Accordingly, let the person who wishes to be saved ascend above the world, let him seek the Word who is with God, let him flee from this world and depart from the earth. For a man cannot comprehend that which exists and exists always, unless he has first fled from here.
Flight from the World 1:4
There is a difference between vanities; there are those that are especially so, and others that are not.…Question: [Does Ecclesiastes speak] about one and the same [kind of vanity]? Answer: About both, about the things that are just vanity as well as about those that are a vanity of vanities. Both the things that most clearly belong to the sphere of vanity and the less obvious vanities are altogether vain in comparison with actual truth. The newborn, the little child and the boy are imperfect. Of course, they are imperfect in comparison with an adolescent, and they are all imperfect in comparison with a man.… Question: Does he not mean by “vanity of vanities” the visible and the perceivable? Answer: Yes, but the layperson and the astronomer do not perceive the sun in the same way. The perception of the sun by an astronomer and by a scientist is far inferior to the seeing of the invisible God and it is inferior to the knowledge that comes from God.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:13
To those who have entered into the church of the mind and marvel in contemplation of what has come into being, the text says, Do not think that this is the ultimate end or that these are the promises that have been stored up for you. For all these things are [only] vanity of vanities before the knowledge of one’s God. For, just as it is futile for medicine [to seek] a final cure, so is it useless [to seek] after knowledge of the Holy Trinity in the ideas of the [present] ages and worlds.
Scholia on Ecclesiastes 2:1.2
What is vanity of mind? It is the being busied about vain things. And what are those vain things, but all things in the present life? Of them the Preacher says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” But a person will say, If they be vain and vanity, for what purpose were they made? If they are God’s works, how are they vain? And great is the dispute concerning these things. But listen, beloved: it is not the works of God that he calls vain; God forbid! The heaven is not vain, the earth is not vain—God forbid!—nor the sun, nor the moon and stars, nor our own body. No, all these are “very good.” But what is vain? Let us hear the Preacher himself, what he says: “I planted vineyards, I got men singers and women singers, I made pools of water, I had great possessions of herds and flocks, I gathered me also silver and gold, and I saw that these are vanity.”
Homilies on Ephesians 12
If everything that God made is very good, then how can everything be vanity—and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities? As one song in the Song of Songs is shown to excel above all songs, so also is the magnitude of vanity demonstrated by the expression “vanity of vanities.”
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:2
"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 [Cfr Ex. 34, 30-35.]. 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." [II Cor. 3, 10.] 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" [I Cor. 13, 9.]. All things are and will be vain, until we find that which is complete and perfect.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
By this perversity of the soul, due to sin and punishment, the whole corporeal creation becomes, as Solomon says: “Vanity of them that are vain, all is vanity. What advantage has man in all his labor which he does under the sun?” Not for nothing does he say, “of them that are vain,” for if you take away vain persons who pursue that which is last as if it were first, matter will not be vanity but will show its own beauty in its own way, a low type of beauty, of course, but not deceptive. When man fell away from the unity of God the multitude of temporal forms was distributed among his carnal senses, and his sensibilities were multiplied by the changeful variety. So abundance became laborious, and his needs, if one may say so, became abundant, for he pursues one thing after another, and nothing remains permanently with him. So what with his corn and wine and oil, his needs are so multiplied that he cannot find the one thing needful, a single and unchangeable nature, seeking which he would not err and attaining which he would cease from grief and pain. For then he would have as a consequence the redemption of his body, which no longer would be corrupted. As it is, the corruption of the body burdens the soul, and its earthly habitation forces it to think of many things; for the humble beauty of material objects is hurried along in the order in which one thing succeeds another. The reason why corporeal beauty is the lowest beauty is that its parts cannot all exist simultaneously. Some things give place and others succeed them, and all together complete the number of temporal forms and make of them a single beauty.
Of True Religion 21:41
What is that vanity, if not devotion to riches and the pursuit of worldly pleasures? This is confirmed through Solomon, who says, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.” Therefore, dearly beloved, let no one put his confidence in the vanity of this world. That vanity, as you see, is something standing with insecure footing. Devotion to it is short-lived and empty, and its beauty is like smoke in a wind. The comeliness of its countenance is like that which you see when you look on the beauty of that vine which had its early summer blossoms in well-constituted abundance yet cannot bring forth the actual fruit of the promised grape harvest. While it brings forth too much, it incurs the reproach of perpetual sterility.
Homily 6:7
Nor would I (now) willingly spare from my Bible something in itself so anti-religious as the nihilism of Ecclesiastes. We get there a clear, cold picture of man's life without God. That statement is itself part of God's word. We need to have heard it. Even to have assimilated Ecclesiastes and no other book in the Bible would be to have advanced further towards truth than some men do.
Reflections on the Psalms, Chapter XI: Scripture
What advantage [is there] to a man in all his labour that he takes under the sun?
τίς περισσεία τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, ᾧ μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον;
Ко́е и҆з̾ѻби́лїе человѣ́кꙋ во все́мъ трꙋдѣ̀ є҆гѡ̀, и҆́мже трꙋди́тсѧ под̾ со́лнцемъ;
Those who are rich in things that are valued in the realm of the natural do not gain anything. They do not gain longevity. Rich and poor are in the same situation: they go through life quickly and do not stay for a long time. Thus “from all the toil at which they toil under the sun” one does not gain anything, no increase in natural qualities. But the one who toils and strives for things that lead to the eternal and to the invisible gains something: A human being becomes a god, an uncertain human being becomes a strong one, a coward becomes courageous.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11:18
"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?" [Luc. 12, 20.] 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
So this is what the rich should do: not be haughty in their ideas, nor set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who bestows all things on us abundantly for our enjoyment; that is what they must do. But what are they to do with what they have? Let me tell you what: “Let them be rich in good works, let them be easy givers.” After all, they have the wherewithal. Poverty is difficult and grim. “Let them be easy givers”; they have the wherewithal. Let them share, that is, take some notice of their fellow mortals. “Let them share, let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future.” “You see,” he says, “just because I say ‘Let them be easy givers, let them share,’ it doesn’t mean I want them looted, want them stripped naked, want them left empty. I am teaching them how to make a profit, when I point out, ‘Let them store up for themselves.’ I’m not telling them to do this so that they can lose it; I’m showing them where to transfer the account. ‘Let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they lay hold of true life.’ ” So this one is a false life; let them lay hold of true life. After all, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. What is this great abundance for man in all his toil, at which he toils under the sun?” So true life is to be laid hold of, our investments are to be transferred to the place of true life, so that we may find there what we give here. The one who transforms us also transforms those investments.
Sermon 61:11
If it is a vain thing to do good works for the sake of human praise, how much more vain for the sake of getting money, or increasing it, or retaining it, and any other temporal advantage, which comes unto us from without? Since “all things are vanity: what is man’s abundance, with all his toil, wherein he labors under the sun?” For our temporal welfare itself finally we ought not to do our good works but rather for the sake of that everlasting welfare which we hope for, where we may enjoy an unchangeable good, which we shall have from God, nay, what God himself is unto us. For if God’s saints were to do good works for the sake of this temporal welfare, never would the martyrs of Christ achieve a good work.
Explanations of the Psalms 119:38
A generation goes, and a generation comes: but the earth stands for ever.
γενεὰ πορεύεται καὶ γενεὰ ἔρχεται, καὶ ἡ γῆ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἕστηκε.
Ро́дъ прехо́дитъ и҆ ро́дъ прихо́дитъ, а҆ землѧ̀ во вѣ́къ стои́тъ.
What good does the possessor of many acres gain in the end, except that the foolish person thinks his own that which never belongs to him? Seemingly, in his greed he is ignorant that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,” and that “God is king of all the earth.” It is the passion of having which gives people a false title of lordship over that which can never belong to them. “The earth,” says the wise Preacher, “abides for ever,” ministering to every generation, first one, then another, that is born upon it. People, though they are so little even their own masters, because they are brought into life without knowing it by their Maker’s will and before they wish are withdrawn from it, nevertheless in their excessive vanity think that they are life’s lords and think that they, now born, now dying, rule that which remains continually.
On Virginity 4
By the will of God, therefore, the earth remains immovable. “The earth stands forever,” according to Ecclesiastes, yet it is moved and nods according to the will of God. It does not therefore continue to exist because based on its own foundations. It does not stay stable because of its own props. The Lord established it by the support of his will, because “in his hand are all the ends of the earth.” The simplicity of this faith is worth all the proffered proofs.
The Six Days of Creation
The sun has existed since it was created and will exist and be one and the same as long as God wants it. But if I say … that humankind remains forever, I do not mean one and the same human being but the whole succession of generations. The same is true for other mortal beings and plants.… One generation goes and one generation comes. The generation that goes is destroyed by death; the one that comes is the one that is born.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
"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" [Hier.. "in saeculis"] but "through that age" [Hier.. "in saeculo"]. More precisely we praise the Lord not in one age, but throughout the ages.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
And the sun arises, and the sun goes down and draws toward its place;
καὶ ἀνατέλλει ὁ ἥλιος καὶ δύνει ὁ ἥλιος καὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἕλκει.
И҆ восхо́дитъ со́лнце и҆ захо́дитъ со́лнце и҆ въ мѣ́сто своѐ влече́тсѧ, сїѐ возсїѧва́ѧ та́мѡ.
The sun of righteousness rises in the soul. The beginning of its rise is preparatory. It is a preparatory enlightenment. But when it circles around the whole soul and enlightens it altogether so that nothing is outside the light any more, then the soul is in perfect enlightenment. For often it sets in order to rise again. Sunset and sunrise are in accordance with its progress. And sunset and sunrise are united with respect to its location. The second enlightenment means sunset with respect to the previous enlightenment, but it means sunrise with respect to the enlightenment now beginning.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 13:12
"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 [Hier.. "aspirat"]"; 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". [John 12, 32.] 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". [John 6, 44.] 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 [Cfr. Gen. 28, 11; 32, 31.].
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
The great sun, when compared with the Sun of righteousness, is vanity.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:5
arising there it proceeds southward, and goes round toward the north. The wind goes round and round, and the wind returns to its circuits.
αὐτὸς ἀνατέλλων ἐκεῖ πορεύεται πρὸς νότον καὶ κυκλοῖ πρὸς βορρᾶν· κυκλοῖ κυκλῶν, πορεύεται τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐπὶ κύκλους αὐτοῦ ἐπιστρέφει τὸ πνεῦμα.
И҆́детъ къ ю҆́гꙋ и҆ ѡ҆бхо́дитъ къ сѣ́верꙋ, ѡ҆бхо́дитъ ѡ҆́крестъ, и҆́детъ дꙋ́хъ и҆ на крꙋ́ги своѧ̑ ѡ҆браща́етсѧ дꙋ́хъ.
"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" [Aeneid 3.284] and elsewhere [Vergil Georg. 2. 402.] "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" [Vergil Aeneid, 6. 726-7.]. 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". [I Cor. 15, 28.] 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'.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
According to the narrative he calls the sun wind, due to the speed of its movement.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:6
All the rivers run into the sea; and yet the sea is not filled: to the place whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
πάντες οἱ χείμαρροι πορεύονται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμπιπλαμένη· εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ οἱ χείμαρροι πορεύονται, ἐκεῖ αὐτοὶ ἐπιστρέφουσι τοῦ πορευθῆναι.
Всѝ пото́цы и҆́дꙋтъ въ мо́ре, и҆ мо́ре нѣ́сть насыща́емо: на мѣ́сто, а҆́може пото́цы и҆́дꙋтъ, та́мѡ ті́и возвраща́ютсѧ и҆тѝ.
The waters that the earth drank on the first day were not salty. Even if these waters were like the deep on the surface of the earth, they were not yet seas. For it was in the seas that these waters, which were not salty before being gathered together, became salty. When they were sent throughout the entire earth for the earth to drink they were sweet, but when they were gathered into seas on the third day, they became salty, lest they become stagnant due to their being gathered together, and so that they might receive the rivers that enter into them without increasing. For the quantity that a sea requires for nourishment is the measure of the rivers that flow down into it. Rivers flow down into seas lest the heat of the sun dry them up. The saltiness [of the seas] then swallows up [the rivers] lest they increase, rise up and cover the earth. Thus the rivers turn into nothing, as it were, because the saltiness of the sea swallows them up.
Commentary on Genesis 1:10.2
As for the sea, if I had felt no wonder at its size, I should have felt it for its stillness, at the way it stands free within its proper limits. If its stillness had not moved my admiration, its size must have done. Since both aspects move me, I shall praise the power involved in both. What binding force brought the sea together? What causes it to swell yet stay in position, as if in awe of the land its neighbor? How can it take in all rivers and stay the same through sheer excess of quantity?—I know no other explanation. Why does so great an element have sand as its frontier? Can natural philosophers, with their futile cleverness, give any account of it, when they actually take the sea’s vast measurements with pint size pots of their own ideas? Or shall I give you the short answer from Scripture, the one more credible, more real, than their long arguments? “He made his command a boundary for the face of the waters.” This command is what binds the elemental water. What makes it carry the sailor in his little boat with a little wind—do you not find it a marvelous sight, does not your mind stand amazed at it?—to bind land and sea with business and commerce and unify for humanity such very different things? What springs do the first springs have? Look for them and see if you, a man, can discover or track one down. Who parted plains and hills with rivers and gave them free course? How do we get a miracle from opposites—from a sea that does not get out and rivers that do not stand still? What feeds the waters, what different kinds of food do they get? Some are nourished with rain, others drink with their roots—if I may use a rich metaphor to describe the richness of God.
On Theology, Theological Oration 2 (28).27
You, whose period of struggle is short, do not become more lifeless than the earth, do not become more unthinking than the insensible, for you are endowed with thought and directed by reason toward life. Instead, as the apostle says, “Continue in the things you have learned and been convinced of,” in that steadfast and immoveable stability, since this also is one of the divine commands, that you “be steadfast and immoveable.” Let your sobriety abide unshaken, your faith firm, your love constant, your stability in every good thing unmoved, so that the earth in you may stand to eternity. But if any one, yearning for greater possessions and letting his desire become as boundless as a sea, has an insatiable greed for the streams of gain flowing in from every side, let him treat his disease by looking at the real sea. For … the sea does not exceed its boundary with the innumerable streams of water flowing into it but remains at the same volume, just as though it were receiving no new water from streams. In the same way human nature too, restricted by specific limits in the enjoyment of what comes to it, cannot enlarge its appetite to match the extent of its acquisitions; while the intake is endless, the capacity for enjoyment is kept within its set limit.
The sea is a receptacle for water which tends to flow everywhere; water never ceases to flow while the sea never grows larger. What is the goal of the water’s course which always fills the unquenchable sea? What is this influx of water which never fills the ever-constant sea? Ecclesiastes speaks like this that he may explain the insubstantiality of our frenzied pursuits which result from elements constituting man’s existence. If the sun’s course consists in this, it too has no limit; neither is there any succession between day and night, and the earth is condemned to remain ever unmoved. The rivers also labor in vain, for they are consumed by the insatiable sea which receives this constant inflow to no avail. If this is true, what about man who is subject to such elements? Why are we astonished at the rise and fall of a generation which follows a natural course because a generation of men always succeeds the one before it and so forth? What does Ecclesiastes cry out to the church? That you, oh man, who contemplate the universe, should understand your own nature. The wonders you behold in heaven or on earth, the sun or sea, should help explain your human nature. Sunrise and sunset resemble our human nature because they both have in common the one course [circle] of life. When we come into existence, we later return to our natural place. Once our life sets, our light passes under the earth which then lays hold of it.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 1
The time of your struggle is short. Do not be more inanimate than the earth nor more foolish than [beasts] which lack feeling, for you are endowed with reason and the capacity to administer. Rather, as the Apostle says, “Continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of” in steadfastness and constant stability. Since these words refer to the divine commands, “be steadfast and unmovable,” allow temperance to abide in your life along with firm faith, constant love and stability in every kind of beauty, that you may resemble the earth’s eternal stability. If anyone is greedy like the ocean with its expansive, boundedness desire which the inflow of waters cannot satisfy, let one be cured of his illness by looking upon the ocean. In this way he will not transgress his own bounds in the multitude of waters but will retain the same fullness without the addition of more water. In similar fashion pleasures arising from human nature with its present limit cannot expand its gluttonous appetite to keep pace with their great number; rather, the influx [of pleasures] does not cease even though our capacity for enjoyment is limited.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 1
"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" [Psalms 35, 9.], although "of desire" is written in an addition. On the contrary the Saviour was taken to the brook Cedron [John 18,1.], 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 [Prov. 30, 15.].
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
All things are full of labour; a man will not be able to speak [of them]: neither shall the eye be satisfied with seeing, neither shall the ear be filled with hearing.
πάντες οἱ λόγοι ἔγκοποι· οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν, καὶ οὐ πλησθήσεται ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ ὁρᾶν, καὶ οὐ πληρωθήσεται οὖς ἀπὸ ἀκροάσεως.
Всѧ̑ словеса̀ трꙋ̑дна, не возмо́жетъ мꙋ́жъ глаго́лати: и҆ не насы́титсѧ ѻ҆́ко зрѣ́ти, ни и҆спо́лнитсѧ ᲂу҆́хо слы́шанїѧ.
Therefore incline to him of whom the psalmist says, “He has not taken his soul in vain.” To speak now of the troubles of this life, the person has taken his soul in vain who is constructing the things of the world and building the things of the body. We arise each day to eat and drink; yet no one is filled so that he does not hunger and thirst after a short time. Daily we seek profit, and to greed there is set no limit. “The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.” He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. There is no limit to toil, and there is no profit in abundance. We desire each day to know what is new, and what is knowledge itself but our daily sorrow and abasement?
Death as a Good 7:28
"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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
All writings, both of secular and of divine wisdom, yield instruction when effort is applied.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:8
What is that which has been? the very thing which shall be: and what is that which has been done? the very thing which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
τί τὸ γεγονός; αὐτὸ τὸ γενησόμενον· καὶ τὶ τό πεποιημένον; αὐτὸ τὸ ποιηθησόμενον· καί οὐκ ἔστι πᾶν πρόσφατον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον.
Что̀ бы́ло, то́жде є҆́сть, є҆́же бꙋ́детъ: и҆ что̀ бы́ло сотворе́ное, то́жде и҆́мать сотвори́тисѧ:
It is probably in this way that, so far as our weakness allows, we shall maintain a reverent belief about God, neither asserting that his creatures were unbegotten and coeternal with him nor that he turned to the work of creation to do good when he had done nothing good before. For the saying that is written, “In wisdom you have made all things,” is a true one. And certainly if “all things have been made in wisdom,” then since wisdom has always existed, there have always existed in wisdom, by a prefiguration and preformation, those things which afterwards have received substantial existence. This is, I believe, the thought and meaning of Solomon when he says in Ecclesiastes, “What is it that has been made? The same that is to be. And what is it that has been created? The same that is destined to be created. And there is nothing fresh under the sun. If one should speak of anything and say, Behold, this is new: it already has been, in the ages that were before us.” If then particular things which are “under the sun” have already existed in the ages which were before us—since “there is nothing fresh under the sun”—then all universal categories have forever existed, and some would say even individual things; but either way, it is clear that God did not begin to create after spending a period in idleness.
On First Principles 1:4.5
We say that not then for the first time did God begin to work when he made this visible world; but as, after its destruction, there will be another world, so also we believe that others existed before the present came into being. And both of these positions will be confirmed by the authority of Holy Scripture. For that there will be another world after this is taught by Isaiah, who says, “There will be new heavens, and a new earth, which I shall make to abide in my sight, says the Lord.” And that before this world others also existed is shown by Ecclesiastes, in the words “What is that which has been? Even that which shall be. And what is that which has been created? Even this which is to be created: and there is nothing altogether new under the sun. Who shall speak and declare, Lo, this is new? It has already been in the ages which have been before us.” By these testimonies it is established both that there were ages before our own and that there will be others after it. It is not, however, to be supposed that several worlds existed at once but that, after the end of this present world, others will take their beginning.
On First Principles 3:5.3
Let none of those listening think that there is a longwinded and meaningless repetition of words in the distinction between what has come to be and what has been made. The text points out in each of the expressions the difference between the soul and the flesh. The soul has come to be, and the body has been made. It is not because the words have two different meanings that the text uses this distinction of terminology for each of the things referred to. But [it does so] to enable you to reckon what is advantageous in each case. The soul came to be in the beginning the same as it will again appear hereafter, when it has been purified. The body shaped by the hands of God was made what the resurrection of the dead in due time will reveal it to be. For such as you may see it after the resurrection of the dead, just such it was made at the first. The resurrection of the dead is nothing but the complete restoration of the original state.
Let no one listening to these words think that much talk and the repetition of words is vanity by the distinction between what is and what had been, for they demonstrate the difference between body and soul. Although the meaning of terms does not differ that much, the text does make a distinction to clearly manifest the difference for you. The soul existed right from the beginning; it had been purified in the past and will appear in the future. God fashioned the human body and will show the resurrection at the proper time, for that which comes after the resurrection was indeed fashioned first. The resurrection is nothing other than the restoration [apokatastasis.] of all things to their original state.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 1
"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 [Terence Eunuchus, prol. 41.] 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." [Donatus Comm. in Terent. Eun.] 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." [Origines peri Archon III 5, 3.] 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
There are some people who want to twist even a famous passage in the book of Solomon, called Ecclesiastes, into a defense of these recurring cycles of universal dissolution and re-evocation of the past: “What is it that has been? The same thing that shall be. What is it that has been done? The same that shall be done. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is anyone able to say, ‘Behold, this is new,’ for it has already gone before in the ages that were before us.” But here Solomon was speaking either of things he had just been discussing—the succession of generations, the revolution of the sun, the course of rivers—or, at any rate, of those creatures in general that come to life and die. For example, there were people before us, they are with us now, and they shall come after us. And the same is true of animals and plants. Even monstrosities that are abnormal at birth, different as they are among themselves and, in certain cases, unique, nevertheless, inasmuch as they come under the heading of prodigies and monsters, have existed before and will exist again. Consequently, it is nothing new or even of recent date that a monster should be born under the sun. However, there are some who interpret the words to mean that what Solomon had in mind was that, in the predestination of God, everything is already a fact and, in that sense, there is nothing new under the sun.Far be it from us Christians, however, to believe that these words of Solomon refer to those cycles by which, as these philosophers suppose, the same periods of time and sequence of events will be repeated. For example, the philosopher Plato having taught in a certain age at the school of Athens called the Academy, even so, through innumerable ages of the past at long but definite intervals, this same Plato and the same city, the same school and the same disciples all existed and will all exist again and again through innumerable ages of the future. Far be it from us, I say, to believe this. For Christ died once for our sins; and “having risen from the dead, dies now no more, death shall no longer have dominion over him.” And we after the resurrection “shall ever be with the Lord,” to whom we say, as the holy psalmist reminds us, “You, Oh Lord, will preserve us: and keep us from this generation forever.” And the verse that follows, I think, may be suitably applied to these philosophers: “The wicked walk round about.” These words do not mean that their life will repeatedly recur in cycle after cycle as they think but that here and now the way of their errors, that is, their false doctrine, goes around in circles.
City of God 12.14
Now just as we pick out and exaggerate the pleasure of eating to produce gluttony, so we pick out this natural pleasantness of change and twist it into a demand for absolute novelty. This demand is entirely our workmanship. If we neglect our duty, men will be not only contented but transported by the mixed novelty and familiarity of snowdrops this January, sunrise this morning, plum pudding this Christmas. Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeed hopscotch as regularly as autumn follows summer. Only by our incessant efforts is the demand for infinite, or unrhythmical, change kept up.
The Screwtape Letters, Ch. XXV
[Who is he] that shall speak and say, Behold, this is new? it has already been in the ages that have passed before us.
ὃς λαλήσει καὶ ἐρεῖ· ἰδὲ τοῦτο κενόν ἐστιν, ἤδη γέγονεν ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς γενομένοις ἀπὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν.
и҆ ничто́же но́во под̾ со́лнцемъ. И҆́же возглаго́летъ и҆ рече́тъ: сѐ, сїѐ но́во є҆́сть: ᲂу҆жѐ бы́сть въ вѣ́цѣхъ бы́вшихъ пре́жде на́съ.
"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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
There is no memorial to the first things; neither to the things that have been last shall their memorial be with them that shall at the last [time].
οὐκ ἔστι μνήμη τοῖς πρώτοις, καί γε τοῖς ἐσχάτοις γενομένοις οὐκ ἔσται αὐτῶν μνήμη μετὰ τῶν γενησομένων εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην.
Нѣ́сть па́мѧть пе́рвыхъ, и҆ послѣ̑днимъ бы́вшымъ не бꙋ́детъ и҆́хъ па́мѧть съ бꙋ́дꙋщими на послѣ́докъ.
If oblivion has overtaken things which were, do not be surprised; for those that now are will also be veiled in oblivion. When our nature inclined to evil we became forgetful of the good; when we are set free again for the good, evil in turn will be veiled in oblivion. For I think this is the meaning of the text, in which he says, “There is no memory for the first, and indeed for those who come last there will be no memory of them.” It is as if he were saying that the memory of events which followed our blessed state at the beginning, through which humanity has come to be among evils, will be obliterated by what again supervenes at the end. For “there will be no memory of them with those who have come to be at the last.” That means, the final restoration will make the memory of evil things utterly vanish in our nature, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
If they are swallowed up in oblivion, do not wonder because the present will suffer the same fate. Because nature tends towards evil, we are forgetful of the good; but when enjoyment of the good returns, oblivion envelopes evil. We have no remembrance of the first and last things which is as though he said that the events which introduced evil after man’s original blessed state will erase the memory the last things. No such memory will exist in the future; the last state [hē eschatē katastasis] will utterly destroy the memory of evil deeds in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 1
"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". [Cfr Matth. 20, 16.] 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." [Eccl. 2, 16.]
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
᾿Εγὼ ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἐγενόμην βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ·
А҆́зъ є҆кклесїа́стъ бы́хъ ца́рь над̾ і҆и҃лемъ во і҆ерⷭ҇ли́мѣ
We have learned who the Ecclesiast is, he who unites what has gone astray and has been scattered abroad, and makes it all one church and one flock, that none may be deaf to the shepherd’s kindly voice, which gives life to all. For “the words which I speak,” he says, “are spirit and are life.” This is the one who calls himself Ecclesiast, just as he calls himself “Physician,” and “Life,” and “Resurrection,” and “Light,” and “Way,” and “Door,” and “Truth,” and all the names of his love for humankind. … What does the Ecclesiast say? “I have become King over Israel in Jerusalem.” When is this? Surely when “he was set up as king by him on Mount Zion, his holy mountain, proclaiming the Lord’s commandment.” To him the Lord said, “You are my Son,” and “Today I have begotten you.” He says that today he has begotten the Maker of all, the Father of the ages, so that by applying a temporal term to the moment of his birth, the text might demonstrate not his existence before the ages but his fleshly birth in time, for the salvation of humankind.
We now learn the identity of Ecclesiastes who gathers into one what is scattered and dispersed. He makes one flock and church in order that everyone may hear the Shepherd’s lovely voice who bestows life to all. “The words that I speak are spirit and life.” [Christ] calls himself Ecclesiastes that he might be doctor, life, resurrection, light, way, gate, truth and any other benevolent name for humankind. What does he say? “I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.” At what time? Was it not when God set up a king in holy Mount Zion to proclaim his precepts? Of him the Lord says “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” The Maker of all things, the eternal Father, said that he begot him today. Thus this temporal name does not refer to [Christ’s] eternal essence but to a birth through the flesh in time for man’s salvation.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2
"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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
And I applied my heart to seek out and examine by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven, for God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to be troubled therewith.
καὶ ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι καὶ τοῦ κατασκέψασθαι ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ περὶ πάντων τῶν γινομένων ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν· ὅτι περισπασμὸν πονηρὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ περισπάσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ.
и҆ вда́хъ се́рдце моѐ, є҆́же взыска́ти и҆ разсмотри́ти въ мꙋ́дрости ѡ҆ всѣ́хъ быва́ющихъ под̾ небесе́мъ: ꙗ҆́кѡ попече́нїе лꙋка́во дадѐ бг҃ъ сынѡ́мъ человѣ́чєскимъ, є҆́же ᲂу҆пражднѧ́тисѧ въ не́мъ.
I thoughtfully examined and wisely learned the nature of everything on earth. I discovered that it was all very complex, because human beings are allowed to toil away on earth, wallowing about uselessly in various kinds of pretentious effort at various times.
Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 1:13
These are the things which the true Ecclesiast recounts as he teaches, so I believe, the great mystery of salvation, the reason why God was revealed in flesh. “I gave my heart,” he says, “to enquiring into and investigating by wisdom all that had come about under the heaven.” This is the reason for the Lord’s fleshly coming to dwell with humankind, to give his heart to investigating in his own wisdom what has come about under the heaven. What is above the heaven had no need of investigation, just as there is no need of a medical attendant for what is not in the grip of illness. So because the evils were on earth—for the creeping animal, the serpent which “crawls on its breast and on its belly,” makes the earth its food, eating nothing from heaven; as it crawls on trodden ground it always looks at what treads on it, “watching for the traveler’s heel” and injecting its venom into those who have lost “the power to tread upon serpents”—for this reason he gave his “heart to enquiring into and investigating all that has come about under the heaven.”
I think that the true Ecclesiastes next teaches about the great mystery of salvation when God manifested himself in the flesh. “I applied my heart to seek out and examine by wisdom all things done under heaven.” The reason for our Lord’s dwelling with men is to give his heart over in wisdom to consider his actions done under the sun. For man is not allowed to consider what lies above heaven just as healthy persons do not require doctors. Evil belongs to the earth. A snake is a reptile which crawls on its belly, eats earth instead of food from heaven, crawls on anything trampled down and is always on the prowl. It watches for man's heel and injects poison in those who have lost the power to tread on serpents. For this reason Ecclesiastes gives his heart over to careful consideration of every activity done under heaven.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2
"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 [Hier.. "in distentionem".], because the mind of man is torn asunder when occupied by several anxieties. But Symmachus uses the Greek word "ascholian", which means business [Hier.. "occupationem".]. 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?"" [Rom. 1, 6.] then again he says: ""On account of what did He give them up to uncleanness, so that they did what was not allowed"". [Rom. 1, 28.] And then: ""On account of which God gave them up to desire for their uncleanness"". [Rom. 1, 24.] And to the Thessalonians: ""And for this cause God will send them strong delusion."" [II Thess. 2, 10.] 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
I beheld all the works that were wrought under the sun; and, beheld, all were vanity and waywardness of spirit.
εἶδον σὺν πάντα τὰ ποιήματα τὰ πεποιημένα ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἰδοὺ τὰ πάντα ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος.
Ви́дѣхъ всѧ́чєскаѧ сотворє́нїѧ сотворє́ннаѧ под̾ со́лнцемъ: и҆ сѐ, всѧ̑ сꙋ́етство и҆ произволе́нїе дꙋ́ха.
This then is the “vanity” to which the creation was subjected, and above all that creation which is certainly the greatest thing in this world and which holds a distinguished preeminence by reason of its function. That is, the sun, moon and stars are said to have been subjected to vanity, because they were clothed with bodies and set to perform the task of giving light to the human race. And this creation, Scripture says, was subjected to vanity “not of its own will.” For it did not undertake a service to vanity by the exercise of free will but in obedience to the wish of him who was subjecting it, because he who subjected it promised those who were being given over unwillingly to vanity that on the fulfillment of their splendid work of service they should be delivered from this bondage of corruption and vanity, when the time of redemption “of the glory of the sons of God” should have come. Having received this hope, and looking for the fulfillment of this promise, the entire creation now in the meantime “groans together” with us (for it even has sympathy with those whom it serves) and “is in pain together,” while in patience it hopes for what has been promised.
On First Principles 1:7.5
“I have seen everything,” says Ecclesiastes. I have reviewed in my mind all human things, wealth, luxury, power, glory that is not stable, wisdom that eludes us more often than it is mastered; again pleasure, again wisdom, often returning full circle to the same things, delights of the belly, orchards, numbers of slaves, a multitude of possessions, male and female table servants, singing men and singing women, arms, henchmen, nations at one’s feet, revenues flowing in, the pride of royalty, all life’s superfluities and necessities, in which I surpassed all the kings who were before me. And after all this what is his judgment? “All is vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit,” that is, a kind of irrational impulse of soul and distraction of man who has been condemned to this perhaps because of the original fall. But “hear all the conclusion of my discourse,” he says; “fear God.” Through this he ceases from perplexity. And this alone is your gain from life here, to be brought through the confusion of things that are seen and unstable to things which are firm and immovable.
On His Brother St. Caesarius, Oration 7:19
He came, then, to enquire by his own wisdom what has come about under the sun, what the confusion is of things here on earth, how being became the slave of nonbeing, how the unreal dominates being. And he saw that evil distress God gave to the sons of man, for them to be distressed with. This does not mean, as one might assume at first glance, that it is devout to think that God gave evil distress to people, for then the responsibility for ills would be laid on him.… What the more devout understanding is disposed to think is this: that the good gift of God, that is, freedom of action, became a means to sin through the sinful use humankind made of it. For unfettered free will is good by nature, and nobody would reckon among good things anything that was constrained by the yoke of necessity. But that free impulse of the mind rushing unschooled toward the choice of evil became a source of distress for the soul, as it was dragged down from the sublime and honorable toward the urges of the natural passions.… [Therefore] a correct understanding does not conclude that anything bad has been put in human nature by God but blames our capacity to choose, which is in itself a good thing. [It is] a gift of God granted to our nature, but through folly it has become a force tipping the balance the opposite way.
Ecclesiastes has come to search through his own wisdom those actions done under the sun, their confusion, why things are subject to nonexistence and how that which is insubstantial prevails against being. He knew that “God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to be vexed with.” This is not a pious deed we can readily understand because God has given an evil to the sons of men in order to trouble them; and so one may attribute the cause of evil to God.… A more pious understanding suggests that God bestows upon man the gift of free will which he abused and then became an instrument for sin. This free will is good and subject to no one, while anything subject to necessity should not be counted as good. But any impulse coming from the mind is free; it distracts the soul to choose evil and pulls it down to passion from the lofty honors it had received.… An accurate understanding of these verses does not mean that human nature lacks anything unbecoming from God; rather, they censure our power of free choice which in itself is good and a gift bestowed by God to human nature. But as a result of indiscretion, free will inclines towards the opposite way.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2
"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."" [Matth. 6, 34.] 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
We read in Scripture concerning the striving after temporal things, “All is vanity and presumption of spirit,” but presumption of spirit means audacity and pride. Usually also the proud are said to have great spirits, and rightly, inasmuch as the wind also is called spirit. And hence it is written, “Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirit of tempest.” But, indeed, who does not know that the proud are spoken of as puffed up, as if swelled out with wind? And hence also that expression of the apostle, “Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.” And “the poor in spirit” are rightly understood here, as meaning the humble and God-fearing, that is, those who have not the spirit which puffs up. Nor ought blessedness to begin at any other point whatever, if indeed it is to attain unto the highest wisdom. “But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”; for, on the other hand also, “pride” is entitled “the beginning of all sin.” Let the proud, therefore, seek after and love the kingdoms of the earth, but “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Sermon on the Mount 1:1.3
So, following the teachings of these blessed saints, we utterly renounce these corruptible and perishable things of life, wherein may be found nothing stable or constant, or that continues in one stay. But all things are vanity and vexation of spirit, and many are the changes that they bring in a moment, for they are slighter than dreams and a shadow, or the breeze that blows the air. Small and short-lived is their charm, that is after all no charm, but illusion and deception of the wickedness of the world; which world we have been taught to love not at all but rather to hate with all our heart. Yes, and truly it is worthy of hatred and abhorrence; for whatsoever gifts it gives to its friends, these in turn in passion it takes away and shall hand over its victims, stripped of all good things, clad in the garment of shame, and bound under heavy burdens, to eternal tribulation. And those again whom it exalts, it quickly abases to the utmost wretchedness, making them a footstool and a laughing stock for their enemies. Such are its charms, such its bounties.
Barlaam and Joseph 12:109-10
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and deficiency cannot be numbered.
διεστραμμένον οὐ δυνήσεται ἐπικοσμηθῆναι, καὶ ὑστέρημα οὐ δυνήσεται ἀριθμηθῆναι.
Развраще́нное не мо́жетъ и҆спра́витисѧ, и҆ лише́нїе не мо́жетъ и҆счи́слитисѧ.
He is upright in heart who does not have his mind inclined to excess or to deficiency but directs his endeavors toward the mean of virtue. He who has turned aside from valor to something less becomes crooked through cowardice, but he who has strained on to greater things inclines toward temerity. Therefore the Scripture calls those “crooked” who go astray from the middle way by excess or by deficiency. For, as a line becomes crooked when its straightforward direction is deflected, now convexly, now concavely, so also a heart becomes crooked when it is at one time exalted through boastfulness, at another dejected through afflictions and humiliations. Wherefore Ecclesiastes says, “The crooked will not be kept straight.”
Homilies on the Psalms 11:7 (psalm 7)
The number by which God numbers the saints displays a certain and determined spiritual order, as it is said, “He numbers the multitudes of stars; and calls them all by name.” … Now, if David says, the understanding of God is without number, it is not as though it were unworthy of God’s essence that it cannot be numbered, or because the nature of such a number cannot be comprehended. For, just as the word invisible has two meanings: first, when applied to something that by its very nature is invisible (e.g., God), and second, when applied to something that may be visible yet is not normally seen, like the ocean floor because it is hidden under waters; similarly, “innumerable” has two meanings: what cannot be numbered by nature and what cannot be numbered for some other reason.
Scholia on Ecclesiastes 6:1.15
"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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
I spoke in my heart, saying, Behold, I am increased, and have acquired wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem: also I applied my heart to know wisdom and knowledge.
ἐλάλησα ἐγὼ ἐν καρδίᾳ μου τῷ λέγειν· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμεγαλύνθην καὶ προσέθηκα σοφίαν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, οἳ ἐγένοντο ἔμπροσθέν μου ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἔδωκα καρδίαν μου τοῦ γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν.
Глаго́лахъ а҆́зъ въ се́рдцы мое́мъ, є҆́же рещѝ: сѐ, а҆́зъ возвели́чихсѧ и҆ ᲂу҆мно́жихъ мꙋ́дрость па́че всѣ́хъ, и҆̀же бы́ша пре́жде менє̀ во і҆ерⷭ҇ли́мѣ,
Therefore it is written in Ecclesiastes, “And I added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem; and my heart saw many things; and besides, I knew wisdom and knowledge, parables and understanding. And this also is the choice of the spirit, because in abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge.” He who is conversant with all kinds of wisdom will be preeminently reliant upon knowledge. Now it is written, “Abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.” And again, what is said is confirmed more clearly by this saying, “All things are in the sight of those who understand”—all things, both hellenic and barbarian; but the one or the other is not all. “They are right to those who wish to receive understanding. Choose instruction, and not silver, and knowledge above tested gold,” and prefer also sense to pure gold;“for wisdom is better than precious stones, and no precious thing is worth it.”
The Stromata Book 1
What is the way back for the wanderer, and the way of escape from evil, and toward good, we learn next. For he “who has had experience like us in all things, without sin,” speaks to us from our own condition. “He took our weaknesses upon him,” and through these very weaknesses of our nature he shows us the way out of the reach of evil. Now note, please, that Wisdom speaks to us through Solomon himself after the flesh, and speaks about those things by which we may most readily be led to despise the things which are pursued by people.
We next learn about the return of a person who has erred and the change from evil to enjoyment of the good. He [Christ] who has been tempted in all things and is without sin holds converse with us in our human nature. He who assumed our weakness showed us a way out of evil through the infirmities of his human nature. “Instruct me in the Wisdom [Christ] according to the Solomon who was in the flesh which held converse with us.” Once familiar with it, we are able to pass judgment on what men pursue.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2
"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. [Cfr III Reg. 3, 5 sqq] 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
And my heart knew much-- wisdom, and knowledge, parables and understanding: I perceived that this also is waywardness of spirit.
καὶ καρδία μου εἶδε πολλά, σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν, παραβολὰς καὶ ἐπιστήμην ἔγνων ἐγώ, ὅτι καί γε τοῦτό ἐστι προαίρεσις πνεύματος·
и҆ се́рдце моѐ вда́хъ, є҆́же вѣ́дѣти премꙋ́дрость и҆ ра́зꙋмъ: и҆ се́рдце моѐ ви́дѣ мнѡ́гаѧ, премꙋ́дрость и҆ ра́зꙋмъ, при̑тчи и҆ хи́трость: ᲂу҆разꙋмѣ́хъ а҆́зъ, ꙗ҆́кѡ и҆ сїѐ є҆́сть произволе́нїе дꙋ́ха:
It is Solomon who speaks these words. This Solomon was the third king of Israel, after King Saul and David, the chosen of the Lord. He succeeded his father on the throne and was proclaimed king when the power of the Israelites had already reached its height; he did not go on wearing his people out with war and fighting but lived in peace as far as lay in his power, making it his task not to acquire what did not belong to him but to enjoy what he already had in abundance.… Such is the order he adopts in his account, that first in the early years of his life he devotes his time to education and does not take the easy course in the face of the hard work such study involves but uses the choice of his spirit, that is, his natural impulse, for the accumulation of knowledge, even though his goal was achieved by hard work. And thus, when he has matured in wisdom, he does not merely theoretically observe the passionate and irrational deception of mankind in the matter of bodily enjoyments but through the actual experience of each of the things they pursue recognizes their futility.
Solomon is the one speaking here, the third king of Israel whom the Lord had chosen after Saul and David. He received the kingship from his father and extended his rule which brought him renown among the Israelites. Solomon no longer subjected peoples through battle; by conducting himself peacefully and with full authority, he did not devote his energy towards anything not belonging to him.… He claimed to know the efforts needed to attain pleasure and accomplished everything which he had enumerated, an experience which taught him that vanity is the common end of men’s pursuits. Ecclesiastes sets forth the order in his narrative when during his youth he first had leisure for personal training, for attention to such labors does not indicate laxity. But the Spirit uses free will, a movement proper to our nature, to increase knowledge if a person is to succeed in his endeavors. Thus wisdom grows not by considering reason which closely regards passion and unreason when it comes to that deception arising from corporeal enjoyment; rather it is knowledge about vanity through experience of these endeavors.
Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2
"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" [Horat. Epist.I, 1,41-42.], 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.
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
For in the abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge; and he that increases knowledge will increase sorrow.
ὅτι ἐν πλήθει σοφίας πλῆθος γνώσεως, καὶ ὁ προστιθεὶς γνῶσιν προσθήσει ἄλγημα.
ꙗ҆́кѡ во мно́жествѣ мꙋ́дрости мно́жество ра́зꙋма, и҆ приложи́вый ра́зꙋмъ приложи́тъ болѣ́знь.
"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 [Cfr Sap. 6, 7.], 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?" [II Cor. 2, 2.] 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.
CHAPTER 2
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
People are accustomed to set a high value on the knowledge of earthly and celestial things. But they are certainly better who prefer the knowledge of themselves to this knowledge. And a mind to which even its own weakness is known is more deserving of praise than one that … is ignorant of the course by which it must proceed to reach its own true health and strength. But one who has been aroused by the warmth of the Holy Spirit … has already awakened to God. In his love for [God, such a person] has already felt his own unworthiness and is willing but is not yet strong enough to come to him. And through the light received from [God, this person] takes heed to himself and finds that his own defilement cannot mingle with his purity. [This person] feels it sweet to weep and to beseech God that he may again and again have pity until he has cast off all his misery. [This person also prays] with confidence as having already received the free gift of salvation through his only Savior and enlightener of humankind. For one who so acts and laments, knowledge does not puff up because charity edifies. He has preferred the one knowledge to the other knowledge; he has preferred to know his own weakness more than to know the walls of the world, the foundations of the earth, and the heights of the heavens. And by acquiring this knowledge he has acquired sorrow, the sorrow arising from his wandering away from the desire of his own true country, and from its founder, his own blessed God.
On the Trinity 4, Preface
It is evident, then, that the oldness of the letter, in the absence of the newness of the spirit, instead of freeing us from sin, rather makes us guilty by the knowledge of sin. [Thus] it is written in another part of Scripture, “He that increases knowledge, increases sorrow.” [It is] not that the law is itself evil, but because the commandment has its good in the demonstration of the letter, not in the assistance of the spirit. And if this commandment is kept from the fear of punishment and not from the love of righteousness, it is kept in a servile manner, not freely, and therefore it is not kept at all. For no fruit is good which does not grow from the root of love.
On the Spirit and the Letter 26
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem.
Ρήματα ἐκκλησιαστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαβὶδ βασιλέως ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ.
Глаго́лы є҆кклесїа́ста, сы́на даві́дова, царѧ̀ і҆и҃лева во і҆ерⷭ҇ли́мѣ.