The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Ecclesiastes
Samuel Cox's theological work addressing church and Christian living.
42 Chapters
Table of Contents
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§ 1. ON THE AUTHORSHIP, FORM, DESIGN, AND
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It is to be feared that the popular misconception of this singular and
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Doubtless many of the prevailing misapprehensions of the meaning,
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The contents of the Poem are, or may be, distributed into a Prologue,
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It was very natural that the Problem here discussed should fill a large
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§ 2. ON THE HISTORY OF THE CAPTIVITY.
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About a hundred and twenty years after the destruction of the kingdom
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1. The Babylonian Period.--For more than fifty years after they were
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2. The Persian Period.--The conquest of Babylon by the Persians, led by
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But we must turn from the despots and their adventures to form some
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The Book Ecclesiastes was written certainly not before the reign of
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But there is another side to this sad story of the Captivity, another
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FIRST SECTION.
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The Conclusion. Ch. ii., vv. 24-26.
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SECOND SECTION.
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And a more helpful and consolatory Trust in the Divine Providence. Ch.
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THIRD SECTION.
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The Quest in the Golden Mean. The Method of the Man who pursues it. Ch.
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(2) To be indifferent to Censure: Ch. vii., vv. 21, 22.
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(4) And to be indifferent to Public Wrongs. Ch. viii., vv. 1-13.
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FOURTH SECTION.
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Nor in Devotion to Public Affairs and its Rewards: Ch. ix., v. 13-Ch.
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Combined with a stedfast Faith in the Life to come. Ch. xi., v. 9-Ch.
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THE PROLOGUE.
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FIRST SECTION.
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Thus the First Act of the Drama closes with a negative. The moral
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SECOND SECTION.
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And by Human Injustice and Perversity. Ch. iii., v. 16.-Ch. iv., v. 3.
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But now a new question arises. The Preacher's survey of human life has
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So also a happier and more effective Method of Worship is open to Men;
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The Conclusion. Ch. v., vv. 18-20.
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II. [37] There are not many Englishmen who devote themselves solely or
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THIRD SECTION.
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The Quest in the Golden Mean. Ch. vii., viii., vv. 1-15.
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II.--If, as Milton sings,
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The Quest in Wealth. Ch. vi.
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The Quest in the Golden Mean. Ch. vii., v. 1-Ch. viii., v. 15.
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FOURTH SECTION.
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But in a wise Use and a wise Enjoyment of the Present Life, Ch. xi.,
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This, then, according to the Hebrew Preacher, is the ideal man, the man
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THE EPILOGUE.
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This, then, is the Hebrew solution of "the common problem." It is also