FEAR OF GOD AND THE VANITY OF RICHES In the previous chapter Qoheleh speaks concerning oppression, asking men to be care of advancing spiritual and kindly friendship instead of the inhuman and futile behavior. To attain this we have to know how we worship God in awe and to acknowledge the vanity of riches, for hypocracy in worship and covetiousness are the source of inhuman behavior. 1. Worship and fear of God 1-7. 2. Riches are vain 8-17. 3. Moderate enjoyment of life 18-20. WORSHIP AND FEAR OF GOD [1-7] Here are various words of advice on proper worship. Qoheleth recommends caution and brevity in one's prayers [1-3], and alacrity in the payment of vows [4-6]. a.Prayers: 3 "Keep your foot when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil" [1]. This is one of references to temple worship. It is respectful of God and scornful of the hypocrisy that Qoheleth observed. {The Collegeville Bible Commentary, p. 817.] "Keep your foot." Make sure you know what you are doing when you go to the house of God. In the phrase be more ready to hear, the author is not speaking of coming to the Temple to listen to the exposition of the Law, but rather he is cautioning against approaching the worship of God in the wrong way. The word "hear" often has the sense of "obey" in the Old Testament. The contrast is between those who come to God in obedience, that is, out of a background of ethical and moral conduct (cf. Ps. 119: 101), and those who are fools, that is, those who worship with unrepentant hearts. Obedience is better than offering sacrifices (2 Sam. 15:22). The sacrifice of fools is here declared worthless, since they go through the motions of religious observance while rejecting interior submission to God's commandments. "Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few. (3) For a dream comes through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words" [2-3]. "Be not rash with your mouth." The emphasis is on conscientiousness in prayers. The "vain repetitions" (Matt. 6: 7) of many do nor accomplish as much as the few words of those who are sincere. + Listen to the counsel of Ecclesiastes: Do not utter a word before God. For God, he says, it in heaven, and thou upon earth [1]. And he shows,m I think, especially by the distance that separates heaven and earth, despite their nutual affinity, ho far the divine nature surpasses the compass of man's thought. For as much as the stars are beyond the grasp of the fingers, so much and many times more does that nature which is above all human minds transcend our earthly thoughts. St. Gregory of Nyssa 1. Against Eunomius, lib. 12, PG 45:940A - 941D. "A dream comes through the multitude of business" [3]. The author quotes a proverb in support of his previous point. Just as a night of dreams is the result of too much preoccupation with one's business, so nonsensical speech is the result of too many words at worship. b. Vows "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for {he has} no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. (5) Better {is it} that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (6) Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it {was} an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God" [4-7]. In Scripture the fool is not one who cannot learn, but one who refuses to learn, as is said, "Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets: She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying, How long, you simple ones, will yeou love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?" Prov. 1:20-22. Whosoever does not fulfill his vow, not only acts sinfully but foolishly as Ananias and Sapphira did (Acts 5:4). + Prayers are those by which we offer or vow something to God, what the Greeks call i.e., a vow. God where we read in Greek, in Latin we read: "I will pay my vows the lord; where according to the exact force of the words it may be thus represented: "I will pay my prayers unto the lord." And this which we find in Ecclesiastes: "If thou vow a vow unto the lord do not delay to pay it," is written in Greek likewise: "If thou pray a prayer unto the lord, do not delay to pay it, which will be fulfilled in this way by each one of us. We pray, when we renounce this world and promise that being dead to all worldly actions and the life of this world we will serve the lord with full purpose of heart . Abbot Isaac 4 1. Cassian, Conf., 9:12. 5 "To cause your flesh to sin" [6]. The word "flesh" is used here as a metonym for one's whole self or person; the idea is not to let one's mouth get one's self into trouble with God. The angel or "messenger" is not the angel of judgment sent by God, but rather the priest whose duty it was to collect what had been vowed (cf. Mal. 2: 7). "For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God" [7]. This difficult proverb is probably an allusion to verse 3, and the author is summing up his point. Just as too much concern over business brings dreams, so too many words spoken at worship bring rash promises and punishment by God. The idea seams to be that the more dreams one dreams, the less sense they make, and the more words one utters, the less meaning they contain. Qoheleth wxhorts to fear God, i.e. to observe His will, especially by being circumspect in one's prayers, promises, vows and general speech. RICHES ARE VAIJN [8-20] Here riches are viewed from three angles. Though God may give a man a certain power to enjoy wealth, yet (1) riches are the cause of much greed and injustice among government officials [8, 9]; (2) the gaining of wealth never brings satisfaction, for the more one gets, the more one wants [10- 12];and (3) riches are an insecure possession, for a man acquires wealth only to pass it on the others [13- 17]. So in verses 18-20 the author gives his oft repeated counsel: enjoy life while you can. With realism Qoheleth describes the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice in his days: the realm seems to be an organization where each official strives to acquire wealth and where each from the top to the bottom oppresses the one below him. [Nelson: A New Catholic Commentary..., p. 516.] "If you see the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regards; and {there be} higher than they. (9) Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king {himself} is served by the field" [8, 9]. "For he that is higher than the highest regards." This is not a statement to the effect that God watches all earthly rulers, and will eventually punish them, but rather it refers to the system of government in those days. Each official watched the one beneath him in order to obtain part of the spoils of taxation and graft. Because of this system one should not "marvel" at the oppression and lack of justice. "The profit of the earth is for all." It appears best to read this "the profit of the land is among all of them; a cultivated field has a king." In other words, not only do all the officials get a share of the extortion, but there is no cultivated area which does not fall under taxation. Qoheleth declares that wealth does not give lasting satisfaction. The increase of wealth does not bring greater satisfaction, but increases only the number of one's retainers. The rich man's only advantage is to look at his riches. "He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this {is} also vanity. (11) When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good {is there} to the owners thereof, saving the beholding {of them} with their eyes?" [10, 11]. Thelabourer, in order to make his living, works hard, grows tired and sleeps well. But the abundance of riches causes cares and anxieties which prevent slumber. "The sleep of a labouring man {is} sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep" [12]. 6 12-13 + Just so, Ecclesiastes sees that riches are kept for ill by him who possesses them, for their loss causes a very great anxiety and disquiet. Indeed they are lost, for they are left here and can be of no advantage to one who is dead. St. Ambrose 1. The Prayer of Job and David, 2:4:12. (Fathers of the Church). At the expense of anexiety and sleeplessness wealth has to be protected. "There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, {namely}, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. (14) But those riches {perish} by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and {there is} nothing in his hand" [13, 14]. "Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt" [13]. This refers to the loss the man sustains by evil travail (v. 14), that is, in a bad business speculation. The vanity of wealth lies in the fact that a man may accumulate a great deal, only to lose it in an unfortunate business enterprise, and thus have nothing to leave his son. When the rich man dies, he cannot take his wealth with him. But what is worse, he does not even know whether he will keep his wealth to the end of his life. "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. (16) And this also {is} a sore evil, {that} in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit has he that has laboured for the wind?" [15, 16] These words resemble Job 1:21 "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." 7 The wicked ricxh man is covetuous, he economizes on the cost of light. Though he has amassed riches, he does not enjoy them. "All his days also he eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and wrath with his sickness" [17]. MODERATE ENJOYMENT OF THE PRESENT LIFE [18-20] It is possiblefor man to find a relative happiness in his workand in the enjoyment of food and drink. This moderate enjoyment of the present life is commanded by God. "Behold {that} which I have seen: {it is} good and comely {for one} to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it {is} his portion" [18] Riches are illusory as goals of human life. But if man accpts the material gifts which God offers and tries to be content, he will be truly happy. Andhe will not brood over his life'sbrevity, for the joys of life, though temporary, keep him from dwelling on the ills which afflict humanity. "Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this {is} the gift of God. (20) For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth {him} in the joy of his heart" [19-20]. "God answers him in the joy of his heart" [20]. Some traBnslate it,"God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart." There are not many enjoyments in life, but such as there are should be sought for the pleasure they will provide. This will then cause life to pass pleasantly for God will allow a man to be absorbed by these things, and forget about the difficulties of life. 1 eccl 6 + The fool is proved above all things by his finding no satisfaction in any lust. But the discreet man is not held captive by these passions. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus 1. A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Eccl. 6: 24- 32 + Let the fettered therefore cry out, as long as they are in the chains of the disciples of God, in which the martyrs have been tried: the fetters shall be loosed, and they shall fly away, and these very fetters shall afterwards be turned into an ornament. This has happened with the martyrs. St. Augustine 1. On Ps. 102.
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