and resolutions into one certain end; especially when they are fastened by the skilful hand of those who rule the assemblies of God's people, and are ruled themselves by one and the same supreme Governor, whose Holy Spirit directs them all. See Annot. [1]

Ver. 12. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.] Therefore, my son, (or whosoever thou art that shall read these things, whose happiness I wish as my own), be advised by me, and not only believe these things, but rest contented with such useful knowledge, and do not trouble thyself either in composing or reading many books; for all that is needful to instruct men how to be happy, may be comprised in a few wise precepts; and if thou extendest thy desires beyond this, thou mayest turn over infinite volumes, which are increasing continually, and serve only to distract thy mind, and tire thy spirits, and impair thy health, but yield little profit, after the expence of a great deal of pains and time. See Annot. [m]

Ver. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.] Let us draw up all, then, that can be said in this matter, into as small a compass as is possible; if thou wouldst be happy, preserve in thy mind such an awful sense of God, as to have a greater regard to him, both as thy Creator and Governor, and as thy Judge, than to any thing in this world, and, dreading his displeasure, not only worship him religiously, but observe all his commandments; for, as unto this all men are bound, so in this consists all their duty, and their whole happiness, and therefore they ought to make this their main business, and employ their best endeavours in it. See Annot. [n]

Ver. 14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.] As they would with all seriousness, did they but believe and remember, what is most certainly true, that though now the wicked and the good sometimes fare alike, yet there will be a notorious distinction one day made between them, when God (whose knowledge nothing can escape, and out of whose memory nothing can stip) will pass an exact sentence upon every thing we do here in this world, though never so secret, and known to none but himself; and then no evil thing, though only design. ed and never actually committed, shall go unpunished; and no good thing, though only heartily intended for want of power to accomplish it, shall be unrewarded. See Annot. [o]

ANNOTATIONS.

[a] Ver. 1.] From the consideration of what he had said in the conclusion of the foregoing chapter, that youth is attended with folly, and folly attended with destruction," (as Greg. Thaumaturgus excellently explains those words), he begins this with the most weighty lesson; which ought to be perpetually inculcated, and beaten into the mind

and memory of young men, viz. That they would reflect so far as to consider who gave them their being, and what upon that account they owe unto him; who, as he is the sole Author of all things that give us any delight, so he is of all the abili. ties and faculties which make us capable to take pleasure in them; and the sole disposer likewise of all opportunities, that bring us and those delights together.

All this may well be comprehended in the word Creator, (if this place be compared with Isa. xl. 28. xlv. 7. 18. lxv. 17. 18.) Which being in the Hebrew a word of the plural number, some from thence draw the mystery of the Holy Trinity; which I cannot certainly say is here intended, because it is very ordinary in the scripture to put the plural for the singular, especially when God is spoken of. Thus, when the Israelites had made the golden calf, they say, "These are thy gods, O Israel," &c. (so, we translate it, Exod. xxxii. 4.), as if there had been more gods than one in that calf. But it should be translated, This is thy god, O Israel," as ap、 pears by what follows, "which brought thee out of the land of Egypt;" signifying they worshipped this image in him, who had wrought that great deliverance for them. And thus Jonathan there understands it, and Theodoret upon 1st book of Kings, quest. 10.

More places, like to this, are observed by Bochartus, (1. ii. de Arimal. Sacr. c. 34. p. 1.), in whom the learned reader may find many such Latin words, that are only of the plural, not singular number. And I will only mention one remarkable, (which he might have added, 1 Sam. xxviii. 9.), where the woman says, she saw gods ascending out of the earth; and Saul thereupon asks her, "What form is he of?" " understanding she saw a single person.

But whatever becomes of this, we Christians (to whom this mystery is now plainly revealed) ought, when we read such places as these, to think of the obligations we have unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, into whose name we are baptised. And not only to consider such things as are above mentioned, but to be moved and affected with them (for that is here included in the word remember) according unto their weight and impor

tance.

And to do this betimes, the first thing we do; because the days of our youth are our best and choicest days, (as the word in the Hebrew signifies); whence in 2 sam. vi. 8. where David is said to gather all the chosen men, the LXX. hath aviar, the young men in Israel, in which we are apt to take the greatest delight in ourselves, or in any thing truly delightful; our spirits being then most fresh, lively, and vigorous. So that the measure of our delight, whether in ourselves or in any thing without us, being then truly taken, it would constrain us unto an equal delight in him who is the author of both, and unto a correspondent gratulation for them. Whereas, if we defer this remembrance till old age come upon us, when life grows a burden, and the

wonted delights of it are either irksome or insipid, (unpleasant, or without all taste or relish), our thankfulness for them will be but faint, our gratulation worthless, our devotion cold and lumpish; as Dr Jackson excellently glosses upon these words, b. xi. upon the Creed, c. 33. Which he had expressed long before, more briefly, in his Treatise of Faith, chap. viii, p. 125. thus: The inventory of what we have received from God in our creation, should be taken in those days wherein we most delight, because then the characters of his blessings bestowed upon us, and their true worth, are most fresh and sensible in all our faculties; well knowing, that if we defer the survey till old age, in which life itself becomes a burden, our return of thanks for fruition of it, and the unpleasant appertinencies, will be but wearyish." And plainer still, in his 2d book upon God's attributes, ch. xi. p. 95. "Then the prints of God's creative power are most fresh in our nature, and might transmit a fairer copy and truer estimate of the Creator's goodness unto old age, than old age can take any," &c. Which I have repeated the oftener, in several forms of speech, in hope that one or other of them may touch the heart of young men, and excite them, by frequent reflection upon the present comforts of health and strength, upon the activity of their body, the quickness of their sense and spirit, to ingross them deeply in their memory, before the evil days come.

So Solomon calls our decrepit old age, both because they are void of all pleasure, as he saith in the following words, and because they are attended like wise with so many inconveniences and miseries, that it is hard to number them. But he gives us some account of them, in his admirable description of decrepit age, ver. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. which abundantly confirms that speech of Cicero, in his book De Senectute, that old age proves so odious unto most men, ut onus se Ætna gravius dicant sustinere, that they complain of a load that lies heavier than Mount Etna upon them.

[b] Ver. 2.1 These infirmities he demonstrates to be very great, because decrepit age consists in the universal decay of the whole frame of nature; which I take to be the meaning of the sun, the light, the moon and stars, being darkened. For as in a bodypolitic, the extinction or falling down of these signifies, in the prophetical language, the subversion of that frame of government, (as, to omit abundance of other places, may be seen in what Isaiah saith concerning Babylon, xiii. 10. and Ezekiel, concerning Egypt, xxxii. 7. 8.), so the darkening of these in the natural body of man, signifies, in my judgement, its total decay and nearness to a dissolution; the tumbling (as we speak) of an old man into his grave, like a ruinous old house which can stand no longer; for so the metaphor is carried on, ver. 3. And then the return of clouds after the rain, refers to the dismal condition a man is in at that time; when one trouble treads upon the heels of another; which is no sooner gone, but the like, or a new one, comes

in its room. And so the words may be translated, "The clouds return, and after that the ruin;" that is, there is a succession of misery, of grief, pain, or weakness, drawing on one another,

There are some who apply the darkening of sun, moon, and stars, to the mind of man, (as one would think, indeed, he should say something of that, and all the following description belonging wholly to the body, we must find it here or not at all); but still I conceive that he intends only in general, to signify the failing of the mind in all its faculties and powers, without a respect to some particular distinct faculty in each of these words. But they who think the inward powers are here intended, are not content to rest in such a general meaning, but will have something in particular signified by every one of them. And then they do but guess, but which gives me the liberty to interpose my conjecture also, that by the sun may be meant the soul itself; by the light, its understanding; by the moon, the will; by the stars, all the notions of the mind and memory, with all the affections and passions in the will: just as sun, moon, and stars, in Joseph's dream, signi fied his father, and mother, and brethren. And so the sense of this verse is, The mind of man grows feeble in all its powers, the understanding dimsighted, the memory forgetful, the reason weak and childish, (giving such a feeble light, that it can nei ther direct ourselves nor others), the will listless in all its desires, dull about our greatest concerns, wavering and inconstant in all its resolutions, &c. But I judge it more reasonable, as I said, to rest in the interpretation first mentioned, (which I am sure is agreeable to the holy language in other places), that hereby is only represented in general, the universal decay of the faculties of the upper part of man, his soul. Which sense I have comprehended, together with the other, in my paraphrase; and not neglected this, in which others acquiesce, that these words signify," the miseries an old man feels both night and day." As for those who hereby understand the dimness of the eyes, it being expressed afterward, ver. 3. I have taken notice of their sense; but another there is, which is worth mentioning. For the meaning may be," There is nothing but darkness;" i.e. a most uncomfortable condition, like that, when the heavens are clouded day and night, (as they were in St Paul's voyage, Acts, xxvii. 20.); and when one cloud hath spent itself in the tempest, another immediately succeeds it. [c] Ver. 3.] As in the foregoing verse, he gave a general description of the decay of the whole body, (and of the internal faculties of the mind, together therewith), so here he enters into the particulars. And conceiving the body to be like an house, or tabernacle, (unto which it is frequently compared, not only in the scripture, but all other authors), he resembles the shoulders, arms, and hands, to the keepers of the house; because by them we defend ourselves from dangers, administer both food and physic, exercise all manner of arts and manufac

tures, (as we call them), as long as they have any strength remaining in them. Which old age takes away, the nerves, tendons, and ligaments, so flagging, that these keepers quiver and shake, (tremble we render it), and grow so useless, that we can no way help ourselves or others with them. And then he compares the thighs, legs, and feet, to strong men; they being the supporters and pillars, as it were, of the whole fabric, which hold it up, till old age quite disables them from this office, and makes the knees bend under the burden of the body alone.

The reason of which follows, in that the "grinders fail," &c. in which metaphor he compares the teeth in the jaws, above and below, to the upper and nether mill-stone. For they, by cutting, breaking, and chewing of the meat, prepare it to be dissolved in the stomach, and turned into nourishment, (as the corn is ground between those stones into meal, and so prepared for making bread, and other such like uses), but in time drop out of their sockets, or are broken, so that they can grind no longer.

And the like decay we find in the sight of the eyes, which he means by "those that look out of the windows." All those coats, humours, and nerves, that make up the eyes; which are set in two holes, (as the word is), or hollow places in the forehead, (like the windows in the house), and have a round hole also in the midst of them, called the pupil of the eye, (like a casement), through which all things are transmitted to the inward sense of seeing; until the skins, and the humours also, grow too thick; and the very figure of the eye, as some have observed, be changed, by the dryness of the crystalline humour; and then the house is darkened. Aristotle, in his Problems, (sect. 31. quæst. 14.), expresses it thus, in short, i węsobúraı ix öžù öção, καὶ γὰρ τὸν γερόνιων σκληρόδερμα, &c. when men grow into years, their sight grows dull, because, " in the eyes of old men, the skin is both hard, and also rugged, so that their sight is obscured."

[d] Ver. 4.] This verse hath a greater difficulty in it, especially in the beginning, "and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low." But the LXX. suggests an unexceptionable sense of this passage, in my opinion, which is, that "they are shut out of all public meetings, because of the lowness of their voice, which formerly was as loud as a mill." And there is little reason to doubt, but by doors are meant the lips, (it being a frequent expression in scripture), and by the "lowness of the sound of grinding," the lowness of the voice, from the loss of teeth, or the weakness of respiration; in short, from the defect there is in the organs of speech.

Nor do I see why Maldonate's translation may not be allowed, which is still more simple, (and therefore I have taken notice of it in my paraphrase), the lips are shut without," (so pre may be translated foris, extrinsecus), that is, they sink, and are

compressed," when the voice grows weak and tremulous, because of those that grind ;" that is, by the falling of the teeth. Thus he. But it may more exactly be translated thus, by the falling low of the voice, of which the teeth are the principal instruments. And the whole, I have sometimes thought, may not incongruously be translated in this manner : "His lips are shut in his mouth," (for the mouth is the street or high-way into this house, of which Solomon is speaking), "by the falling down of the voice of grinding;" i. c. the voice that is made by grinding the air, as it were, between the teeth and the roof of the mouth, &c. It might be referred to the eating meat seldom, because of his bad digestion, (the meat being ground in the stomach, as in a mill), if the word voice or sound would agree to this. Which renders Dr Smith's interpretation very difficult, in my judgement; who by doors understands all the inlets and outlets of the body; and by streets, the open ways and passages in the body; in which the matter of nourishment is conveyed, and passeth, without let or molestation; and by shutting these doors, the ceasing from their use; and by grinding, the digestions and concoctions in the stomach, bowels, mesentery, glandules, &c. (all which is well enough, though perhaps too philosophical); and by the voice of these concoctions, the natural symptoms significative of digestions; all those indications, which demonstrate the work of nature is to proceed aright. Which seems to me very far-fetched, and too great a straining of the word voice or sound; however, I have here mentioned it, that they who are pleased with it, may follow that interpretation, which is very ingenious.

The next passage in this verse is casier, though it is uncertain whether he mean, that the chirping of the least birds wakes him; or that he wakes early, when the birds do. For trippor signifies all kind of birds, great and small; and may be interpreted of the cock, as well as any other; and the meaning be, "He gets up at the cock-crowing." This last seems most probable, because, being thick of hearing, (as the next passage signifies), it cannot be supposed that the least noise disturbs him. Though I confess the meaning may be, that a small noise wakes him sooner than thunder would have done in his young days.

The daughters of music, if it refer to the parts of the body, I take not to be those organs of it, which made music; but which receive it, being made. For the Hebrews call that the son of a thing, which is fitted or designed for that of which it is said to be the son. Thus an arrow is called the son of the bow, or quiver, Isa. xli. 19. Lament. iii. 13. and wheat called the son of the threshing floor, Isa. xxi. 18. and so the daughters of music may be those parts where music is entertained. Yet there is one objection against this which lies in the word all, which cannot properly be applied to the ears, because there are but two of them; and we never say all the ears, but both the

ears.

Which makes some think, that hereby we are rather to understand all sorts of music, which are made either by instruments or voice. But to these it may be answered, that the word all refers to the several parts of the ear, in which the sound is formed; both the winding channels in the outward part, and the tympanum, and the three cavities, and as many little bones in the inward part, together with the auditory nerve itself. All which are manifestly contrived on purpose to receive sounds; which are born here, and so may be called their daughters; which in youth are brisk and sprightly, but are humbled (as the LXX. translate it) and flat in old age. There is no necessity, I acknowledge, of interpreting this passage thus, (though it seem most agreeable to the rest of the description), because it may be translated, "the daughters of a song," that is, singing-women are not valued at all by old men ; they account them nothing worth, and would not give, as we say, a farthing for them. Old Barzillai confesses this imperfection, 2 Sam. xix. 35. Which place, St Hierom thinks, may very well explain this.

[e] Ver. 5.] And it is attended with a greater, which is the passion of fear; unto which old age is very. subject, from defect of spirit, weakness of imagination, as well as of bodily organs; which are unable to resist any dangers, which old men also are apt to apprehend greater than they really are. For as their heads turn giddy, if they ascend to any high place, so they tremble, in the plain way, for fear of a stone, a clod, an hole, any unevenness, by the rising or depression of the earth, (for so Grotius thinks the words may be expounded), though the ancient interpreters do not favour it: "He is afraid to stumble at the rising or falling of the earth, or he fears he may be pushed down by others, if he do not fall of himself in a word, he knows not what he may meet withal, and therefore fears."

Or it may be expounded, as Maldonate takes it, "He never thinks himself safe, though he be in an high fortress;" or dreads an high wall, though never so firm, lest it should fall upon him. There are some that expound the first words of this verse thus," He is afraid of spirits, and separate souls; of those excellent beings which dwell in the regions above." That is, he is superstitious; which I look upon as forced.

The next part of this description, which we translate almond-tree flourish, most interpreters take for his head growing hoary, or white, like the blossom of the almond-tree. Which though it make an old man look venerable, yet brings the tidings of approaching death; and is as certain an indication of it, as the almond-trees blossoming is of the spring; or (as others will have it) of its speedy production of fruit; for it flowered, they say, in February, and showed its fruit in March, and thence had the name of shached in Hebrew, from its forward blooming, and hasty ripening into fruit. And, to strengthen this

I

interpretation, some have observed, that an almond was anciently called by the Greeks ago, that is, the bead; from some resemblance which that fruit had to it. What that resemblance should be, I do not understand, unless it be in the figure of the brain; which, the skull being removed, appears like the shell of the almond, when the husk, wherein it is inclosed, is peeled away. For thence, Herodianus of Alexandria, (as I find in Athenæus, l. ii. cap. 12.), derives the common Greek word 'Aμusddan for an almond; because next to the green rind, weigès auszei Exer woλas, it hath, as it were, a great many clefts, and looks as if it were scarified.

see no apter interpretation than this, unless it be that which I shall mention below, (when I have explained the rest of this verse), or we understand it, as St Hierom saith some did, of the buckle-bone; which, by the wasting away of the flesh of the buttocks, appears, nay, thrusts out itself, and makes their very sitting or lying down uneasy to them. And I find an Arabic word of this sound, which signifies a kind of boat, and may possibly be the original of the Latin word scapha.

And this would agree well with the next words, "the grasshopper shall be a burden;" which seem to be a description of his stooping under the burden of old age; his shoulders, hips, and back, all bunching out, which is a load great enough for him, without any other. In short, he can scarce bear himself, as Melancthen expounds it; which, Avenarius thinks, is a literal translation of the words, the "grasshopper or locust shall burden itself;" that is, saith he, his gibbous back. Which is better than their gloss, who made it to signify, he can scarce bear the weight of a grasshopper or locust. The LXX. translate it, "the locusts shall be made fat;" i. e. swell, bunch out, or be burdensome; which aptly denotes the knotting of the joints, (like those of the locust), and the rising up of the vertebra, (or any such thing in the body of man), which make his back resemble that of a locust. And so Jo. Forsterus excellently translates it, ut in curvo incedat dorso, sicut cicada, that he goes crooked in the back, like a grasshopper. Luther also had this in his mind, (though he did not fully explain it), when he thus glossed upon these words: "Such an old man is like a locust: for his bones stick out, and his body is shrunk up; so that he is a mere image of death."

And then the next signifies no more than this, that the greatest bodily pleasures fail, and the member that serves these pleasures is relaxed, and flags. For the word haavijonah, (which we translate desire), signifies either the fruit of a shrub, which the LXX. take to be capers, (though arjonath signifies the berries of laurels, myrtles, and indeed of all the lesser sort of trees), or that desire which it is supposed (according to Avicenna) to excite; or that knob in us, which something resembles that fruit.

There is one interpretation of these three last clanses, which seems to me not at all constrained, but apt