Ecclesiastes - GA Barton - 1908.pdf

84
ECCLESIASTES
toils with so much care should go into the possession of one who
has never worked for it at all. 22. What shall be to a man], as Gins,
suggests, this corresponds to "what advantage to a man," of
ch. i 3 . The thought has nearly completed a great cycle, and
Qoheleth now comes back to sum up his reasons for pessimism.
23. All his days are pains]. This verse echoes the experi-
ence of those who follow pursuits which cannot satisfy the heart.
They obtain no real pleasure even in the performance of their
chosen occupations. One phrase of it "his days are pain" is
in substance quoted and opposed in Wisd. 2 1 . 24, 25. There is
nothing better for a man]. The rendering of these verses given
above rests on an emended text, the authority for which is given
in the critical notes below. Qoheleth here states the conclusions
to which his various investigations had led. The best thing for
man is to get the most physical pleasure he can out of life. This
is not stated from the Epicurean standpoint, but from the point
of view of Hebrew monotheism. Qoheleth, as a Hebrew, believes
that this would not be the order of life, if God had not so ordained
it. The sentiment of this verse is quoted and denied in Wisd. 2 6 .
26 a . To a man who is good He gives wisdom]. Recent interpreters
have, with some differences in detail, regarded the verse as a
gloss; so Wild., Sieg., McN., and Ha. Sieg.
and McN. divide it
into two glosses, regarding: "This also is vanity and a desire of
wind," as a touch of a late hand. That the verse with the exception
of the last clause is the work of a Chasid glossator, must be
granted. It contradicts Q.'s fundamental philosophy. The
doctrine that all the good things of life come to the morally good,
finds expression in many parts of the OT., and the thought that
the good finally receive the fruits of the toil of the wicked is also
not lacking (cf. Job 27" Pr. 13" 28*). Such a cheerful view of
the moral order of the universe is, however, totally opposed to
Q.'s whole thought, and justifies us in seeing here the work of
another hand. I cannot agree with Sieg. and McN., though, in
seeing the hand of an annotator in the last clause. If it originally
followed vs. 25, it expressed, as pointed out above, an intelligible
thought, and one thoroughly consonant with Q.'s point of view.
26 b . Desire of wind} originally followed vs. 25. Q.'s declaration