Ecclesiastes 12:10

The preacher sought to find out acceptable words,.... Not mere words, fine and florid ones, the words which man's wisdom teacheth, an elegant style, or eloquent language; not but that it is proper

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. A summary of the first part. Vanity of vanities. Resumption of the sentiment with which the book began (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 1 John 2:17). Verse 9.

Acceptable words, Heb. desirable or delightful, worthy of all acceptation, such as would minister comfort and profit so the hearers or readers. Written by the preacher in this and his other books. Upright, Heb. right or straight, agreeable to the mind or will of God, which is the rule of right, not crooked or perverse. Words of truth; not fables cunningly devised to deceive the simple, but true and certain doctrines, which commend themselves to men’ s own consciences or reasons; wholesome and edifying counsels.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.Ver. 10. The Preacher sought, &c.] He sought and sought, by pains and prayer. He knew the rule, Bene orasse, est bene studuisse, To have prayed well is to have studied well. By prayer and tears St John got the book opened. Luther got much of his insight into God’ s matters by the same means. To find out acceptable words.] Verba desiderata; so Cajetan renders it. Verba delectabilia; so Tremellius. Verba expetibilia; so Vatablus. Delectable and desirable words, dainty expressions, that might both please and profit, tickle the ear, and with it take the heart. Such a master of speech was Paul, who thundered and lightened in his discourses like another Pericles. Such a one was Apollos, that eloquent preacher, "mighty in the Scriptures," ειπεινδεινοτατος, like another Phocion, a weighty speaker; such were many of the Greek and Latin fathers. Ambrose for one, whom when Augustine heard preach, Veniebant, saith he, in animum meum simul cum verbis quae deligebam, etiam res quas negligebam, There came into my mind, together with the words which I chiefly looked after, the matter which till then I made no reckoning of. Et res et verba. Both deeds and words. Philip Melanchthon could dress his doctrine in dainty terms, and so slide insensibly into the hearts of his hearers. Egit vir eloquens ut intelligenter ut obedienter audiretur, as Augustine hath it; This eloquent man took pains that he might be heard with understanding, with obedience. The like might be said of Calvin, famous for the purity of his style and the holiness of his matter. Viret, in whose sermons singularem eloquentiam et in commovendis affectibus efficacitatem admirabar, saith Zanchy, greatly admired at his singular eloquence and skill to work upon the affections by his elaborate discourses. And that which was written was upright.] A corde ad cor, void of all insincerity and falsehood. Seducers come for the most part with pithanology - " by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple." But our Preacher’ s words are of another alloy, not more delicious and toothsome, than sound and wholesome, proceeding from a right heart, and tending to make men upright, transforming them into the same image, and transfusing them into the divine nature. Luther. Intonabat. fulgurabat Cicero. - Plutarch. De Doct. Christ., lib. iv. cap. 14. Zanch. Miscell., Ep. Dedic.

Verse 10. He sought to find out acceptable words] דברי חפץ dibrey chephets, words of desire, words of will; the best, the most suitable words; those which the people could best understand. But these words were not such as might merely please the people; they were words of truth; such as came from God, and might lead them to him.

10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words] Literally, words of delight, or pleasure, as in chs. Ecclesiastes 5:4, Ecclesiastes 12:1. The phrase reminds us of “the words of grace” (Luke 4:22) which came from the lips of Him, who, as the Incarnate Wisdom of God, was, in very deed, greater than Solomon. The fact is stated as by way of apologia for the character of the book. The object of the teacher was to attract men by meeting, or seeming to meet, their inclinations, by falling in with the results of their own experience. We are reminded so far of the words of Lucretius: “Nam veluti pueris absinthia tetra medentes,Cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circumContingunt mellis dulci, flavoque liquore,Ut puerorum ætas improvida ludificeturLabrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarumAbsinthî laticem, deceptaque non capiatur,Sed potius tali pacto recreata valescat.”“As those who heal the body, when they seekTo give to children wormwood’s nauseous juice,First smear the cup’s rim with sweet golden honey,That infant’s thoughtless age may be beguiledJust to the margin’s edge, and so may drinkThe wormwood’s bitter draught, beguiled, not tricked,But rather gain thereby in strength and health.”De Rer. Nat. iv. 11–17. and that which was written was upright] The italics shew that the sentence is somewhat elliptical, and it is better to take the two sets of phrases in apposition with the “acceptable words” that precede them, even a writing of uprightness (i.e. of subjective sincerity), words of truth (in its objective sense). The words are, thus understood, a full testimony to the character of the book thus commended to the reader’s attention.

10. Acceptable words — Hebrew, Words of consolation. Feeling deeply for the sorrows of his kind, he found that the words that gave them relief were the frank utterances of sincerity and truth.