(4) And to be indifferent to Public Wrongs. Ch. viii., vv. 1-13.

1 Who is like the wise man? And who like him that understandeth the interpretation of this saying? The wisdom of this man maketh his face bright, And his rude features are refined.

Ver. 1. This saying: i.e. that which follows. And his rude features, etc. Culture lends an air of refinement to the face, carriage, manners.

2 I say then, Obey the king's commandment, And the rather because of the oath of fealty: 8?

Ver. 2. The oath of fealty. Literally, "the oath by God." The Babylonian and Persian despots exacted an oath of loyalty from conquered races. Each had to swear by the god he worshipped.

3 Do not throw off thine allegiance,
Nor resent an evil word,
For he can do whatsoever he please;

Ver. 3. Do not throw off, etc. Literally, "Do not hurry from his presence, or even stand up because of an evil word." To stand up in the divan of an Eastern despot is a sign of resentment; to rush from it a sign of disloyalty and rebellion.

4 For the word of a king is mighty; And who shall say to him, "What doest thou?" 5 Whoso keepeth his commandment will know no evil. Moreover the heart of the wise man foreseeth a time of retribution-- 6 For there is a time of retribution for all things-- When the tyranny of man is heavy upon him: 7 Because he knoweth not what will be, And because no one can tell him when it will be.

Ver. 7. Because he knoweth not; i.e. the tyrant does not know. The sense seems to be: Retribution is all the more certain because, in his infatuation, the despot does not foresee the disastrous results of his tyranny, and because no one can tell him when or how they will disclose themselves.

8 No man is ruler over his own spirit,
To retain the spirit,
Nor has he any power over the day of his death;
And there is no furlough in this war,
And no craft will save the wicked.
9 All this have I seen,
Having applied my heart to all that is done under the sun.

Ver. 9.: All this have I seen; i.e. all this retribution on tyrants and the consequent deliverance of the oppressed.

10 But there is a time when a man ruleth over men to their hurt.
Thus I have seen wicked men buried,
And come again;
And those who did right depart from the place of the holy,
And be forgotten in the city:
This also is vanity.

Ver. 10.: But the Preacher has also seen times when retributive justice did not overtake the oppressors, when they came again in the persons of children as wicked and tyrannical as themselves.

11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed forthwith, The heart of the sons of men is set in them to do evil.

Ver. 11.: Because sentence, etc. "God does not always pay on Saturdays," says an old Italian proverb.

12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred years,
And groweth old therein,
Yet I know that it shall be well with those who fear God,
Who truly fear before Him;
13 And it shall not be well with the wicked,
But, like a shadow, he shall not prolong his days,
Because he doth not fear before God.

Therefore the Preacher condemns this View of Human Life.

14 Nevertheless, this vanity doth happen on the earth, That there are righteous men who have a wage like that of the wicked, And there are wicked men who have a wage like that of the righteous: This too, I said, is vanity. 15 And I commended mirth, Because there is nothing better for man under the sun Than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; For this will go with him to his work Through the days of his life, Which God giveth him under the sun.

Ver. 15.: "And this will go with him:" viz. this clear enjoying temper, than which, as yet, the Preacher has found "nothing better."