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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8193-8.txt b/8193-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d68b44d --- /dev/null +++ b/8193-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8255 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sceptics of the Old Testament: +Job - Koheleth - Agur, by Emile Joseph Dillon + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Sceptics of the Old Testament: Job - Koheleth - Agur + +Author: Emile Joseph Dillon + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8193] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 30, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCEPTICS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT *** + + + + +Produced by David Starner, Thomas Berger +and the Distributed Prooreaders team. + + + + +THE SCEPTICS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT + +JOB * KOHELETH * AGUR + +with English text translated for the first time from the primitive Hebrew +as restored on the basis of recent philological discoveries. + +by + +E. J. Dillon + +Late Professor of Comparative Philology and Ancient Armenian at the +Imperial University of Kharkoff; Doctor of Oriental Languages of the +University of Louvain; Magistrand of the Oriental Faculty of the Imperial +University of St. Petersburg; Member of the Armenian Academy of Venice; +Membre de la Société Asiatique de Paris, &c. &c. + + * * * * * + +_To ALEXANDER VASSILYEVITCH PASCHKOFF, M.A. +THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED_ + + * * * * * + +DEDICATORY NOTE + +_My Dear Paschkoff, + +In the philosophical problems dealt with by the Sceptics of the Old +Testament, you will recognise the theme of our numerous and pleasant +discussions during the past sixteen years. Three of these are indelibly +engraven in my memory, and, if I mistake not, in yours. + +The first took place in St. Petersburg one soft Indian-summer's evening, +in a cosy room on the Gagarine Quay, from the windows of which we looked +out with admiration upon the blue expanse of the Neva, as it reflected +the burnished gold of the spire of the Fortress church. At that time we +gazed upon the wavelets of the river and the wonders of the world from +exactly the same angle of vision. + +The second of these memorable conversations occurred after the lapse of +nine years. We had met together in the old place, and sauntering out one +bitterly cold December evening resumed the discussion, walking to and fro +on the moonlit bank of the ice-bound river, until evening merged into +night and the moon sank beneath the horizon, leaving us in total +darkness, vainly desirous, like Goethe, of "light, more light." + +Our last exchange of views took place after six further years had sped +away, and we stood last August on the summit of the historic Mönchsberg, +overlooking the final resting-place of the great Paracelsus. The long and +interesting discussions which we had on that occasion, just before +setting out in opposite directions, you to the East and I to the West, +neither of us is likely ever to forget. + +It is in commemoration of these pleasant conversations, and more +especially of the good old times, now past for ever, when we looked out +upon the wavelets of the Neva and the wonders of the world from the same +angle of vision, that I ask you to allow me to associate your name with +this translation of the primitive texts of the Sceptics of the Old +Testament. + +Yours affectionately, + +E. J. DILLON. + +TREBIZOND, January 3, 1895._ + + * * * * * + +PREFACE + +A careful perusal of this first English translation of the primitive text +of "Job," "Koheleth," and the "Sayings of Agur" will, I doubt not, +satisfy the most orthodox reader that I am fully warranted in +characterising their authors as Sceptics. The epithet, I confess, may +prove distasteful to many, but the truth, I trust, will be welcome to +all. It is not easy to understand why any one who firmly believes that +Providence is continually educing good from evil should hesitate to admit +that it may in like manner allow sound moral principles to be enshrined +in doubtful or even erroneous philosophical theories. Or, is trust in God +to be made dependent upon the confirmation or rejection by physical +science of, say, the Old Testament account of the origin of the rainbow? +Agur, "Job" and "Koheleth" had outgrown the intellectual husks which a +narrow, inadequate and erroneous account of God's dealings with man had +caused to form around the minds of their countrymen, and they had the +moral courage to put their words into harmony with their thoughts. +Clearly perceiving that, whatever the sacerdotal class might say to the +contrary, the political strength of the Hebrew people was spent and its +religious ideals exploded, they sought to shift the centre of gravity +from speculative theology to practical morality. + +The manner in which they adjusted their hopes, fears, and aspirations to +the new conditions, strikes the keynote of their respective characters. +"Job," looking down upon the world from the tranquil heights of genius, +is manful, calm, resigned. "Koheleth," shuddering at the gloom that +envelops and the pain that convulses all living beings, prefers death to +life, and freedom from suffering to "positive" pleasure; while Agur, +revealing the bitterness bred by dispelled illusions and blasted hopes, +administers a severe chastisement to those who first called them into +being. All three[1] reject the dogma of retribution, the doctrine of +eternal life and belief in the coming of a Messiah, over and above which +they at times strip the notion of God of its most essential attributes, +reducing it to the shadow of a mere metaphysical abstraction. This is why +I call them Sceptics. + +"Job" and "Koheleth" emphatically deny that there is any proof to be +found of the so-called moral order in the universe, and they +unhesitatingly declare that existence is an evil. They would have us +therefore exchange our hopes for insight, and warn us that even this is +very circumscribed at best. For not only is happiness a mockery, but +knowledge is a will-o'-the-wisp. Mankind resembles the bricklayer and the +hodman who help to raise an imposing edifice without any knowledge of the +general plan. And yet the structure is the outcome of their labour. In +like manner this mysterious world is the work of man--the mirror of his +will. As his will is, so are his acts, and as his acts are, so is his +world. Or as the ancient Hindoos put it: + + "Before the gods we bend our necks, and yet + within the toils of Fate + Entangled are the gods themselves. To Fate, + then, be all honour given. + Yet Fate itself can compass nought, 'tis but the + bringer of the meed + For every deed that we perform. + As then our acts shape our rewards, of what + avail are gods or Fate? + Let honour therefore be decerned to deeds + alone." + +But what, I have been frequently asked, will be the effect of all this +upon theology? Are we to suppose that the writings of these three +Sceptics were admitted into the Canon by mistake, and if not, shall we +not have to widen our definition of inspiration until it can be made to +include contributions which every Christian must regard as heterodox? An +exhaustive reply to this question would need a theological dissertation, +for which I have neither desire nor leisure. I may say, however, that +eminent theologians representing various Christian denominations--Roman +Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran--have assured me that +they could readily reconcile the dogmas of their respective Churches with +doctrines educible from the primitive text of "Job," "Koheleth," and +Agur, whose ethics they are disposed to identify, in essentials, with the +teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. With the ways and means by which +they effect this reconciliation I am not now concerned. + +My object was neither to attack a religious dogma, nor to provoke a +theological controversy, but merely to put the latest results of +philological science within the reach of him who reads as he runs. And I +feel confident that the reader who can appreciate the highest forms of +poetry, or who has anxiously pondered over the problems of God, +immortality, the origin of evil, &c., will peruse the writings of "Job," +"Koheleth" and Agur with a lively interest, awakened, and sustained not +merely by the extrinsic value which they possess as historical documents, +but by their intrinsic merits as precious contributions to the literature +and philosophy of the world. + +E. J. DILLON. + +CONSTANTINOPLE, _New Year's Day, 1895._ + + +Footnotes: + +[1] In Agur's case, this is but an inference from his first saying, but + an inference which few would think of calling in question. + + * * * * * + +CONTENTS + +THE POEM OF JOB + HEBREW PHILOSOPHY + THE PROBLEM OF THE POEM + JOB'S METHOD OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM + DATE OF THE COMPOSITION + THE TEXT AND ITS RECONSTRUCTION + INTERPOLATIONS + JOB'S THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS + ANALYSIS OF THE POEM + +KOHELETH + CONDITION OF THE TEXT + PRIMITIVE FORM OF THE BOOK + KOHELETH'S THEORY OF LIFE + PRACTICAL WISDOM + KOHELETH'S PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE + SOURCES OF KOHELETH'S PHILOSOPHY + +AGUR THE AGNOSTIC + AGUR, SON OF YAKEH + FORM AND CONTENTS OF THE SAYINGS OF AGUR + DATE OF COMPOSITION + AGUR'S PHILOSOPHY + +THE POEM OF JOB (TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT) + +THE SPEAKER (TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT) + +THE SAYINGS OF AGUR (TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT) + +INDEX + + + + +THE POEM OF JOB + + * * * * * + +HEBREW PHILOSOPHY + +According to a theory which was still in vogue a few years ago, the +ancient races of mankind were distinguished from each other no less by +their intellectual equipment than by their physical peculiarities. Thus +the Semites were supposed to be characterised, among other things, by an +inborn aptitude for historical narrative and an utter lack of the mental +suppleness, ingenuity, and sharp incisive vision indispensable for the +study of the problems of philosophy; while their neighbours, the Aryans, +devoid of historical talent, were held to be richly endowed with all the +essential qualities of mind needed for the cultivation of epic poetry and +abstruse metaphysics. This theory has since been abandoned, and many of +the alleged facts that once seemed to support it have been shown to be +unwarranted assumptions. Thus, the conclusive proof, supplied by Biblical +criticism, of the untrustworthiness of the historical books of the Old +Testament, has removed one alleged difference between Aryans and Semites, +while the discoveries which led to the reconstruction of the primitive +poem of Job and of the treatise of Koheleth have undermined the basis of +the other. For these two works deal exclusively with philosophical +problems, and, together with the Books of Proverbs and Jesus Sirach, are +the only remains that have come down to us of the ethical and +metaphysical speculations of the ancient Hebrews whose descendants have +so materially contributed to further this much-maligned branch of human +knowledge. And if we may judge by what we know of these two books, we +have ample grounds for regretting that numerous other philosophical +treatises which were written between the fourth and the first centuries +B.C. were deemed too abstruse, too irrelevant, or too heterodox to find a +place in the Jewish Canon.[2] For the Book of Job is an unrivalled +masterpiece, the work of one in whom poetry was no mere special faculty +cultivated apart from his other gifts, but the outcome of the harmonious +wholeness of healthy human nature, in which upright living, untrammelled +thought, deep mental vision, and luxuriant imagination combined to form +the individual. Hence the poem is a true reflex of the author's mind: it +dissolves and blends in harmonious union elements that appeared not +merely heterogeneous, but wholly incompatible, and realises, with the +concreteness of history, the seemingly unattainable idea which Lucretius +had the mind to conceive but lacked the artistic hand to execute; in a +word, it is the fruit of the intimate union of that philosophy which, +reckless of results, dares to clip even angels' wings, and of the art +which possesses the secret of painting its unfading pictures with the +delicate tints of the rainbow. Rich fancy and profound thought co-operate +to produce a _tertium quid_--a visible proof that the beautiful is +one with the true--for which neither literature nor philosophy possesses +a name. It is no wonder, then, that this unique poem, which gives +adequate utterance to abstract thought, truly and forcibly states the +doubts and misgivings which harrow the souls of thinking men of all ages +and nations, and helps them to lift a corner of the veil of delusion and +get a glimpse of the darkness of the everlasting Night beyond, should +appeal to the reader of the nineteenth century with much greater force +than to the Jews of olden times, who were accustomed to gauge the +sublimity of imaginative poetry and the depth of philosophic speculation +by the standard of orthodoxy and the bias of nationality. + +The Book of Job, from which Pope Gregory the Great fancied he could piece +together the entire system of Catholic theology, and which Thomas of +Aquin regarded as a sober history, is now known to be a regular poem, +but, as Tennyson truly remarked, "the greatest poem whether of ancient or +modern times," and the diction of which even Luther instinctively felt to +be "magnificent and sublime as no other book of Scripture." And it is +exclusively in this light, as one of the masterpieces of the world's +literature, that it will be considered in the following pages. Whatever +religious significance it may be supposed to possess over and above, as +one of the canonical books of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, will, +it is hoped, remain unaffected by this treatment, which is least of all +controversial. The flowers that yield honey to the bee likewise delight +the bee-keeper with their perfume and the poet with their colours, and +there is no adequate reason why the magic verse which strikes a +responsive chord in the soul of lovers of high art, and starts a new +train of ideas in the minds of serious thinkers, should thereby lose any +of the healing virtues it may have heretofore possessed for the suffering +souls of the believing. + +But viewed even as a mere work of art, it would be hopeless to endeavour +to press it into the frame of any one of the received categories of +literary composition, as is evident from the fact that authorised and +unauthorised opinion on the subject has touched every extreme, and still +continues oscillating to-day. Many commentators still treat it as a +curious chapter of old-world history narrated with scrupulous fidelity by +the hero or an eye-witness, others as a philosophical dialogue; several +scholars regard it as a genuine drama, while not a few enthusiastically +aver that it is the only epic poem ever written by a Hebrew. In truth, it +partakes of the nature of each and every one of these categories, and is +yet circumscribed by the laws and limits of none of them. In form, it is +most nearly akin to the drama, with which we should be disposed to +identify it if the characters of the prologue and epilogue were +introduced as _dramatis personae_ in action. But their doing and +enduring are presupposed as accomplished facts, and employed merely as a +foil to the dialogues, which alone are the work of the author. Perhaps +the least erroneous way succinctly to describe what in fact is a +_unicum_ would be to call it a psychological drama. + +Koheleth, or the Preacher, is likewise a literary puzzle which for +centuries has baffled the efforts of commentators and aroused the +misgivings of theologians. Regarded by many as a _vade mecum_ of +materialists, by some as an eloquent sermon on the fear of God, and by +others as a summary of sceptical philosophy, it is impossible to analyse +and classify it without having first eliminated all those numerous +later-date insertions which, without improving the author's theology, +utterly obscure his meaning and entirely spoil his work. When, by the aid +of text criticism, we have succeeded in weeding it of the parasitic +growth of ages, we have still to allow for the changing of places of +numerous authentic passages either by accident or design, the effects of +which are oftentimes quite as misleading as those of the deliberate +interpolations. The work thus restored, although one, coherent and +logical, is still susceptible of various interpretations, according to +the point of view of the reader, none of which, however, can ignore the +significant fact that the sceptically ideal basis of Koheleth's +metaphysics is identical with that of Buddha, Kant, and Schopenhauer, and +admirably harmonises with the ethics of Job and the pessimism of the New +Testament. + +The Sayings of Agur, on the contrary, tell their own interesting story, +without need of note or commentary, to him who possesses a fair knowledge +of Hebrew grammar, and an average allowance of mother wit. The lively +versifier, the keenness of whose sense of humour is excelled only by the +bitterness of his satire, could ill afford to be obscure. A member of the +literary fraternity which boasts the names of Lucian and Voltaire, a firm +believer in the force of common sense and rudimentary logic, Agur +ridicules the theologians of his day with a malicious cruelty which is +explained, if not warranted, by the pretensions of omniscience and the +practice of intolerance that provoked it. The unanswerable argument which +Jahveh considered sufficient to silence his servant Job, Agur deems +effective against the dogmatical doctors of his own day: + + "Who has ascended into heaven and come down again? + + * * * * * + + Such an one would I question about God: What is his name?" + + +Footnotes: + +[2] Job and Ecclesiastes were inserted in the Jewish and, one may add, + the Christian Canon, solely on the strength of passages which the + authors of these compositions never even saw, and which flatly + contradict the main theses of their works. + + * * * * * + +THE PROBLEM OF THE POEM + +Purged of all later interpolations and restored as far as possible to the +form it received from the hand of its author, the poem of Job is the most +striking presentation of the most obscure and fascinating problem that +ever puzzled and tortured the human intellect: how to reconcile the +existence of evil, not merely with the fundamental dogmas of the ancient +Jewish faith, but with any form of Theism whatever. Stated in the terms +in which the poet--whom for convenience sake we shall identify with his +hero[3] manifestly conceived it, it is this: Can God be the creator of +all things and yet not be responsible for evil? + +The Infinite Being who laid the earth's foundation, "shut in the sea with +doors," whose voice is thunder and whose creatures are all things that +have being, is, we trust, moral and good. But it is His omnipotence that +strikes us most forcibly. Almighty in theory, He is all active in fact, +and nothing that happens in the universe is brought about even indirectly +by any one but Himself. There are no second causes at work, no chance, no +laws of nature, no subordinate agents, nothing that is not the immediate +manifestation of His free will.[4] This is evident to our senses. But +what is equally obvious is that His acts do not tally with His attribute +of goodness, and that no facts known or imaginable can help us to bridge +over the abyss between the infinite justice ascribed to Him and the +crying wrongs that confront us in His universe, whithersoever we turn.[5] +His rule is such a congeries of evils that even the just man often +welcomes death as a release, and Job himself with difficulty overcame the +temptation to end his sufferings by suicide. All the cut-and-dried +explanations of God's conduct offered by His human advocates merely +render the problem more complicated. His professional apologists are +"weavers of lies," and contend for Him "with deception," and, worse than +all else, He Himself has never revealed to His creatures any truth more +soothing than the fact they set out with, that the problem is for ever +insoluble. Wisdom "is hid from the eyes of all living,"[6] and the dead +are in "the land of darkness and of gloom,"[7] whence there is no issue. + +The theological views prevalent in the days of the poet, as expounded by +the three friends of Job, instead of suggesting some way out of the +difficulty were in flagrant contradiction with fact. They appealed to the +traditional theory and insisted on having that accepted as the reality. +And it was one of the saddest theories ever invented. Virtue was at best +a mere matter of business, one of the crudest forms of utilitarianism, a +bargain between Jahveh and His creatures. As asceticism in ancient India +was rewarded with the spiritual gift of working miracles, so upright +living was followed in Judea by material wealth, prosperity, a numerous +progeny and all the good things that seem to make life worth living. Such +at least was the theory, and those who were satisfied with their lot had +little temptation to find fault with it for the sake of those who were +not. In sober reality, however, the obligation was very one-sided: +Jahveh, who occasionally failed to carry out His threats, observed or +repudiated His solemn promises as He thought fit, whereas those among His +creatures who faithfully fulfilled their part of the contract were never +sure of receiving their stipulated wage in the promised coin. And at that +time none other was current: there was no future life looming in the dim +distance with intensified rewards and punishments wherewith to redress +the balance of this. And it sadly needed redressing. The victims of +seeming injustice naturally felt that they were being hardly dealt with. +And as if to make confusion worse confounded, their neighbours, who had +ridden roughshod over all law, human and divine, were frequently exempt +from misfortune, lived on the fat of the land, and enjoyed a monopoly of +the divine blessings. To Job, whose consciousness of his own +righteousness was clearer and less questionable than the justice of his +Creator, this theory of retribution seemed unworthy of belief. + +The creation of this good God, then, is largely leavened with evil for +which--all things being the work of His hands--He, and He alone, is +answerable. There was no devil in those olden times upon whose broad +shoulders the responsibility for sickness, suffering, misery and death +could be conveniently shifted. The Satan or Adversary is still one of the +sons of God who, like all his brethren, has free access to the council +chamber of the Most High, where he is wont to take a critical, somewhat +cynical but not wholly incorrect view of motives and of men. In the +government of the world he has neither hand nor part, and his +interference in the affairs of Job is the result of a special permission +accorded him by the Creator. God alone is the author of good _and of +evil_,[8] and the thesis to be demonstrated by His professional +apologists consists in showing that the former is the outflow of His +mercy, and the latter the necessary effect of His justice acting upon the +depraved will of His creatures. But the proof was not forthcoming. +Personal suffering might reasonably be explained in many cases as the +meet and inevitable wage for wrong-doing; but assuredly not in all. Job +himself was a striking instance of unmerited punishment. Even Jahveh +solemnly declares him to be just and perfect; and Job was admittedly no +solitary exception; he was the type of a numerous class of righteous, +wronged and wretched mortals, unnamed and unknown: + + "Omnes illacrymabiles.... + ignotique longa + Nocte, carent quia vate sacro." + +Job is ready to admit that God, no doubt, is just and good in theory, but +he cannot dissemble the obvious fact that His works in the universe are +neither; indeed, if we may judge the tree by its fruits, His +_régime_ is the rule of an oriental and almighty despot whose will +and pleasure is the sole moral law. And that will is too often +undistinguishable from malice of the blackest kind. Thus + + "He destroyeth the upright and the wicked, + When his scourge slayeth at unawares. + He scoffeth at the trial of the innocent; + The earth is given into the hand of the wicked." + +In a word, the poet proclaims that the current theories of traditional +theology were disembodied, not incarnate in the moral order of the world, +had, in fact, nowhere taken root. + +The two most specious arguments with which it was sought to prop up this +tottering theological system consisted in maintaining that the wicked are +often punished and the good recompensed in their offspring--a kind of +spiritual entail in which the tenant for life is denied the usufruct for +the sake of heirs he never knew--and that such individual claims as were +left unadjusted by this curious arrangement were merged in those of the +community at large and should be held to be settled in full as long as +the weal of the nation was assured. In other words, the individual sows +and his offspring or the nation reaps the harvest. But Job rejects both +pleas as illusory and immoral, besides which, they leave the frequent +prosperity of the unrighteous unexplained. "Wherefore," he asks, "do the +wicked live, become old, yea wax mighty in strength?" The reply that the +fathers having eaten sour grapes, the children's teeth will be set on +edge, is, he contends, no answer to the objection; it merely intensifies +it. For he who sows should reap, and he who sins should suffer. After +death the most terrible punishment meted out to the posterity of +criminals is powerless to affect their mouldering dust. That, surely, +cannot be accepted as a vindication of justice, human or divine. + + "Ye say: God hoards punishment for the children. + Let him rather requite the wicked himself that he may feel it! + His own eyes should behold his downfall, + And he himself should drain the Almighty's wrath. + If his sons are honoured, he will not know it; + And if dishonoured, he will not perceive it. + Only in his own flesh doth he feel pain, + And for his own soul will he lament." + +As to the latter argument, that the well-being of the nation was a +settlement in full of the individual's claims to happiness, it was +equally irrelevant, even had the principle underlying it been confirmed +by experience. Granting that a certain wholesale kind of equity was +administered, why must the individual suffer for no fault of his own? +Wherein lies the justice of a Being who, credited with omnipotence, +permits that by a sweep of the wild hurricane of disaster, "green leaves +with yellow mixed are torn away"? + +But the contention that, viewing the individual merely as a unit of the +aggregate, justice would be found to be dealt out fairly on the whole, +ran counter to experience. The facts were dead against it. The Hebrew +nation had fared as badly among neighbouring states as Job among his +friends and countrymen. In this respect the sorely tried individual was +the type of his nation. The destruction of the kingdom of Samaria which +had occurred nearly two hundred years before and the captivity of Judah, +which was not yet at an end, gave its death-blow to the theory. "The +tents of robbers prosper and they that provoke Shaddai[9] are secure." + +In truth, there was but one issue out of the difficulty: divine justice +might not be bounded by time or space; the law of compensation might have +a larger field than our earth for its arena; a future life might afford +"time" and opportunity to right the wrongs of the present, and all end +well in the best of future worlds. This explanation would have set doubts +at rest and settled the question for at least two thousand years; and it +seemed such a necessary postulate to the fathers of the Church, who +viewed the matter in the light of Christian revelation, that they +actually put into Job's mouth the words which he would have uttered had +he lived in their own days and been a member of the true fold. And they +effected this with a pious recklessness of artistic results and of +elementary logic that speaks better for their intentions than for their +aesthetic taste. In truth, Job knows absolutely nothing of a future life, +and his friends, equally unenlightened, see nothing for it but to +"discourse wickedly for God," and "utter lies on His behalf."[10] There +was, in fact, no third course. Indeed, if the hero or his friends had +even suspected the possibility of a solution based upon a life beyond the +tomb, the problem on which the book is founded would not have existed. To +ground, therefore, the doctrines of the Resurrection, the Atonement, &c., +upon alleged passages of the poem of Job is tantamount to inferring the +squareness of a circle from its perfect rotundity. In the Authorised +Version of the Bible the famous verses, which have probably played a more +important part in the intellectual history of mankind than all the books +of the Old Testament put together, run thus: "For I know _that_ my +redeemer liveth, and _that_ he shall stand at the latter _day_ +upon the earth: and _though_ after my skin _worms_ destroy this +_body_, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for +myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; _though_ my +reins be consumed within me."[11] + +Now this, it is hardly necessary to say, is not a translation from the +poem nor from any known text of it, but the embodiment of the salutary +beliefs of well-intentioned theologians--of St. Jerome among others-- +momentarily forgetful of the passage: "Will ye speak wickedly for God?" +The Christian conception of a Redeemer would, had he but known it, have +proved balm to the heart of the despairing hero. As a matter of mere +fact, his own hope at that critical moment was less sublime and very much +less Christian: the coming of an avenger who would punish his enemies and +rehabilitate his name. It was the one worldly and vain longing that still +bound him to the earth. Other people demanded happiness as their reward +for virtue, too often undistinguishable from vice; Job challenged the +express approval of the Deity, asked only that he should not be +confounded with vulgar sinners. The typical perfect man, struck down with +a loathsome disease, doomed to a horrible death, alone in his misery, +derided by his enemies, and, worse than all, loathed as a common criminal +by those near and dear to him, gives his friends and enemies, society and +theologians, the lie emphatic--nay, he goes the length of affirming that +God Himself has, failed in His duty towards him. "Know, then, that God +hath wronged me."[12] His conscience, however, tells him that inasmuch as +there is such a thing as eternal justice, a time will come when the truth +will be proclaimed and his honour fully vindicated; Shaddai will then +yearn for the work of His hands, but it will be too late, "For now I must +lay myself down in the dust; and Thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be." +And it is to this conviction, not to a belief in future retribution, that +the hero gives utterance in the memorable passage in question: + + "But I know that my avenger liveth, + Though it be at the end upon my dust; + My witness will avenge these things, + And a curse alight upon mine enemies." + +He knows nothing whatever of the subsistence of our cumbrous clods of +clay after they have become the food of worms and pismires; indeed, he is +absolutely certain that by the sleep of death + + "we end + The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks + That flesh is heir to." + +And he emphasises his views in a way that should have given food for +wholesome reflection to his commentators. + + "There is a future for the tree, + And hope remaineth to the palm; + Cut down, it will sprout again, + And its tender branch will not cease. + + "Though its roots wax old in the earth, + And its stock lie buried in mould, + Yet through vapour of water will it bud, + And put forth boughs like a plant. + + "But man dieth and lieth outstretched; + He giveth up the ghost, where is he then? + He lieth down and riseth not up; + Till heaven be no more he shall not awake."[13] + +Nothing could well be further removed from the comforting hope of a +future life, the resurrection of the body, and eternal rewards, than this +unshaken belief that Death is our sole redeemer from the terrible evils +of life. + + +Footnotes: + +[3] Although the former was a Jew and the latter a Gentile. + +[4] _Cf._ Translation, strophe ci.: + + "Is not the soul of every living thing in his hand, + And the breath of all mankind?" + + Strophe civ.: + + "With him is strength and wisdom, + The erring one and his error are his." + +[5] Strophe cxcii.-cxciii.: + + "Look upon me and tremble, + And lay your hand upon your mouth! + When I remember I am dismayed, + And trembling taketh hold on my flesh." + + Strophe ccxxi.: + + "Why do the times of judgment depend upon the Almighty, + And yet they who know him do not see his days? + +[6] Strophe ccxxxiv. + +[7] Strophe lxxxix. + +[8] "The erring one and his error are his" (God's): strophe civ. _Cf_. + also strophe cvii. + +[9] God. + +[10] Strophe cxi. + +[11] Job xix. 25-27. The Revised Version gives the passage as follows: + "But I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand up at + the last upon the earth: and after my skin hath been thus destroyed, + yet from my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and + mine eyes shall behold, and not another." + +[12] Strophe clxix. + +[13] Job, strophes cxxiv.-cxxvi. of my English translation. + + * * * * * + +JOB'S METHOD OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM + +It is perhaps hardly necessary to point out that the doctrine of eternal +pains and rewards as laid down by the Christian Church, unless reinforced +by faith, neither solves the problem nor simplifies it. If the truth must +be told, it seems to unenlightened reason to entangle it more hopelessly +than before. In simple terms and in its broadest aspect the question may +be stated as follows: God created man under conditions of His own +choosing which necessarily led to the life-long misery of countless +millions upon earth and their never-ending torments in hell. To the +question, Did He know the inevitable effect of His creative act, the +answer is, God is omniscient. To the query, Could He have selected other +and more humane conditions of existence for His creature--conditions so +adjusted that, either with or without probation, man would have been +ultimately happy? the reply is, God is almighty. + +Involuntarily, then, the question forces itself upon us, Is He all-good? +Can that Being be deemed good who, moved by no necessity, free to create +or to abstain from creating, at liberty to create for happiness or for +misery, calls mankind into existence under such conditions and +surroundings that myriads are miserable, so unutterably miserable, that, +compared with their tortures, the wretch bleeding and quivering on the +wheel is lolling in the lap of enjoyment? Why did God make man under such +conditions? Or at least how are we to reconcile His having done so with +His attribute of goodness? To this question there are many replies but no +answer, the former being merely attempts to explain the chronic effects +of the primordial ethical poison commonly called original sin. + +Job's main objection to the theological theories in vogue among his +contemporaries, and, indeed, to all conceivable explanations of the +difficulty, is far more weighty than at first sight appears. Everything, +he tells us--if anything--is the work of God's hands; and as pain, +suffering, evil, are everywhere predominant, it is not easy to understand +in what sense God can be said to be good. The poet does not formulate the +argument, of which this is the gist, in very precise terms, nor press it +home to its last conclusions. But he leaves no doubt about his meaning. +Some men are relatively good by nature, others wicked; but all men were +created by God and act in accordance with the disposition they received +from Him. If that disposition or character brought forth sin and evil, +these then are God's work, not man's, and He alone is responsible +therefor. The individual who performs an act through an agent is rightly +deemed to have done it himself. A man, therefore, who, being free to do a +certain thing or to leave it undone, and perfectly aware of the nature of +its necessary consequences, performs it, is held to be answerable for the +results, should they prove mischievous. Much greater is his +responsibility if, instead of being restricted to the choice between +undertaking a work certain to prove pernicious and abstaining from it, he +was free to select a third course and to accomplish it in such a way that +the result would not be evil, but unmixed good. In this case it would +hardly seem possible to exonerate the doer from a charge of wanton +malice, diabolic in degree. And such is the position in which many +theologians seem--to those who view things in the light of reason--to +have placed God Himself. It was open to Him, they maintain, to create or +to refrain from creating. Having declared for the former alternative, He +is chargeable with the consequences. The consequences, however, need not +have been evil; He might, had He so willed it, have endowed His creature +with such qualities and placed him in such surroundings that, without +ceasing to be man, he would never have fallen at all. Yet it did not +please Him to adopt that course. This admission, rationalists urge, is +conclusive as to the origin of sin and evil. + +But the arguments are not yet exhausted. Even then the Creator might have +made everything right by an act which it seems impossible to distinguish +from elementary justice. Had He regarded the first man who brought sin +into the world as a mere individual, and treated him as such--and this, +theologians assure us, He could easily have done[14]--He might have +punished him as an individual, and the matter would have been at an end. +But instead of this, He contemplated him as the type and representative +of the human race, and decreed that his sin should, like a subtle +spiritual poison, infect the soul of every man coming into the world. In +other words, God, who is supposed to hate evil so profoundly that He +damns for ever in hell a man guilty of one single "mortal" transgression, +enacted that if one sin were committed it should be needlessly made to +engender myriads of other sins, and that the tiny seed of evil which was +first thrown upon the earth by His creature in a moment of pardonable +weakness, and might have so easily been trampled out, should take root, +sprout up and grow into a vast Upas tree whose poisonous branches +overshadow all creation. This proposition, it is contended, explicitly +taxes God, if not with the sole authorship of sin and evil, at least with +the moral responsibility for propagating it. And this is the prevailing +view among modern apologists. + +As to the origin of evil, it is to be sought for, theologians have +discovered, in the free will with which God endowed man. This, they +allege, shifts all the responsibility on the human creature because, +instead of evil, he might have chosen good. Unfortunately, the same +argument would seem to apply to the Creator Himself.[15] He, too, being +omnipotent, might have chosen good instead of evil subjects, and created +human beings whose acts would have been blameless and virtuous, their +will remaining what it is. Further, not having done this and having +needlessly allowed an abyss to be made by sin between Himself and the +first man, it was still open to Him to have abstained from widening it +until it became an impassable gulf between Himself and the entire human +race. But He did not abstain; instead of localising, He deliberately and +wantonly spread the evil, and the ruin that overwhelmed all mankind +cannot therefore be said to have sprung from the will of the race, but +from His own. Again, the interposition of a free will between God and +evil, it is urged, affords no real solution of the problem, for the +question still remains, why were the workings of that free will evil and +not good? Obviously because such was its God-created nature; for the +action of outward circumstances upon the will neither builds up nor +modifies this nature, but simply discloses it to our view. + +These ideas were adopted, developed and defended by a few of the most +profound Christian philosophers of the early Church, and most ably of all +by Scotus Erigena,[16] who held that the origin of evil which cannot be +sought for in God must not be placed _in the free will of man_, +because the latter hypothesis would still leave the responsibility with +the Creator, the human will being His own handiwork. + +At the root of this argument lies yet another consideration upon which +unbelieving thinkers rely still more: it is drawn from the alleged +incompatibility between the conception of a created being and free will, +and will be noticed presently. It is commonly regarded as the principal +difficulty which Theists and Pantheists are condemned continually to +encounter without ever being able to explain--the rock, so to say, upon +which their optimistic systems strike, and are shattered to +pieces--unless protected by the armour of supernatural faith. + +But besides the Christian and Pantheistic theories, there is another +explanation of the origin of evil offered by the religion of more than +one-third of the human race. It is a theory which can readily be labelled +and libelled by the most unphilosophical reader, but cannot be grasped +and appreciated without serious study and reflection by the most +intelligent, for it is based upon the doctrine that time, space and +causality have no existence outside the human mind.[17] The world which +we see and know, therefore, and everything it contains is "such stuff as +dreams are made of"--the woof and warp being evolved from, and interwoven +by, our own minds. Underlying the innumerable illusive appearances which +we call the world is a reality, a being or force which is one. We and +everything else are but manifestations, in time and space, of this one +reality with which, however, each and every one of us is at bottom +identical and whose sole attribute is unity. This force or will manifests +itself in myriads of facets, so to say, in the universe, and these +manifestations are not good, constitute, indeed, a sort of fall. +Intelligence is not one of the primary attributes of this eternal will. +It attained to clear consciousness and knowledge only in man and then for +the first time perceived that the existence for which it yearned is evil +and not good. Man therefore is his own work; and existence, as it +constitutes a fall, is its own punishment; for his life is a series of +inane desires which, when momentarily satiated, are immediately succeeded +by others equally vain, fruitless and hollow, and the cessation of desire +is the beginning of tedium which is oftentimes still less endurable, +seeing that it leaves little room for hope. + + "Life which ye prize is long-drawn agony; + Only its pains abide, its pleasures are + As birds which light and fly." + +Every wish springs from want which causes pain, the attainment of the +wished-for object--commonly called pleasure--is but the cessation of that +pain: in other words it is a mere negation. Man's life is a never-ending +oscillation between pleasure and pain: the former mere illusion, the +latter a dread reality. The origin of this and of all other evil is +individual existence, and individual existence is the free act of the one +substance or force which is identical with each and all of us. + +This theory excludes creation. For free will is utterly incompatible with +the state of a created being;[18] because _operari sequitur +esse_--_i.e._, the operation, the working of every being, must be +the necessary result of its qualities which are themselves known only by +the acts they bring forth. If these acts be praiseworthy, the qualities +are good: if reprehensible, they are bad. But if the acts are to be free, +they should be neither good nor bad. A being therefore to be perfectly +free should have no qualities at all--_i.e._, should not be created. +For it must be borne in mind that it is not the motives that impart to +the will its ethical quality. Motives are accidental and operate in the +same way as the rays of the sun falling upon a tree or a flower: they +reveal the nature of the object but are powerless to change it, for +better or for worse.[19] But if this be so, one may ask, why do we feel +sorrow, shame, repentance for acts which we were not free to perform or +abstain from performing? Because we are "metaphysically" free, that is to +say, our inborn disposition from which they necessarily emanate, is the +work of our free will, which specific acts are not. No doubt, when we do +right or wrong, we are conscious that we might have acted +differently--_had we willed it_. But this proves nothing; the +all-important question being, could we, under the circumstances, have +willed otherwise than we did? And to this the reply is an emphatic +negative. But for our personal character, be it good or evil, we are +answerable, and therefore likewise for the acts that flow from it with +the rigorous necessity characteristic of all causality. For individuality +in the human race is identical with character, and as individuality is +the work of our own free will exercised outside the realm of time and +space, we are responsible for it, and conscious of the responsibility, +although not of the manner in which it was incurred. + +Our acts, therefore, and they only, show us what we really are; our +sufferings what we deserve. The former are the necessary outcome of our +character which external circumstances, in the guise of motives, call +into play; just as gravitation is acted upon when we shake an apple off +the tree. Our deeds then being the inevitable resultant of that +self-created character acted upon by motives, must consequently follow +with the same necessity as any other link in the chain of cause and +effect. The knowledge of our character and the foreknowledge of these +outward events which, in the unbroken chain of cause and effect, act upon +it, would suffice to enable us to foresee our future as readily as +astronomers foresee eclipses of the sun and moon. Now if the root of all +evil be individuality, the essence of all morality is self-denial; and no +act performed for the purpose of obtaining happiness, temporal or +eternal, is moral. The evil and pain, therefore, which befall us upon +earth cannot be regarded as the retribution for the deeds done in this +life; for these are necessary and inevitable. They are the fruits of our +character whence these acts emanate; and it is only our character which +is our own work. With the ethical nature of that character each +individual gradually grows acquainted as well in his own case as in that +of his neighbour's, solely from a study of his own acts, which often +astonish himself quite as much as his friends. + +Brahmanism and Buddhism symbolized these notions in the somewhat gross +but only intelligible form in which the mind can readily grasp them, +viz., in the dogma of the transmigration of souls, according to which a +man's good deeds and bad follow him like his shadow from one existence to +another, and in this life he expiates the sins or enjoys the fruits of a +previous existence:[20] + + "Each man's life + The outcome of his former living is; + The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes, + The bygone right breeds bliss. + + "That which ye sow ye reap. See yonder fields! + The sesamum was sesamum, the corn + Was corn. The Silence and the Darkness knew! + So is man's fate born." + +In the former religion, Brahma, who is identical with all of us, produces +the world by a kind of fall from his primeval state and remains therein +until he has redeemed himself. In the latter there is no god; man being +his own handiwork and sin and evil the result of his blind striving after +individual existence. It is however in his power, and in his alone, to +right the wrong and remedy the evil, by starving out the fatal hunger for +life. And in this work, faith, supplication and sacrifice avail him +nothing. + + "Pray not! the Darkness will not brighten! Ask + Nought from the Silence, for it cannot speak! + Vex not your mournful minds with pious pains! + Ah, brothers, sisters! seek + Naught from the helpless gods by gift and hymn, + Nor bribe with blood, nor feed with fruits and cake; + Within yourself deliverance must be sought: + Each man his prison makes." + +The ethical bearing of this view is more easily discerned than its +metaphysical basis. Individual existence with its tantalising mirage of +pleasures being the root of all evil, the first step towards finding a +remedy is to recognise this truth, to obtain insight into the heart of +things athwart the veil of Maya or delusion. The conviction that all +beings are not merely brothers but one and the same essence, is the death +of egotistic desire, of the pernicious distinction between me and thee, +and the birth of pity, love and sympathy for all men. And this is a very +old doctrine. In India it was taught in the Veda and the Vedanta under +the formula _tat tvam asi_--thou art this--_i.e._, individual +differs not essentially from individual, nor a man from the whole human +race. He who obtains this insight and perceives how sorrow is shadow to +life, who weans his thirst for existence, seeks not, strives not, wrongs +not, starves out his passions, resigns himself wholly to pain and +suffering as to "ills that flow from foregone wrongfulness" and asks for +no clue from the Silence which can utter naught, he is truly blessed and +released from all misery forever. He glides "lifeless to nameless quiet, +nameless joy, blessed Nirvana." + +It is probable, not to say certain, that it was an intuition of this kind +that finally reconciled Job with the grey monotony of misery and seeming +injustice which characterises all human existence and enabled him to +resign himself cheerfully to whatever might befall. This at least would +seem to be the only reasonable construction of which Jahveh's apparition +and discourse are susceptible. That they are resorted to by the poet +solely as an image and symbol of the inner illumination of his hero's +intellect, is evident to most readers. Nothing that Jahveh has to +disclose to Job and his three friends even remotely resembles a clue to +the problem that exercised them. The human mind would be unable to grasp +a solution if any existed, for it possesses no forms in which to +apprehend it. This will soon become apparent even to the +non-philosophical reader who endeavours to _reason_ about a state in +which time, space, _and causality_ have no existence. But there is +no solution. Jahveh virtually asks, as Buddha had asked before: + + "Shall any gazer see with mortal eyes, + Or any searcher know with mortal mind? + Veil after veil will lift--but there must be + Veil upon veil behind." + +Unless we assume some such sudden illumination of the mind as Buddha +obtained under the shadow of the fig-tree and the author of the 73rd +Psalm among the ruins of the kingdom of Juda, it is impossible to account +for Job's unforeseen and entire resignation, or to bring his former +defiant utterances into harmony with the humble sentiments to which he +now gives expression. For nothing but his mind had meanwhile undergone a +change. All the elements of the problem remained what they were. The +evils that had fired his indignation were not denied by their presumptive +author, nor was any explanation of them vouchsafed to him. No remedy was +promised in this life, no hope held out of redress in a possible world to +come. On the contrary, Jahveh confirms the terrible facts alleged by His +servant; He admits that pleasure and pain are not the meed of deeds done +upon earth, and that the explanation we seek, the light we so wistfully +long for, will never come; for human existence is not a dark spot in an +ocean of dazzling splendour, but a will'-o'-the-wisp that merely +intensifies the murkiness of everlasting Night. + +Moreover, Job was detached from the world already. He had overcome all +his passions and kept even his legitimate affections under control. He +had no word of regret on losing his cattle, his possessions, his +children. During his most exquisite sufferings, he declared that he held +only to his good name. This, too, he now gives up and demanding nothing, +avers that he is satisfied. "I resign and console myself. Though it be in +dust and ashes." Complete detachment from existence, and not for the sake +of some other and better existence (for there is none) is the practical +outcome of Job's intuition. But in a God-created world made for the +delectation of mankind, to forego its pleasures would be to offend the +Creator, if indeed stark madness could kindle His ire. But to curb one's +thirst for life and to spurn its joys because one holds them to be the +tap root of all evil, is an action at once intelligible and wise. And +this is what Job evidently does when he practises difficult virtues and +undergoes terrible sufferings without the consciousness of past guilt or +the faintest hope of future recompense. + +As Buddha taught his followers: "When the disciple has lost all doubt as +to the reality of suffering; when his doubts as to the origin of +suffering are dispelled; when he is no longer uncertain as to the +possibility of annihilating suffering and when he hesitates no more about +the way that leads to the annihilation of suffering: then is he called a +holy disciple, one who is in the stream that floweth onwards to +perfection, one who is delivered from evil, who is guaranteed, who is +devoted to the highest truth."[21] + + +Footnotes: + +[14] One of the best accredited exponents of this theory, which is now + generally accepted by Catholic divines, is Father (now Cardinal) + Mazella. + +[15] And Job more than once applies it. + +[16] _Cf._ Editio Princeps, Oxford, 1681, p. 287. + +[17] Many pious Christians who scoff at such emotions, without + endeavouring to understand them, would do well to remember that + whatever truth there is in the dogma of the immorality of the soul, + is dependant upon this proposition, that time, space, and the law of + casuality have no real existence whatever, but are merely the + furniture of the human mind--the forms in which it apprehends. As + time exists only in our consciousness, and as beginning and end can + take place only in time, they can affect only our consciousness, + which ends in death, but not our souls, which are distinct from mind + and consciousness. + +[18] Job, who rejected all secondary causes whatever, could not in logic, + and did not in fact, believe in free will as it is commonly + understood in our days. + +[19] _Cf_. Matt. xii. 33-35. + +[20] Even the Bible is not wholly devoid of traces of the same symbol + employed to convey the same ideas; _cf._ Matt. xi. 14, John ix. 2, + for the New Testament, and Ps. xc. 3 for the Old. The apparent inner + absurdity of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls arises + mainly from our inability to grasp and realise the two propositions + which it presupposes--viz., that there is no such thing as time + outside of the human mind, and therefore no past or future; and, + secondly, that soul is but individualised will momentarily illumined + by the intellect which is a function of the brain. Metempsychosis was + originally no more than a symbol. + +[21] "Samyuttaka-Nikayo," vol. iii. chap. iii. p. 24. _Cf._ Dr. K. + E. Neumann's "Buddhistische Anthologie," Leiden, 1892, p. 204. + + * * * * * + +DATE OF THE COMPOSITION + +The question which frequently exercised the ingenuity of former +commentators, whether the poem of Job is the work of one or of many +authors, has no longer any actuality. It is absolutely certain that the +book, as we find it in the Authorised Version, and even in the best +Hebrew manuscripts, is a mosaic put together by a number of writers +widely differing in their theological views and separated from each other +by whole centuries; and it is equally undoubted that, restored to its +original form, it is "a poem round and perfect as a star"--the +masterpiece of one of the most gifted artists of his own or any age. To +the inquiry where he lived and wrote, numerous tentative replies have +been offered but no final answer. To many he is the last of the venerable +race of patriarchs, and his verse the sweet, sublime lisping of a +childlike nature, disporting itself in the glorious morning of the +world.[22] + +This, however, is but a pretty fancy, which will not stand the ordeal of +scientific criticism, nor even the test of a careful common-sense +examination. The broader problems that interest thinking minds of a late +and reflective age, the profounder feelings and more ambitious +aspirations of manhood and maturity, are writ large in every verse of the +poem. The lyre gives out true, full notes, which there is no mistaking. +The hero is evidently a travelled cosmopolitan, who has outgrown the +narrow prejudices of petty patriotism and national religious creeds to +such an extent that he studiously eschews the use of the revealed name of +the God of his people, and seems to believe at most in a far-away and +incomprehensible divinity who sometimes merges into Fate. In the God of +theologians he had no faith. His comforters, who from the uttermost ends +of the earth meet together in a most unpatriarchal manner to discuss the +higher problems of philosophy, allude to the views in vogue in the +patriarchal age as to traditions of bygone days before the influence of +foreign invaders had tainted the purity of the national faith; and +passages like xii. 17, xv. 19, seem to point to the captivity of the +Hebrew people as an accomplished fact. In a word, the strict monotheism +of the hero, which at times borders upon half-disguised secularism, has +nothing in common with the worship of the patriarchs except the absence +of priests and the lack of ceremonies. The language of the poem, +flavoured by a strong mixture of Arabic and Aramaic words and phrases, +and the frequent use of imagery borrowed from Babylonian mythology, to +say nothing of a number of other signs and tokens of a comparatively late +age, render the patriarchal hypothesis absolutely untenable.[23] This, at +least, is one of the few results of modern research about which there is +perfect unanimity among all competent scholars. + +If the date of the composition of Job cannot be fixed with any approach +to accuracy, there are at least certain broad limits within which it is +agreed on all hands that it should be placed. This period is comprised +between the prophetic activity of Jeremiah and the second half of the +Babylonian Exile. The considerations upon which this opinion is grounded +are drawn mainly, if not exclusively, from authentic passages of Job +which the author presumably borrowed from other books of the Old +Testament. Thus a comparison of the verses in which the hero curses the +day of his birth[24] with an identical malediction in Jeremiah (xx. +14-15), and of the respective circumstances in which each was written, +leads to the conviction that the borrower was not the prophet whose +writings must therefore have been familiar to the poet. This conclusion +is confirmed by a somewhat far-fetched but none the less valid argument +drawn from the circumstance that Ezekiel,[25] who would probably have +known the poem had it existed in his day, obviously never heard of it; +for this prophet, broaching the question, apparently for the first time +among his countrymen, as to the justice of human suffering, denies point +blank that any man endures unmerited pain,[26] and affirms in emphatic +terms that to each one shall be meted out reward or punishment according +to his works.[27] And this he could hardly have done had he been aware of +the fact that the contradictory proposition was vouched for by no less an +authority than Jahveh Himself. + +Again, it is highly probable, although one would hardly be justified in +stating it as an established fact, that certain striking poetic images +clothed in the same form of words in Job and in the Second Isaiah,[28] +are the coinage of the rich imagination of the latter,[29] from whose +writings they must consequently have been taken by the author of Job. If +this assumption be correct, and it is considerably strengthened by +collateral evidence, we should have no choice but to assign to the +composition of the poem a date later than that of the Second Isaiah who +wrote between 546 and 535 B.C. The ingenious and learned German critic, +Dr. Cornill, holds it to be no less than two or three hundred years +younger still, and bases his opinion principally upon the last verse of +the last chapter of the Book of Job, where the expression (Job died) "old +and full of days," is, in his opinion, borrowed from the Priests' Code. +It is, however, needless to analyse this argument, seeing that the verse +in question was wanting in the Septuagint[30] version, and must therefore +be held to be a later addition. + +Another question, once a sure test of orthodoxy, the discussion of which +has become equally superfluous to-day, is to what extent the narrative is +based upon historical facts. The second council of Constantinople +solemnly condemned Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, one of the most +enlightened Fathers of the Church, for having advanced the opinion that +the story of Job was a pious fiction and the doctrine it embodies +irreconcileable with orthodoxy. It would be rash to say what conclusion a +council sitting at the end of the nineteenth century would be likely to +arrive at. But it would hardly find fault with the majority of +contemporary critics who hold that the prologue and epilogue, which are +in prose and contain in outline the popular legend of Job, were anterior +to the colloquies between the hero and his friends, bear in fact the same +relation to the poem that the mediaeval legend of Johan Faustus does to +the masterpiece of Goethe. And it was to the popular legend, not to the +poem, that Ezekiel alluded in the passage in which he instances Job as +the type of the just man. But one must needs be endowed with a strong and +child-like faith to accept, in the light of ancient history and modern +science, as sober facts the familiar conversation between Jahveh and the +Adversary in the council-chamber of heaven, the sudden intervention of +the latter in the life of Job, the ease with which he breaks through the +chain of causality and bends even the human will to his purpose, the +indecent haste with which he overwhelms the just man with a torrent of +calamities in the course of one short day, the apparition of Jahveh in a +storm-cloud, and many other equally improbable details. Improbability, +however, is the main feature of all miracles; and faith need not be +dismayed even by the seemingly impossible. In any case where it is +hopeless to convince, it is needless to discuss, and if there still be +readers to whose appreciation of the poem belief in its historical truth +is absolutely indispensable, it would be cruel to seek to spoil or even +lessen their enjoyment of one of the most sublime creations known to any +literature of the world. + + +Footnotes: + +[22] One of the main grounds for this opinion is the absolute ignorance + of the Mosaic law manifested by the author of Job. The line of + reasoning is that he must have been either a Jew--and in that case + have lived before or simultaneously with Moses--or else an Arab, like + his hero, and have written the work in Arabic, Moses himself probably + doing it into Hebrew. To a Hebrew scholar this sounds as plausible as + would the thesis, to one well versed in Greek, that the Iliad is but + a translation from the Sanscrit. The Talmud makes Job now a + contemporary of David and Solomon, now wholly denies his existence. + Jerome, and some Roman Catholic theologians of to-day, identify the + author of the poem with Moses himself, a view in favour of which not + a shred of argument can be adduced. _Cf._ Loisy, "Le Livre de Job," + Paris, 1892, p. 37; Reuss, "Hiob.," Braunschweig, 1888, pp. 8 ff. + +[23] The subject of the date and place of composition has been treated by + Cornill, "Einleitung in das Alte Testament," 235 fol., by Prof. + Duhm, "The Book of Job" (_cf._ "The New World," June, 1894), and + others. But the most lucid, masterly, and dispassionate discussion of + the subject is to be found in Prof. Cheyne's "Job and Solomon," + chaps. viii.-xii. + +[24] Job A.V. iii. 3-10. + +[25] 592-572 B.C. + +[26] Ezek. xviii. 2, 3. + +[27] _Ibid._ 4-9. + +[28] "The Second Isaiah" is the name now usually given to the unknown + author of one of the sublimest books of the Old Testament, viz., + chaps, xl.-lxvi. of the work commonly attributed to Isaiah. It was + composed most probably between 546 and 535 B.C. + +[29] They may be found by referring to the parallel passages given in the + margin of the Authorised Version of Job; for instance, chap. xiv. + One example may suffice: In the Second Isaiah, xl. 6-8, we read + "The Voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is + grass, and all the goodliness thereof _is_ as the flower of the + field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of + the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people _is_ grass. The grass + withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for + ever." In Job we find the winged word embodied in the verse 2, chap. + xiv. A.V. (strophe cxxi.). + + Man that is born of a woman, + Poor in days and rich in trouble; + He cometh forth as a flower and fadeth, + He fleeth like a shadow and abideth not. + +[30] For the value of the testimony of the Septuagint, _cf_. + following chapter. + + * * * * * + +THE TEXT AND ITS RECONSTRUCTION + +Our Authorised Version of Job is based upon the text handed down to us in +existing Hebrew manuscripts and upon Jerome's Latin translation. None of +the manuscripts, the most important of which are those of the +Vatican,[31] of Alexandria[32] and of Sinai,[33] go further back than the +fourth century A.D. And some of the modifications, made by Jerome in the +Latin translation, particularly in chap. xxi. 25-27, into which he +introduces the Christian idea of the Resurrection, were not based upon +the various readings of the Codices, but inspired by a pious desire to +render the work more edifying. As our Hebrew manuscripts are all derived +from a single copy which was probably contemporaneous with the reign of +the Emperor Hadrian,[34] the words and the corrections of which they +reproduce with Chinese scrupulosity, the utmost we can expect from them +is to supply us with the text as it existed at that relatively late age. + +The comparative indifference that reigned before that time as to the +purity of the text of the most important books of the Canon, and the +utter carelessness with which down to the first century of the Christian +era the manuscripts of the Hagiographa[35] were treated, render it highly +probable that long before the reign of Hadrian the poem of Job had +undergone many and serious modifications. The ease with which words +written with consonants only, many of which resembled each other, were +liable to be interchanged, strengthens this probability; while a detailed +study of the various manuscripts and translations transforms it into +certainty. The parallel passages alone of almost any of the books of the +Old Testament yield a rich harvest of divergences. + +But involuntary errors of the copyists are insufficient to explain all +the bewildering changes which disfigure many of the books of the Sacred +Scriptures. The gradual evolution of the Hebrew religion from virtual +polytheism to the strictest monotheism seemed peremptorily to call for a +corresponding change in the writings in which the revelation underlying +it was enshrined. A later stadium of the evolution--which, of course, was +never felt to be such--might naturally cause the free and easy views and +lax practices which once were orthodox and universal to assume the odious +form of heresy and impiety, and a laudable respect for the author of +revelation was held to impose the sacred duty of bringing the documentary +records of ancient practices into harmony with present theories. This was +especially true of the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes, in which not only +was the general tone lacking in respect for all that the Jewish community +held sacred, but likewise long and eloquent passages directly called in +question the truth of revelation and blasphemously criticised the +attributes of the Most High. + +Gauged by the narrow standards of the Jewish community,[36] some of Job's +most sublime outbursts of poetic passion must have seemed as impious to +his contemporaries as to the theologians of our own country the +"blasphemies" hurled by Byron's Lucifer against the "Everlasting Tyrant." +There can be no doubt that it is to the feeling of holy horror which his +plain speaking aroused in the minds of the strait-laced Jews of 2400 +years ago that we have to ascribe the principal and most disfiguring +changes which the poem underwent at the hands of well-meaning censors. It +is quite possible even now to point out, by the help of a few disjointed +fragments still preserved, the position, and to divine the sense, of +certain spiritful and defiant passages which, in the interest of +"religion and morals," were remorselessly suppressed, to indicate others +which were split up and transposed, and to distinguish many prolix +discourses, feeble or powerful word-pictures and trite commonplaces which +were deliberately inserted later on, for the sole purpose of toning down +the most audacious piece of rationalistic philosophy which has ever yet +been clothed in the music of sublime verse. + +The disastrous results of these corrections which were made at various +times and by different persons is writ large in the present text of Job +as we find it in the Hebrew manuscripts and our Authorised Version, which +offer us in many places a jumble of disjointed fragments, incoherent, +irrelevant or self-contradictory. + +In addition to common sense aided by cautious text criticism which +enables us to recognise interpolations, to correct copyists' errors and +occasionally even to determine the place and the tendency of expunged +passages, the means at our disposal for the restoration of the poem are +principally two: The laws of Hebrew poetry (parallelism and metre) on the +one hand, and a comparison of the Hebrew text with the ancient Greek +translation of the Septuagint,[37] on the other. A judicious use of these +helps which are recognised as such even by the most conservative +Christians, who condemn without hearing the tried methods and least +doubtful conclusions of biblical criticism, enables one to accomplish all +that is now possible towards restoring the poem of Job to its original +form. + +The nature and the laws of Hebrew metre, the discovery of which is +indissolubly associated with the name of Prof. Bickell,[38] are identical +with those of Syriac poetry. The unit is the line, the syllables of which +are numbered and accentuated, the line most frequent containing seven +syllables with iambic rhythm. Accentuated syllables alternate regularly +with unaccentuated, whereby the penultimate has the accent; and the +poetic accent always coincides with the grammatical, as in Syriac poetry +and in the Greek verse of early Christian times, the structure of which +was copied from the Syriac. Compare for instance the following: + +[Greek: + Hae parthenos saemeron + Ton epouranion tiktei, + Kai hae gae to spaelaion + To aprosito parechei.] + +with a strophe from Job: + + Shamáti khéllä rábbot: + Menáchme 'amal koól' khem, + Hakeç ledíberé rooch? + Ma-yámriç'khá, ki táhnä? + +The second characteristic of Hebrew poetry, which is occasionally to be +found even in prose, is that repetition of the same thought in a slightly +modified form which is commonly known as parallelism. Thus, in the poem +of Job the second line of the strophe expresses an idea very closely +resembling that embodied in the first; and the third and fourth run +parallel in like manner. For instance, Eliphaz, expounding the +traditional teaching that the wicked man is punished in this life, says: + + "His offshoot shall wither before his time, + And his branch shall not be green; + He shall shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, + And shall shed his flower, like the olive." + +The second important aid to emendation is a careful comparison of the +Hebrew text with the Greek translation known as the Septuagint (LXX.), +which, undertaken and completed in Alexandria between the beginning of +the third and the close of the second century B.C., offers the first +recorded instance of an entire national literature being rendered into a +foreign tongue. The extrinsic value of this work is obvious from the fact +that it enables us to construct a text which is centuries older than that +of which all our Hebrew manuscripts are servile copies, and is over a +thousand years more ancient than the very oldest Hebrew codices now +extant.[39] Not indeed that the poem of Job had undergone no changes +between the time of its composition and the second century B.C. On the +contrary, some of the most important interpolations had already been +inserted[40] and various excisions and transpositions made before the +translator first took the work in hand. But at least the ground is +cleared considerably, seeing that no less than four hundred verses which +we now read in all our present Bibles, Hebrew and vernacular, were tacked +on to the poem at a date subsequent to the Greek translation and +therefore found no place in that version. These additions may, on the +faith of the Septuagint, be struck out with all the less hesitation that +both metre and parallelism confirm with their weighty testimony the +trustworthy evidence of the orthodox translation that the strophes in +question are insertions of a later date. + +But the value of the Septuagint depends upon its greater or less immunity +from those disfiguring changes which render the Hebrew text +incomprehensible and from which few ancient works are wholly free. And +unfortunately no such immunity can be claimed for it. What happened to +the original text likewise befell the Greek translation. Desirous of +putting an end to the disputes between Jews and Christians as to the +respective merits of the two, a proselyte from Ephesus, Theodotion by +name, undertook to do the Bible into Greek anew somewhere between 180-192 +A.D. The basis of his work was the Septuagint, of which he changed +nothing that in his opinion could stand; but at the same time he +consulted the Hebrew manuscripts and vainly endeavoured to effect a +compromise between the two. Among other innovations, he inserted in his +translation the four hundred interpolated verses which, having been added +to the Hebrew text after it had been first rendered into Greek, could not +possibly have formed part of the Septuagint version. Later on (232-254 +A.D.) Origen, anxious to throw light upon the cause of the divergences +between existing translations and the original text, and to provide the +means of judging of the respective merits of these, undertook one of +those wearisome works of industry, which later on constituted a special +feature of the activity of the Benedictine monks. The result of his +researches was embodied in the Hexapla--a book containing, in six +parallel columns, the original text in Hebrew and in Greek letters, the +Greek translation by Aquila, another by Symmachus, the text of the +Septuagint edited by himself, and Theodotion's version. Now Origen, +acting upon the gratuitous assumption that the passages wanting in the +Septuagint had formed part of the original Book of Job and had been +omitted by the translators solely because they failed to understand their +meaning, took them from Theodotion and incorporated them in his edition +of the Septuagint as it appeared in the Hexapla, merely distinguishing +them by means of asterisks. Unfortunately, in the course of time these +distinctive marks disappeared partially or wholly, thus depriving the old +Greek translation of its inestimable value as an aid to text criticism; +and there remained but five manuscripts in which they were to some extent +preserved.[41] + +Until recently it was generally taken for granted by Biblical scholars +that there were no codices extant in the world but these five, which +contained data of a nature to enable us to reconstruct the text of the +Septuagint. And the assistance given by these manuscripts was dubious at +best, for they included the misleading additions incorporated in the text +by Origen, merely marking them with asterisks, which were not only +insufficient in number, but oftentimes wrongly distributed. No one +ventured to hope that there was still extant a version from which the +spurious verses were rigorously excluded. And the discovery of such a +text by my friend, Prof. Bickell, marks a new epoch in the history of +Biblical criticism. + +One day that distinguished scholar, while sauntering about Monte Pincio +with the late Coptic Bishop, Agapios Bsciai, was informed by this +dignitary that he had found and transcribed a wretched codex of the +Saidic[42] Version of Job in the Library of the Propaganda. Hearing that +numerous passages were wanting in the newly discovered codex, Prof. +Bickell at once conjectured that this "defective" version might possibly +prove to be a translation of the original Septuagint text without the +later additions; and having studied it at the bishop's house saw his +surmise changed to certainty; the text was indeed that of the original +Septuagint without the disfiguring additions inserted by Origen. The late +Prof. Lagarde of Göttingen then applied for, and received, permission to +edit this precious find; but owing to the desire conceived later on by +Pope Leo XIII. that an undertaking of such importance should be carried +out by an ecclesiastic of the Roman Catholic Church, Lagarde's hopes were +dashed at the eleventh hour, and Monsignor Ciasca, to whom the task was +confided, accomplished all that can reasonably be expected from pious +zeal and patient industry. + +The Saidic version, therefore, as embodying a purer and more ancient text +of the Book of Job than any we had heretofore possessed, is one of the +most serviceable of the instruments employed in restoring the poem to its +primitive form.[43] It frequently enables us to eliminate passages which +formerly rendered the author's meaning absolutely incomprehensible, and +at other times replaces obscure with intelligible readings which, while +differing from those of the Massoretic manuscripts, are obviously the +more ancient. + + +Footnotes: + +[31] Fourth century A.D. + +[32] Fifth century A.D. + +[33] Fourth century A.D. + +[34] A.D. 117-138. + +[35] The Hagiographa--or, as the Hebrews term them, _Ketubim_--include + Job, Proverbs, the Psalms, the Canticle of Canticles, Ruth, the + Lamentations, Koheleth, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and + Chronicles. + +[36] As distinguished from the pre-exilian people. Before the Captivity + the Israelites lived the political life of all independent nations. + After the Exile they were but a religious community--a Church. It was + for this Church that the "Mosaic" legislation of the Priests' Code + was written and the ancient historical records retouched. + +[37] Completed probably in the second century B.C. + +[38] Ewald and others had conjectured long before that the colloquies of + Job were in verse, but their attempts to reduce them to strophes + were of a nature to weaken rather than confirm the theory. That + the strophes consisted of four lines is a discovery of Prof. + Bickell's. At first listened to with scepticism, it is now accepted + by some of the leading critics of Germany, and received with favour + by such English scholars as Prof. Cheyne. + +[39] St. Paul in his quotations from the Old Testament usually follows + the Septuagint. But the poem of Job he quotes from a lost version, + some traces of which are to be found in the works of Clement of + Alexandria. + +[40] "Inserted" is the strongest term that can be applied to editors who + lived in a time when to foist one's own elucubrations upon a + deceased genius was a work of piety deserving praise. Some of the + acts which were virtues in Job's days have assumed a very different + aspect in ours; but good intentions are always at a premium, and the + Jewish interpolators were animated by the best. + +[41] Two Greek, two Latin, and one Syriac. + +[42] Also called the Thebaic Version. + +[43] As a translation it is a poor performance. + + * * * * * + +INTERPOLATIONS + +Having thus briefly sketched the instruments by means of which the +reconstruction of the poem of Job was undertaken, it may not be amiss to +illustrate the manner in which they are employed in the light of a few +examples. To begin with the structure of the metre. In the Authorised +Version we find (chap. xii. 12) the words: "With the ancient is wisdom, +and in length of days understanding." This in Hebrew is + + Bishíshim chókhma + Veórekh yámim t'búna. + +The first line therefore has five instead of seven syllables and is +consequently defective; something must have fallen out. This conclusion, +based upon the laws of the metre, is fully borne out by a study of the +context; for it is enough to read Job's reply from the beginning to see +that he could not have set himself to prove, as he is here made to do, +that God is as wise as man; his contention really being that man's +knowledge is ignorance compared with the wisdom of the Being who governs +the universe. For he is arguing against the traditionalists who assert +that justice is the essential characteristic of the conduct of the world, +a thesis refuted by almost everything we see and hear around us. Bildad +besought his sorely tried friend to learn of bygone generations and to +view things through their eyes. "Shall they not teach thee?" he asks +(viii. 10), to which Job's reply is an emphatic negative: "There is +_no_ wisdom with the ancient, nor understanding in length of days." +To agree with his "friend" would be to throw up his case, and this the +Authorised Version makes him do. God alone is endowed with wisdom; but is +He likewise good? To this question His government of the universe alone +can furnish an answer. There must evidently then have been a negative +particle in the text which a copyist, shocked at the seemingly rash +assertion, expunged. If now we add the words "for not" the metre is in +order and the sense perfect: + + Ki én bishíshim chókhma + Veórekh yámim t'búna. + +Take another instance. The first part of v. 14, chap. xiv. is rendered in +our version as follows: "If a man die shall he live again?" and the +translation would be faithful enough if the Hebrew word were +_hayichyä_, as our MSS. testify, but as an interrogation would +destroy the parallelism of the strophe, it is evident that the syllable +_ha_, which in Hebrew consists of one and not two letters, is an +interpolation, and the word should be _yichyä_ and the strophe +(composed of v. 13 and 14a). + + "Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in the grave! + That thou wouldst secrete me till thy wrath be passed! + That thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me! + If so be man could die and yet live on." + +Again starting from the recognised principle that the entire poem is +composed on a regular plan and consists exclusively of four-line +strophes, it is obvious that all the tristichs in chapters xxiv. and xxx. +must be struck out. The circumstances that their contents are as +irrelevant to the context as would be a number of stanzas of "The Ancient +Mariner" if introduced into "Paradise Lost," that in form they are wholly +different from the strophes of the poem of Job, and that there is +obviously a sudden break in the text of the latter just when heterodoxy +merges into blasphemy, have forced critics to the conclusion--about which +there is hardly any difference of opinion--that these tristichs are +extracts from a very different work, which were inserted to fill up the +void created by orthodox theologians of a later date.[44] + +Besides the four hundred verses which must be excluded on the ground that +they are wanting in the Septuagint Version, and were therefore added to +the text at a comparatively recent period,[45] the long-winded discourse +of Elihu[46] must be struck out, most of which was composed before the +book was first translated into Greek. Common sense, unaided by any +critical apparatus, suffices to mark this tedious monologue as an +interpolation. The poet knew nothing of him who is supposed to have +uttered it. In the prologue in prose where all the actors in this +psychological drama are enumerated and described, Elihu is not once +alluded to; and in the epilogue, where all the debaters are named and +censured, he alone is absolutely ignored. Nay, it is evident that when +Jahveh's discourse was written, the poet had no suspicion of the +existence of this fourth friend; for at the conclusion of the "fourth +friend's" pretentious speech, composed of scraps borrowed from those of +the other actors in the drama, Jahveh addressed all present in a form of +words which implies that not Elihu but Job was the last speaker, and had +only that instant terminated his reply. This fact alone should be +conclusive. But it is confirmed by other weighty considerations which +leave no place for doubt: Thus, Elihu's style is _toto coelo_ +different from that of the other parts of the poem: artificial, vague, +rambling, prosaic, and strongly coloured by Aramaic idioms, while his +doctrinal peculiarities, particularly his mention of interceding angels, +while they coincide with those of the New Testament, are absolutely +unknown to Job and his friends. Moreover, if Elihu had indeed formed one +of the _dramatis personae_ of the original work, the _rôle_ he +would and should have assumed is not dubious; he must be the wise man +according to the author's own heart. This he is or nothing. And yet, if +he were really this, we should have the curious spectacle of the poet +developing at great length an idea which runs directly counter to the +fundamental conception underlying the entire work. For Elihu declares +Job's sufferings to be a just punishment for his sins; whereas the poet +and Jahveh Himself proclaim him to be the type of the just man, and +describe his misery as a short, unmerited and exceptional probation. +Evidently then Elihu is the elaborate production of some second-rate +writer and first-class theologian awkwardly wedged into the poem perhaps +a century or more after it had been composed, and certainly before the +work was first translated into Greek. + +The confusion introduced into the text by this insertion is bewildering +in the extreme; and yet the result is but a typical specimen of the +inextricable tangle which was produced by the systematic endeavours of +later and pious editors to reduce the poem to the proper level of +orthodoxy. Another instance is to be found in Job's reply to the third +discourse of Bildad: in two passages of this discourse the hero +completely and deliberately gives away the case which he had been +theretofore so warmly defending, and accepts--to reject it later on as a +matter of course--the doctrine of retribution.[47] Now, on the one hand, +if we remove these verses, Job's speech becomes perfectly coherent and +logical, and the description of wisdom falls naturally into its right +place; but, on the other hand, we have no reason whatever to call their +authenticity in question and to strike them out. The solution of this +difficulty is that Zophar who, in our versions, speaks but twice, really +spoke three times, like each of his three colleagues, and that the verses +in question were uttered by him, and not by Job. His discourse was +intentionally split up into two portions, and incorporated in a speech +delivered by Job, in order to represent the hero as an advocate of the +dogma of retribution. + +Another example of obviously intentional transposition occurs in chap. +xl. where two verses are introduced as one of Job's replies to God, so as +to allow of the latter delivering a second speech and utilising therein a +fine description of the hippopotamus and the crocodile. Lastly, it needs +little critical acumen to perceive that the scraps of dialogue attributed +to Jahveh in the Hebrew text and Authorised Version are, in so far as +they can claim to be regarded as authentic, but fragments of a single +discourse. It would be preposterous to hold a poet or even an average +poetaster responsible for the muddle made by the negligence of copyists +and the zeal of interpolators who sought thus awkwardly to improve the +author's theology at the cost of his poetry. But it is enough to consider +the elements of this particular question for a moment to perceive that +there can be but one solution. Jahveh makes a long and crushing reply to +Job, gradually merges into fine descriptive but irrelevant poetry, and +then suddenly calls for a rejoinder. The hero, humbled to the dust, +exclaims[48] that he is vile and conscious of his impotence, and will lay +his hand upon his mouth and open his lips no more. Here the matter should +end, for Job has confessed himself vanquished. But no, Jahveh, instead of +being touched by this meek avowal and self-humiliation, must needs +address the human worm as if he had turned against his Creator, and asks +such misplaced questions as "Hast thou an arm like God?" As a matter of +fact, Jahveh, whose apparition is but a poetic symbol of the sudden flash +of light which illumined the mind of the despairing hero, spoke but once. +For Job, one glimpse through the veil was enough, one rapid glance at the +realm where all is dark, and deep lies + + "under deep unknown, + And height above unknown height." + + +Footnotes: + +[44] Chap. xxiv. 5-8, 10-24 and chap. xxx. 3-7 take the place of Job's + blasphemous complaint about the unjust government of the world. + +[45] For the benefit of readers who shrink from making any alteration in + the Bible, and who are mostly unaware that innumerable and + wide-reaching changes were effected in it by the negligence or + design of scribes, theologians, and others, it may be well to point + out that none of the changes rendered necessary by the reconstruction + of the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes in any way affects whatever + degree of inspiration they feel disposed to attribute to the Bible as + a whole, or to the interpolations in particular. The point of view of + the critic, if by no means identical with that of the pious + worshipper, need not to clash with it. An interpolation may be--and + as we here see very often is--much more orthodox than an original + text, and the more recent its origin the greater the chances that it + will be so. + +[46] xxxii.-xxxvii. In the Septuagint Version Elihu's discourse occupies + but little more than half the number of verses to be found in the + Hebrew manuscript and in the Authorised Version. + +[47] xxvii. 8-10, 14-23. + +[48] xl. 4-5. + + * * * * * + +JOB'S THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS + +Although the main object of the poet is to present in a clear, +comprehensive and palpable form the sphinx riddle of human existence, his +work abounds nevertheless in a variety of interesting data, which throw +considerable light upon the philosophical and theological theories in +vogue among the thoughtful spirits of the Jewish community. Their +"natural philosophy" offers little that is likely to interest and nothing +of a nature to instruct the well-informed reader of to-day. But the +mythological concreteness and palpitating vitality of all its elements +profoundly impress us, less because of the curious standard they supply +by which to gauge the intellectual level of that age than as the symbols +chosen by the poet to express the identity and nothingness of all things +living and inanimate. Before God, all creatures think, reason, speak, +like man, because all are equal to him and he is but a breath. The stars, +which are relatives of the Satan and of God's own children, wax +enthusiastic and shout for joy; the lightning hearkens to the voice of +its Creator and, flashing athwart the heavens, announces its presence. +The sun is in continual danger of being devoured by a rapacious monster +upon whom a watch has to be set; and all things live and move in the same +way and by exactly the same force that dwells and acts in man with whom +they are one in essence; and he himself is but a flower that sprouts, +fades and dies.[49] Death is the end of man and beast and flower and +grass alike; and after death comes dismal darkness. There is no +difference among them. Man is no more and no less than all the rest. +_Sheol_, or the realm of the dead, is a murky, silent and dreary +abode, the shadowy inmates of which are as if they were not, unconscious +as infants "which never saw the light." + +This state, which is not perhaps absolutely equivalent to complete +annihilation, is yet identical with that of "an hidden untimely birth." +Translated into the language of philosophy this somewhat vague notion +might be expressed as follows: All things, past, present and to come, +which flit as unreal shadows on the wall of time and space, are +manifestations of the one sole force which is everlasting and +omnipresent. They are not parts of a whole which is one and divisible: +all that we see and know of them in life is nothing; and after death they +are what they were before--identical with the one. + + "One life through all the immense creation runs, + One spirit is the moon's, the sea's, the sun's; + All forms in the air that fly, on the earth that creep, + And the unknown nameless creatures of the deep-- + Each breathing thing obeys one mind's control, + And in all substance is a single soul." + +For Job's theory of the universe is dynamic and recognises but one force, +which is so vague and indefinite that he hesitates to bestow upon it the +name of the concrete God of the Jews.[50] There is no multiplicity, no +duality, no other substance, no other cause. The One is and does alone. +All things are shadowy delusions; He alone is real. We are nothing except +in Him. Evil as well as good is His work. The Satan who tortures Job is +one of the sons of God to whom special power is exceptionally delegated; +but, as a rule, God Himself punishes the just and showers His blessings +on the wicked. Everything that happens is the outcome of His will. There +is no nature, no causation, no necessary law in the physical world; every +event is the embodiment of the one will which is absolutely free, and +therefore, neither to be foreseen nor explained. + +Like Koheleth, Job seems to hold that intelligence is something secondary +not primordial. Man, who is richly endowed with it on earth, knows really +nothing, never can know anything, about the origin and reason of things. +They are absolutely unknowable. He finds abyss yawning under abyss, +height towering above height, and dark mysteries encompass him +everlastingly. + + "But wisdom--whence shall it come? + And where is the place of understanding? + It is hid from the eyes of all living" (cxxxiv.). + +And if there be at most but will-o'-the-wisps on this side of the shadow +of Night, there is nought but absolute darkness beyond. + +These considerations would seem to offer a very satisfactory explanation +of the monotheism of the poet which is far in advance of that of his +contemporaries, to whatever age we may assign him. It is a purely +philosophical conception which never was and never can be enshrined in a +theological dogma, and to seek for its genesis in the evolution of the +Jewish religion is far less reasonable than to derive it from the +philosophy of the Greeks or the Hindoos. + +Job's theory of ethics differs widely from that of his friends and +contemporaries, and indeed from that of the bulk of mankind of all times. +The Jews believed in fleeting pleasures and pains in this life as the +sole recompense for virtue and sin; their modern heirs and successors +hope for eternal bliss or fear everlasting suffering in the next. The +motives deducible from both creeds are identical, and philosophy connotes +them as egotism. Whether the meed I long for or the pain I would shun be +transitory or everlasting, the moment my individual well-being becomes +the motive of my conduct it is not easy to perceive where morality comes +in. And so universally is egotism to be found at the root of what appear +to us to be the most generous actions, that the Adversary was right +enough in refusing, without conclusive proof, to enrol Job's name in the +short list of exceptions. But Job's ethics were many degrees above proof. +In no book of the ancient Testament and in no religion or philosophy of +the old world, if we except Buddhism, do we find anything to compare with +the sublime morality inculcated in the poem that bears his name. It +utterly ignores the convenient and profitable virtue known as "duty to +one's self" and bases all the other virtues on pity for our fellows, who +are not merely our brethren but our very selves. The truly moral man +should be able to say with Job: + + "I delivered the poor that cried aloud, + And the orphan and him that had none to help him; + And I gladdened the heart of the widow (ccxlvii.). + + I became eyes to the blind, + And I was feet unto the lame (ccxlviii.). + + If I saw one perish for lack of clothing, + Or any of the poor devoid of covering; + Then surely did his loins bless me, + And he was warmed with the fleece of my sheep (cclxix.). + + I have never made gold my hope (cclxxi.). + + Never did I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, + Nor exult when misery found him out (cclxxiii.). + + Did not he that made me in the womb, make him? (cclxvii.) + + Did I not weep for him that was in trouble?" (cclix.). + +And having accomplished all this without fear of pain, + + "Gaze onward without claim to hope, + Nor, gazing backward, court regret." + +This is the only system of morality deserving that much-abused name; it +was preached and to a great extent practised in India by the Jainists and +the Buddhists, and for the first time in the Old Testament by the author +of our poem. + +All the ills and sorrows of life, merited and unmerited alike, Job is +prepared for. They are the commonplaces of human existence and as +inseparable from it as shadow from light. But what he cannot endure is +the thought that his good name, the sole comfort left him in his misery, +shall be sacrificed to a theological theory which runs counter to every +fact of public history and private experience. This is an injustice which +seems to strike at the root of all morality, and he passionately attacks +all who uphold it, even though God Himself be of the number. For he has +unshaken faith in eternal justice as something independent even of the +deity. Its manifestations may be imperceptible and incomprehensible to +us, but it governs the universe all the same, and faith in this fact was +his lodestar when sun and moon had gone out and the aimless tornado raged +around and ghastly horrors issued from the womb of Night. The wicked may +prosper and the just man die on a dunghill, scorned by all and seemingly +forsaken by God Himself, but it is none the less true that sin and +suffering, virtue and reward are fruits of the same tree, one and +indivisible. They are the manna the taste of which adapts itself to the +eater. Job expresses the conviction, which St. Bernard so aptly +formulated when he said: "Nought can harm me but myself;" and it is this +conviction that nerves and sustains him in his defiant challenge to the +Most High and prompts his appeal to eternal justice against even God +Himself: + + "Will he plead against me with his almighty power? + If not, then not even he would prevail against me. + For a righteous one would dispute with him." (ccxvi.) + +But after the theophany, when the truth has dawned upon the mind of the +heroic sufferer, he sees that eternal justice needs not even this +certificate of its existence, that it can dispense with the most eloquent +human advocate, and he waives what he had theretofore held to be his +indefeasible right and puts the crown on his system of ethics by enduring +his lot in silence. + +Peace grounded on knowledge, therefore, is the end of Job's doubts and +misgivings. But it is not the knowledge of a reward to come, a +presentiment of the joys of heaven, of an everlasting feeding-trough +where our hunger and thirst for existence shall be satiated for ever and +ever. It is that sobering knowledge which is increase of sorrow. +Injustice in the world there is none; if all beings living are liable to +pain, and everything animate and inanimate is subject to decay and death, +the reason is that suffering and dissolution are the conditions of +existence, which is therefore an evil. To desire the one is to wish for +or accept the other. This is the conviction which brings peace to the +soul of the hero and enables him to exclaim: + + "I resign and console myself, + Though in dust and ashes." + + +Footnotes: + + +[49] Strophe cxxi. + +[50] Lagarde seems to have hit the mark when he affirms that the poet's + faith in God reduces itself to a vague belief in the divine. + + * * * * * + +ANALYSIS OF THE POEM + +The popular legend of Job, which was current among the Hebrews and +probably among their Semitic neighbours for centuries before the poem was +composed, is embodied in the prologue and epilogue,[51] which are written +in prose. The data it contains are utilised by the author for the purpose +of clearly stating, not of elucidating, the main problem, and it would be +a grave mistake on the part of the reader to attempt to supplement the +reasoning of Job's friends by arguments drawn from the details narrated +in the legend. Thus, the conversation between Jahveh and the Satan is +obviously intended to establish the all-important fact that Job, although +not a member of the chosen people, a believer in their priestly dogmas, +nor an observer of their religious rites and ceremonies, was none the +less a truly just man, the perfect type of the righteous of all times and +countries. On the other hand, the circumstances that his sufferings were +no more than a probation, and that they were followed by fabulous wealth +and intensified happiness, are dismissed by the poet as wholly irrelevant +to the question at issue. Nor, considering their purely exceptional +character, would they have tended in any degree to solve it. If Job's +misery was an ordeal, all unmerited suffering cannot be pressed into the +same convenient category. His individual privations and pains may have +been compensated for by subsequent plenty and prosperity; but there are +other just men who rot on the dunghill and die in despair. The author, +therefore, wisely refrained from drawing on the legend more extensively +than was absolutely needful for the materials of his poem, and from thus +reducing a universal problem to the dimensions of an individual case. + +The folk-story of the just man, Job, is conceived in the true spirit of +Eastern legendary lore. The colours are laid on with an ungrudging hand. +He was not merely well-to-do and contented, he was the happiest mortal +who had ever walked the earth in his halcyon days, and the most +hopelessly wretched during his probation. + +But although wont, as the Preacher recommends, to fill up his cup with +the wine of life, "pressing all that it yields of mere vintage," he was +anything but an egotist. The broad stream of his sympathy flowed out +towards all his fellows, nay, to all things animate and inanimate. The +sheep, the lion, the eagle, and the oxen, were his comrades, the fire and +the wind his kinsmen. Even for his worst enemies he had no curse, nor did +he ever rejoice in their merited misfortunes. So blameless and upright +was his living and working, so completely had he eschewed even +heart-sins, that he might have carried windows in his breast that all +might see what was being done within. + +Now, in accordance with the retribution-theory then in fashion--small +temporary profits and quick returns--he had amply merited his good +fortune, and might have reasonably expected to enjoy it to the close of a +long life, which for him was the end of everything. In fact, he had no +longer any serious grounds for apprehending the gathering of clouds of +misfortune to darken the sunshine of his existence, seeing that he had +already attained to a ripe age, was possessed of vast herds of cattle and +thousands of camels, was blest with a numerous family, and passed for +"the greatest of all the children of the East." But the most specious +theological theories are as powerless to guarantee the just man from the +blows of adversity as to hinder the worm from finding the blushing rose's +"bed of crimson joy"; and whether pain and sorrow be labelled "probation" +or "just punishment," they will never cease to figure among the +commonplaces of human existence. + +At one of the social gatherings of the courtiers of heaven, Jahveh takes +occasion to laud the virtue of the just man, Job, whereupon the Satan, +who not only understands, but sees through the righteousness of the bulk +of mankind, expresses his conviction that it has its roots in mere +selfishness. Jahveh then empowers the Adversary to put it to the test by +depriving Job of his possessions and his family. On this, the hero's +wealth and happiness vanished as suddenly as the smile on the face of an +infant, and in a twinkling, so to say, he was changed into a perfect type +of human wretchedness. + +By one of those extraordinary miracles which are characteristic of +Oriental fiction, in the course of a single day Job's four hundred yoke +of oxen were seized and carried off by the Sabeans, his seven thousand +scattered sheep were sought out and consumed by lightning, his three +thousand camels were driven away by Chaldeans, and his sons and daughters +killed by the falling of a house. Being but human, Job's soul is harrowed +up by grief; but, recognising the emptiness of all things, he endures his +lot manfully and without murmur or complaint. + +When the sons of God met again in the council chamber of heaven, Jahveh +triumphantly inquired of the Adversary what he now thought of Job's +virtue and its taproot. But the Satan still clung tenaciously to his low +view of the mainspring of the hero's conduct. "Skin for skin, yea, all +that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, +and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face. +And the Lord said unto the Adversary: "Behold he is in thine hand; only +spare his life." Whereupon he was smitten with the most loathsome disease +known in the East, which together with the moral suffering resulting from +utter abandonment, besieged him, "even to the gates and inlets of his +life." But firm and manful, with strength nurtured by the witness of his +own conscience, and the conviction that true virtue is independent of +reward, he maintains the citadel unconquered, refusing to open the +portals even to Jahveh Himself. + +Nothing can subdue Job, not even the bitter fruits of the diabolical +refinement of the Adversary who, having permission to slay all the hero's +kith and kin, spares his spouse, lest misery should harbour any +possibilities unrealised. + +At last three of Job's friends come from the uttermost ends of the earth +to visit and console him. Travelling over enormous distances, and setting +out from opposite points of the compass, they all contrive to reach the +sufferer at the same moment; and at the sight of the deformed and +loathsome figure of their friend are all three struck dumb with grief. +Without any previous consultation among themselves, they sit silent and +sad for seven days and seven nights, gazing with fascinated horror on the +misshapen figure on the dunghill. This curious manifestation of +friendship unmans the hero whose fortitude had been proof against the +most cruel physical and moral suffering; utterly breaking down, he "fills +with woes the passing wind," and bitterly curses his existence. Awe at +first keeps him from censuring God's ways; truthfulness from condemning +himself. He cannot understand why he suffers, whether there be any truth +or none in the traditional doctrine of unfailing retribution upon earth; +for he has certainly done everything to merit happiness and nought to +deserve punishment. Society, however, is there in the person of his +friends to dispel this delusion. They hold a brief for the cut-and-dried +theology of the day which tells them that in Job there was a reservoir of +guilt and sin filling up from youth to age, which now, no longer able to +hold its loathsome charge, burst and overwhelmed with misery their friend +and his family. They play their parts very skilfully, at first softly +stroking, as it were, the beloved friend, as if to soothe his pain, and +then vigorously rubbing the salt in the gaping wounds of the groaning +victim. + +The campaign is opened mildly by Eliphaz, a firm believer in the spooks +and spectres of borderland, who, in reply to Job's complaint, assures his +friend that no really innocent human being ever died in misery as he now +seems to be dying, and gently reminds him that "affliction shooteth not +from the dust, neither doth trouble sprout up from the ground;" they need +the fertile soil of sin, which Job must have provided, unknown to his +easy-going friends who, taking him at his own estimation, heretofore +considered him a just man. But even if he were what he would have them +believe he is, he has no ground for just complaint: for "happy is the man +whom God correcteth." To this the hero replies, accentuating his +innocence, and pouring forth his plaint in "wild words," for God "useth +me as an enemy." He seeks not for mercy, he explains, but for justice, +nay, he is magnanimous enough to be content with even less. He only asks +of God, + + "That it would please him to destroy me, + That he would let go his hand and cut me off;"[52] + +and this request having been refused, suicide, the ever "open door" of +the Stoics, invited him temptingly in, but he withstood the temptation, +and comforted himself with the knowledge that all things in time have an +end. + + "My soul would have chosen strangling, + And death by my own resolve. + But I spurned it; for I shall not live for ever."[53] + +The arbitrary and incomprehensible will of the deity may, in ultimate +analysis, be the changeful basis of right and wrong, but, if so, divine +justice differs from human not merely in degree but likewise in +character, and not apparently to its advantage. The tuneful Psalmist had +sung in ecstatic wonder at the mercy of God: "What is man, that thou art +mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast +made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory +and honour."[54] Job, having looked upwards in the same direction, not +for mercy but for simple justice, and looked in vain, parodies with +bitter irony those same verses of the Psalm: + + "What is man that thou shouldst magnify him? + And that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him? + That thou shouldst visit him every morning, + And try him every moment?"[55] + +Bildad, the Traditionalist _par excellence_, then addresses a sharp +reproof to the just man who refused to recognise as mercy in God the +conduct which, were a man responsible for it, he must needs condemn as +wickedness. He bids him inquire of bygone generations what they thought +of the goodness of the Creator, and asks him to be guided by the wisdom +of his fore-fathers, who lived and throve on the spiritual food of +retribution which he now rejects with loathing. This attack provokes a +new outburst on the part of Job, who ironically paraphrases and develops +the ideas of his comforters, deriding the notion that the deity can +change right into wrong or that true morality needs the divine will as a +basis. + + "How should man be in the right against God? + If he long to contend with him, + He cannot answer him one of a thousand."[56] + + "Lo, he glideth by me and I see him not; + And he passeth on, but I perceive him not."[57] + +His friends had recommended him to pray for pardon and repent, and had +promised him the return of his happiness as a consequence. But Job scouts +the idea. His righteousness, if he indeed possess it, is his own; no +prayers can add to, no punishment can take from, that. + + "I must make supplication unto his judgment, + Who doth not answer me, though I am righteous!"[58] + +And as for a God who being almighty is yet unjust, prayer would be +superfluous, no supplications would avail aught with Him; He would cause +even incarnate holiness to appear wicked in its own eyes. + + "Though I were just, my own mouth would condemn me; + Though I were faultless, he would make me crooked." + +For even the will of a created being is in the hands of its Creator, and +is not, cannot be, free. Job feels and knows that he is right-minded and +good, and he puts the testimony of his own conscience above the decrees +of any beings, human or divine, which, whatever else they may achieve, +cannot shake the foundations of true justice and morality, which are +eternal. + + "Faultless I am, I set life at naught; + I spurn my being, therefore I speak out."[59] + +And the outcome of his outspokenness is a solemn charge of injustice +against God,[60] a sigh of profound regret that he was ever born into +this miserable world, and a wish that his sufferings might "come to an +end before he should return to the land of darkness and of gloom" whence +he came. + +After this, Zophar, the third comforter, opens his lips for coarse +vituperation rather than sharp rebuke, and regrets that God Himself does +not feel moved to give a practical lesson of wisdom to the conceited +"prattler," who persists in believing in his own innocence in spite of +the unmistakable judgment of his just Creator and the unanimous testimony +of his candid friends. Job's reply to this vigorous advocate of God is +even more powerful and indignant than any of the foregoing. He repeats +and emphasises his indictment against the Deity. No omnipotent being who +was really just and good could approve, or even connive at, much less +practise, the scandalous injustice which characterises the conduct of the +universe and the so-called moral order, and of which his own particular +grievances are a specimen. Not that the curious spectacle that daily +meets our eye, wherein wickedness and hypocrisy are prosperous and +triumphant while truth and integrity are trampled under foot, is +necessarily incompatible with absolute and eternal justice; it is +irreconcileable only with the attributes of a personal deity, an almighty +and just creator, who would necessarily be responsible for these evils as +for all things else, if he existed. If the world be the work of an +omnipotent maker, its essential moral characteristic partakes of the +nature of his attributes; and the main moral feature of our world is +evil, and not good. This is the ever-recurring refrain of Job's +discourses. Nor does he hesitate when occasion offers to proclaim his +conviction in the plainest of plain language, for he entertains no fear +of what may further befall him. + + "Lo, let him kill me, I cherish hope no more, + Only I will justify my way before his face."[61] + +The three friends return a second time to the charge, each one speaking +in the same order as before, and each one eliciting a separate reply, in +which Job reaffirms his innocence, reiterates his indictment against the +Most High, and reproaches his comforters with their off-hand condemnation +of an attitude resulting from sufferings which they are slow to realise +and from knowledge which they are unable to grasp. In his rejoinder to +Zophar, he lays special stress upon the prosperity and success of the +wicked who scoff at the laws of God and yet "while away their days in +bliss." If God will not punish them, is He just? If He cannot, is He +almighty? As He does not, why speak of the moral order of His world or of +the moral attributes of Himself? + +Ehphaz opens the third series of speeches by accusing his friend of +selfishness, dishonesty, hard-heartedness and avarice, on no better +grounds than the assumption that God's justice warrants us in believing +that where punishment is inflicted there also must sin have been +committed. Job, instead of condescending to refute the charge, ironically +admits it, and then bitterly remarks that he would like to know how God +would justify His conduct and convict him of sin if only they both could +argue out the question together on terms of equality. But in all the +universe he looks for God in vain: + + "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, + And backward, but I cannot perceive him."[62] + +Bildad then proceeds to emphasise the omnipotence of the Creator with +whom the human worm, the maggot, dares to enter into judgment, and Job +replies to all three, refuting them out of their own mouths. His +conscience, he tells them, is proof sufficient of his right conduct, +whereas his misery, by their own admission, proves nothing at all. + + "Till I die, I will not yield up my integrity! + My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go, + My heart doth not censure any one of my days."[63] + +As for the argument from punishment to sin, all three friends had in the +course of their speeches laid it down that the lines on which the +universe is governed are known to no man. If this be so, who are they +that have surprised the secret and found the clue to the enigma? Who +revealed to them that retribution is the basis of the moral order? Man +knows nothing, can never hope to know anything, of the inner working of +the world, of the why and the wherefore of our miserable being and of the +existence of all things. The Godhead alone could fathom these +mysteries,[64] if He existed. + +Job takes no notice of the succeeding brief remarks of Zophar in his +final and longest discourse which, replete with sorrowful reminiscences +of his past happy life, is less defiant than any of those that preceded. +Wandering in thought through the necropolis of buried hopes, fears and +achievements, he seems to inhale an atmosphere of soothing melancholy +that softens and subdues his wild passion. The vibration of past efforts +and of deeds long since done, trembling along his tortured frame, causes +even saddest thoughts to blend with sweet sensations. Then turning from +what once was to what now is, and missing the logical nexus between the +two states, he solemnly calls upon God to produce it, if He can: + + "Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me, + And hear the indictment which my adversary hath written."[65] + +Scarcely has Job finished speaking when Jahveh appears in a whirlwind and +the heart of the clouds is cloven by a voice of thunder startling the +silent air. The purpose of His coming is to prove men's ignorance, not to +enlighten it, at least not beyond the degree involved by affixing the +highest seal to the negative views expressed by the hero. He plies Job +with a number of questions on cosmology, astronomy, meteorology, &c., +with a view to show that we are ignorant of the ultimate reason of even +the most familiar objects and phenomena, and practically know nothing +about anything. The natural conclusion is that they are unknowable, and +that intellect, knowledge, consciousness, is something secondary, +accidental, and as transitory as the life it accompanies. To make an +exception in favour of Jahveh Himself, would be to lose sight of the +important fact that His apparition was never meant by the poet to be +taken literally.[66] + +It is neither more nor less than a symbol of the insight which Job +obtains into the nature of things, of the light which enables him to see +that there is naught but darkness now and for ever. He perceives by the +simplest, clearest, and most conclusive of all mental processes, a direct +intuition, the truth of the ideas to some of which he had but coldly +assented before--viz., that things are but shadows and existence an evil; +that underlying every being, animate and inanimate, there is a force +existing outside the realm of time and space, and that it is at bottom +identical with the human will; that eternal justice lies at the root of +everything, is the ultimate basis of all existence; that the sufferings +of men, innocent or guilty, and the prevalence of evil are incompatible +with a personal creator; that intellect is secondary, and barely +sufficient for the practical needs of life, after which it ceases to be +an attribute of whatever of man may outlive his body; and, finally, that +as we can know nothing beyond the bare fact that there is an absolute law +of compensation from which there is no exemption, it behoves us to +cultivate ethics rather than science, and to resign ourselves +uncomplainingly to the inevitable. + +However unpalatable these final conclusions may appear to pious readers +accustomed to seek in the Book of Job for the most striking proofs of +some of the principal teachings of the Christian dispensation, it is +difficult, not to say impossible, to study the work in its restored form +and arrive at any other. With Job, God and wisdom are synonymous. And of +the latter he says: + + "But wisdom--whence shall it come? + And where is the place of understanding? + It is hid from the eyes of all living, + Our ears alone have heard thereof."[67] + +These words were uttered before he had obtained the insight which brought +resignation in its train. He alludes to them in his last brief discourse. + + "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, + But now mine eye hath beheld thee; + Therefore I resign and console myself, + Though in dust and ashes."[68] + +Professor Bickell puts the matter very lucidly in his short but +comprehensive introduction to the poem: "As long as Job, solicitous for +his understanding, demanded an explanation of his unutterable suffering, +whereby the mysterious, piteous condition of mankind is shadowed forth, +his seeking was vain, and he ran the risk of loosing himself in the +problems of eternal justice, the worth of upright living, and even the +existence of God; for an unjust, ruthless, almighty being is no God. But +by means of the theophany--which is to be understood merely as a process +in his own heart, and which clearly shows him the impotence of feeble man +to unravel the world-enigmas--he attains to insight; not, indeed, of a +positive kind such as a knowledge of the ways of God would confer, but +negative insight by means of that resignation which flows from excess of +pain. It is thus that his own heroic saying is fulfilled about the +reaction of unmerited suffering upon the just man."[69] + + "But the righteous holds on his way, + And the clean-handed waxeth ever stronger."[70] + + +Footnotes: + +[51] The prologue is contained in chaps. i.-ii.; the epilogue in chap. + xlii. 7-17 of our English Bibles. + +[52] Strophe xxxv. + +[53] Strophe lii. + +[54] Psa. viii. 4, 5. + +[55] Strophe liii. + +[56] Strophe lxv. + +[57] Strophe lxix. + +[58] Strophe lxxi. + +[59] Strophe lxxiii. + +[60] Strophe lxxiv-lxxviii. + +[61] Strophe cxv. _Cf_. strophe clxix., where he dares his friend to + prove him guilty of blasphemy when he is merely giving expression + to the truth: + + "If indeed ye will glorify yourselves above me, + And prove me guilty of blasphemy; + Know, then, that God hath wronged me!" + +[62] Strophe ccxvii. + +[63] Strophe ccxxx. + +[64] As Professor Bickell rightly remarks: "At bottom what Job means is, + that God alone knows the meaning of our sorrowful existence, if, + indeed, He does know it" ("Das Buch Job," p. 5). + +[65] Strophe cclxxvi. + +[66] The mere circumstance that the Deity is no longer called by His + usual name when He appears in the whirlwind is of itself an + indication that the poet was not alluding to God. + +[67] Strophe ccxxxiv. + +[68] Strophe cccix. + +[69] _Cf._ Bickell, _op. cit._ pp. 8-9. + +[70] Strophe clvi. + + + + +KOHELETH + + * * * * * + +[Greek: Archaen men mae phynai epichthonioisin ariston Maed' eisidein +augas oxeos aeëliou. Phynta d'hopos okista pylas Aidao peraesai, Kai +keisthai pollaen gaen epamaesamenon.] + +Theognis. + + * * * * * + +CONDITION OF THE TEXT + +Of all the books of the Old Testament, not excepting the Song of Songs, +none offers such rich materials to the historian of philosophy or such +knotty problems to the philological critic as Koheleth[70] or +Ecclesiastes. This interesting treatise is, in its commonly received +shape, little more than a tissue of loose disjointed aphorisms and +contradictory theses concerning the highest problems of ethics and +metaphysics. The form of the work is characterised by an utter lack of +plan; the matter by almost impenetrable obscurity. So completely +entangled are the various threads of thought, that few commentators or +critics possessed the needful degree of hope and courage to set about +unravelling them. One paragraph, for instance, is saturated with +Buddhistic pessimism; another breathes a spirit of religious resignation, +of almost hearty hopefulness; this sentence lays down a universal +principle which is absolutely denied by the next; the thesis is followed +by proofs, in the very midst of which lurks the antithesis; a series of +profound remarks upon one subject is suddenly interrupted by bald +statements about another, the irrelevancy of which is suggestive of the +ravings of a delirious fever patient. Thus one verse begins[71] by +recommending men to make the most of their youth by following the bent of +their inclinations and the desire of their eyes, such enjoyment being a +gift of God,[72] and finishes by threatening all who act upon the advice +with condign punishment to be ultimately dealt out by God Himself; and +the very next verse proceeds to draw the logical conclusion, which oddly +enough, runs thus: "_therefore_ drive sorrow from thy heart, and put +away evil from thy flesh." In one place[73] the writer solemnly and sadly +affirms that the destiny of the upright and the wicked, the wise and the +foolish is wholly alike; in another[74] he seems to proclaim that the +unrighteous shall suffer for their evil-doing, while the God-fearing +shall be rewarded with long life, which again he stoutly denies shortly +before and immediately afterwards. It is impossible to read chap. ii. 11 +and 12 without coming to the conclusion that we either have to do with +the incoherent ravings of a disordered mind, or else that the leaves of +the original manuscript were dislocated and then put together +haphazard.[75] The "for" that connects the seventh and eighth verses of +chapter vi. is forcibly suggestive of the line of argument which made +Tenterden Steeple the cause of Goodwin Sands, while the nexus between the +sixth and seventh verses of chapter xi. is scarcely more obvious than +that which is to be found between any two of the nonsense verses that +amuse intelligent children in "Alice in Wonderland." And yet this +production, in its present chaotic condition, has been, and is still, +gravely attributed to the pen of King Solomon in his character as the +ideal sage of humanity![76] + + +Footnotes: + +[70] The most satisfactory translation of the word Koheleth is, the + Speaker. "Preacher" conveys a modern and incorrect notion. + +[71] xi. 9. + +[72] ii. 24. + +[73] ix. 2. + +[74] viii. 12, 13. + +[75] The verses in question are: "11. Then I looked on all the works that + my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to + do: and, behold, all _was_ vanity and vexation of spirit, and _there + was_ no profit under the sun. 12. And I turned myself to behold + wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what _can_ the man _do_ that + cometh after the king _even_ that which hath been already done." + +[76] Only, however, by the strictest of orthodox theologians, who + admiringly attribute to the Holy Spirit a hopeless confusion of + ideas which they would resent as insulting if predicated of + themselves. As a matter of historic fact, Solomon, so far from + meriting his reputation as a philosopher, was a rough-and-ready + kinglet, who ruled his subjects with a rod of iron and ground + them down with intolerable burdens. + + * * * * * + +PRIMITIVE FORM OF THE BOOK + +The desperate efforts of professional theologians to smooth away, +explain, and reconcile all these incoherences and contradictions, +constitute one of the most marvellous exhibitions of mental acrobatics +recorded even in the history of hermeneutics. Many of these exegetes set +out on the assumption that a revelation vouchsafed to Solomon could not +possibly embody any statement incompatible with the truths of +Christianity which emanate from the same eternal source; and they all +firmly held that at the very least it must be in harmony with the +fundamental dogmas common to Judaism and the teachings of Christ. In +reality, what this generous hypothesis came to, whenever there was no +question of text criticism involved, was a substitution of the human +ideal for the divine execution. The best accredited contemporary +theologians however, Catholic and non-Catholic, have insight enough to +descry the stamp of true inspiration in a book which enshrines some of +the highest truths laid down in the Sermon on the Mount combined with a +good deal that obviously clashes with theological dogmas formulated at a +much later date for the behoof of a very different social organism. In +any case the original work, as it appears to have issued from the hand of +"Koheleth," was composed in a spirit as conducive to true morality as the +sublime eloquence of Isaiah or the absolute resignation of the author of +the 73rd Psalm. Critics who succeeded in satisfactorily solving many of +the philological, philosophical, and historical problems suggested by +Koheleth utterly failed to find therein any traces of an intelligible +plan. It was reserved to Professor Bickell, of Vienna, to point out what +seem to be the true lines on which alone it is possible to arrive at a +solution alike satisfactory to the reader and respectful to the author. +His theory[77]--it is, and it can be no more than a theory--which has +already received the adhesion of some of the most authoritative Bible +scholars on the Continent, may be briefly summed up as follows: The +present disordered condition of the book, Koheleth, is the result of the +shifting of the sheets of the Hebrew manuscript from their original +places and of the addition of a number of deliberate interpolations. The +latter are of two kinds: those which seemed necessary for the purpose of +supplying the cement required to join together the unconnected verses +which, in consequence of the dislocation, were unexpectedly placed side +by side, and the passages composed with the object of toning down, or +serving as a counterpoise to the very unorthodox views of the writer. + +Professor Bickell's assumption involves no inherent improbability, runs +counter to no ascertained facts, and is therefore perfectly tenable. What +it supposes to have occurred to Koheleth has, in fact, often happened to +other works, religious and profane. It can be conclusively shown, for +instance, that certain leaves of the Book of Ecclesiasticus dropped, in +like manner, from the Greek Codex, whereby three chapters were transposed +from their original places; for the Latin and Syriac versions, which were +made before the accident, still exhibit the original and only +intelligible arrangement. An old Syriac manuscript of the poems of Isaac +of Antioch, now in the Vatican Library, suffered considerably from a +similar mishap, and various other cases in point have come under the +notice of orientalists and archaeologists.[78] In the present instance, +what is believed to have taken place is this. The Hebrew Codex, of which +no translation had as yet been made, consisted of a series of fascicules, +each one of which contained four sheets once folded, or four double +leaves, the average number of characters on each single leaf amounting to +about 525.[79] The Codex, which most probably included other treatises +preceding and following Koheleth, possessed an unknown number of +fascicules, Koheleth beginning on the sixth leaf of one and ending on the +third of the fourth following. According to the hypothesis we are +considering, the middle fascicules becoming loose, fell out of the Codex, +and were found by some one who was utterly unqualified to replace them in +position. This person took the inner half of the second,[80] folded it +inside out, and then laid it in the new order[81] immediately after the +first fascicule. Next came the inner sheet of the third fascicule,[82] +followed by the outside half of the second,[83] in the middle of which +the two double leaves, 13, 18, and 14, 17, had already been inserted.[84] +Although the fourth fascicule had kept its place, it was not on this +account preserved from the effects of the confusing changes caused by the +loosening of the ligature, for between its two first leaves the remaining +sheet of the third fascicule[85] found a place. Finally, leaf 17 becoming +separated from its new environment, found a definite resting-place +between 19 and 21.[86] The result of this dislocation was the utter +disappearance of all trace of plan in the work, the incoherences of which +would be still more numerous and glaring, had it not been for the +transitional words and phrases that were soon after interpolated for the +purpose of welding together passages that were never intended to +dovetail.[87] + +Such is the ingenious theory. The degree of probability attaching to it +depends partly on the weight of corroborative evidence to be found in the +book itself, and partly on the completeness with which it explains the +many difficulties which the traditionalist view could but formulate. +Thoroughly to sift and weigh this evidence, much of which is of a purely +philological character, would require a book to itself; but it will not +be amiss to give one or two instances of the nature of the arguments +relied upon. + +Chap. x. 1, in the present text, is wholly corrupt, owing to the +circumstance that several interpolations were inserted in it at a later +date. Now a little reflection suffices to show that these additions +consist of words taken from chap. vii. 1. But if the book had been +composed as it now stands, such a transposition would be practically +impossible, because chap. x. is separated from chap. vii. by too great an +interval. In the original sequence, however, which Prof. Bickell's theory +supposes and restores, there was no difficulty. There the leaf ix. 11-x. +1 was followed by two leaves containing vi. 8-vii. 22, so that the words +"precious," and "wisdom is better than glory," might have been easily +shifted to x. 1 from the margin of vii. 1. + +Again, in the primitive sequence viii. 4 was immediately followed by x. +2. After the dislocation of the leaves it was erroneously placed before +viii. 6, a few words having been previously interpolated between the two, +solely in the interests of orthodoxy.[88] In order to bridge over the gap +between them, a transitional half verse was strung together, in an +absolutely mechanical manner, from words that precede or follow. And the +words that precede and follow are those which we find in the primitive +arrangement of the manuscript, not in the present sequence. Thus, at the +bottom of the leaf containing viii. 4, the first words, "leb +chakham,"[89] of the following verse (x. 2) were inserted, and then by +inadvertence repeated on the next leaf. Seeing these words, the author of +the transition made them the subject of his new verse. He selected the +grammatical objects of the sentence from the verse which follows in the +new sequence,[90] and took the verb from the preceding half verse, which +is itself an older interpolation. + +Lastly, Koheleth's treatise, which in our Bibles is utterly devoid of +order or sequence, falls naturally, in its restored form, into two +distinct halves: a speculative and a practical, distinguished from each +other by characteristics proper to each, which there is no mistaking. The +former, for instance, contains but few metrical passages, whereas the +latter is composed of poetry and prose in almost equal proportions. The +ethical part continually addresses the reader himself in the second +person singular, while the discursive section never does. In a word, +internal evidence leaves no doubt that, whether the dislocation of the +chapters was the result of accident or design, this was the ground plan +of the original treatise. + + +Footnotes: + +[77] Professor Cheyne discusses Bickell's theory with the caution + characteristic of English theology and the fairness of unprejudiced + scholarship ("Job and Solomon," p. 273 fol.). + +[78] _Cf_. for instance, Cornill, "Theologisches Literaturblatt," + Sept. 19, 1884. + +[79] This mean estimate tallies with calculations made by the late + Professor Lagarde for another book of the Old Testament. + +[80] The leaves 6, 7, 8, 9. + +[81] The pages following each other thus: 8, 9, 6, 7. + +[82] Leaves 15 and 16. + +[83] 4, 5, 10, 11. + +[84] So that the order was then: 4, 5, 13, 14, 17, 18, 10, 11. + +[85] 12, 19. + +[86] The sequence of the leaves was then; 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 6, 7, 15, 16, 4, + 5, 13, 14, 18, 10, 11, 20, 12, 19, 17, 21, 22. + +[87] The most practical and simple way of realising Professor Bickell's + theory is to make a little book of four fascicules of four double + leaves each. On these leaves write the contents of the original + manuscript leaves in chapter and verse numbers. On each of the three + last leaves of the first fascicule (counting, as in Hebrew, from + right to left) write i. 1-ii. 11. On the first two leaves of the + second fascicule write v. 9-vi. 7 (this must be written on each of + the leaves, as it is not quite certain how they were divided). On + third and fourth leaves of the second fascicule write iii. 9-iv. 8; + on each of the fifth and sixth leaves, ii. 12-iii. 8. On the seventh + and eighth leaves, viii. 6-ix. 3. Then comes the third fascicule. On + the first leaf, write ix. 11-x. 1; on the second and third leaves, + vi. 8-vii. 22 on the fourth and fifth leaves, iv. 9-v. 8; on the + sixth leaf, x. 16-xi. 6; on the seventh leaf, vii. 23-viii. 5; on the + eighth leaf, x. 2-15. Lastly comes the fourth fascicule. On the first + leaf, ix. 3-10, on the second and third leaves, xi. 7-xii. 8. + +[88] The first half of viii. 5: "Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel + no evil thing." This interpolation is older than the accident to + the MS. + +[89] The heart of the wise. + +[90] viii. 6. + + * * * * * + +KOHELET'S THEORY OF LIFE + +Read in its primitive shape, the book is a systematic disquisition on the +questions, What positive boon has life in store for us? to which the +emphatic answer is "None;" and How had we best occupy the vain days of +our wretched existence? which the author solves by recommending moderate +sensuous enjoyment combined with healthy activity. He begins his gloomy +meditations with a general survey of the wearisome working of the +machinery of the world, wherein is neither rest nor profit. Everything is +vanity, and the pursuit of wind.[91] Existence in all its myriad forms is +an aimless, endless, hopeless endeavour. The very clod of earth manifests +its striving, in gravitation, for the attainment of a central point +without dimensions, which, if realised, would entail its own +annihilation; the solids tend to become liquids, the liquids to resolve +themselves in vapour. The plant grows from germ through stem and leaf to +blossom and fruit, which last is but the beginning of a new germ that +again develops through flower to fruit, and so on for ever and ever. In +animals, life is the same restless, aimless, unsatisfied striving, in the +first place after reproduction, followed by the death of the individual +and the appearance of a new one which in turn runs through all the stadia +of the old. The very matter of all organisms is ever changing. As for +man, his whole life is but one long series of yearnings after objects, +each one of which presents itself to his will as the one great goal until +attained, whereupon it is cast aside to make way for another. We know +what we long for to-day, we shall know what we shall seek to-morrow; but +what the human race supremely desires, its ultimate aim and end, no man +can say. Existence is a futile beating of the air, a clutching of the +wind. The living make way for the unborn, the dead nourish the living; no +one possesses ought that was not torn from some other being; strife and +hate, evil and pain are the commonplaces of existence; life and death +follow each other everlastingly. All striving is want and therefore +suffering, until it is satisfied, when it assumes the form of +disappointment; for no satisfaction is lasting. In a word, the universe +is a wheel that revolves on its axis for ever--and there is no ultimate +aim or end in it all.[92] Knowledge, wisdom, and enjoyment, each of which +Koheleth characterises by a distich, are likewise vain, or worse. What, +then, is the secret of "happiness"? Surely not wealth, which the Preacher +himself having possessed and applied to "useful" and "good" purposes, +proved emptiness in the end.[93] Wealth, indeed, is nothing if not a +means to happiness, yet experience tells us that the pains endured in +striving for it, and the anxiety suffered in preserving it, effectually +destroy our capacity for enjoying the bliss which it is supposed to +insure, long before misfortune or death snatches it from our grasp.[94] + +Vain as pleasure is, in a world of positive evils it is at least a +negative good, in that it helps to make us forget the vanity of the days +of our life.[95] For this reason, no doubt, it is well-nigh unattainable, +the many being deprived of the means, the few of the capacity, of +enjoyment.[96] + +Passing on to the consideration of wisdom, the Hebrew philosopher finds +it equally empty and vain, because subject to the same limitations and +characterised by the same drawbacks. It is caviare to the million, and a +fresh source of sorrow to the few. Man is tortured with a thirst for +knowledge, and yet all the springs at which it might have been allayed +are sealed up. Unreal shadows are the objects of human intuition, we are +denied a glimpse of the underlying reality. For it is unknowable. + +Even the little we can know is not inspiriting. Take our fellow-men, +their ways and works, for instance, and what do we behold? Their own +evil-doing, injustice, and violence, drag them down to the level of the +brute; and that this is their natural level is obvious, if we bear in +mind that the end of men is that of the beasts of the fields,[97] and +that the ruling power within them, the mechanism, so to say, of these +living and feeling automata is love of life. Consider men at their +best--when cultivating such relative "virtues" as industry, zeal, +diligence in their crafts and callings, and we find these "good" actions +tainted at the very source: love of self and jealousy of others being the +determining motives.[98] In any case we see that work is no help to +happiness, for it is too evident that toil and moil--even that of the +writer himself, who knows full well that he is labouring for a +stranger--is but the price we pay, not for real pleasure, but for carking +care and poignant grief.[99] Such being the bitter fruits of knowledge, +the tree on which they flourish is scarcely worth cultivating. + +Wisdom in its ethical aspect, as a rule of right conduct, is unavailing +as a weapon to combat the Fate that fights against man. Nay, it is not +even a guarantee that we shall be remembered by those who come after us, +and whose lot we have striven to render less unbearable than our own. The +memory of the dead is buried in their graves,[100] and the wheels of the +vast machine revolve as if they had never lived. For a man's moral worth +goes for nothing in the scale against Fate, whose laws operate with +crushing regularity, unmodified by his virtues or his crimes.[101] +Indeed, if there be any perceptible difference between the lot of the +upright and that of the wicked, it is often to the advantage of the +latter, who are furthered by their fierce recklessness and borne onwards +by ambition.[102] The knowledge of this curious state of things serves +but to encourage evil-doers.[103] The obvious conclusion is that instead +of fighting against Fate which is unalterable--"I discovered that +whatever God doeth is forever"[104]--we should resign ourselves to our +lot and draw the practical inference from the fact that life is an evil. + +Wisdom in its practical aspect is equally unpromising. In no walk of life +is success the meed of merit or victory the unfailing guerdon of +heroism.[105] Such wisdom as is within man's reach is often a positive +disadvantage in life, owing to the modesty it inspires as pitted against +the self-confidence of noisy fools. Besides, should it contrive to build +up a stately structure, a small dose of folly, with which all human +wisdom is largely alloyed, is capable, in an instant, of undoing the work +of years.[106] In a word, the wise man is often worse off than the fool; +and in any case, no degree of wisdom can influence the laws of the +universe; what happens is foredoomed; a man's life-journey is mapped out +beforehand, and it is hopeless to struggle with the Will which is +mightier than his own. As we know not what is pre-arranged, we can never +find out what will dovetail with our true interests or is really good for +man.[107] + + +Footnotes: + +[91] i. 2-11 + +[92] _Cf._ Schopenhauer, vol. i. 401-402, and _passim_. + +[93] ii. 3-11. + +[94] v. 9-16. + +[95] Pain, then, for Koheleth, as for a greater than Koheleth, is + something positive; pleasure, on the contrary, negative. "We feel + pain, but not painlessness; we feel care, but not exemption from + it; fear, but not safety.... Only pain and privation are perceived as + positive and announce themselves; well-being, on the contrary, is + merely negative. Hence it is that we are never conscious of the three + greatest boons of life--health, youth, and freedom as such, so long + as we possess them, but only when we have lost them: for they too are + negations.... The hours fly the quicker the pleasanter they are; they + drag themselves on the slowlier the more painfully they are passed, + because pain, not enjoyment, is the something positive whose presence + makes itself felt."--Schopenhauer, ed. Grisebach, ii. 676, 677. + +[96] v. 17-vi. 7; iii. 9, 12-13. + +[97] iii. 19-iv. 3. + +[98] iv. 4-6. + +[99] iv. 7, 8; ii. 18-23. + +[100] ii. 13-16. + +[101] iii. 1-8, viii. 6-8. + +[102] viii. 9-14. + +[103] viii. 14, ix. 3. + +[104] iii. 14. + +[105] ix. 11-12. + +[106] ix. 13-18, x. 1. + +[107] vi. 8, 10-12. + + * * * * * + +PRACTICAL WISDOM + +Having thus cleared the ground in the first part of the treatise, +Koheleth proceeds to erect his own modest system in the second. As life +offers us no positive good, those who, in spite of this obvious fact, +desire it, must make the best of such negative advantages as are within +their grasp. Although so far from being a boon, it is an evil, yet it +may, he points out, be rendered less irksome by following certain +practical rules; and warming to his subject, he winds up with an +exhortation to snatch such pleasures as are within reach, for when all +accounts have been finally cast up and everything has been said and done, +all things will prove vanity, and a grasping of wind. + +The ethics open with six metrical strophes composed, so to say, in the +minor key, which harmonises with the disheartening conclusions of the +foregoing. The theme is the Horatian _Levius fit patientia quicquid +corrigere est nefas._ Death is better than life, grief more becoming +than mirth, contemplation preferable to desire, deliberation more +serviceable than haste.[108] The fleeting joys and the abiding evils of +existence, are to be taken as we find them, seeing that it is beyond our +power to alter the proportions in which they are mixed, even by the +practice of virtue and the application of knowledge. Hence even in the +cultivation of righteousness the rule, _Ne quid nimis_, is to be +implicitly followed: "Be not righteous overmuch, neither make thyself +overwise."[109] On the other hand, wisdom is not to be despised, for it +hardens us against the strokes of Fate, and renders us insensible to the +insults of our fellows.[110] It also teaches us the drawbacks of +isolation, the benefits of co-operation, and the advantage of being open +to counsel.[111] The basis of all practical wisdom being resignation to +the inevitable, obedience to God is better than sacrifices destined to +influence His action. What He does, is done for ever, and our efforts are +powerless to alter it, or to induce Him to change it.[112] God is far +off, unknowable, inaccessible, and man is here upon earth, and such +prayers as we feel disposed to offer, had best be short and few; vows +too, although to be carried out if once made, serve no good purpose, and +are to be avoided. In a word, wild speculations and many words in matters +of religion and theology are vain and pernicious.[113] That work and +enterprise are beneficial in public and private life is obvious from a +study of the results engendered by their opposites.[114] Simple +individuals, no less than rulers, may benefit by enterprise and +initiative, provided that prudence, by multiplying the possibilities of +profit, leaves as little as possible to the vagaries of chance.[115] But +prudence is especially needed in order to avoid the seductive wiles of +woman, against whom one must be ever on one's guard.[116] It also enjoins +upon us submission to the political ruler of the day, who possesses the +power to enforce his will, and is therefore a living embodiment of the +inevitable.[117] In a word, this practical wisdom assumes the form of a +careful adjustment of means to the end in all the ups and downs of +existence.[118] + +After this follows the recommendation of the negative good: the sensuous +joys within our reach. Seeing that no man knows what evil is before him, +nor what things will happen after him, he cannot go far astray, supposing +him to be actuated by a desire to make the best of life, if he tastes in +moderation of the pleasures that lie on his path, including those of +labour.[119] The young generation should, in an especial manner, take +this to heart and pluck the rosebuds while it may, for old age and death +are hurriedly approaching to prove by their presence that all is vanity +and a grasping of wind.[120] + + +Footnotes: + +[108] vii. 1-6, vi. 9, vii. 7-9. + +[109] vii. 10, 13-14, 15-18. + +[110] vii. 21-22. + +[111] iv. 9-16. + +[112] iii. 14. + +[113] v. 1-7. + +[114] v. 7-8, x. 16-20. + +[115] x. 1-3, 6, 4, 5. + +[116] vii. 26-29. + +[117] viii. 1-4, x. 2-7. + +[118] x. 8-14a, 15. + +[119] x. 14b, ix. 3-10, xi. 7-10. + +[120] xi. 9, xii. 8. + + * * * * * + +KOHELETH'S PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE + +Koheleth, who agrees with Job in so many other essential points, is +likewise at one with him in his views on human knowledge, or, as he terms +it, wisdom, which is the source of the highest good within the reach of +man. The only light which we have to guide us through the murky mazes of +existence, is at best but a miserable taper which serves only to render +the eternal darkness painfully visible. "I set my heart to learn wisdom +and understanding. And my heart discerned much wisdom and knowledge.... I +realised that this also is but a grasping of wind."[121] The scenes it +reveals in the moral as well as the material order are of a nature to +make us hate existence. "Then I loathed life."[122] Indeed, the so-called +moral order which, were it, in theory, what it is asserted to be in +truth, might reconcile us to our lot and kindle a spark of hope in the +human breast, is but the embodiment of rank immorality. "All things come +alike to all indiscriminately; the one fate overtaketh the upright man +and the miscreant, the clean and the unclean, him who sacrifices and him +who sacrifices not, the just and the sinner."[123] What then is life? + +To this question the answer is, in effect, "The shadow of a thing which +is not." The sights and sounds of the universe are the only materials +upon which the human intellect can work; and they are all alike empty, +shadowy, unreal. They are the creation of the mind itself, the web it +weaves from its own gossamer substance; and beyond this are nothing. +Space and time, or, as Koheleth expresses it, the universe and eternity, +were placed in our consciousness from the very first, and are as +deceptive as the mirage of the desert.[124] Kant would define them to be +functions of the brain. A projection of the organ of human thought, the +world is woven of three threads--space, time, and causality--which, being +identical with the mind, appear and vanish with it. The one underlying +reality, whether we term it God, Nature, or Will, is absolutely +unknowable,[125] and everything else is Maya or illusion. + +Strange as this doctrine may sound in orthodox ears, it contains, so far, +nothing incompatible with Christianity, which teaches that time and space +will disappear along with this transitory existence, and that the one +eternal and incomprehensible Will is outside the sphere of both and +exempt from the operation of the law of cause and effect. The only +difference between the two is that Christianity admits the existence of +many beings outside the realm of space and time, whereas without space +and time multiplicity is inconceivable, impossible. + +We cannot hope to know the one reality which is and acts underneath the +appearances of which our world is made up, because knowledge is for ever +formed, coloured and bounded by time, space, and causation, and all three +are unreal. They alone constitute succession and multiplicity, which are +therefore only apparent, not existent. We can conceive nothing but what +is, was, or will be (and therefore in time), nothing outside ourselves +but what is in space, and absolutely nought that is not a cause or an +effect. "Far off is that which is, and deep, deep, who can fathom +it?"[126] + +But we possess insight and understanding enough to enable us to perceive +that life is a positive evil, as, indeed, all evil, pain, and suffering +are positive; that pleasures are few, and being negative by their nature, +merely serve to make us less sensible of the evils of existence; that +happiness is a chimaera, birth a curse, death a boon,[127] and absolute +nothingness (Nirvana) the only real good. The hope of improvement, +progress, evolution, is a cruel mockery; for the present is but a +rehearsal of the past; the future will be a repetition of both;[128] +everything that is and will be, was; "what came into being had been long +before, and what will be was long ago."[129] In a word, what we term +progress is but the movement of a vast wheel revolving on its axis +everlastingly. + +But may we not hope for some better and higher state in the future life +beyond the tomb where vice will be punished and virtue rewarded? To this +query Koheleth's reply, like that given by Job, is an emphatic negative; +and yet the doctrines of the immortality of the soul and of the +resurrection were rapidly making headway among the writer's +contemporaries. But he descries nothing in the material or moral order of +the world to warrant any such belief. What is there in material man that +he should be immortal? "Men are an accident, and the beasts are an +accident, and the same accident befalleth them all; as these die even so +die those, and the selfsame breath have they all, nor is there any +preeminence of man above beast; for all is nothingness."[130] Nor can any +such flattering hope be grounded upon the moral order, because there are +no signs of morality in the conduct of the world. "To righteous men that +happeneth which should befall wrong-doers, and that betideth criminals +which should fall to the lot of the upright."[131] Nay, "there are just +men who perish _through_ their righteousness, and there are wicked +men who prolong their lives _by means_ of their iniquity."[132] Of +divine promises and revelations Koheleth--who can hardly claim to be +considered a theist, and whose God is Fate, Nature, eternal Will--knows +nothing. The most favourable judgment he can pass upon such theological +speculations is far from encouraging: "in the multitude of fancies and +prattle there likewise lurketh much vanity."[133] In eternal justice, +however, he professes a strong belief, and, like Job, he formulates his +faith in the words: "Fear thou God."[134] + +To accuse Koheleth of Epicureanism is to take a one-sided view of his +philosophy. His conception of life, its pleasures and pains, is as +clearly and emphatically expressed as that of the Buddha or of +Schopenhauer. He is an uncompromising pessimist, who sees the world as it +is. Everything that seems pleasant or profitable is vanity and a grasping +of wind; there is nothing positive but pain, nothing real but the eternal +Will, which is certainly unknowable and probably unconscious. These +truths, however, are not grasped by every one; they are the bitter fruits +of that rare knowledge, increase of which is increase of sorrow. The few +who taste thereof cling too tenaciously to life, though life be wedded to +sorrow and misery, to renounce such deceitful pleasures as are within +their reach; and the bulk of mankind revel in the empty joys of living. +To all such, Koheleth offers some practical rules of conduct to enable +them to make the best of what is to be had; but the gist of his +discourse is identical with those of Jesus, of the Buddha, of +Schopenhauer--renunciation. + +Human pleasures, whatever their origin, are limited in degree by man's +capacity for enjoyment; and this is an inborn gift, varying in different +individuals but unchanging in each. Some dispositions, cheerful and +sanguine by nature, tinge even the blackest clouds of misfortune with the +rainbow hues of hope; others impart a sombre colour to the most +auspicious event, and descry cause for dread in the most complete +success, just as the bee sucks honey from the flower which yields only +poison to the adder. All joys, although produced by the chemistry of our +consciousness, are drawn either from within its inner sphere or from +without. The former, known as intellectual pleasures, are relatively +lasting because they emanate from what man is; the latter are fleeting +because their source is either what he has or what he seems. These are +never free from alloy; preceded by the pain of desire, they are +accompanied by that of disenchantment and followed by tedium, the worst +pain of all; those are exempt from all three, because instead of +gratifying passing whims they free the intellect from drudging for the +will and afford it momentary glimpses of truth. Wisdom therefore, for +Koheleth as for Job, is the greatest boon that can fall to man's +lot.[135] And yet the law of compensation, operating here as in all other +spheres, sensibility to pain is always proportionate to capacity for +intellectual enjoyment. + +With regard to the pleasures of possession, seeing that they are often +difficult of attainment and always precarious, we must be moderate in +their pursuit and make the most of such as fall to our lot. Contentment +here is everything, and contentment is the result of an even balance +between desire and fulfilment, the former being always in our power and +the latter generally beyond our control. To such happiness as possession +can bestow, it is immaterial whether our demands are lowered or our +prosperity increased, just as in arithmetic it matters not whether we +divide the denominator of a fraction or multiply its numerator by the +same number. Therefore, "Better look with the eyes than wander with +desire."[136] The golden rule is to keep our wishes within the bounds of +moderation, and to adjust them to unfavourable circumstances. The rich +man who wants nothing and covets a mere trifle which is beyond his grasp, +is supremely wretched, while the poor man who needs much but longs for +nothing, is cheerful and contented. But even if wealth were as easily +obtained as it is difficult, the law of compensation should deter us from +seeking it. "Sweet is the sleep of the toiler, but his wealth suffereth +not the rich man to slumber."[137] The only enjoyments common to all men +are those which consist in the satisfaction of natural wants; the +pleasures which wealth can purchase over and above these are trifling, +and more than outweighed by the pain of carking care which it brings in +its train. He who labours for this is, therefore, cutting a stick for his +own back: "all his days are sorrows and his work grief."[138] "There is +no good for man," then--for the common run of mankind who, debarred from +intellectual enjoyment, yet cling tenaciously to life--"save that he +should eat and drink, and make glad his soul in his labour."[139] Health +being the condition of all enjoyment, and one of the greatest of earthly +boons, care should be taken to preserve it by eating, drinking, labour, +and rest, and by moderation in all things. For painlessness, which is +positive, is always to be preferred to pleasure, which is negative. It +matters little to the strong man that he is otherwise hale and thriving, +if he suffer from an excruciating toothache or lumbago. He forgets +everything else and thinks only of his misery. The world, then, being a +terrestrial hell, they who love it as a dwelling-place cannot do better +than try to construct a fireproof abode therein. To hunt for pleasures +while exposing oneself to the risk of pain is folly; to escape suffering +even at the sacrifice of enjoyments is worldly wisdom. As Aristotle put +it, [Greek: _ho phronimos to alupon diokei, ou to haedu_.] But when +all has been said and done, the highest worldly wisdom is but a less +harmful species of folly. Existence is an evil, and the sole effective +remedy renunciation. + + +Footnotes: + +[121] i. 17, 16b. + +[122] ii. 17. + +[123] ix. 2. + +[124] iii. 11. + +[125] vii. 24, _cf_. also v. 1. + +[126] vii. 24, _cf_. also viii. 16, 17. + +[127] "I appraised the dead who died long since, as happier than the + quick who are yet alive; but luckier than both him who is still + unborn, who hath not yet witnessed the evil doings under the + sun," iv. 2, 3. + +[128] In truth, time existing only in the intellect as one of the forms + of intuition, there can be neither past nor future, but an + everlasting now. + +[129] iii. 15. + +[130] iii. 19. + +[131] viii. 14. + +[132] vii. 15. + +[133] v. 7. + +[134] _Ibid._ + +[135] vii. 11, 12. + +[136] vi. 9. + +[137] v. 12. + +[138] ii. 23. + +[139] ii. 24. + + * * * * * + +THE SOURCES OF KOHELETH'S PHILOSOPHY + +To what extent are these pessimistic doctrines the fruits of Koheleth's +own meditations, and how far may they be supposed to reflect the views of +the nation which admitted his treatise into its sacred canon? The latter +half of this question is answered by the desperate efforts made from the +very beginning to correct or dilute his pessimism, and by the grave +suspicion with which Jewish doctors continued to regard it, long after +the "poison" had been provided with a suitable antidote. Thus the book +known as the Wisdom of Solomon, which is accepted as canonical by the +Roman Catholic Church, contains a flat contradiction and emphatic +condemnation of certain of the propositions laid down by Koheleth, as, +for instance, in ch. ii. 1-9, which is obviously a studied refutation of +Koheleth's principal thesis, couched mainly in the identical words used +by the Preacher himself: + + "For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not + right: the time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end + of a man there is no remedy, and no man hath been known to + have returned from hell. + + "For we are born of nothing, and after this we shall be as + if we had not been: for the breath in our nostrils is smoke; + and speech a spark to move our hearts. + + "Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our + spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass + away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, + which is driven away by the beams of the sun, and overpowered + with the heat thereof. + + "And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall + have any remembrance of our works. + + "For our time is as the passing of a shadow, and there is + no going back of our end: for it is fast sealed, and no man + returneth. + + "Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are + present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth. + + "Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments; and + let not the flower of the time pass by us. + + "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they be withered; + let no meadow escape our riot. + + "Let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us everywhere + leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this + our lot." + +Although the book was accepted as canonical by generations of Hebrew +teachers and was quoted as such by men like Gamaliel, there was always a +strong orthodox party among the Jews opposed to its teachings and +apprehensive of its influence;[140] nor was it until the year 118 A.D. +that the protracted dispute on the subject was at last definitely settled +at the Synod which admitted Koheleth into the Canon. It was natural +enough that Hebrew theologians should have hesitated to stamp with the +seal of orthodoxy a book which the poet Heine calls the Canticles of +Scepticism and in which every unbiassed reader will recognise a powerful +solvent of the bases of theism; and the only surprising thing about their +attitude is that they should have ever allowed themselves to be persuaded +to abandon it. + +For Koheleth's pessimistic theory, which has its roots in Secularism, is +utterly incompatible with the spirit of Judaism, whichever of its +historical phases we may select for comparison. It is grounded upon the +rejection of the Messianic expectations and absolute disbelief in the +solemn promises of Jahveh Himself. Koheleth cherishes no hope for the +individual, his nation, or the human race. The thing that hath been is +the same that shall be, and what befell is the same that shall come to +pass, and there is no new thing under the sun....[141] "I surveyed all +the works that are wrought under the sun, and behold all was vanity and +the grasping of wind."[142] Persians had succeeded Chaldeans; Cyrus, the +Anointed of Jahveh, had come and gone; Greeks had wrested the hegemony of +the East from Persians, but no change had brought surcease of sorrow to +the Jews. They were even worse off now than ever before. Jahveh, like +Baal of old, was become deaf to His worshippers, many of whom turned away +from Him in despair, exclaiming, "It is vain to serve God, and what +profit is it that we have kept His ordinance?"[143] Koheleth, like Job, +never once mentions Jahveh's name, but always alludes to the Eternal +Will, which alone is real and unknowable, under the colourless name of +Elohim. To say that he believed in a personal God in any sense in which a +personal God is essential to a revealed religion, is to misunderstand +ideas or to play with words.[144] And Koheleth was a type of a class. +Literary men of his day having mockingly asked for the name of the +Creator,[145] Koheleth answers that He is inaccessible to men, and that +prayer to Him is fruitless.[146] The Jewish aristocracy of his day, +desirous of embodying these views in a practical form, sought to abolish +once for all the national religion, as a body of belief and practices +that had been weighed in the balances and found wanting; while the party +that still remained faithful to the law was composed mainly of +narrow-minded fanatics, whose wild speculations, long-winded prayers and +frequent vows, Koheleth considers deserving objects of derision. He +himself held aloof from either camp. He took his stand outside the circle +of both, surveying life from the angle of vision of the philosophical +citizen of the world. But it would be idle to deny that he had far more +in common with the "impious" than with the orthodox. + +Thus he scornfully rejects the old doctrine of retribution, and he is +never tired of affirming premisses from which the obvious and indeed only +conclusion is that the popular conception of a deity who spontaneously +created the universe and vigilantly watches over the Hebrew nation, is +erroneous, incredible, inconceivable. The Jahveh of olden times, with His +grand human passions and petty Jewish prejudices, he simply ignores. He +naturally rejects the immortality of the soul--a tenet or theory which +was then for the first time beginning to gain ground and to be relied +upon as the only means of ultimately righting the wrongs of existence. +The fact is that he had no belief in a soul as we understand it. Modern +theology regards the indestructible part of man as essentially +intelligent, while admitting the fact that intellect is indissolubly +associated with the brain, partaking of its vicissitudes during life and +vanishing with it apparently for ever at death. Job, Koheleth, and many +other writers of the Old Testament hold that if anything of the man +persists after the death of the individual, it is unconscious. "The +living know at least that they shall die, whereas the dead know not +anything at all."[147] In a word, no other philosopher, poet, or +proverb-writer of the Old Testament is less orthodox in his beliefs or +less Jewish in his sentiments--and Agur alone is more aggressive in his +scepticism--than Koheleth. + +Much has been written about the sources from which this writer may and +even must have drawn his peculiar mixture of pessimism and +"Epicureanism," and considerable stress has been laid upon the profound +influence which Greek culture is supposed to have exerted upon Jewish +thinkers towards the second century B.C., when the moral atmosphere was +choked with "the baleful dust of systems and of creeds." The +"Epicureanism" of the man who said: "Better is sorrow than laughter," +"the heart of the wise is in the mourning house,"[148] hardly needs the +hypothesis of a Greek origin to explain it. My own view of the matter, +which I put forward with all due diffidence, differs considerably from +those which have been heretofore expressed on the subject. I cannot +divest myself of the notion that Koheleth was acquainted, and to some +extent imbued, with the doctrines of Gautama Buddha, which must have been +pretty widely diffused in the civilised world towards the year 205 B.C., +when the present treatise was most probably composed.[149] + +Buddhism, the only one of the world-religions which, springing from an +abstruse system of metaphysics, brought forth such practical fruits as +truthfulness, honesty, loving-kindness and universal pity, spread with +extraordinary rapidity not only throughout the Indian continent but over +the entire civilised world. Its apostles[150] visited foreign countries, +touching and converting by their example the hearts and minds of those +who were incapable of weighing their arguments, or unwilling to listen to +their exhortations. They introduced a mild, tolerant, humane spirit +whithersoever they went, preaching entire equality, practising perfect +toleration, founding houses for meditation, erecting hospitals and +dispensaries for sick men and beasts, cultivating useful plants and +trees, gently suppressing cruelty to animals under any pretext,[151] and +generally sowing seeds of sympathy and brotherly love of which history +has noticed and described but the final fruits. From the earliest +recorded period Indian culture manifested a natural tendency to expand, +which was intensified at various times by the comparatively low ebb of +civilisation in the adjoining countries. One can readily conceive, +therefore, the effects of the strenuous and persevering efforts of one of +the most powerful Indian monarchs, Açoka Piyadassi,[152] king of Magadha, +to propagate that aspect of his country's civilisation which is +indissolubly bound up with the doctrines of the Buddha. + +Açoka, grandson of the great king Tshandragupta, was the first monarch +who openly accepted the tenets and conscientiously practised the precepts +of the profoundest religious teacher ever born of woman; and no more +eloquent testimony could well be offered to the sincerity of the royal +convert than the well-nigh miraculous self-restraint with which he +forebore to cajole or coerce those of his subjects whom his arguments +failed to convince. Satisfied with the progress of the new religion in +his native place, he despatched his son, Mahindo, to introduce it into +Ceylon; and so successful were the young prince's missionary efforts that +that island became and remains the chief seat of Buddhism to this day. +Açoka next turned his attention to foreign countries, in which traders, +travellers, emigrants and others had already sparsely sown the seeds of +the new faith, and making political power and prestige subservient to +zeal for truth and pity for suffering humanity, he induced his allies and +their vassals to purchase his friendship by seconding his endeavours to +inculcate the philosophic doctrines and engraft the humane practices of +Buddhism on their respective subjects. The results he obtained are +recorded in his famous inscriptions composed in various Indian dialects +and engraven upon rocks all over the continent, from Cabul in the West to +Orissa in the East; and among the monarchs whom he there enumerates as +having co-operated with him in his apostolic labours, are Antiochus,[153] +Turamaya,[154] Alexander, Magas[155] and Antigenes;[156] into whose +hospitable dominions he despatched zealous Buddhist missionaries, +empowered to found monasteries, to open dispensaries and hospitals, at +his expense, and to preach the saving word to all who cared to hear. + +The following literal translation of one of Açoka's inscriptions[157] +will help to convey an idea of the nature of his activity as the royal +apostle of Buddhism, the Constantine of India: "All over the realms of +the god-favoured king, Priyadarsin, and (the realms of those) who (are) +his neighbours, such as the Codas, Pandyas, the Prince of the +Sâtiyas,[158] the Prince of the Keralas, Tamraparnî, the King of the +Javanas, Antiochus, and (among the) others who (are) vassals of the said +King Antiochus, everywhere the god-beloved, king, Priyadarsin, caused two +kinds of hospitals to be erected: hospitals for men and likewise +hospitals for animals.[159] Wherever there were no herbs beneficial to +men or animals, he everywhere gave orders that they should be procured or +planted. In like manner, where there were no health-giving roots and +fruits, he everywhere commanded that they should be procured or planted. +And on the highways he had trees put down and wells dug for the behoof of +men and beasts."[160] + +History confirms Açoka's testimony and declares him to have been no less +successful in sowing the seeds of medicinal plants than those of the +"saving doctrine." Buddhism enrolled numerous converts and zealous +apostles all over the civilised world, and in Ceylon, Egypt, Bactria, and +Persia, the yellow flag floated aloft from the roofs of the monasteries +of _Bhikshus_.[161] But its influence, in other ways equally +powerful while considerably more subtle, has oftentimes escaped the +vigilance of the historian. None of the great religions of ancient or +modern times succeeded in escaping its contact, or failed to be improved +by its spirit. In the second century B.C. there were flourishing Buddhist +communities in inhospitable Bactria, where they maintained a firm footing +for nearly a thousand years. A Greek,[162] who wrote about the year 80 +B.C., and a Chinese pilgrim,[163] who passed through the land in the +beginning of the seventh century A.D., allude to them as important +elements of the population of the country in their respective ages, and +the Buddhist monastery founded in Balkh, the capital of Bactria, in the +second century B.C., was become a famous pilgrimage in the days of Hiuen +Thsang. The Zoroastrian priests of Erân hated and feared the followers of +the strange creed while silently adopting and unconsciously propagating +many of its institutions. Several of the Eranian kings incurred the +censure involved in the nickname of "idolaters" in consequence of the +favour they extended to the preachers of Nirvana.[164] No religion of +antiquity was less favourable to a life of passive contemplation than +Zoroastrianism, which defined life as a continuous struggle, and +considered virtue as a successful battle with the powers of darkness; and +yet little by little Zoroastrian monasteries sprang up by the side of the +Fire Temples, and offered a quiet refuge from the turmoil of the world to +the pious worshippers of Ahura Mazda.[165] + +So saturated were the Eranian populations with the spirit of +Buddha--antagonistic though it was to their own--that the two great +Eranian sects,[166] one of which bade fair to become a universal +religion,[167] were little else than adaptations of the creed of the +Buddha to the needs of a different time and people. Mânî, for instance, +prohibited marriage, which was one of the principal duties and holiest +acts of a true servant of Ahura Mazda; forbade the killing of animals +which, in the case of ants, serpents, gnats, &c., was enjoined by the +priests of Zoroaster, and discouraged agriculture lest plants should be +destroyed in the process. And the two classes of perfect and imperfect +disciples in Mânî's community were copied from those of Buddhism, which +divides all believers into two categories: those who sincerely and +fervently seek to attain to Nirvana and are termed Bhikshus, and the +Upasakas or laymen who, while holding on to life, practise such virtues +as are compatible with this unholy desire. + +The Jewish religion, in certain of its phases, reveals in like manner +unmistakable traces of the influence of the religion of the Buddha. To +take but one instance, the Essenians in Judaea, near the Dead Sea and the +Therapeutes in Egypt, practised continence, eschewed all bloody +sacrifices, encouraged celibacy, and extreme abstemiousness in eating and +drinking. They formed themselves into communities, and lived, after the +manner of Buddhist Bhikshus, in monasteries. During the life of Jesus, +the Essenians, who lived mostly in cloistered retirement on the shores of +the Dead Sea, played no historic role; but after the destruction of +Jerusalem, they embraced Christianity in a body, and originated the +ascetic movement of the Ebionites, which did not finally subside until it +had deposited the germs of monasticism in the Church of Christ. + +Koheleth, who lived either in Jerusalem or in Alexandria--more probably +in the latter city--about the year 205 B.C., had exceptional +opportunities for becoming acquainted with the tenets and precepts of the +religion of Buddha. He was evidently a man of an inquiring mind, with a +pronounced taste for philosophical speculation; and the social and +political conditions of his day were such that a person even of a very +incurious disposition would be likely to be brought face to face with the +sensational doctrine which was responsible for such amazing innovations +as hospitals for men and for animals. Alexandria, the museum and library +of which had already been founded, was one of the principal strongholds +of non-Indian Buddhists. It is mentioned in the Milindapanho, a Pali work +which deals with events that took place in the second century B.C.;[168] +it is expressly included by Açoka in the list of cities into which he +introduced a knowledge of the "path of duty," and so devoted were its +inhabitants to the creed of Sakhya Mouni,[169] that thirty years after +Augustine had died at Hippo, thirty thousand Bhikshus set out from +Alasadda[170] to annex new countries to the realm of truth. + + +Footnotes: + +[140] _Cf._ the epilogue (xii. 9-14), for example, which is one of the + most timid and shuffling apologies ever penned. + +[141] i. 9. + +[142] i. 14. + +[143] Malachi iii. 14. + +[144] Professor Cheyne remarks: "To me, Koheleth is not a theist in any + vital sense in his philosophic meditations."--"Job and Solomon," + p. 250. + +[145] _Cf._ Proverbs xxx. 4. + +[146] iii. 14, v. 2. + +[147] Eccles. ix. 5. + +[148] vii. 3, 4. + +[149] The view of several of the most authoritative scholars--in which I + entirely concur--is that Koheleth was written in Alexandria during + the reign of Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes), who came to the throne as a boy + under the guardianship of tutors and was alluded to in the verse: + "Woe, land, to thee whose king is a child." + +[150] Some of them were foreigners resident in India who, after their + conversion, preached the new doctrine to their fellow-countrymen. + Thus, one of the earliest and most successful missionaries was a + Greek, whose Indian name was Dharmarakshita. + +[151] Plants, too, were included in their care and profited by their + protection. + +[152] Açoka is a Sanskrit word, which means "free from care;" and + Piyadassi a dialectic form of the Sanskrit word Priyadarsin, which + means lovable, amiable. It was applied as an epithet to King Açoka, + who reigned from 259-222 B.C. + +[153] Antiochus II., called Theos, who was poisoned by his divorced wife + Laodike in 247 B.C. I am aware that some scholars identify the + Antiochus here mentioned with Antiochus the Great. Although both + views make equally for my contention, I fail to see how Açoka, + who died in all probability in the year 222 B.C., could have + carried on important negotiations with Antiochus the Great, who + came to the throne of Syria two years later. + +[154] Ptolemy of Egypt, probably Ptolemy Philadelphos, who founded the + Museum and Library of Alexandria, and his successor Ptolemy + Euergetes (247-221 B.C.). + +[155] Magas, king of Cyrene. + +[156] The identity of this monarch is uncertain. + +[157] The second Edict of Girnar, Khalsi version. + +[158] A South Indian people. + +[159] Usually a dispensary was opened for the distribution of simples, + and a hospital hard by for those who could not move about. The + Buddhists were almost as anxious to relieve the physical pain and + illness of animals as of human beings. + +[160] _Cf._ Bühler, "Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen + Gesellschaft," Band xxxvii. folg. p. 98. + +[161] The monks or real disciples of Buddha who endeavour to attain + Nibbana or Nirvana. The bulk of the population contents itself with + almsgiving and the practice of elementary morality, the reward for + which will be a less unhappy existence after death; but not Nirvana, + to which only the perfect can hope to attain. + +[162] Alexander Polyhistor, quoted by Cyrillus (_contra Julianum_); + _cf._ also Clemens Alexandrinus, _Stromata I._, p. 339. + +[163] Hiuen Thsang. + +[164] Their names and deeds are preserved in the Persian epic known as + the Book of Kings (Firdoosi, Shah-Nameh, _cf_. 1033, v. 4, 1160, + v. 2, &c.). + +[165] Ormuzd. An instructive instance of the way in which foreign + institutions become nationalised in Bactria is afforded by the + Buddhist monastery in Balkh, which was at first known by its + Indian name, _nava vihâra_, a term that was gradually changed to + _naubehar,_ which in Persian means "new spring." + +[166] Mânî and Mazdak. + +[167] The religion of Mânî. + +[168] Ed. Trenckner, p. 327. + +[169] Buddha. + +[170] Alexandria. + + + + +AGUR, THE AGNOSTIC + + * * * * * + +AGUR, SON OF YAKEH + +Embedded in the collection of the Book of Proverbs[171] is an interesting +fragment of the philosophy of a certain "Agur, son of Yakeh, the poet," +which for scathing criticism of the theology of his day and sweeping +scepticism as to every form of revealed religion, is unmatched by the +bitterest irony of Job and the most dogmatic agnosticism of Koheleth. +Unfortunately it is no more than a mere fragment, the verses of which are +thoughtfully separated from each other by strictures, protests, and +refutations of the baldest and most orthodox kind. Indeed, it is in all +probability precisely to the presence of the infallible antidote that we +owe the preservation of the deadly poison; and if we may found a +conjecture as to the character of the whole work on a comparison of the +fragments with what we know generally of the sceptical schools of +philosophy prevalent among the Jews of post-Exilian days, we shall feel +disposed to hold the seven strophes preserved in our Bibles as that +portion of the poem which the compiler considered to be the most innocent +because the least startling and revolutionary. + +To the thinking of the critics of former times the Proverbs displayed +unmistakable traces of the unique and highly finished workmanship of the +great and wise king Solomon. At the present day no serious student of the +Bible, be he Christian or Rationalist, would raise his voice on behalf of +this Jewish tradition which, running counter to well-established facts, +is devoid even of the doubtful recommendation of moderate antiquity. A +more accurate knowledge of history and a more thorough study of philology +have long since made it manifest to all who can lay claim to either, that +however weighty may have been Solomon's titles to immortality, they +included neither depth of philosophic thought nor finish of literary +achievement. And an average supply of plain common-sense enables us to +see that even had that extraordinary monarch been a profound thinker or a +classic writer, he would hardly have treated future events as +accomplished facts without being endowed with further gifts and marked by +graver defects which would involve a curious combination of prophecy and +folly. + +The Proverbs themselves, when properly interrogated, tell a good deal of +their own story; sacred and profane history supply the rest. In their +present form they were collected and edited by the author of the first +six verses of the first chapter, who drew his materials from different +sources. The first and most important of these was the so-called "Praise +of Wisdom" which, until a comparatively recent period, was erroneously +held to be a rounded, homogeneous poem. Professor Bickell conclusively +showed that it consists of ten different songs composed in the same metre +as the Poem of Job, each chapter being coextensive with one song, except +the first chapter, which contains two.[172] The fifth collection, +containing the proverbs copied "by the men of Hezekiah," is characterised +by the strong national spirit of the writers. Most of the others make +frequent mention of God, give a prominent place to religion, and adapt +themselves for use as texts for sermons; these, on the contrary, never +once mention His name, reflect religion as it was--viz., as only one of +the many sides of national existence, and deal mainly with the concrete +problems of the everyday life of the struggling people. The other sayings +may be aptly described as the pious maxims of a sect; these as the +thoughts of a nation. The seventh part of the Book of Proverbs contains +the remarkable sayings of Agur,[173] which were quite as frequently +misunderstood by the Jews of old as by Christians of more recent times, +the former heightening the impiety of the author and the latter +generously identifying him with the pious and fanatical writer to whose +well-meant refutations and protests we owe the preservation of this +interesting fragment of ancient Hebrew agnosticism. + + +Footnotes: + +[171] The Book of Proverbs begins with ten songs on wisdom, which + constitute the first part of the work. The second part is made up + of distichs, each one of which, complete in itself, embodies a + proverbial saying (x. i-xxii. 16). The third section is composed of + the "sayings of the wise men," which are enshrined in tetrastichs or + strophes of four lines, among which we find an occasional + interpolation by the editor, recognisable by the paternal tone, the + words "My son," and the substitution of distichs for tetrastichs. + Then comes the appendix containing other proverbial dicta (chap. + xxiv. 23-34. chap. vi. 9-19, chap. xxv. 2-10), followed by the + proverbs "of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah copied out" + (xxv. 11-xxvii. 22), and wound up with a little poem in praise of + rural economy. Chaps. xxviii. and xxix. constitute another collection + of proverbs of a more strictly religious character, and then come the + sayings of Agur, written in strophes of six lines, the rules for a + king and the praise of a good housewife. + +[172] Prov. i. 7-19 and i. 20-33. + +[173] Chap. xxx. + + * * * * * + +FORM AND CONTENTS OF THE SAYINGS OF AGUR + +It is needless to discuss the condition and the contents of the entire +Book of Proverbs, seeing that each one of its component parts has an +independent, if somewhat obscure, history of its own. The final compiler +and editor, to whom we are indebted for the collection in its present +form, undoubtedly found the sweeping scepticism of the poet Agur and the +pious protestations of his anonymous adversary, the thesis and the +antithesis, inextricably interwoven in the section now known as the +thirtieth chapter. He himself apparently identified the two +antagonists--the scoffing doubter and the believing Jew; most modern +theologians have cheerfully followed his example. The fact would seem to +be that the orthodox member of the Jewish community, who thus +emphatically objected to aggressive agnosticism, was a man who strictly +observed the "Mosaic" Law, and sympathised with the people in their +hatred of their heathen masters and their hopes of speedy deliverance by +the Messiah; in a word, an individual of the party which later on played +an important role in Palestine under the name of the Pharisees. +Possessing a copy of Agur's popular philosophical treatise, this zealous +champion undertook to refute the theory before he had ascertained the +drift of the sayings in which it was enshrined, or grasped their primary +meaning. Thus, in one passage[174] he fancies that the taunts which Agur +levelled against omniscient theologians who are well up in the history of +everything that is done or left undone in heaven, while amazingly +ignorant of the ascertainable facts of earthly science, are really aimed +at God; and he seeks to parry the attack accordingly. His numerous and +amusing errors are such as characterise the fanaticism that would refute +a theory before hearing it unfolded, not those which accompany and betray +pious imbecility. Hence it would be unfair to tax him with the utter +incoherency of the prayer which our Bibles make him offer up, when +warding off the supposed attack upon God: (8) "Feed me with food +convenient for me, (9) Lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the +Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God _in +vain_." The mistake is the result of the erroneous punctuation of the +Hebrew words,[175] which may be literally rendered into English as +follows: + + "Feed me with food suitable for me, + Lest I be sated and deny thee, + And say, Who is the Lord? + Or lest I be poor and yield to seduction, + And sin against the name of my God.' + +In the ensuing verse the controversialist, full of his own Pharisaic[176] +views of politics, and fancying he detects in certain of Agur's +words,[177] an apology for the heathen rulers and contempt for the +orthodox people of God, inveighs against the traitor who would denounce +his fellow-subjects to their common master,[178] and holds him up to +universal odium. + +One or two other false constructions put upon Agur's sayings by the +champion of the "Law of Jahveh," are likewise worthy of attention. In the +second sentence, which can be traced back to the proverbial philosophy of +the Hindoos, Agur, enumerating the four things that are never satisfied, +lays special stress upon two which are, so to say, the beginning and end +of all things, the alpha and omega of human philosophy--viz., the grave +and the womb;[179] the latter the bait as well as the portal of life, the +former the bugbear and the goal of all things living. The idea, no less +than the form, is manifestly Indian. Birth and death constitute the axis +of existence; the womb is the symbol of the allurement that tempts men to +forget their sorrows, to keep the Juggernaut wheel revolving and to +supply it with fresh victims to be mangled and crushed into the grave. +The lure and the deterrent--love of sensuous pleasure and fear of +dissolution--are as deceitful as all the other causes of pain and +pleasure in this world of appearance. Schopenhauer puts it tersely thus: +"As we are decoyed into life by the utterly illusory impulse to +voluptuousness, even so are we held fast therein by the fear of death, +which is certainly illusory in an equal degree. Both have their immediate +source in the Will, which in itself is unconscious."[180] + +The only reward which life offers to those who crave it, is suffering and +death. The desire of life--the Indian _tanha_ or thirst of +existence--Agur represents in the form of the beautiful but terrible +Ghoul of the desert who has two daughters: birth and death. By means of +her fascinating charms she entices the wanderer to her arms, but instead +of satiating his soul with the promised joys, she ruthlessly flings him +to her two daughters who tear him to pieces and devour him on the spot. +Desire is the source of life which in turn is the taproot of all evil and +pain; insight into this truth--the knowledge or wisdom lauded by Job and +prized by Koheleth--affords the only means of breaking the unholy spell, +and escaping from the magic circle. + +This ingenious and profound philosophical image was wholly misunderstood +by Agur's orthodox adversary, who founds upon the deprecatory allusion to +the womb a general accusation of lack of reverence for maternity and a +specific charge of disrespect for Agur's own mother.[181] + +Agur's third saying has been likewise sadly misconstrued by the ancient +Pharisaic controversialist and by his faithful modern successors. He +enumerates therein four things which to him seem wholly incomprehensible, +the fourth and last being the darkest mystery of all: the flying of an +eagle in the air, the movement of a serpent--which is devoid of special +organs of locomotion--along a rock, the sailing of a ship on the ocean, +and "the way of a man with a maid."[182] It is very hard to believe what +is nevertheless an undeniable fact, that the bulk of serious commentators +classify these as the trackless things, whereby, strangely enough, they +understand the last of the four in a moral instead of a metaphysical +sense. The error is an old one: it was on the strength of this arbitrary +and vulgar interpretation that Agur was accused by his Jewish antagonist +of a criminal lack of filial piety towards his own father,[183] and +threatened with condign punishment, to be inflicted by the eagles that +fly so wonderfully in the air;[184] while another scribe, unaware that +the mystery of generation could be chosen as the text for a treatise on +metaphysics, and firmly convinced that the philosopher was condemning +unhallowed relations between the sexes, penned a gloss to make things +sufficiently clear which was afterwards removed from the margin to the +text where it now figures as the twentieth verse. + +In truth, Agur gives utterance to a natural sentiment of awe and wonder +at the greatest and darkest of all mysteries whose roots lie buried in +the depths of the two worlds we conceive of. What could be more +awe-inspiring than the instantaneous metamorphosis of pure immaterial +will into concrete flesh and blood, throbbing with life hastening to +decay, the incarnation in the sphere of appearances of an act of the one +being which is not an appearance only, but the denizen of the world of +reality? Will is primary, real, enduring; intellect secondary, +accidental, fleeting; the one, abiding for ever, is identical in all +things; the latter varies in different beings, nay in the same +individuals at various times, and perishes with the brain, of which it is +a function. Will is devoid of intellect, as intellect is deprived of +velleity. We know will through our inner consciousness which has to do +exclusively with it and its manifold manifestations; all other +things--the world of appearances--we know through what may be termed our +outer consciousness. + +Now in our self-consciousness we apprehend the fierce, blind, headstrong +sexual impulse as the most powerful motion of concentrated will. The act +is marked by the spontaneity, impetuosity, and lack of reflection which +characterises the agent, will being by nature unenlightened and +unconditioned. And yet that which in our inner consciousness is a blind, +vehement impulse, appears in our outer consciousness in the form of the +most complex living organism we know. Generation, then, is manifestly the +point at which the real and the seeming intersect each other. + +Birth and death--the inevitable lot of each and every one--would seem to +affect the individual only, the race living on without change or decay. +This, however, is but the appearance. In reality the individual and the +race are one. The blind striving to live, the will that craves existence +at all costs, is absolutely the same in both, as complete in the former +as in the latter, and the perpetuity of the race is, so to say, but the +symbol of the indestructibility of the individual--_i.e._, of will. + +Now this all-important fact is exemplified quite as clearly by the +phenomenon of generation as by the process of decay and death. In both we +behold the opposition between the appearance and the essence of the +being, between the world as it exists in our intellect as representation, +and the world as it really is, as will. The act of generation is known to +us through two different media: that of the inner consciousness which is +taken up with our will and all its movements, and that of our outer +consciousness which has to do with impressions received through the +senses. Seen through the former medium, the act is the most complete and +immediate satisfaction of the will--sensual lust; viewed in the light +supplied by the outer consciousness, it appears as the woof of the most +intricate texture, the basis of the most complex of living organisms. +From this angle of vision, the result is a work of amazing skill, +designed with the greatest ingenuity and forethought, and carried out +with patient industry and scrupulous care; from that point of view it is +the direct outcome of an act which is the negation of plan, forethought, +skill, and ingenuity, a blind unreasoning impulse. This contrast or +rather opposition between the seeming and the real, this new view of +birth and death, this sudden flash of light athwart the impenetrable +darkness, is what provokes the wonder of this scoffing sceptic.[185] + +In the fourth saying, Agur mentions, among the persons whom the earth +cannot endure, a low-bred fellow who is set to rule over others, and a +fool when he acquires a competency and becomes independent. The anonymous +Pharisee, who keeps a vigilant watch for doctrinal slips and political +backslidings and frequently finds them where they are not, descries in +the first of the four unbearable things a proof that Agur was a Sadducee +and an aristocrat who would rather obey a monarch who is "every inch a +king"--even though he be a heathen--than a native clodhopper who should +climb up to the throne on the backs of a poor deluded people and grind +them down in the sacred name of liberty and independence. Agur is +therefore duly reprimanded and classed with the shameless oppressors of +the multitude and the devourers of the substance of the poor,[186] as the +Sadducees generally were by their Pharisaic opponents. + +The sentence that follows, enumerating the things "which are little upon +the earth,[187] is not from the pen of our philosopher, but a harmless +passage inserted subsequently as a _pendant_ to the four things +which "are comely in going." The main considerations that point to this +conclusion and warrant us in ascribing the verses to a different author +are these: all the other "numerical sayings" which are admittedly the +work of Agur, contain first of all the number three and in the parallel +verse four,[188] whereas this sentence speaks of four only. Again, all +Agur's proverbs are in the form of strophes of six lines each; but this +passage consists of five distichs. Lastly, it is a manifest digression, +leads nowhither, and, what is still more important, has no point, as all +Agur's sayings have.[189] + +The final sentence of this interesting fragment needs no elaborate +explanation: it contains the pith of Agur's practical philosophy in the +form of an exhortation to renounce honour, glory, the esteem of men, &c., +if we possess legitimate claims to such, and still more if we have none; +the acquisition of peace and quiet is cheap at the price of obscurity; +freedom from care and worry and from the evils they bring in their train, +being of infinitely greater value than the chance and even the certainty +of so-called "positive" enjoyments. + + +Footnotes: + +[174] Prov. xxx. 4. + +[175] The Hebrew text consists of vowelless words. The correct vowels + must be ascertained before the meaning of a word or sentence can + be definitely established. The vowel points of our Hebrew Bibles + are not older than the seventh century A.D., and are frequently + erroneous. In the present case the word stealing does not occur + in the text, but only the being stolen--viz., seduction, temptation. + +[176] I employ the word in its natural, not in its conventional, sense. + +[177] Prov. xxx. 21, 22. + +[178] _Ibid_ xxx. 10. + +[179] The word "barren" added in our Bibles (Hebrew _'oçzer_, + "barrenness") is not only excluded by the metre, but is also + wanting in the Septuagint version--conclusive proofs that it is a + later interpolation. + +[180] _Cf_. Schopenhauer, "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," herausg. + v. E. Grisebach, ii. p. 585. Grisebach's is the only correct edition + of Schopenhauer's works. + +[181] Prov. xxx. 11. + +[182] _Ib_. xxx. 18, 19. + +[183] _Ib_. xxx. 11. + +[184] _Ib_. xxx. 17. + +[185] _Cf_. Schopenhauer, "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," vol. ii. + p. 583 fol.; also vol. i. pp. 424-426; and Bickell, "Wiener + Zeitschrift für Kunde des Morgenlandes," 1891. + +[186] Prov. xxx. 19. + +[187] _Ib_. xxx. 24-28. + +[188] For example, Prov. xxx. 15: + + "There are three things that are never satisfied, + Yea, four things say not, 'It is enough!'" + +[189] _Cf_. Bickell, "Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunde des + Morgenlandes," 1891. + + * * * * * + +DATE OF COMPOSITION + +The sayings of Agur cannot possibly be assigned to a date later than the +close of third century B.C. The ground for this statement is contained in +the circumstance that Jesus Sirach found the Book of Proverbs in +existence, with all its component parts and in its present shape, about +the year 200 B.C. He mentions a collection of proverbial sayings when +alluding to Solomon and his proverbs. Jesus Sirach's canon--if we can +apply this technical term to the series of scriptures in vogue in his +day--comprised the books contained in our Bibles from Genesis to Kings, +further Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezechiel, the twelve Minor Prophets, Psalms, +Proverbs, and Job. Moreover, it is no longer open to doubt that the +arrangement of the various parts of the Book of Proverbs which he read +was identical with that of ours. For the last part of this Book contains +an alphabetical poem in praise of a good housewife,[190] and Jesus Sirach +concluded his own work with a similar poem upon wisdom, in which he +imitated this alphabetical order. It is obvious, therefore, that Proverbs +in their present form could not have been compiled later than the date of +Jesus Sirach's work (about 200 B.C.). This conclusion is borne out by the +circumstance that the final editor of Proverbs in his introduction,[191] +mentions the Words of the Wise, which occur in chapters xxii. 17-xxiv., +and "their dark sayings," or riddles, by which he obviously means the +sentences of Agur. For Proverbs and for Agur's fragment, therefore, the +latest date is the beginning of the second century B.C. Chapter xxx., in +which, on the one hand, Agur develops very advanced philosophical views, +some of them of Indian origin, and, on the other, his anonymous +antagonist breathes the narrow, fanatic spirit so thoroughly +characteristic of the later "Mosaic" Law, is among the very latest +portions of Proverbs. For it is in the highest degree probable that the +sayings of Agur are of a much later date even than the promulgation of +the Priests' Code;[192] and the circumstance that the anonymous stickler +for strict orthodoxy already begins to accentuate the political and +religious opposition between the two great parties known as Pharisees and +Sadducees, as well as other grounds of a different order, disposes me to +assign the fragment of Agur to the third century B.C. This conclusion +would be borne out by the influence upon Agur's scepticism of +comparatively recent foreign speculation. Some of his sayings have an +unmistakable Indian ring about them. A few are even directly traceable to +the philosophical sentences of the Hindoos. The enumeration of the four +insatiable things, for instance, is but a slight modification of the +Indian proverb in the Hitopadeça which runs: "Fire is not satiated with +fuel; nor the sea with streams; nor death with all beings; nor a +fair-eyed woman with men."[193] Still more striking and suggestive is the +correspondence between the desire of life, personified in Agur's fragment +by the beautiful Ghoul, and the thirst of existence denoted by the Buddha +and his countrymen as _tanha_--the root of all evil and suffering. +"Through thirst for existence (_tanha_)," the Buddha is reported to +have said to his disciples, "arises a craving for life; through this, +being; through being, birth; through birth are produced age and death, +care and misery, suffering, wretchedness and despair. Such is the origin +of the world.... By means of the total annihilation of this thirst for +existence (_tanha_) the destruction of the craving for life is +compassed; through the destruction of the craving for life, the uprooting +of being is effected; through the uprooting of being, the annihilation of +birth is brought about; by means of the annihilation of birth the +abolition of age and death, of care and misery, of suffering, +wretchedness and despair is accomplished. In this wise takes place the +annihilation of this sum of suffering."[194] The same doctrine is laid +down by the last accredited of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputto: "What, +brethren, is the source of suffering?" he is reported to have said. "It +is that desire (_tanha_) which leads from new birth to new birth, +which is accompanied by joy and passion, which delights now here, now +there; it is the sexual instinct, the impulse towards existence, the +craving for development. That, brethren, is what is termed the source of +suffering."[195] + + +Footnotes: + +[190] Prov. xxxi. 10-31. + +[191] Prov. i. 6. + +[192] 444 B.C. + +[193] _Cf_. Hitopadeça, book ii. fable vi.; ed. Max Müller, vol. ii. + p. 38. + +[194] Samyuttaka-Nikayo, vol. ii. chap. xliv. p. 12; _cf_. Neumann + "Buddhistiche Anthologie," Leiden, 1892, pp. 161-162. + +[195] Majjhima-Nikayo; _cf_. Neumann, _op. sit.,_ p.25. + + * * * * * + +AGUR'S PHILOSOPHY + +Of the three Hebrew thinkers of the Old Testament who ventured to sift +and weigh the evidence on which the religious beliefs of their +contemporaries were based, Agur was probably the most daring and +dangerous. He appealed directly to the people, and set up a simple +standard of criticism which could be effectively employed by all. Hence, +no doubt, the paucity of the fragments of his writings which have come +down to us and the consequent difficulty of constructing therewith a +complete and coherent system of philosophy. To what extent he assented to +the theories and approved the practices which constitute the positive +elements of the Buddha's religion, is open to discussion; but that he was +a confirmed sceptic as regards the fundamental doctrines of Jewish +theology, and that his speculations received their impulse and direction +from Indian philosophy, are facts which can no longer be called in +question. + +To the theologians of his day he shows no mercy; for their dogmas of +retribution, Messianism, &c., he evinces no respect; nay, he denies all +divine revelation and strips the deity itself of every vestige of an +attribute. Proud of their precise and exhaustive knowledge of the +mysteries of God's nature, the doctors of the Jewish community had drawn +up comprehensive formulas for all His methods of dealing with mankind, +and anathematised those who ventured to cast doubts upon their accuracy. + + "Whatever sceptic could inquire for, + For every why they had a wherefore," + +the unanswerable tone of which lay necessarily and exclusively in the +implicit and tenacious faith of the hearer. Now, faith may be governed by +conditions widely different from those that regulate scientific +knowledge, but if its object be something that lies beyond the ken of the +human intellect it must be based either upon a supernatural intuition +accorded to the individual or upon a divine revelation vouchsafed to all. +In the former case it cannot be embodied in a religious dogma; in the +latter it cannot--or should not--be accepted without thorough discussion +and due verification of the alleged historical fact of the divine +message. + +This is the gist of Agur's reasoning against the allwise theologians of +the Jewish Church. + +These sapient specialists, whose intellects were nurtured upon the +highest and most abstruse speculations and who could readily account for +all the movements of the Deity with a wealth of detail surpassing that of +a French police _dossier_, were utterly and notoriously ignorant of +the rudimentary laws of science which every inquisitive mind might learn +and every educated man could verify. Now, as truth is one, Agur reasoned, +how comes it that the persons who thus lay claim to a thorough knowledge +of the more difficult, are absolutely ignorant of the more simple? +Whence, in a word, did they obtain their perfect acquaintance with the +mysteries of the divine nature and the mechanism of the universe, the +elementary laws of which are yet unknown to them? Surely not from any +source accessible to all; for Agur, possessing equally favourable +opportunities for observation and quite as keen an interest in the +subject, not only failed to make any similar discoveries, but even to +find any confirmation of theirs. For this he sarcastically accounts by +admitting that he must be considerably more stupid than the common run of +mankind, in fact, that he is wholly devoid of human understanding--a +confession which he evidently expects every reasonable man to repeat +after him to those who assert that crass ignorance of fundamental facts +is an aid to the highest kind of knowledge. + + "I have worried myself about God, and succeeded not, + For I am more stupid than other men, + And in me there is no human understanding: + Neither have I learned wisdom, + So that I might comprehend the science of sacred things." + +Still he is a very docile disciple, and, having failed to make any +discoveries of his own, would gladly accept those of a qualified +master--of one who endeavours to know before setting out to teach and who +prefaces his account of the wonders of the unseen world by pointing out +the bridge over which he passed thither, from this. But does such a +genuine teacher exist? + + "Who has ascended into heaven and come down again? + Who can gather the wind in his fists? + Who can bind the waters in a garment? + Who can grasp all the ends of the earth? + Such an one would I question about God: 'What is his name? + And what the name of his sons, if thou knowest it?'" + +And if even specialists do not fulfil these conditions, are we not forced +to conclude that their so-called knowledge is a fraud and its +subject-matter unknowable? + +Agur's views of right conduct--if we may judge by the general tenour of +his fragmentary sayings and by the principle embodied in his sixth and +last sentence, in which he rejects as a motive for action "a high hope +for a low heaven"--are marked by the essential characteristics of true +morality. An action performed for the sake of any recompense, human or +divine, transitory or eternal, is egotistic by its nature, and therefore +not moral; and the difference between the man who, in his unregenerate +days, cut his neighbours' throats in order to enjoy their property, and +after his conversion gave all his goods to feed the poor, in order to +enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, is more interesting to the legislator +than to the moralist. But, were it otherwise, Agur holds that, even from +a purely practical point of view, all the honours and rewards which +mankind can bestow upon their greatest benefactor would be too dearly +purchased by a ruffled temper; in other words, mere freedom from positive +pain is a greater boon than the highest pleasure purchased at the price +of a little suffering. + +Agur's politics gave as much offence to the priests as his theology. Like +most original thinkers, he is a believer in the aristocracy of talent, +and he makes no secret of his preference of a hereditary nobility to +those upstarts from the ranks of the people who possess no intellectual +gifts to recommend them. For the former have at least training and +heredity to guide them, whereas the latter are devoid even of these +recommendations. These views furnished the grounds for the charge of +Sadduceeism preferred against him by his adversary. + +To what extent Indian thought, and in particular the metaphysics and +ethics of Buddhism, influenced Agur's religious speculations, it is +impossible to do more than conjecture. Personally I am disposed to think +that he was well acquainted and indeed thoroughly imbued with the +teachings of the Indian reformer. In the third century B.C., as already +pointed out, the spread of the new religion through Bactria, Persia, +Egypt, and Asia Minor was rapid. Moreover, the turn taken by the +speculations of cultured Hebrews of that epoch was precisely such as we +should expect to find, if it stood to Buddhistic preaching in the +relation of effect to cause. The scepticism of the philosophers of the +Old Testament, not excepting that of Agur who may aptly be termed the +Hebrew Voltaire, was not wholly destructive. Its sweeping negations in +the spheres of metaphysics and theology were amply compensated for--if +one can speak of compensation in such a connection--by the positive, +humane, and wise maxims it lays down in the domain of ethics. And the +cornerstone of the morality of all three--Job, Koheleth, and Agur--would +seem to be virtually identical with that formulated in the Indian +aphorism: + + "Alone the doer doth the deed; alone he tastes the fruit it brings; + Alone he wanders through life's maze; alone redeems himself from + being." + +Buddhistic influence in the case of Agur, therefore, is all the more +probable that it admirably dovetails with all the circumstances of time +and place known to us, even on the supposition, which I am myself +inclined to favour, that Agur lived and wrote in Palestine. This +probability is greatly enhanced by the striking affinity between the +Buddhist conception of revealed religions, of professional priests and of +practical wisdom, and that enshrined in the few verses of Agur which we +possess. It is raised to a degree akin to certainty by the actual +occurrence of Indian images, similes, and even concrete aphorisms in the +short fragment of seven strophes preserved to us in the Book of Proverbs. + + * * * * * + +THE POEM OF JOB + +TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT + + * * * * * + +PROLOGUE + +CHAP. I. A.V.] + +1 _There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man +was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil._ + +2 _And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters._ + +3 _His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand +camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a +very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of +the east._ + +4 _And his sons went and feasted_ in their _houses, every one his +day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with +them._ + +5 _And it was so, when the days of_ their _feasting were gone +about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the +morning, and offered burnt offerings_ according _to the number of +them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed +God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually._ + +6¶ _Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before the Lord, and Satan came also among them._ + +7 _And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan +answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from +walking up and down in it._ + +8 _And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, +that_ there is _none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright +man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?_ + +9 _Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for +nought?_ + +10 _Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and +about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his +hands, and his substance is increased in the land._ + +11 _But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he +will curse thee to thy face._ + +12 _And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath_ is _in +thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went +forth from the presence of the Lord._ + +13¶ _And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating +and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:_ + +14 _And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were +plowing, and the asses were feeding beside them:_ + +15 _And the Sabeans fell_ upon them_, and took them away; yea, +they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am +escaped alone to tell thee._ + +16 _While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The +fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the +servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell +thee._ + +17 _While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The +Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have +carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the +sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee._ + +18 _While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy +sons and thy daughters_ were _eating and drinking wine in their +eldest brother's house: + +19 _And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote +the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they +are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee._ + +20 _Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell +down upon the ground and worshipped,_ + +21 _And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I +return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be +the name of the Lord._ + +22 _In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly._ + + +CHAP. II. A.V.] + +1 _Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present +themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present +himself before the Lord._ + +2 _And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan +answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from +walking up and down in it._ + +3 _And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, +that_ there is _none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright +man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast +his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him +without cause._ + +4 _And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that +a man hath will he give for his life._ + +5 _But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and +he will curse thee to thy face._ + +6 _And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold he is in thine hand; but save +his life._ + +7¶ _So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job +with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown._ + +8 _And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down +among the ashes._ + +9¶ _Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine +integrity? curse God, and die._ + +10 _But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women +speaketh. What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we +not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips._ + +11¶ _Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come +upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, +and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an +appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him._ + +12 _And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they +lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and +sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven._ + +13 _So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven +nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that_ his +_grief was very great_. + + +CHAP. III. A.V. + +1 _After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day_. + +2 _And Job spake, and said_: + +I + +JOB: + + Would the day had perished wherein I was born, + And the night which said: behold, a man child! + Would that God on high had not called for it, + And that light had not shone upon it! + +II + + Would that darkness and gloom had claimed it for their own; + Would that clouds had hovered over it; + Would it never had been joined to the days of the year, + Nor entered into the number of the months! + +III + + Would that that night had been barren, + And that rejoicing had not come therein; + That they had cursed it who curse the days,[196] + That the stars of its twilight had waxed dim! + +IV + + Would it had yearned for light but found none, + Nor beheld the eye-lids of the morning dawn! + For it closed not the door of my mother's womb, + Nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. + +V + + Why died I not straight from the womb? + Why, having come out of the belly, did I not expire? + Why did the knees meet me? + And why the breasts, that I might suck? + +VI + + For then should I have lain still and been quiet, + I should have slept and now had been at rest, + With the kings and counsellors of the earth, + Who built desolate places for themselves. + +VII + + Or with princes, once rich in gold, + Who filled their houses with silver, + I should be as being not, as an hidden untimely birth, + Like infants which never saw the light! + +VIII + + There the wicked cease from troubling, + And there the weary be at rest; + There the prisoners repose together, + Nor hear the taskmaster's voice. + +IX + + Why gives he light to the afflicted, + And life unto the bitter in soul, + Who yearn for death, but it cometh not, + And dig for it more than for buried treasures? + +X + + Hail to the man who hath found a grave! + Then only hath God "hedged him in."[197] + For sighing is become my bread, + And my crying is unto me as water. + +XI + + For the thing I dreaded cometh upon me, + And that I trembled at befalleth me. + I am not in safety, neither have I rest; + Nor quiet, but trouble cometh alway. + +XII + +ELIPHAZ: + + Lo, thou hast instructed many, + Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling. + Now hath thine own turn come, + And thou thyself art worried and troubled. + +XIII + + Was not the fear of God thy confidence? + And the uprightness of thy ways thy hope? + Bethink, I pray thee, who ever perished guiltless? + Or where were the righteous cut off? + +XIV + + I saw them punished that plough iniquity, + And them that sow sorrow reap the same; + By the blast of God they perish, + And by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.[198] + +XV + + Now a word was wafted unto me by stealth,[199] + And mine ear received the whisper thereof; + In thoughts from the visions of the night, + When deep sleep falleth upon man. + +XVI + + Fear came upon me and trembling, + Which made all my bones to shake. + Then a spectre sped before my face; + The hair of my flesh bristled up. + +XVII + + It stood, but I could not discern its form. + I heard a gentle voice:-- + "Shall a mortal be more just than God? + Shall a man be more pure than his maker? + +XVIII + + Behold, in his servants he puts no trust,-- + Nay, his angels[200] he chargeth with folly;-- + How much less in the dwellers in houses of clay, + Whose foundations are down in the dust. + +XIX + + Between dawn and evening they are destroyed: + They perish and no man recketh. + Is not their tent-pole torn up?[201] + And bereft of wisdom, they die." + +XX + + Call now, if so be any will answer thee; + And to which of the angels wilt thou turn? + For his own wrath killeth the foolish man, + And envy slayeth the silly one. + +XXI + + His children are far from safety; + They are crushed, and there is none to save them. + The hungry eateth up their harvest, + And the thirsty swilleth their milk. + +XXII + + For affliction springeth not out of the dust, + Nor doth sorrow sprout up from the ground;-- + For man is born unto trouble, + Even as the sparks fly upward. + +XXIII + + But I would seek unto God, + And unto God would I commit my cause, + Who doth great things and unfathomable, + Marvellous things without number. + +XXIV + + He giveth rain unto the earth, + And sendeth waters upon the fields; + To set up on high those that be low, + That they who mourn may be helped to victory. + +XXV + + He catcheth the wise in their own craftiness, + And the counsel of the cunning is thwarted; + Wherefore they encounter darkness in the daytime, + And at noonday grope as in the night. + +XXVI + + The poor he delivereth from the sword of their mouth, + And the needy out of the hand of the mighty; + Thus the miserable man obtaineth hope, + And iniquity stoppeth her mouth. + +XXVII + + Happy is the man whom God correcteth; + Therefore spurn not thou the chastening of the Almighty: + For he maketh sore and bindeth up; + He smiteth, and his hands make whole. + +XXVIII + + He shall deliver thee in six troubles, + Yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee:-- + In famine he shall redeem thee from death, + And in war from the power of the sword. + +XXIX + + Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue,[202] + Neither shalt thou fear misfortune when it cometh; + At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, + Nor shalt dread the beasts of the earth. + +XXX + + For thy tent shall abide in peace, + And thou shalt visit thy dwelling and miss nought therein; + Thou shalt likewise know that thy seed will be great, + And thine offspring as the grass of the earth. + +XXXI + + Thou shalt go down to thy grave in the fulness of thy days, + Ripe as a shock of corn brought home in its season. + Lo, this have we found out, so it is! + This we have heard, and take it thou to heart. + +XXXII + +JOB: + + Oh that my "wrath" were thoroughly weighed, + And my woe laid against it in the balances! + For it would prove heavier than the sands of the sea; + Therefore are my words wild. + +XXXIII + + For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; + My spirit drinketh in the venom thereof. + The terrors of God move against me, + He useth me like to an enemy. + +XXXIV + + Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? + Or loweth the ox over his fodder? + Would one eat things insipid without salt? + Is there taste in the white of raw eggs? + +XXXV + + Oh that I might have my request, + And that God would grant me the thing I long for! + Even that it would please him to destroy me, + That he would let go his hand and cut me off! + +XXXVI + + Then should I yet have comfort, + Yea, I would exult in my relentless pain. + For that, at least, would be my due from God, + Since I have never withstood the words of the Holy One. + +XXXVII + + What is my strength that I should hope? + And what mine end that I should be patient? + Is my strength the strength of stones? + Or is my flesh of brass? + +XXXVIII + + Am I not utterly bereft of help? + And is not rescue driven wholly away from me? + Is not pity the duty of the friend, + Who, else, turneth away from the fear of God? + +XXXIX + + My brethren have disappointed me as a torrent, + They pass away as a stream of brooks, + Which were blackish by reason of the ice, + Wherein the snow hideth itself. + +XL + + The caravans of Tema sought for them, + The companies of Sheba hoped for them. + But when the sun warmed them they vanished; + When it waxed hot they were consumed from their place. + +XLI + + Did I say: Bestow aught upon me? + Or give a bribe for me of your substance? + Or deliver me from the enemy's hand? + Or redeem me from the hand of the mighty? + +XLII + + Teach me and I will hold my tongue; + And cause me to discern wherein I have erred. + How cutting are your "righteous" words! + But what doth your arguing reprove? + +XLIII + + Do ye imagine to rebuke words? + But the words of the desperate are spoken to the wind. + Will ye even assail me, the blameless one? + And harrow up your friend? + +XLIV + + But now vouchsafe to turn unto me, + For surely I will not lie to your face. + I pray you, return; let no wrong be done. + Return, for justice abideth still within me. + +XLV + + Is there iniquity in my tongue? + Cannot my palate discern misfortunes? + Hath not man warfare upon earth? + And are not his days like to those of an hireling? + +XLVI + + As a slave panting for the shade, and finding it not, + As an hireling awaiting the wage for his work, + So to me months of sorrow are allotted, + And wearisome nights are appointed to me. + +XLVII + + Lying down I exclaim: When shall I arise? + And I toss from side to side till the dawning of the day;[203] + My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust, + My skin grows rigid and breaks up again. + +XLVIII + + My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, + And have come to an end without hope;[204] + Remember, I pray, that my life is wind, + That mine eye shall see good no more. + +XLIX + + As the cloud is dispelled and vanisheth away, + So he that goes down to the grave shall not come up again; + He shall never return to his house, + Neither shall his place know him any more. + +L + + I too will not restrain my mouth, + I will speak out in the bitterness of my soul. + Am I a sea or a sea-monster,[205] + That thou settest a watch over me? + +LI + + When I say: "My bed shall comfort me, + My couch shall ease my complaint;" + Then thou scarest me with dreams, + And terrifiest me with visions. + +LII + + Then my soul would have chosen strangling, + And death by my own resolve: + But I spurned it, for I shall not live for ever; + Let me be, for my days are a breath. + +LIII + + What is man that thou shouldst magnify him? + And that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him? + That thou shouldst visit him every morning, + And try him every moment?[206] + +LIV + + Why wilt thou not look away from me? + Nor leave me in peace while there is breath in my throat? + Why hast thou set me up as a butt, + So that I am become a target for thee? + +LV + + Why dost thou not rather pardon my misdeed, + And take away mine iniquity? + For now I must lay myself down in the dust, + And thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be. + +LVI + +BILDAD: + + How long wilt thou utter these things, + And shall the words of thy mouth be like a storm wind? + Doth God pervert judgment? + Or doth the Almighty corrupt justice? + +LVII + + If thou wouldst seek unto God, + And make thy supplication to the Almighty, + He would hear thy prayer, + And restore the house of thy blamelessness. + +LVIII + + For inquire, I pray thee, of the bygone age, + And give heed to the search of the forefathers; + Shall they not teach thee, + And utter words out of their heart? + +LIX + + Can the papyrus grow without marsh? + Can the Nile-reed shoot up without water? + Whilst still in its greenness uncut, + It withereth before any herb. + +LX + + Such is the end of all that forget God, + And even thus shall the hope of the impious perish, + Whose hope is as gossamer threads, + And whose trust is as a spider's web. + +LXI + + For he leans upon his house, + And has a firm footing to which he cleaves; + He is green in the glow of the sun, + And his branch shooteth forth in his garden. + +LXII + + But his roots are entangled in a heap of stones, + And rocky soil keeps hold upon him; + It destroyeth him from his place, + Then that denying him saith: "I have not seen thee." + +LXIII + + Behold, this is the "joy" of his lot, + And out of the dust shall others grow. + Lo! God will not cast out a perfect man, + Neither will he take evil-doers by the hand. + +LXIV + + He will yet fill thy mouth with laughing + And thy lips with rejoicing. + They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, + And the tent of the wicked shall disappear. + +LXV + +JOB: + + I know it is so of a truth; + For how should man be in the right against God? + If he long to contend with him, + He cannot answer him one of a thousand. + +LXVI + + Wise is he in heart and mighty in strength: + Who could venture against him and remain safe?-- + Against him who moveth mountains and knoweth not + That he hath overturned them in his anger. + +LXVII + + He shaketh the earth out of her place, + And the inhabitants thereof quake with fear; + He commandeth the sun and it riseth not, + And he sealeth up the stars.[207] + +LXVIII + + He alone spreadeth out the heavens, + And treadeth upon the heights of the sea; + He doth great things past finding out, + Yea, and wonders without number.[208] + +LXIX + + Lo, he glideth by me and I see him not; + And he passeth on, but I perceive him not. + Behold, he taketh away, and who can hinder him? + Who will say unto him: "What dost thou?" + +LXX + + God will not withdraw his anger; + The very helpers of the sea-dragon[209] crouch under him. + How much less shall I answer him, + And choose out my words to argue with him? + +LXXI + + I must make supplication unto his judgment, + Who doth not answer me, though I am righteous, + Who would sweep me away with a tempest, + And multiply my wounds without cause! + +LXXII + + He will not suffer me to take my breath, + But filleth me with bitterness. + If strength be aught, lo, he is strong, + And if judgment, who shall arraign him? + +LXXIII + + Though I were just, my own mouth would condemn me: + Though I were faultless, he would make me crooked. + Faultless I am, I set life at naught; + I spurn my being, therefore I speak out. + +LXXIV + + He destroyeth the upright and the wicked, + When his scourge slayeth at unawares. + He scoffeth at the trial of the innocent: + The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. + +LXXV + + My days are swifter than a runner: + They flee away, they have seen no good; + They glide along like papyrus-boats, + Like the eagle swooping upon its prey. + +LXXVI + + If I say: "I will forget my complaint, + I will gladden my face and be cheerful;" + Then I shudder at all my sorrows: + I know thou wilt not hold me guiltless. + +LXXVII + + If I washed myself with snow, + And cleansed my hands with lye, + Thou wouldst plunge me in the ditch, + So that mine own garments would loathe me. + +LXXVIII + + Would he were like unto myself, that I might answer him, + That we might come together in judgment! + Would there were an umpire between us, + Who might lay his hand upon us both! + +LXXIX + + Let him but withdraw from me his rod, + And let not dread of him terrify me; + Then would I speak and not fear him, + For before myself I am not so.[210] + +LXXX + + My soul is aweary of life, + I will let loose my complaint against God; + I will say unto God: Hold me not guilty; + Show me wherefore thou contendest with me. + +LXXXI + + Is it meet that thou shouldst oppress, + Shouldst thrust aside the work of thine hands? + Seest thou as man seeth? + Are thy days as the days of mortals? + +LXXXII + + For thou inquirest after mine iniquity, + And searchest after my sin, + Though thou knowest that I am not wicked, + And that there is none who can deliver out of thine hand. + +LXXXIII + + Thine hand hath made and fashioned me, + And now hast thou turned to destroy me; + Remember, I pray thee, that thou hast formed me as clay; + And now wilt thou grind me to dust again? + +LXXXIV + + Didst thou not pour me out as milk, + And curdle me like cheese? + Hast thou not clothed me with skin and flesh? + And knitted me with bones and sinews? + +LXXXV + + Thou enduedst me with life and grace; + And thy care hath cherished my spirit. + And yet these things hadst thou hid in thy heart! + I know that this was in thee! + +LXXXVI + + Had I sinned, thou wouldst have watched me, + Nor wouldst have acquitted me of my wrongdoing. + Had I been wicked, woe unto me! + And though righteous, I dare not to lift up my head. + +LXXXVII + + As a lion thou huntest me, who am soaked in misery, + And ever showest thyself marvellous[211] against me! + While I live, thou smitest me ever anew, + And lettest thy wrath wax great against me. + +LXXXVIII + + Wherefore, then, didst thou bring me out of the womb? + Would I had then given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! + I should now be as though I had never been; + I had been borne from the womb to the grave. + +LXXXIX + + Are not the days of my life but few, + So that he might let me be, while I take heart a little + Before I depart whence I shall not return, + To the land of darkness and of gloom? + +XC + +ZOPHAR: + + Shall the multitude of words be left unanswered? + And shall the prattler[212] be deemed in the right? + Should men hold their peace at thy babbling? + And when thou jeerest, shall none make thee ashamed? + +XCI + + But oh that God would speak, + And open his lips against thee, + And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom + That they are as marvels to the understanding! + +XCII + + It[213] is high as heaven; what canst thou do? + Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? + The measure thereof is longer than the earth, + And broader than the ocean. + +XCIII + + For he knoweth men of deceit; + He seeth wickedness and needeth not to gauge it. + Thus[214] the empty man gets understanding, + And the wild-ass' colt is born anew as man. + +XCIV + + If thou make ready thine heart, + And stretch out thine hands towards him, + Then shalt thou lift up thy face, + And in time of affliction be fearless. + +XCV + + For then shalt thou forget thy misery, + And remember it as waters that have passed away; + The darkness shall be as morning, + And thine age shall be brighter than the noonday. + +XCVI + + Thou shalt be secure because there is hope, + Thou shalt look around and take thy rest in safety; + Thou shalt lie down and none shall startle thee, + Yea, many shall make suit unto thee. + +XCVII + + But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, + And refuge shall vanish from before them; + Their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost; + For with him is wisdom and might. + +XCVIII + +JOB: + + No doubt but ye are clever people, + And wisdom shall die with you; + I too have understanding as well as ye; + Just, upright is my way. + +XCIX + + He that is at ease, scorneth the judgments of Shaddai.[215] + His foot stands firm in the time of trial. + The tents of robbers prosper, + And they that provoke God are secure. + +C + + But ask, I beseech you, the beasts, + And the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee; + Or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee, + And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. + +CI + + Is not the soul of every living thing in his hand, + And the breath of all mankind? + Doth not the ear try words + As the mouth tasteth its meat? + +CII + + For there is no wisdom with the aged,[216] + Nor understanding in length of days; + With him is wisdom and strength; + He hath counsel and understanding. + +CIII + + Behold he breaketh down and it cannot be builded anew: + He shutteth up a man, and who can open to him? + Lo, he withholdeth the waters and they dry up, + He letteth them loose and they overwhelm the earth. + +CIV + + With him is strength and wisdom, + The erring one and his error are his, + Who leadeth away counsellors barefoot, + And rendereth the judges fools. + +CV + + He bringeth back kings into their mausoleums, + And overthroweth the nobles; + He withdraweth the speech of the trusty, + And taketh away the understanding of the aged. + +CVI + + He poureth scorn upon princes, + And looseth the girdle of the strong; + He discovereth deep things out of darkness, + And bringeth gloom unto light. + +CVII + + He stealeth the heart of the chiefs of the earth, + And maketh them wander in a pathless wilderness + So that they grope in the dark without light, + And stagger to and fro like a drunken man. + +CVIII + + Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, + Mine ear hath heard and understood it. + What ye know, the same do I know also; + I am nowise inferior to you. + +CIX + + But now I would speak to the Almighty, + And I long to argue with God; + For ye are weavers of lies, + Ye all are patchers of inanities. + +CX + + Oh that ye would all of you hold your peace, + And that should stand you in wisdom's stead! + Hear, I beseech you, the reasoning of my mouth, + And hearken to the pleadings of my lips! + +CXI + + Will ye discourse wickedly for God? + And utter lies on his behalf?[217] + Will ye accept his person by dint of trickery? + Will ye contend for God with deception? + +CXII + + Were it well for you should he search you out? + Can ye dupe him as ye dupe men? + Will he not surely rebuke you, + If ye secretly[218] accept his person? + +CXIII + + Shall not his majesty, then, make you afraid? + And his dread seize hold of you? + Will not your adages become as ashes, + Your arguments even as bulwarks of clay? + +CXIV + + Hold your peace that I may speak, + And let come upon me what will! + I shall take my life in my teeth, + And put my soul in mine hand. + +CXV + + Lo, let him kill me, I cherish hope no more, + Only I will justify my way before his face. + This too will aid my triumph, + That no wicked one dares appear in his sight. + +CXVI + + Behold now, I have ordered my cause; + I know that I shall be justified. + Who is he that will plead with me? + Only do not two things unto me! + +CXVII + + Withdraw thine hand from me, + And let not dread of thee make me afraid. + Then call thou and I will answer, + Or let me speak and answer thou unto me. + +CXVIII + + How many are mine iniquities? + Make me to know my misdeeds. + Wherefore hidest thou thy face, + And holdest me for thine enemy? + +CXIX + + Wilt thou scare a leaf driven to and fro? + And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? + That thou writest down bitter things against me, + And imputest to me the errors of my youth. + +CXX + + Thou observest all my paths, + And puttest my feet into the stocks, + Thy chain weigheth heavy upon me, + And cutteth into my feet.[219] + +CXXI + + Man that is born of a woman, + Poor in days and rich in trouble; + He cometh forth like a flower and fadeth, + He fleeth as a shadow and abideth not. + +CXXII + + And upon such an one dost thou open thine eyes! + And him thou bringest into judgment with thee! + Though he is gnawed as a rotten thing, + As a garment that is moth-eaten. + +CXXIII + + If his days are determined upon earth, + If the number of his months are with thee; + Look then away from him that he may rest, + Till he shall accomplish his day, as an hireling. + +CXXIV + + For there is a future for the tree, + And hope remaineth to the palm: + Cut down, it will sprout again, + And its tender branch will not cease. + +CXXV + + Though its roots wax old in the earth + And its stock lie buried in mould, + Yet through vapour of water will it bud, + And bring forth boughs like a plant. + +CXXVI + + But man dieth, and lieth outstretched; + He giveth up the ghost, where is he then? + He lieth down and riseth not up; + Till heaven be no more he shall not awake. + +CXXVII + + Oh that thou wouldst hide me in the grave! + That thou wouldst secrete me till thy wrath be passed! + That thou wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me! + If so be man could die and yet live on! + +CXXVIII + + All the days of my warfare I then would wait, + Till my relief should come; + Thou wouldst call and I would answer thee, + Thou wouldst yearn after the work of thine hands. + +CXXIX + + But now thou renumberest my steps, + Thou dost not forgive my failing; + Thou sealest my transgressions in a bag, + And thou still keepest adding to my guilt. + +CXXX + +ELIPHAZ: + + Should a wise man utter empty knowledge, + And fill his belly with the east wind? + Should he reason with bootless prattle? + Or with speeches that profit him nothing? + +CXXXI + + Yea, thou makest void the fear of God, + And weakenest respect before him; + For thine own iniquity instructeth thy mouth, + And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. + +CXXXII + + Art thou the first man born? + Or wast thou made before the hills? + Wast thou heard in the council of God? + And hast thou drawn wisdom unto thyself? + +CXXXIII + + What knowest thou that we know not? + What understandest thou which is not in us? + Doth the solace of God not suffice unto thee, + And a word to thee whispered softly? + +CXXXIV + + Why doth thine heart carry thee away, + And what do thine eyes wink at, + That thou turnest thy spirit against God, + And lettest go such words from thy mouth? + +CXXXV + + Behold he putteth no trust in his saints; + Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight; + How much less the foul and corrupt one,-- + Man, who lappeth up wickedness like water. + +CXXXVI + + What the wise announce unto us, + Their fathers did not withhold it from them; + Unto them alone the land was given, + And no stranger passed among them.[220] + +CXXXVII + + The wicked man travaileth all his days with pain, + And few are the years appointed to the oppressor: + A sound of dread is in his ears: + In prosperity the destroyer shall overtake him. + +CXXXVIII + + He has no hope of return out of darkness, + And he is waited for by the sword. + The day of gloom shall terrify him, + Distress and anguish shall fasten upon him. + +CXXXIX + + For he stretched out his arm against God, + And girded himself against the Almighty: + Rushing upon him with a stiff neck, + Guarded by the thick bosses of his buckler. + +CXL + + The glow shall dry up his branches, + And his blossom shall be snapped by the storm-wind. + Let him not trust in vanity--he is deluded, + For his barter[221] shall prove worthless. + +CXLI + + His offshoot shall wither before his time, + And his branch shall not be green; + He shall shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, + And shall shed his flower like the olive. + +CXLII + + For the tribe of the wicked shall be barren, + And fire shall consume the tents of bribery: + They conceive mischief, and bring forth disaster, + And their belly breeds abortion. + +CXLIII + +JOB: + + Many such things have I heard before. + Stinging comforters are ye all! + Shall idle words have an end? + What pricks thee that thou answerest? + +CXLIV + + I, too, could discourse as ye do, + If your souls were in my soul's stead. + I would inspirit you with my mouth, + Nor would I grudge the moving of my lips. + +CXLV + + But he hath so jaded me that I am benumbed; + His whole host[222] hath seized me. + His wrath hackles me and pursues me, + He gnashes upon me with his teeth. + +CXLVI + + The arrows of his myriads have stricken me, + He whets his sword, fixing his eyes upon me. + They smite me on the cheek outrageously, + They mass themselves together against me. + +CXLVII + + God hath turned me over to the ungodly, + And delivered me into the hands of the wicked. + I was at ease, but he clove me asunder, + He throttled me and shook me to pieces. + +CXLVIII + + He sets me up for his target; + His archers compass me round about; + He rives my reins asunder, and spareth not, + He poureth out my gall upon the ground. + +CXLIX + + With breach upon breach he breaketh me, + He rusheth upon me like a warrior; + Sackcloth and ashes cover me, + And my horn has been laid in the dust. + +CL + + My face is aglow with weeping + And darkness abides on my eyelids; + Though on my hands there is no evil, + And my prayer is pure! + +CLI + + Oh earth! cover not thou my blood! + And let my cry find no resting-place! + Even now behold my witness is in heaven, + And my voucher is on high. + +CLII + + My friends laugh me wantonly to scorn; + Mine eye poureth tears unto God. + Let him adjudge between man and God, + And between man and his fellow. + +CLIII + + Soon will the wailing-women come, + And I go the way I shall not return. + My spirit is spent, the grave is ready for me + Truly I am scoffed at. + +CLIV + + Hold still my pledge in thy keeping, + Who then will be my voucher?[223] + He yielded his friends as a prey, + And the eyes of his children must shrivel up. + +CLV + + He hath made me a by-word of the peoples, + And they spit into my face. + My eye is dim by dint of sorrow, + And all my members are as a shadow. + +CLVI + + At this the upright are appalled, + And the just bridles up against the impious. + But the righteous holds on his way, + And the clean-handed waxeth ever stronger. + +CLVII + + But as for you all--do ye return, + For I discern not one wise man among you. + My days, my thoughts have passed away; + My heart's desires are cut asunder. + +CLVIII + + If I still hope, it is for my house--the tomb. + I have made my bed in the darkness. + I have said unto the grave, "My Mother," + And to the maggot, "Sister mine." + +CLIX + + And my hope--where is it now? + My bliss--who shall behold it?[224] + They go down to the bars of the pit, + When our rest together is in the dust. + +CLX + +BILDAD: + + When wilt thou make an end of words? + Reflect, and then let us speak! + Wherefore are we counted as beasts? + Deemed silenced in thy sight? + +CLXI + + Shall the earth be deserted for thy sake? + And shall the rock be removed from its place? + Still the light of the wicked shall be douted, + And the spark of his fire shall not twinkle. + +CLXII + + The light in his tent shall be dark; + And his taper above him shall be put out. + The steps of his strength shall be straitened, + And his own design shall ruin him. + +CLXIII + + For he is tangled in the net by his own feet, + And he walketh upon a snare. + The slings shall catch him; + Many terrors rage menacingly round him. + +CLXIV + + Hunger shall dog his footsteps; + Misery and ruin stand ready by his side: + The limbs of his body[225] shall be gnawed, + Devoured by the firstborn of death.[226] + +CLXV + + He shall be dragged out from his stronghold, + And he shall be brought to the king of terrors;[227] + The memory of him shall vanish from the earth, + He shall be driven from light into darkness. + +CLXVI + + He shall have nor son nor offspring among his people, + And he shall have no name above the ground; + None shall survive in his dwellings; + Strangers shall dwell in his tent. + +CLXVII + + They of the west are astonied at him, + And those of the east stand aghast: + Such are the dwellings of the wicked, + And this his place who knoweth not God. + +CLXVIII + +JOB: + + How long will ye harrow my soul, + And crush me with words? + Already ten times have ye insulted me, + Ever incensing me anew. + +CLXIX + + If indeed ye will glorify yourselves above me, + And prove me guilty of blasphemy; + Know, then, that God hath wronged me, + And hath compassed me round with his net! + +CLXX + + Lo, I cry out against violence, but I am not heard; + I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. + He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass; + And he hath set darkness in my paths. + +CLXXI + + He hath stripped me of my glory, + And taken the crown from my head. + On all sides hath he ruined me, and I am undone; + And mine hope hath he felled like a tree. + +CLXXII + + He hath kindled against me his wrath, + And looketh on me as one of his foes. + His troops throng together on my way, + And encamp round about my tent. + +CLXXIII + + He hath put my brethren far from me, + And mine acquaintance are estranged from me; + My kinsfolk stay away from me, + And my bosom friends have forgotten me. + +CLXXIV + + They that dwell in my house, and my maids, + As an alien am I in their eyes. + I call my servant, and he giveth me no answer, + I must supplicate unto him with my mouth. + +CLXXV + + My breath is irksome to my wife, + And my entreaty to the children of my body.[228] + Yea, mere lads despise me: + When I arise, they talk about me. + +CLXXVI + + All my cherished friends abhor me, + And they whom I loved are turned against me; + My skin cleaveth to my bones, + And my teeth are falling out. + +CLXXVII + + Have pity, have pity on me, O my friends! + For the hand of God hath smitten me. + Why do ye persecute me like God, + And are not satiated with my flesh? + +CLXXVIII + + Oh would but that my words, + Oh would that they were written down! + Consigned to writing for ever, + Or engraven upon a rock! + +CLXXIX + + But I know that my avenger liveth, + Though it be at the[229] end upon my dust; + My witness will avenge these things, + And a curse alight upon mine enemies. + +CLXXX + + My reins within me are consumed, + Because you say: "How we shall persecute him!" + Fear, for yourselves, the sword, + For "wrath overtaketh iniquities." + +CLXXXI + +ZOPHAR: + + It is not thus that my thoughts inspire me, + Nor is this the eternal law that I have known.[230] + No; the triumph of the wicked is shortlived, + And the joy of the ungodly is but for a twinkling. + +CLXXXII + + Though his height tower aloft to the heavens, + And his head reach up to the clouds, + Yet shall he perish for ever like dung, + They who have seen him shall ask: "Where is he?" + +CLXXXIII + + He flitteth like a dream and shall not be found, + Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night; + His hands having crushed the needy, + Must restore the substance, and he cannot help it. + +CLXXXIV + + He hath swallowed down riches and shall disgorge them anew; + They shall be driven out of his belly. + He hath sucked in the poison of asps, + The viper's tongue shall slay him. + +CLXXXV + + He shall not gaze upon the rivers, + The brooks of honey and milk; + He must restore the gain and shall not swallow it, + His lucre shall be as sand which he cannot chew. + +CLXXXVI + + For the poor he had crushed and forsaken; + Had robbed an house but shall not build it up. + Nought had escaped from his greed, + Therefore shall his wealth not endure. + +CLXXXVII + + In the fulness of his abundance he shall be in straits, + Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him: + He[231] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, + And shall rain down upon him terrors. + +CLXXXVIII + + When he fleeth from the iron weapon, + Then the arrow of steel shall transfix him; + He draweth, and it cometh out of his back, + And the glittering steel out of his gall. + +CLXXXIX + + Terrors will trample upon him, + All darkness is hid in store for him; + A fire not kindled[232] shall consume him, + What remaineth in his tent shall be devoured thereby. + +CXC + + The heavens reveal his iniquity, + And the earth riseth up against him: + This is the wicked man's portion from God, + And the heritage appointed him by Elohim. + +CXCI + +JOB: + + Hearken diligently to my speech, + And let that stand me in your comfort's stead! + Suffer me that I may speak; + And after that I have spoken, mock on! + +CXCII + + As for me, is my complaint to men? + And how should not my spirit be impatient? + Look upon me, and tremble, + And lay your hand upon your mouth![233] + +CXCIII + + Even when I remember, I am dismayed, + And trembling taketh hold on my flesh. + Wherefore do the wicked live? + Become old, yea, wax mighty in strength? + +CXCIV + + Their houses are safe from fear, + Neither is the rod of God upon them; + Their bull genders and faileth not, + Their cow casteth not her calf. + +CXCV + + Their seed is established in their sight, + And their offspring before their eyes; + They send forth their little ones like a flock, + And their children skip about. + +CXCVI + + They take down the timbrel and the harp, + And delight in the sound of the bagpipe; + They while away their days in bliss, + And in a twinkling go down to the grave.[234] + +CXCVII + + And yet they say unto God: "Depart from us, + We desire not the knowledge of thy ways." + Yet hold they not happiness in their own hands? + Is he not heedless of the counsel of the wicked? + +CXCVIII + + How oft is "the lamp of evil-doers put out"? + And how often doth "ruin" overwhelm them? + How oft are they as stubble before the wind, + And as chaff that the storm carries away? + +CXCIX + + Ye say, "God hoards punishment for the[235] children." + Let him rather requite the wicked himself that he may feel it! + His own eyes should behold his downfall + And he himself should drain the Almighty's wrath! + +CC + + If his sons are honoured,[236] he will not know it, + And if dishonoured, he will not perceive it. + Only in his own flesh doth he feel pain, + And for his own soul will he lament. + +CCI + + Is the wicked taught understanding by God? + And does he judge the man of blood? + Nay, he[237] filleth his milk vessels with milk, + And supplieth his bones with marrow. + +CCII + + But the guiltless dies with embittered soul, + And hath never enjoyed a pleasure; + Then they alike lie down in the dust, + And the worms shall cover them both. + +CCIII + + Behold I know your thoughts, + And the plots which ye wrongfully weave against me. + And how will ye comfort me in vain, + Since of your answers nought but falsehood remains? + +CCIV + +ELIPHAZ: + + Can a man be profitable unto God? + Only unto himself is the wise man serviceable. + Is it a boon to the Almighty that thou art righteous? + Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy way perfect? + +CCV + + Will he reprove thee for thy fear of him? + Will he enter with thee into judgment for that? + Is not rather thy wickedness great? + Are not thine iniquities numberless? + +CCVI + + For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, + And stripped the naked of their clothing; + Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, + And hast withholden bread from the hungry. + +CCVII + + But as for the mighty man, he held the land, + And the honoured man dwelt in it. + Thou hast sent widows away empty, + And the arms of the fatherless have been broken. + +CCVIII + + Therefore snares are round about thee, + And sudden fear troubleth thee; + Thy light hath become darkness, thou canst not see, + And a flood of waters covereth thee. + +CCIX + + Doth not God look down from the height of heaven, + And crush the mighty for that they are grown haughty, + Which say unto God: "Depart from us," + And "What can the Almighty do against us?" + +CCX + + And he forsooth "shall fill their houses with goods," + And "be heedless of the counsel of the wicked": + No; the righteous shall look on and be glad, + And the innocent shall laugh them to scorn. + +CCXI + + Befriend now thyself with him, and thou shalt be safe, + Thereby shall good come unto thee. + Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, + And treasure up his words in thine heart. + +CCXII + + If thou turnest to God and humblest thyself, + If thou remove iniquity from thy tent, + Then shalt thou have delight in the Almighty, + And shalt lift up thy face unto God. + +CCXIII + + Thou shalt pray unto him and he shall hear thee, + And thou shalt pay thy vows; + If thou purpose a thing, it shall prosper unto thee, + And a light shall shine upon thy ways. + +CCXIV + +JOB: + + Oh, I know it already: I myself am to blame for my misery,[238] + And his hand is heavy upon me by reason of my groaning! + Oh that I knew where I might find him, + That I might come even unto his seat! + +CCXV + + I would plead my cause before him, + And fill my mouth with arguments; + I would fain know the words which he could answer me, + And learn what he would say unto me. + +CCXVI + + Will he plead against me with his almighty power? + If not, then not even he would prevail against me. + For a righteous one would dispute with him; + So should I be delivered for ever from my judge. + +CCXVII + + Behold I go forward, but he is not there, + And backward, but I cannot perceive him. + For he knoweth the way that I have chosen: + If he would try me, I should come forth as gold. + +CCXVIII + + My foot has held his steps, + His way have I kept and swerved not; + I have not gone back from the precept of his lips, + I have hid the words of his mouth in my bosom. + +CCXIX + + But he is bent upon one thing and who can turn him away? + And what his soul desireth even that he doeth. + Therefore am I troubled before his face; + When I consider, I am afraid of him. + +CCXX + + God hath crushed my heart, + And the Almighty hath terrified me. + For I am annihilated because of the darkness, + And gloom enwrappeth my face. + +CCXXI + + Why do the times of judgment depend upon the Almighty, + And yet they who know him do not see his days?[239] + The wicked remove the landmarks; + They rob flocks and lead them to pasture. + +CCXXII + + They drive away the ass of the fatherless, + The widow's ox they seize for a pledge; + They turn the needy out of the way, + All the poor of the earth have to hide themselves.[240] + +CCXXIII + + Lo, these things mine ear hath heard, + Mine eye hath seen them, and so it is.[241] + And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, + And render my speech meaningless? + +CCXXIV + +BILDAD: + + Dominion and fear are with him, + Who maketh peace in his high places. + Is there any number to his armies? + And upon whom doth his light not arise? + +CCXXV + + By his power the sea groweth calm, + And by his understanding he smiteth the sea-dragon. + By his breath the heavens become splendour; + His hand hath pierced the bolt-serpent. + +CCXXVI + + But the thunder of his power, + Who understands its working? + And how can man be deemed just before God, + And how can he be clean who is born of a woman? + +CCXXVII + + Behold, even the moon shineth not, + Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight; + How much less man, the worm; + And the son of man, the maggot! + +CCXXVIII + +JOB: + + How hast thou helped him that is without power? + How upholdest thou the arm that hath no strength? + To whom hast thou uttered words? + And whose spirit went out from thee? + +CCXXIX + + As God liveth who hath taken away my right, + And the Almighty who hath made my soul bitter, + Never shall my lips confess untruth, + Nor my tongue give utterance to falsehood! + +CCXXX + + Far be it from me to agree with you! + Till I die I will not yield up my integrity! + My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go, + My heart doth not censure any one of my days. + +CCXXXI + + I will teach you about the hand of God, + The counsel of the Almighty will I not conceal. + Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it.[242] + Why then do ye utter such empty things? + +CCXXXII + + For there is a mine for silver, + And a place for gold where they fine it; + Iron is taken out of the dust, + And copper is smolten out of the stone. + +CCXXXIII + + He that hovers far from man hath made an end to gloom,[243] + He turneth the mountains upside down. + He cutteth out stulms among the rocks, + And the thing that is hid he bringeth forth to light. + +CCXXXIV + + But wisdom--whence shall it come? + And where is the place of understanding? + It is hid from the eyes of all living, + Our ears alone have heard thereof.[244] + +CCXXXV + + God understandeth its way, + And he knoweth its dwelling-place; + For he looketh to the ends of the earth, + And seeth under the entire heaven. + +CCXXXVI + + When he made the weight for the winds, + And weighed the waters by measure, + Then did he see and declare it, + He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. + +CCXXXVII + + Then he said unto man, "Desist! + Worry not about things too high for thee. + Behold, fear of me, that is wisdom, + And to depart from evil, that is understanding." + +CCXXXVIII + +ZOPHAR: + + May the lot of the wicked befall mine enemy, + And that of the ungodly him who riseth up against me! + For what can be the hope of the iniquitous, + When God cutteth his soul away? + +CCXXXIX + + Will God hear his cry, + When trouble overtaketh him? + Will he delight himself in the Almighty? + Will he always call upon God? + +CCXL + + If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, + And his offspring shall not be sated with bread; + They that survive him shall be buried in death, + And their widows shall not weep. + +CCXLI + + Though he heap up silver as the dust + And store up raiment as the clay, + He may indeed prepare it, but the just shall put it on, + And the guiltless shall divide the silver. + +CCXLII + + He buildeth his house as a spider; + Rich shall he lie down, but rich he shall not remain. + Terrors take hold on him like waters; + A tempest sweepeth him away in the night. + +CCXLIII + +JOB: + + Oh that I were as in months gone by, + As in the days when God preserved me; + When his lamp shined upon my head, + And when I walked by his light through darkness! + +CCXLIV + + For then I moved in sunshine, + While God was familiar with my tent; + While I washed my steps in cream, + And the rock poured me out rivers of oil. + +CCXLV + + When I went to the gate at the city,[245] + When I prepared my seat on the public place, + Then the young men, seeing me, hid themselves, + And the aged arose and remained standing. + +CCXLVI + + Princes desisted from talking, + And laid their hands upon their mouths; + For the ear heard me and blessed, + The eye saw me and bore me witness. + +CCXLVII + + For I delivered the poor that cried aloud, + And the orphan and him that had none to help him; + The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, + And I gladdened the heart of the widow. + +CCXLVIII + + I put on righteousness and it clothed me; + My judgment was as a robe and a diadem. + I became eyes to the blind, + And I was feet unto the lame. + +CCXLIX + + I was a father to the poor, + And the cause which I knew not I searched out; + And I brake the grinders of the wicked. + And plucked the spoil out of his teeth. + +CCL + + Unto me men gave ear and waited, + And kept silence at my counsel. + After my words they spake not again, + And my speech fell upon them as a shower. + +CCLI + + But now they laugh me to scorn, + Shepherd boys approach me with insolence, + Whose fathers I would not have deigned + To set with the dogs of my flock. + +CCLII + + Yea, what booted me the strength of their hands? + Pity upon them was thrown away. + They were children of fools, yea, men of no name, + They were driven forth from the land. + +CCLIII + + And now I am become the song of these! + Yea, I am become their byword! + They loathe me, they flee far from me, + And withhold not spittle from my face. + +CCLIV + + For he hath dissolved my dignity and humbled me, + And he hath taken away my renown. + He hath opened a way to my miseries; + They enter and no one helpeth me. + +CCLV + + With rumbling and booming they bounded along; + Terrors are turned upon me; + Thou scatterest my dignity, as with a wind, + And my welfare passeth as a cloud. + +CCLVI + + The night gnaws away my bones, + And my devourers need no repose; + By swellings is my garment misshapen, + And I am grown like unto dust and ashes. + +CCLVII + + I cry and thou hearest me not, + Thou art become ruthless towards me; + With the strength of thy hand thou assailest me, + And thou meltest my salvation away. + +CCLVIII + + For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, + And to the house appointed for all living. + But shall not a drowning man stretch out his hand? + Shall he not cry out in his destruction? + +CCLIX + + Did I not weep for him that was in trouble? + Was not my soul grieved for the needy? + I looked for good and waited for light; + Behold days of sorrowing are come upon me. + +CCLX + + I go mourning without sun; + I stand up in the assembly and cry aloud; + I am become a brother unto jackals, + And a comrade unto ostriches. + +CCLXI + + My skin hath grown black upon me + And my bones are scorched with heat; + My harp is turned to mourning, + And my bagpipe into the wail of the weeping.[246] + +CCLXII + + If I have walked with men of wickedness, + Or if my feet have hastened to deceit, + Let him weigh me in balances of justice, + That God may know mine integrity! + +CCLXIII + + If my steps have swerved from the way, + And mine heart followed in the wake of mine eyes, + Let me now sow and another eat, + Yea, let my garden be rooted out! + +CCLXIV + + If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, + Or if I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door, + Then let my wife turn the mill unto another + And let others bow down upon her! + +CCLXV + + For adultery is a grievous crime, + Yea, a crime to be punished by the judges: + It is a fire that consumeth to utter destruction, + And would root out all mine increase. + +CCLXVI + + Had I despised the right of my man-servant + Or of my maidservant, when they contended with me, + What could I do, when God rose up? + And when he visiteth, what could I answer him? + +CCLXVII + + For perdition from God was a terror to me, + And for his highness' sake I could not do such things. + Did not he that made me in the womb, make him?[247] + And did he not fashion us in one belly? + +CCLXVIII + + Never have I withheld the poor from their desire, + Nor caused the widow's eyes to fail; + Nor have I eaten my morsel alone, + Unless the fatherless had partaken thereof. + +CCLXIX + + If I saw one perish for lack of clothing, + Or any of the poor devoid of covering; + Then surely did his loins bless me, + And he was warmed with the fleece of my sheep. + +CCLXX + + If I lifted up my hand against the fatherless, + When I saw my backers in the gate,[248] + Then let my shoulder fall from its setting, + And mine arm from its channel bone! + +CCLXXI + + I have never made gold my hope, + Nor said to the fine gold: "Thou art my trust;" + Never did I rejoice that my wealth was great, + And because mine hand had found much. + +CCLXXII + + Never did I gaze upon the sun, because it shone brightly, + Nor upon the moon floating in glory, + So that my heart was secretly enticed, + And I wafted kisses to them, putting my hand to my mouth.[249] + +CCLXXIII + + Never did I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, + Nor exult when misery found him out; + Neither have I suffered my throat to sin, + By wreaking a curse upon his soul. + +CCLXXIV + + Never had the guests of my tent to say: + "Oh, that we had our fill of his meat!" + I suffered not the stranger to lodge out of doors, + But I opened my gates to the traveller. + +CCLXXV + + I covered not my failings after the manner of men, + By locking mine iniquity in my bosom, + As if I feared the vast multitude, + Or because the scorn of families[250] appalled me. + +CCLXXVI + + And I, forsooth, should keep silence, should not come forward! + Oh, that one would hear me! + Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me, + And hear the indictment which my adversary hath written![251] + +CCLXXVII + + Surely I would hoist it upon my shoulder, + And weave it as a crown unto myself; + I would account to him for the number of my steps; + As a prince would I draw near unto him. + +CCLXXVIII + +JAHVEH: + + Who is this that darkeneth my counsel, + With words devoid of knowledge? + Now gird up thy loins like a man, + For I shall ask of thee, and do thou teach me! + +CCLXXIX + + When I laid the earth's foundation where wast thou? + Declare, if thou hast understanding! + Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest, + Or who hath stretched the line upon it? + +CCLXXX + + Where are its sockets sunk down, + Or who laid the corner-stone thereof? + When the morning stars exulted together, + And all the sons of God shouted for joy. + +CCLXXXI + + Who shut in the sea with doors, + When it brake forth as issuing from the womb? + When I made the clouds its garment, + And thick darkness for its swaddling-band. + +CCLXXXII + + Then I brake up for it its appointed place, + And set it bars and portals, + And said: "Hitherto shalt thou come, + And here shall thy haughty waves be stayed!" + +CCLXXXIII + + Was it at thy prompting that I commanded the morning, + And caused the dawn to know its place? + That it might seize hold of the ends of the earth, + That the wicked might be shaken out?[252] + +CCLXXXIV + + Then the earth changes as clay under the seal, + And all things appear therein as an embroidery;[253] + But from the wicked is withholden their hiding-place, + And the raised arm shall be shattered. + +CCLXXXV + + Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? + Or hast thou walked in search of the abysses? + Have the gates of death been opened unto thee, + Or hast thou seen the doors of darkness? + +CCLXXXVI + + Hast thou surveyed the breadth of the earth? + Declare, if thou knowest, its measure! + Thou must needs know it, for then wast thou already born, + And great is the number of thy days! + +CCLXXXVII + + Which way leadeth to the dwelling of light? + And of darkness, where is the abode? + That thou shouldst take it to its bounds, + And that thou shouldst know the paths to its house? + +CCLXXXVIII + + Hast thou entered into the granaries of the snow, + Or hast thou seen the arsenals of the hail, + Which I have laid up for the time of trouble, + Against the day of battle and of war? + +CCLXXXIX + + By what way is the mist parted? + And the east wind scattered upon the earth? + Who hath divided its course for the rain-storm? + And its path for the lightning of thunder? + +CCXC + + Out of whose womb issued the ice? + And who gendered the hoar-frost of heaven? + The waters are as stone, + And the face of the deep condensed like clots together. + +CCXCI + + Canst thou bind the knots of the Pleiads, + Or loose the fetters of Orion? + Canst thou send lightnings that they may speed, + And say unto thee: Here we are? + +CCXCII + + Who in his wisdom can number the clouds, + Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, + That the dust may thicken into mire, + And the clods cleave close together? + +CCXCII + + Canst thou hunt its prey for the lion, + Or sate the appetite of the young lions, + When they couch in their dens, + And abide in the covert to lie in wait? + +CCXCIV + + Who provideth his food for the raven, + When his young ones cry unto God? + It hovereth around nor groweth weary, + Seeking food for its nestlings. + +CCXCV + + Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? + Canst thou number the months when they bring forth? + They cast out their burdens, + Their little ones grow up out of doors. + +CCXCVI + + Who hath sent out the wild ass free, + Whose dwelling I have made the wilderness, + Who scorneth the noise of the city, + Nor heedeth the driver's cry? + +CCXCVII + + Will the wild ox be willing to serve thee, + Or abide by thy grip? + Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great, + Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? + +CCXCVIII + + Dost thou bestow might upon the horse? + Dost thou clothe his neck with a waving mane? + Dost thou make him to bound like a locust, + In the pride of his terrible snort? + +CCXCIX + + He paws in the vale and rejoices; + Goes with strength to encounter the weapons; + He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, + And recoileth not from the sword. + +CCC + + The quiver clangs upon him, + The flashing lance and the javelin; + Furiously bounding, he swallows the ground, + And cannot be reined in at the trumpet-blast. + +CCCI + + When the clarion soundeth he crieth, "Aha!" + And sniffs the dust raised by the hosts from afar; + He dasheth into the thick of the fray, + Into the captains' shouting and the roar of battle. + +CCCII + + Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, + And spread her pinions towards the south? + She builds her nest on high, dwelling on the rock, + And abideth there, seeking prey. + +CCCIII + + Will the caviller still contend with the Almighty? + He that reproves God, let him answer! + Wilt thou even disannul my judgment? + Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayst be in the right? + +CCCIV + + If thou hast an arm like God, + If thou canst thunder with a voice like his, + Deck thyself now with majesty and grandeur + And array thyself in glory and splendour! + +CCCV + + Scatter abroad the rage of thy wrath, + And hurl down all that is exalted! + The haughty bring low by a glance, + And trample down the wicked in their place! + +CCCVI + + Hide them together in the dust, + And bind their faces in secret! + Then will I, too, confess unto thee + That thine own right hand can save thee! + +CCCVII + +JOB: + + Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee? + I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. + Once have I spoken, but I will do so no more, + Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. + +CCCVIII + + I know that thou canst do everything, + And that nothing is beyond thy reach; + Hence I say: I have uttered that I understand not, + Things too wonderful for me, which I know not. + +CCCIX + + I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, + But now mine eye hath beheld thee; + Therefore I resign and console myself, + Though in dust and ashes. + + +EPILOGUE + +CHAP. XLII. A.V.] + +7¶ _And if was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, +the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, +and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me_ the thing +that is_ right, as my servant Job_ hath. + +8 _Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to +my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my +servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with +you_ after your _folly, in that ye have not spoken of me_ the +thing which is _right, like my servant Job._ + +9 _So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the +Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord +also accepted Job._ + +10 _And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his +friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before._ + +11 _Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and +all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with +him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the +evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece +of money, and every one an earring of gold._ + +12 _So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: +for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a +thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses_. + +13 _He had also seven sons and three daughters_. + +14 _And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the +second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch_. + +15 _And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of +Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren_. + +16 _After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, +and his sons' sons, even four generations_. + +17 _So Job died, being old and full of days_. + + +Footnotes: + +[196] _I.e._, the magicians by means of incantations. + +[197] Allusion to the Satan's remark in the Prologue, chap. i. to: "Hast + not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all + that he hath on every side?" + +[198] The strophe which follows in Prof. Bickell's text I consider a + later insertion, and have therefore struck it out. It runs thus: + + "The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, + And the teeth of the young lions are broken; + The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, + And the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad." + +[199] The prophetic vision which Eliphaz now describes is relied upon by + him as the sanction for his whole discourse. To his seeming, it is a + direct revelation from God. + +[200] The sons of God, sons of the Elohim. _Cf._ Genesis vi. 4. There is + no analogy between these sons of God and the angels or saints of + Christianity. _Cf._ also Prof. Cheyne, "Job and Solomon," p. 81: + Baudissin, Studien, II. + +[201] The human body is likened to a tent of which the tent-pole is the + breath of life; this gone, all that remains is the natural prey + of the elements. + +[202] Calumny. + +[203] Allusion to his sufferings at night from elephantiasis. This + terrible malady, which was first described by Rhazes, in the ninth + century, under the name _dâ-l-fîl_ ("disease of the elephant"), was + for a long time erroneously believed to be confined to Arabia. As a + matter of fact, it is found in an endemic state in all warm + countries, and sporadically even in Europe. In tropical and + sub-tropical lands it progresses with alarming rapidity. Every new + crisis is preceded by a shivering sensation and violent fever, + frequently accompanied with headache, delirium, and nervous and + gastric suffering. A violent attack of this kind may last seven or + eight days. The seat of the disease is generally the foot or the + reproductive organs. In the former case the foot swells to a + monstrous size, instep, toes and heel and ankle all merging in one + dense mass that reminds one of the foot of an elephant. + +[204] Job feels that death is nigh. + +[205] Allusion to an ocean myth. A watch had to be set upon the movements + of the monsters of the sea and the firmament. + +[206] The irony of these words addressed by Job to Jehovah would be + deemed blasphemous in a poet like Byron or Shelley. As a matter of + fact, they constitute a parody of Psalm viii. 5. as Prof. Cheyne has + already pointed out ("Job and Solomon"). + +[207] The firmament, being a solid mass, has paths cut out along which + the stars move in their courses, just as there are channels made + for the clouds and rain. + +[208] This entire speech is ironical. + +[209] Allusion to a myth. + +[210] In the light of my own conscience I am not an evil-doer. + +[211] Ironical. + +[212] _Lit_., the man of lips. + +[213] Wisdom. + +[214] _I.e_., God's wisdom enables him to discern the deceit of those who + appear just, and the punishment which he deals out to them makes the + result of his knowledge visible to the dullest comprehension. + +[215] A name for God. + +[216] The current versions of the Bible make Job say the contrary: "With + the ancient _is_ wisdom; and in length of days understanding" (Job + xii. 12, Authorised Version). _Cf. ante_, "Interpolations." + +[217] _I.e_., Will ye persist in maintaining that God rewards the good + and punishes the wicked (as Zophar has just done, strophe xcvii.) in + spite of the fact that ye know it is untrue? + +[218] _I.e_., not on grounds obvious to all, but because your own + particular lot is satisfactory. + +[219] Compare this with the extraordinary verse in our Authorised + Version: "Thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet"! (Job + ii. 27). + +[220] This is one of the very few passages in the Poem which throw light + upon the date of its composition. + +[221] _I.e_., the object for which he bartered righteousness. + +[222] Host of evils which has attacked me from all sides. + +[223] Ironical. + +[224] An allusion to the promises made by the friends on the part of God + that Job would, if he repented and asked for pardon, recover his + former prosperity. + +[225] _Lit_., the pieces of his skin. + +[226] Probably an allusion to elephantiasis. + +[227] The personification of death. + +[228] Either "the sons of the womb which has borne me," as in iii. 10, or + else "my own children," the poet forgetting that in the prologue + they are described as having been killed. + +[229] _I.e_., when it is too late. + +[230] Zophar discerns perfect moral order in the world. + +[231] God. + +[232] _I.e_., by man. + +[233] _I.e_., be silent. + +[234] Job's ideal of a happy death was identical with that of Julius + Caesar--the most sudden and least foreseen. + +[235] Literally, "his." + +[236] _I.e_., after his death. + +[237] _I.e._, God. + +[238] Ironical. + +[239] If there be a God who rules the world, punishes evil, and rewards + good, how comes it that we descry no signs of such just retribution? + +[240] About seven strophes in the same quasi-impious strain, + characterising the real reign of Jehovah upon earth as + distinguished from the optimistic delineations of Job's friends, + are lost. The verses that have taken their place in our + manuscripts are portions of a different work, which has no + relation whatever to our poem. They are not even in the same + metre as Job, but contain strophes of three lines only. + +[241] Conjecture of Professor Bickell; these two lines are not found in + the MSS. + +[242] I will judge ye out of your own mouths. Ye maintained, all of you, + that the principles on which the world is governed are absolutely + unintelligible. How then can ye reason as if the moral order were + based upon retribution, and from my sufferings infer my sins? + +[243] The miner who descends into the abyss of the earth, and carries a + lamp. + +[244] Wisdom is here identified with God, of whom we know nothing and + have only vaguely heard from those who knew less, i.e., former + generations, for whom Job has scant respect. + +[245] To mete out justice. + +[246] Two strophes are wanting here, in which Job presumably says that + this great change of fortune is not the result of his conduct. + The LXX offers nothing here in lieu of the lost verses; but the + Massoretic text has the strophes which occur in the Authorised + Version (xxxi. 1-4), and which would seem to have been + substituted for the original verses. The present Hebrew text is + useless here. If the four Massoretic verses which it offers had + stood in the original, so important are they that they would + never have been omitted by the Greek translators, who evidently + did not possess them in their texts. They remind one to some + extent of certain passages of the Sermon on the Mount, and are + manifestly of late origin. + +[247] _I.e._, my servant. + +[248] The concourse of people and partisans at the gate where justice was + administered. + +[249] _I.e._, I never adored them as gods. + +[250] Of the nobles. + +[251] This is the passage become famous in the imaginary form: "That mine + adversary had written a book!" (xxxi. 35). + +[252] Daylight is hostile to criminals, and the manner in which it + operates is here compared to a tossing of them off the outspread + carpet of the earth. + +[253] On a carpet, to which the earth is still compared. + + * * * * * + +THE SPEAKER + +TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT + + * * * * * + +THE SPEAKER + +PART I + +I. THESIS: _Vanity of the so-called Absolute Joys of Living._ + +I 1.[254] The words of the Speaker, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. + +2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Speaker, vanity of vanities: all is +vanity. + +3. What profit hath man of all his toil wherewith he wearies himself +under the sun? + +4. One generation passeth away and another cometh; the earth alone +abideth for ever. + +5. The sun riseth and the sun goeth down and panting hasteneth back to +his place where he rose. + +6. The wind sweepeth towards the south and veereth round to the north, +whirling about everlastingly; and back to his circuits returneth the +wind. + +7. All rivers flow into the sea; yet the sea is not full; whence the +rivers take their source, thither they return again. + + 8. The all is in a never-ceasing whirl, + No man can utter it in words; + Rest is not vouchsafed to the eye from seeing, + Nor unto the ear from hearing.[255] + +9. The thing that hath been is the same that shall be, and what befell is +the same that shall come to pass, and there is no new thing under the +sun. 10. If aught there be whereof one would say, "Lo, this is new!"--it +was erstwhile in the eternities that were before us.[256] + +11. There is no memory of those that were; neither shall there be any +remembrance of them that are to come, among their posterity. + +12. I, the Speaker, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13. and I set my +heart to seek out and probe with wisdom all things that are done under +heaven. 14. I surveyed all the works that are wrought under the sun, and +behold all was vanity and the grasping of wind. + + 15. That which is crooked cannot be straight, + Nor can loss be reckoned as gain. + +16_a_. I communed with my heart, saying: Lo, I have gathered great +and ever-increasing wisdom, more than all that were before me in +Jerusalem. 17. Then I set my heart to learn wisdom and understanding. +16_b_. And my heart discerned much wisdom and knowledge, 17. madness +and folly. I realised that this also is but a grasping of wind. 18. For + + In much wisdom is much grief; + Who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. + + II.1. I said in my heart: Go to, now, I will try mirth + and taste pleasure! But behold, this too was + vanity. + + 2. Unto laughter I said: It is mad. + Unto mirth: What cometh of it? + + +PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF POSSESSION AND ENJOYMENT + +_(a) Because Enjoyment is Marred by Possession_ + +II. 3. I cast about me, how I might confer pleasure upon my body--my +reason continuing to guide with wisdom the while--and how I might take to +folly till I should discern what is good for the sons of men that they +should do under heaven during the brief days of their existence. 4. I +undertook huge works, I builded me houses, cultivated vineyards, 5. laid +out gardens and orchards wherein I planted trees with all kinds of +fruits; 6. I dug out reservoirs of water wherewith to water the +tree-bearing wood. 7. I got me men slaves and female slaves and had +servants born in my house; I likewise owned horned and small cattle, +above all that were in Jerusalem before me. 8. I also piled up silver and +gold, the treasures of kings and provinces, I got me men singers and +women singers, and the delight of the sons of men, wife and wives. 9. +And I waxed great and increased more than all that had been before me in +Jerusalem; also my wisdom abode with me. 10. And what thing so ever mine +eyes coveted, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy; +but my heart took pleasure in all my labour, for this only was my portion +of all my toil. + +II. Then I turned to all my works that my hands had wrought and to the +worry wherewith I had wearied myself, and behold, all was vanity and a +grasping of wind; and there is no profit under the sun. + + V.10. Whoso loveth silver shall not have joy of silver;[257] + And he who sets his heart on riches reaps nought therefrom. + +This too is vanity. + +11. When goods increase, they also are multiplied that devour them, and +what profit hath the owner thereof save the gazing thereon with his eyes? + +12. Sweet is the sleep of the toiler; but his wealth suffered not the +rich man to slumber.[258] + +_(b) Because Possession is at best but Fleeting_ + +V. 13. There is a sore evil which I have witnessed under the sun; riches +hoarded up by the owner thereof to his own undoing.[259] [For such an one +treasures them, spending thereby all his days in worry, vexation, grief, +and carking care without gladdening his soul;] 14. then the riches perish +by evil mishap, and if that man have begotten a son, there is nothing in +his hand. + +16_a_. But this likewise is a sore evil: exactly as he came, even so +shall he go; 15. naked, as he issued from his mother's womb, must he +depart again, nor for all his labour shall he carry away aught that might +go with him in his hand. 16_b_. What profit hath he then for having +toiled for the wind, 17. and likewise passed all his days in darkness, +mourning and much grief, suffering and wrath? + +_(c) Because the Capacity for Pleasure is hedged round with +Conditions_ + +V. 18. Behold what I have found to be good and beautiful: that a man eat, +drink and make merry amid all his labour whereat he striveth under the +sun during the brief days of his life which God hath allotted to him; for +such is his portion. 19. But that God should enable every man on whom he +has bestowed riches and treasures, to enjoy these, and taking his share, +to have pleasure in his labour, this is itself a gift of God.[260] 20. +For then he shall not ponder overmuch on the days of his life, since God +approveth the joy of his heart. + +VI. 1. But there is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it +weighs heavy upon men: 2. that God bestows upon one riches, wealth and +honour, grudging him nought for which his soul yearns, yet permitteth him +not to taste thereof, but a stranger enjoyeth it. This is vanity and a +sore evil. 3. If such an one should beget even a hundred sons and live +many years, but his soul could not revel in bliss then I say, an untimely +birth is better off than he. 4. For it came into nothingness, and +departed in gloom and its name is shrouded in darkness; 3. not even a +sepulchre fell to its lot; 5. moreover, it had not gazed upon, nor known +the sun; this latter hath more rest than the former. 6. Yea, though one +lived a thousand years twice told, yet had not tasted happiness, must not +all wander into one place?[261] + + 7. All man's toil is for his mouth; + And yet the soul[262] + gets not its fill. + +III. 9. What profit hath the toiler from that whereat he labours? 12. I +perceived that for him there is no good other than to eat, drink, and +make merry in his life; 13. but even this same that any one may eat, +drink, and enjoy himself during all his toil, is for him a gift of +God.[263] + + +PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF KNOWLEDGE + +(a) _Because of its Limitation_ + +III. 10. I considered the working of the world which God gave unto man as +a subject of meditation. 11. Unto their perception he made over the +universe and likewise all eternity; yet so that they are unable to +discern the work that he worketh from the beginning unto the end.[264] + +(6) _From its Depressing Effects as Applied to the Order of the +World_ + +III. 14. I discovered that whatever God doeth is for ever; nothing can be +superadded to it, neither can aught be taken away; and God hath so +contrived it that man must fear him. + +15. What came into being had been already long before, and what will be +was long ago; and God quickeneth the past. + +(c) _Because of its Depressing Effects as Applied to Human Life and +Conduct_ + +III. 16. Moreover, I saw, under the sun, in the place of equity iniquity, +and in lieu of justice crime. 18. I said in mine heart: It is for men's +sake that God should try them and show that they are beasts, they unto +themselves. 19. For men are an accident, and the beasts are an accident, +and the same accident befalleth them all: as these die even so die those, +and the selfsame breath have they all, nor is there any pre-eminence of +man above beast;[265] for all is nothingness. 20. All drift into one +place; all sprang from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21. Who +knoweth whether the breath of man riseth upwards or whether the breath of +the beast sinketh downwards to the earth? + +22. And I perceived that other good there is none, save only that man +should enjoy himself in his work; for that is his portion. For who can +show him what shall become of him after his death? + +IV. I. And again I saw all the oppressive deeds that are wrought under +the sun; and behold the downtrodden weep, and none comforteth them; and +they endure violence from their tyrants, and none consoleth them. 2. Then +I appraised the dead who died long since, as happier than the quick who +are yet alive; 3. but luckier than both, him who is still unborn, who +hath not yet witnessed the evil doings under the sun. + +4. And I saw that all striving and all painstaking in the working of men +is but the jealousy of one with another; this too is vanity and the +grasping of wind. 5. True, + + The fool foldeth his hands, + And eateth up his own flesh. + +6. And yet better is a handful of quietness than both fists filled with +drudgery and the grasping of wind. + +7. And again I beheld a vain thing under the sun: 8. one who toileth +restlessly without enjoying his riches. For whom do I wear myself out and +bereave my soul of pleasure? This too is vanity and irksome drudgery. + +II. 12. For what manner of man will he be who shall come after me? 18. +Then I loathed all my toil, wherewith I had wearied myself under the sun, +in order that I should leave it to one who shall come after me. 19. And +who knoweth whether he be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have sway +over all the fruits of my labour which I have gained by toil and wisdom +under the sun; this likewise is vanity. 20. And I turned away to let my +heart abandon itself to despair because of the pains wherewith I laboured +under the sun. 21. For here is a man who hath performed his work with +wisdom, knowledge and painstaking, and to one who hath not laboured +thereat he must leave it, as his portion. This also is vanity and a sore +evil. + +22. For what hath man of all his striving and of the worry of his heart +wherewith he labours under the sun? 23. For all his days are sorrows and +his work grief; yea, even at night his heart taketh no rest; this too is +vanity. + +24. There is no good for man, save that he should eat and drink and make +glad his soul in his labour. Yet I saw that even this lieth in the hand +of God.[266] 25. For who can eat and who can enjoy except through him? +26. For on the man who findeth favour in his sight he bestoweth wisdom, +knowledge, and joy; but to him who is not pleasing in his sight[267] he +giveth drudgery, to gather and to heap up in order to make it over to him +in whom he is well pleased. This also is vanity and a grasping of wind. + + +PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS RELIGIOUS AND MORAL ASPECTS[268] + +_(a) Because in the Chances of Life and Death the Just are Nowise +Favoured_ + +II. 12_a_. Then I turned to behold wisdom, madness and folly, 13. +and I saw that wisdom excelleth folly as much as light surpasseth +darkness: + + 14. The wise man hath eyes in his head; + But the fool walketh in obscurity. + +But I perceived that the same fate overtaketh them all. 15. Then I said +in mine heart: As it happeneth to the fool, so shall it happen also unto +me; and why then have I been so very wise? Whereupon I said in my heart +that this too is vanity. 16. For there is no more remembrance of the wise +man than of the fool for ever; because in the days to come all shall have +been long since forgotten, and how the wise man perisheth like the fool! + +17. Then I loathed life; because the turmoil under the sun weighed upon +me as a calamity, for all is vanity and a grasping of wind. III. 1. To +everything there is a season and each thing under heaven hath its +hour.[269] 2. There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to +plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3. a time to kill and +a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; 4. a time to +weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5. a time +to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to +embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek and a +time to throw away; a time to keep and a time to destroy; 7. a time to +rend and a time to repair; a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8. a +time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace. VIII. +6. For every thing hath its season and its destiny,[270] for the bane of +man presses heavily upon him. 7. Because he knoweth not what shall be; +for who can tell him how it will come to pass? + + 8. No man swayeth the storm-wind, + None controlleth the day of his death; + There is no discharge in war, + Nor can riches rescue their possessor. + +_(b) Because the Just are very often Treated worse than the Wicked_ + +VIII. 9. All this have I seen, and I have applied my heart unto every +event that happens under the sun, at the time when one man ruleth over +another to his undoing. 10. And so I beheld the evil-doer honoured, even +in the holy place, while they who had done uprightly must go away and +were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity. + +11. Because sentence against misdeeds is not executed forthwith, +therefore the heart of the sons of man is fully set to work evil. 12. For +I know that many a miscreant hath committed bad deeds for a protracted +time past, and yet lives long, 13. while the God-fearing prolongeth not +his shadow-like days. + +14. There is a vanity which is done upon earth: to righteous men that +happeneth which should befall wrong-doers; and that betideth criminals +which should fall to the lot of the upright. I said: This too is vain. + +16a. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to consider the goings on +upon earth, 17a. then I perceived that no man can find out the whole work +of God that is carried on beneath the sun.[271] How much soever he may +labour in seeking, he will not discover it; 16_b_. even though by +day and by night he should keep his eyes from seeing sleep; 17_b_. +yea, though a wise man set himself to fathom it, yet shall he not find it +out.[272] + +IX. 1. For all this I laid to heart, and my heart beheld it all; that the +righteous and the wise and their doings are in the hand of God; neither +love nor hatred doth a man know in advance;[273] everything lies before +him. + +2. All things come alike to all indiscriminately;[274] the one fate +overtaketh the upright man and the miscreant, the clean and the unclean, +him who sacrifices and him who sacrifices not, the just and the sinner, +him who swears as him who dreads an oath. 3. This is an evil amongst all +things that are done under the sun, that one chance betideth all; +therefore the sons of men pluck up courage for evil, and madness abideth +in their heart. + +VIII. 15. Then I commended mirth, because for man there is no good under +the sun save only to eat, drink, and make merry, and that abideth with +him in his toil during the days of his life which God hath given him +under the sun. + + +PROOFS OF THE VANITY OF WISDOM IN ITS ASPECT AS PRUDENCE AND PRACTICAL +APTITUDE + +_(a) Because Success is Contingent upon Circumstances beyond the +Control of Man_ + +IX. 11. Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor +the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of +understanding, nor favour to men of skill; but time and chance overtake +them all. 12. For man knoweth not even his own time; like the fishes that +are taken in the evil net, and like the birds that are caught in the +snare, so are the sons of men entrapped in the season of misfortune, when +it breaks in upon them unawares.[275] + +_(b) Because of the Difficulty of obtaining recognition for it, and of +the Ease with which it may be Thwarted by Folly_ + +IX. 13. This also have I seen under the sun, as wisdom, and it appeared +great unto me. 14. There was a little city and few soldiers therein, and +there came a mighty king against it, and besieged it, and built great +bulwarks against it. 15. Now he found in it a poor wise man who, by his +wisdom, delivered the city; but no one remembered this poor man +afterwards. 16. Thereupon I said: + + Wisdom is better than strength; + Yet the poor man's wisdom is despised. + + 17. The words of the wise are gently uttered; + But the clamour of fools is deafening.[276] + 18. Wisdom is better than war weapons; + Yet a single oversight bringeth ruin. + X. 1. A dead fly causes balsam to putrefy; + So a little folly destroys much happiness. + +VI. 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? What, the poor who +knoweth how to walk before the living? 10. That which is happening was +long ago named, and it is known beforehand what a man shall be; neither +can he join issue with him who is mightier than he. 11. For there is much +prattle that only augmenteth vanity. Of what avail is it to man? 12. For +who knoweth what is helpful to man in life during the brief vain days of +his existence which he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what +shall come to pass after him under the sun? + + +PART II + +RECOMMENDATION OF THE RELATIVE GOOD; AND IN THE FIRST PLACE OF WISDOM, AS +RENUNCIATION + +_(a) Of Claims to Happiness_ + + VII.1_a_. Better is a good name than choice unguents, + + X.1. But better wisdom than glory; + [Better not being than existence,][277] + + VII.1_b_. And the death-day than the birthday. + + 2. Better to enter the house of mourning + Than to go into the tavern; + Because there is the end of every man, + And he who survives will lay it to heart. + + 3. Better is sorrow than laughter; + For a cheerless face makes a blithesome heart. + 4. The heart of the wise is in the mourning-house; + The heart of fools in the house of mirth. + + 5. Better to hearken to the rebuke of the wise, + Than to listen to the song of the foolish. + 6. As the crackling of thorns under a pot,[278] + Is the inane laughter of the fool. + + VI.9. Better look with the eyes than wander with desire; + This too is vanity and a grasping of wind. + VII.7. For extortion maketh the wise man foolish, + And bribery robs understanding. + + 8. Better the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; + Better is patience than haughtiness. + 9. Let not thy spirit be hurried into anger, + For anger lurketh in the bosom of fools. + +10. Say not: Why were old times better than these? For it is not from +wisdom that thou askest thus. + +13. Contemplate the work of God! Who can straighten what he hath made +crooked? 14. In the day of prosperity be of good cheer, and in the evil +day bethink thee: the latter God hath made even as the former, to the end +that man at his death shall have left nothing unaccomplished. + +_(b) As Renunciation of Reputation for Perfect Justice and Wisdom_ + +VII. 15. All things have I witnessed in my vain days; there are just men +who perish through their righteousness, and there are wicked men who +prolong their lives by means of their iniquity.[279] 16. Be not righteous +overmuch, neither make thyself overwise; why wouldst thou ruin thyself? +17. Do not allow thyself too much liberty, and be not a fool: why wouldst +thou die before thy time? 18. It is well that thou shouldst hold fast to +the one and also not withdraw thy hand from the other, for he who feareth +God compasseth all this. + +19. Wisdom is a stronger guard for the wise man than ten mighty men who +are in the city. + + 11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, + Yea, better yet, to them that see the sun;[280] + 12. For wisdom and wealth afford shade, + And wisdom, besides, keeps its possessors alive. + +_(c) As Renunciation of One's Claims to the Respect and Consideration +of Others_ + +VII. 21. Likewise, take not all the gossip of people to heart, lest thou +hear that thy friend hath reviled thee! 22. For thy heart is conscious +that thou thyself hast often-times made little of others. 20. For: + + There is no just man upon the earth + Who worketh good and never faileth. + +_(d) Of One's Claims to Act Independently of their Counsel and Aid_ + +IV. 9. Two are better off than one; 10. for should one of them fall, the +other lifts him up again. Woe to him that is alone, if he fall, and there +be not another to raise him up. 11. Likewise, if two lie down together, +they become warm; but how can one grow warm alone? 12. Moreover, if a man +would overpower the single one, two can keep him at bay, and a threefold +cord will not easily give way. + +13. Better is the youth, needy and wise, than the king old and foolish, +who can no longer take a warning to heart. 14. For the former went forth +from prison to govern, though born poor in the realm of the king. 15. I +saw all the living who walk under the sun, in attendance on the youth who +was to take his place. 16. There was no end to the multitude....[281] who +were before them; nor did those who lived afterwards glory in him. For +this likewise is vanity and a grasping of wind. + + +RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS RATIONAL PIETY[282] + +_A Warning: (a) Against Outward and Sacrificial Worship_ + +V. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God! And to draw near +him, in order to obey, is better than the offering of sacrifices by +fools: for they know not....[283] to work evil. + +_(b) Against Mechanical Prayer_ + +V. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, nor let thy heart be hasty to utter +words before God! For God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; +therefore let thy words be few! 3. For + + Dreams proceed from much brooding, + And the prattle of fools from a multitude of words. + +_(c) Against Rash Vows_ + +V. 4. If thou makest a vow unto God, fail not to fulfil it, for fools are +displeasing. Carry out that which thou hast promised. 5. It is better +thou shouldst not vow at all than vow and not perform. 6. Suffer not thy +mouth to render thy body punishable, neither utter thou the plea before +the messenger:[284] "it was rashness." Why cause God to be wroth at thy +voice and destroy the work of thy hands? + +_(d) Against Arbitrary Religious Speculations_ + +V. 7....[285] For in the multitude of fancies and prattle there likewise +lurketh much vanity. Rather fear thou God! + + +RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS ACTIVITY + +_(a) In Public Life_ + +V. 8. When thou witnessest oppression of the poor and the swerving from +right and equity in the land, marvel not thereat. For a higher one +watcheth over the high, and still higher ones over both.[286] 9. But a +gain to the country is only a king--for tilled land. + + X.16. Wo, land, to thee whose king is a child, + And whose princes feast in the early morning! + 17. Hail to thee, land, whose king is noble, + And whose princes eat in due season! + + 18. Through sloth the rafters give way; + Through idleness the roof lets in the rain. + 19. They misuse food and drink for feasting: + And gold putteth all things in their grasp. + + 20. Even in thy privacy curse not the king, + Nor in thy bed-chamber the wealthy; + The birds of heaven might divulge it, + And the feathered ones might report the word. + +_(b) In Private Life_ + +XI. 1. Send forth thy bread over the surface of the waters, for after +many days thou shall find it again. 2. Divide thy possessions into seven, +yea, into eight portions! For thou knowest not what evil may befall the +land. 3. If the clouds fill themselves with rain, they discharge it upon +the earth; and whether the tree falleth towards the south or towards the +north, in the place where it falleth, there shall it abide. + + 6. In the morning sow thy seed, + And until evening let not thy hand repose.[287] + +For thou knowest not which one shall thrive, this or that, or whether +they shall both prosper alike. + + 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; + He that watcheth the clouds shall not reap. + +5. As thou knowest not the way of the wind, nor the growth of the bones +in the womb of the mother, even so, thou canst not fathom the work of God +who compasseth everything. + + +RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS CIRCUMSPECTION + +_(a) In our Dealings with Women_ + +VII. 23. All this have I tried with understanding; I was minded to +acquire wisdom, but it remained far from me. 24. Far off is that which +is,[288] and deep, deep; who can fathom it? + +25. I turned away, and my heart was bent upon understanding, sifting, and +seeking the outgrowth of wisdom and knowledge, madness, and folly. 26. +Whereupon I found that more bitter than death is woman--that snare whose +heart is a net, whose arms are fetters: the God-favoured shall escape +her, but the sinner shall be entangled by her. + +27. Lo, this have I found, saith the Speaker, piecing one thing with +another in order to discover a result: 28. What my soul hath ever sought +for, yet never fallen upon, is this: I have discovered one man, among +thousands; and of all these there was not one single woman. 29. Behold, +this only have I found: that God made men upright, but they go in search +of many wiles. + +_(b) In our Relations to the Monarch_ + + VIII.1. A man's wisdom brightens up his countenance. + And transforms the coarse rancour of his face. + 2. The wise man hearkens to the king's command, + By reason of the oath to God. + + 3. Steer clear of evil causes![289] + For he[290] doeth even what he listeth. + 4. Mighty is the word of the monarch; + Who dares ask him: "What dost thou?"[291] + + X.2. The wise man's heart straineth to the right, + The heart of the fool to the left. + 3. Even out of doors he lacketh sense, + Saying unto every one: "I am a fool."[292] + +4. Though the wrath of the ruler should swell against thee, yet forsake +not thy post. For composure avoids grave mistakes. + +5. There is an evil which I beheld under the sun, like unto a blunder, +proceeding from the ruler! + + 6. Folly is set in high places, + The great ones must sit low down; + 7. Slaves have I beheld on horseback, + And princes trudging on foot. + +_(c) In the Conditions of Everyday Life_ + +X. 8. He that diggeth a pit may fall into it; him who breaketh down walls +a serpent may sting. 9. Whoso removeth stones may be hurt therewith; he +who cleaveth wood may be endangered thereby. + + 10. If the axe be blunt it demands more strength:[293] + Only through intelligence doth exertion avail. + 11. If the serpent bites before the spell, + Then bootless is the charmer's art. + + 12. Speech from the wise man's mouth is grace, + The lips of a fool swallow him up; + 13. The first words of his mouth are folly. + And the end of his talk rank madness. + + II.15. For in self-conceit babbles the fool,[294] + X.14_a_. The silly man multiplieth his words; + 15. The fussiness of the fool jadeth him. + Who knows not yet the way citywards.[295] + +_Exhortation to enjoy Life_ + +X. 14_b_. Man knoweth not what shall come to pass, and who can tell +him IX. 3. during his life, what shall befall after his death? Afterwards +they go down to the[296] [dead, and there none can tell him aught nor can +he apprehend anything. Even could he take it in, it would avail him +nothing, for in _Sheol_ there is no participation in life]. 4. For +whosoever may enrol himself in the company of all the living, can rest +content, seeing that a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5. For the +living know at least that they shall die, whereas the dead know not +anything at all, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of +them is forgotten. 6. As well their love as their hatred and jealousy has +long since passed away, neither have they any more a portion for ever in +anything that is done under the sun. + + 7. Go, eat thy bread with joy, + And quaff thy wine with merry heart. + +For God hath countenanced beforehand this thy doing. 8. Let thy garments +be always white and let thy head lack not ointment. 9. See life with a +woman whom thou lovest throughout all the days of thy empty existence +which he hath given thee under the sun, during all thy vain days! For +that is thy portion in life[297] and in thy labour which thou takest +under the sun. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do that with thy +might. For there is no work, nor cogitation, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in +the _Sheol_[298] whither thou goest. XI. 7. But sweet is the light +and pleasant it is for the eyes to gaze upon the sun. 8. For how many +years soever a man may live, he should enjoy himself during them all, and +bear in mind the days of darkness that they shall be many. Everything +that is to come, is vain. + + 9. Rejoice, young man, in thy youth![299] + And let thy heart make thee glad! + And walk in the ways of thine heart, + And according to the seeing of thine eyes! + + _10a._ Drive sorrow from thy heart; + And put away care from thy flesh! + XII._1a._ And bethink thee of thy fountain,[300] + In the days of thy youth! + +XI. _10b._ For youth and dawn are fleeting. + + XII._1b._ Dreary days are drawing near, + And years approach devoid of joy. + 2. Then darkened shall be sun and moon, + And clouds come after rain alway. + + 3. The keepers of the house[301] shall quake, + The sturdy ones[302] shall bend themselves; + Darksome shall the windows[303] be, + 4. And closed shall be the portals.[304] + + The roar of the mill[305] shall be as the sparrows twitter, + The daughters of song[306] shall bow low; + 5. Likewise of heights shall they be afraid, + For dread shall lie in wait. + + 3. The grinding maids[307] shall leave off work, + 5. The almond-tree[308] shall shed its blooms; + The grasshopper[309] shall be burdened, + And the caperberry[310] unavailing. + +For man goeth to his everlasting home and the mourners are in readiness +in the street. + + 6. Asunder snaps the silver chain; + Shivered is the golden lamp; + The pitcher shattered at the brook; + The scoopwheel falls into the well. + +8. O Vanity of Vanities, saith the Speaker; all is vanity![311] + + +Footnotes: + +[254] For the convenience of the reader I give the chapters and verses as + they are in the ordinary Hebrew Bible, so that they can be found + at once in the Authorised Version. The letter _a_ after the + verse number indicates the first half of that verse, the letter + _b_ the second half. + +[255] The meaning is almost the opposite of that of the Authorised + Version. Eye and ear are wearied and bewildered by the incessant + whirl of the vast machinery of the universe. _Cf._ + Schopenhauer, ed. Grisebach, vol. v. p. 295, § 144. The metre of + the strophe is identical with that of the "Poem of Job." + +[256] It is interesting and instructive to compare this with the + identical doctrine of Buddha, as set forth in the canonical book, + "Samyuttaka-Nikayo," vol. i. vii., 2 P, 2 Suttam. It is + accessible to most readers in the admirable German translation of + Dr. K. E. Neumann, Leiden, 1892. Pp. 156, 157. + +[257] The Authorised Version has "shall not be satisfied with silver." + The meaning is that he who loves silver shall not enjoy the good + things it can purchase. + +[258] _I.e_., The care and anxiety which accompany the possession of + wealth. The Authorised Version has: "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." The Hebrew word _saba'_ + can signify both wealth and repletion. Here it manifestly means + the former; but some well-intentioned person whose ideas of + physiology were defective, having taken it to mean repletion, + confirmed his view by interpolating the words: "whether he eat + little or much." + +[259] Here a portion of the original text has been lost, as is evident + from the passage beginning "What profit," two sentences lower + down, which sums up the troubles of the rich man and makes them + consist not merely in the loss of what he actually possessed, but + likewise in the hardships and privations which he endured in + order to produce his wealth. I give in brackets the words which + Professor Bickell conjecturally supplies in lieu of the lost + passage. + +[260] And therefore extremely doubtful. When Koheleth wishes to express + the idea of inexorable law, or Fate, he has recourse to the + notion of God. + +[261] It is only on earth that one can hope for some approximation to + happiness. If we fail to obtain it here--and the odds are very + much against us--there is no hereafter to look forward to; for we + _all_--the miserable as well as the fortunate--are drifting + steadily into one place--the dreary _Sheol_, where there is + no pleasure, no striving, no life. + +[262] _I.e._, not merely, as commentators generally suppose, that + desire is not satiated; but that the enjoyment for the sake of + which alone we desire life, and toil to sustain it, is never + attained. The aim of labour is enjoyment, without which existence + is a burden; but the real result of it all is the mere support of + life without its redeeming pleasures. _Cf._ Schopenhauer, + vol. v. pp. 300, 301. + +[263] That is to say, is a very uncertain outlook. + +[264] This is a remarkable sentence, which, if it could be supposed to be + the fruit of the writer's own speculations, would entitle him to + a high place in the Pantheon of speculative philosophers. This + proposition, which underlies all Buddhistic doctrines, would be + formulated by Kant or Schopenhauer somewhat as follows: Time, + space, and causality are given to man as the _a priori_ + conditions of all thought; they are the stuff his mind is made + of. As they are likewise the three ingredients of which the + universe is composed, it follows that the world is the web of his + own intellect, and, in so far as it is knowable, exists for the + intellect alone. That which underlies all the shadows of + existence, the one eternal force or will, he never beholds. + +[265] Schopenhauer would express it thus: Our sources of knowledge--inner + and outer observation--are identical with those of animals, the + difference consisting in that faculty of imparting to our + intuitions the form of abstract ideas. + +[266] That is to say, is highly uncertain; for, as we learn in the + following lines, happiness and misery depend upon chance or luck. + God gives his favourites an agreeable life, leaving the drudgery + to all the rest. And his choice is not determined by any ethical + acts of man. + +[267] "Sinner" is not the correct translation of the Hebrew word + _khôte_ here; otherwise the author could not say that this + too (_i.e._, the punishment of the sinner) is vanity. + +[268] The Jews frequently give to piety and morality the name of wisdom. + +[269] The sense of this passage, which has become proverbial, is + generally misunderstood. What it means is that man's work, be he + never so skilful, be it never so easy, is absolutely dependent + for success upon conditions which are wholly beyond his control, + and that undertaken under any other conditions is inevitably + doomed to failure. + +[270] Here Professor Bickell supplies the words: "Against this no man can + strive." + +[271] The utmost that physical science can teach us is the where, the + when and the why of the appearance of the forces of nature. The + _what_ remains for ever a mystery. + +[272] Wisdom here is taken to mean the one eternal reality which + underlies the shadowy appearances that we see and know. The same + use of the word and exactly the same thesis occur in Job. + (_Cf_. A.V. Job xxviii. 21, 22.) + +[273] He cannot answer even for his own sentiments, completely though + they may seem to be under his sway. + +[274] _I.e._, without ethical distinctions between the good and the + bad. + +[275] It is curious to note that a comparison strikingly similar to this + occurs in the ancient Indian collection of fables entitled + "Pantschatantra." (Ed. Kosegarten, p. 105.) + +[276] Literally: tyrannical. + +[277] This line is no longer found in the Hebrew or Greek texts. It is + required, however, by the sense and metre, and is inserted by + Professor Bickell. + +[278] Here the Hebrew text contains a play of words which cannot be + reproduced in English. + +[279] "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." ("Measure for + Measure.") + +[280] _I.e._, for mankind. + +[281] Here a portion of the text is evidently lost. Professor Bickell + suggests that it ran somewhat as follows: "Who received him with + applause and reviled the old king. For inasmuch as he had spurned + the counsel of the wise, in order to misgovern and grind down the + people, therefore they hated him as those had hated him" who were + before them. + +[282] As an antidote to the so-called "piety" founded upon the scrupulous + observance of the law, which had become a very Upas tree of + self-complacency. Mankind is already encompassed by so many and + such terrible evils, that it would be sheer madness to turn + religion into a means of multiplying them. + +[283] Another passage is wanting here, which most probably was to the + effect that they know not that God asks no sacrifices at their + hands but only works of justice; and that therefore they take + courage "to work evil." + +[284] Various commentators have offered various explanations of this + obscure passage. As none of them is convincing, I prefer to leave + them unnoticed. It is not impossible that it may contain an + allusion to some popular tale or fable, analogous to that of the + man who called upon death in his despair, and when the grim + visitor made his appearance, asked him merely to help him to + carry his burden. + +[285] Professor Bickell supposes that here some words have fallen out, + such as: "Brood not over that which is too marvellous and too + lofty for thee, neither say of the dreams of thy heart and the + babbling of thy lips, 'I have found the knowledge of the Holy + One.'" + +[286] This passage is a bitterly ironical onslaught on bureaucracy. + +[287] This distich is rhymed in Hebrew. + +[288] What Kant would call _das Ding an sich_. Everything we see and + know is but appearance. The underlying substance, "that which + is," is unknowable. + +[289] Political plots. + +[290] _I.e._, the king. + +[291] Ironical. + +[292] By his unconsidered acts. + +[293] Literally, "it must be the more lustily wielded." + +[294] This line is found only in the Septuagint. + +[295] Probably a proverbial way of saying that a man knows nothing. + +[296] The words in brackets are supplied conjecturally by Professor + Bickell. + +[297] The Authorised Version has "in this life." But it deviates from the + Hebrew original. + +[298] The nether world where the dead are but shadows. + +[299] This and the following quatrain are rhymed in the original; as is + also the preceding distich. + +[300] Thy wife. + +[301] The arms. + +[302] The legs. + +[303] The eyes. + +[304] The ears. + +[305] The voice. + +[306] The tones. + +[307] The teeth. + +[308] The white hair. + +[309] Fascinum. + +[310] [Greek: Kreis]. + +[311] The epilogue forms no part of the original text. + + * * * * * + +THE SAYINGS OF AGUR + +TRANSLATION OF THE RESTORED TEXT + + * * * * * + +THE SAYINGS OF AGUR + +FIRST SAYING + +_On God_ + +I + + Sentence of the man who has worried himself about God: + I have worried myself about God and succeeded not; + For I am more stupid than other men, + And in me there is no human understanding. + Neither have I learned wisdom, + So that I might comprehend the science of sacred things. + +II + + Who has ascended into heaven and come down again? + Who can gather the wind in his fists? + Who can bind the waters in a garment? + Who can grasp all the ends of the earth? + Such an one would I question about God: What is his name? + And what is the name of his sons, if thou knowest it?[312] + + +SECOND SAYING + +_On Four Insatiable Things_ + + There be three things which are never satisfied, + Yea, four exclaim: "It is not enough!" + The Ghoul hath two daughters: + "Give, give!"--the grave and the womb.[313] + The earth is not filled with water, + And the fire sayeth not, "It is enough!" + +THIRD SAYING OF AGUR + +_On Four Inscrutable Things_ + + There be three things too wonderful for me, + Yea, four which I fathom not: + The way of the eagle in the air, + The way of the serpent upon a rock, + The way of a ship amidst the ocean, + And the way of a man with a maid.[314] + +FOURTH SAYING + +_Four Insupportable Things_ + + Under three things the earth quakes, + And under four it cannot stand. + Under a slave when he seeks to reign, + And under a fool when he is filled with meat; + Under an odious woman when she gets a husband, + And under a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.[315] + +FIFTH SAYING + +_Four who stride majestically_ + + There be three things which go well, + Yea, four are comely in going: + A lion--the hero among beasts, + Who turneth not aside for any one; + A greyhound and a bell-goat, + And a king who riseth up for his people's sake. + + +SIXTH SENTENCE + +_Exhortation to denounce ambition_ + + Whether thou hast acted foolishly in exalting thyself, + Or whether thou hast done wisely, lay thy hand upon thy lips![316] + For pressure of milk produces butter, + And pressure of vanity produces anger; + Pressure of the nose[317] produces blood, + And pressure of wrath produces strife. + + +Footnotes: + +[312] To this and the following Sayings, Agur's orthodox opponent replies + thus: + + Every word of God is purified: + He is a shield to them that put their trust in him. + + Add thou not unto his words, + Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. + + Two things have I demanded of thee, O Jahveh, + Deny me them not before I die: + + Frivolity and blasphemous words + And negation remove far from me. + + Give me neither poverty nor riches; + Feed me with food suitable for me. + + Lest I be sated and deny thee, + And say, Who is the Lord? + + Or lest I be poor and yield to seduction + And offend against the name of my God. + + Accuse not a servant to his master,[312a] + Lest he curse thee and thou be found guilty. + + There is a bad generation that curses its father + And doth not bless its mother,[312b] + + A bad generation which is pure in its own eyes, + And yet is not washed from its filthiness. + + A bad generation, how lofty are its eyes! + And how uplifted its eyelids! + + A bad generation whose teeth are as swords, + And whose jaw-teeth are as knives + + To devour the poor from off the earth, + And the needy from among men.[312c] + +[312a] As if Agur were an aristocrat from blind unreasoning sympathy for + the heathen aristocracy. Allusion to Agur's 4th Saying. + +[312b] Against Agur's 2nd and 3rd Sayings. + +[312c] Against Agur's 4th Saying. + +[313] _I.e_., birth and death. (_Cf. Agur, the Agnostic_, pp. + 139, 140.) The champion of orthodoxy evidently took the passage + literally and consequently condemned Agur as guilty of a lack of + filial respect for his mother, venting his feelings in the + following lines: + + "The eye that scoffeth at the grey hair of the father + And that despiseth the old age of the mother, + + The ravens of the valley shall pick it out + And the young eagles shall devour it." + +[314] Verse 20 A.V. is an addition inserted by a later writer who having + misunderstood the last line of the fourth sentence, deemed it his + duty to give it a moral turn. + +[315] The Sentence following (vv. 24-24 A.V.) dealing with Four Cunning + Ones is probably not from Agur's pen; for not only has it five + distichs, but it lacks the point which characterises his Sayings, + besides which it does not begin, as his "numerical" Sentences do, + with _three_ before proceeding to _four_. + +[316] Keep silence. + +[317] In Hebrew the same word signifies "nose" and "strife." + + * * * * * + +INDEX + + * * * * * + +INDEX + +Adversary, the, "a son of God" +Agur, the Sayings of-- + their literary place + character of + their position in Proverbs + their present form + Agur and his orthodox opponent + blunders of the latter + Oriental influence traceable in the Sayings + the mystery of generation + date of composition + Agur shows no respect for the doctrine of retribution, for + Messianism, revelation, &c.; no belief in a personal God + his antagonism to Jewish theologians + his views of right conduct +Angels +Animals, the tenderness of Buddhism towards +Aryans and Semites, contrast of mental characteristics +Asterisks, Origen's, in the Hexapla +Authorship of Job + +Bickell, Professor, and the laws of Hebrew metre + discovery of the Saidic version of Job + on the theophany in Job + theory as to the chaotic state of Koheleth + and the "Praise of Wisdom" + textual conjectures +"Book, That mine adversary had written a" +Book of Job (see Job) +Buddhism and the theology of Job + and Job's moral system + influence of, on Koheleth +Buddhism, spread of, into Syria, Egypt, &c. + influence of, on Agur + and the doctrine of Renunciation + its tenderness towards animals and plants +Byron's "Cain" and Job + +"Cain" (Byron's) and Job +"Canticles of Scepticism," Heine's description of Koheleth +Cheyne, Prof., and the date of Job + and the laws of Hebrew metre + and Prof. Bickell's theory of the plan of Koheleth + on the "theism" of Koheleth + Job, strophe liii. and Ps. viii. 5 compared. +Christ and the doctrine of Renunciation +Christianity not incompatible with Koheleth's scepticism +Clement of Alexandria and a lost version of Job +Cornill, Dr., and the date of Job +Council of Constantinople and the historical truth of Job +Critical apparatus applied to text of Job + +Date of Job + of earliest extant MS. of Job + of Koheleth + of the Sayings of Agur + +Ecclesiastes (_see_ Koheleth) +Ecclesiasticus, dropped leaves causing transposition of chapters in +Elephantiasis +Eternal justice, Job's belief in + Koheleth's belief in +Evil (_see_ Good and Evil) +Ewald and the laws of Hebrew metre + +Firmament, the +Free-will and the origin of evil +Future life, Job knows nothing of + Koheleth knows nothing of + +Ghoul, the (_Tanha_) +Good and Evil, problem of + free-will and the origin of evil + the Oriental theory of +Gregory the Great and the Book of Job + +Hebrew metre, Prof. Bickell and the laws of +Heine and the "Canticles of Scepticism" +Hitopadeça, the, and the Sayings of Agur + +Inspiration of Job not affected by reconstructive changes +Interpolations in Job, examples of +Isaac of Antioch, transpositions in poems caused by dropped leaves + +Jesus Sirach and the Book of Proverbs +Job, the Poem of-- + compared with Lucretius, _De Nat. Rerum_ + its inclusion in the Canon + its appeal to all ages + opinion of Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Tennyson, + Luther + its place in literature + + the problem of + traditional theology + the mystery of good and evil + no conception of a future life + nor of the Resurrection or Atonement + the poet's view of the problem + free-will and the origin of evil + the Oriental theory of these + Brahmanism and Buddhism + Job's illumination the same as Buddha's + + authorship of + date of + the question of historicity + date of earliest extant MS. of + a lost version of + various causes for changes in text + the chief cause, a horror of blasphemy + apparatus for detecting these changes + laws of Hebrew metre + parallelism + evidence of the Septuagint + Theodotion's version of the Old Testament + the Hexapla + the Saidic or Thebaic version of Job + + examples of interpolations + reconstructive changes do not affect inspiration + Job's natural philosophy + his dynamic theory of the Universe + his monotheism not Jewish + his moral system, based on pity, found in Buddhism, and here + first preached in the Old Testament + belief in eternal justice + the secret of Job's resignation + + the ancient legend of Job, use of it by the poet + analysis of the Poem + the appearance of Jehovah not literal + but symbolical of Job's illumination + Judaism, the influence of Buddhism on + +Kant and Koheleth +Koheleth-- + its inclusion in the Canon + the literary problem of + its metaphysical basis the same as that of the philosophy of + Buddha, Kant, and Schopenhauer + + chaotic and conflicting character of text + Prof. Bickell's theory as to the confusion of the book + instances of similar confusion in other works + the proposed re-arrangement + illustrations in support of Prof. Bickell's theory + + Koheleth's theory of life + source of happiness not wealth + nor wisdom + nor virtue + Koheleth's system + relation of God to man + the practical moral + the view of "moral order" + the world all Maya, illusion + Koheleth's theory not inconsistent with Christianity + the reach of our knowledge; happiness the only true good + Koheleth knows nothing of future life or of divine promises or + revelations + + his belief in eternal justice + renunciation, the great doctrine + wisdom the great boon + content and moderation the golden rule + the sources of his philosophy + opposition of Jewish orthodoxy to the book + admission of the book to the Canon + its incompatibility with Messianic hopes of Israel + disbelief in a personal God + in retribution and immortality + Greek influences questioned; probable influence of Buddhism + date and locality of Koheleth + +Life to come (_see_ Future Life) +Lucretius compared with Job +Luther and the Book of Job + +Magicians mentioned in Job +Maya, illusion, the teaching of Koheleth +Metre in Hebrew, laws of + +Nirvana, Koheleth's only real good + view of + +Old Testament, untrustworthiness of historical books +Origen and the Hexapla + +Parallelism in Hebrew poetry +Paul, St., and a lost version of Job +"Praise of Wisdom," its place in "Proverbs," Prof. Bickell's discovery +Priests' Code, the +"Proverbs," analysis of + not written by Solomon + their history + date of +Plants, tenderness of Buddhism towards + +Renunciation, the teaching of Koheleth, Buddha, Christ, etc. +Resurrection, the (in Job) +"Redeemer liveth, I know that my" + +Saidic or Thebaic version of Job +Sariputto, and the desire for life (_tanha_) +Satan, "a son of God" +Scotus Erigena and free-will +Schopenhauer and Koheleth + and Renunciation + and the four things insatiable +Semites, remains of ancient speculation among + and Aryans, contrast of mental characteristics +Septuagint, the value of, in regard to text of Job + +Tanha, the terrible Ghoul +Tennyson's opinion of Job +Thebaic or Saidic version of Job +Theodore of Mopsuestia condemned for declaring Job to be fiction +Theodotion's version of the Old Testament +Thomas Aquinas on Job +Transmigration of souls + +Veda, the +Vedanta, the +Vowel points in Hebrew + +"Wisdom, Praise of," its place in "Proverbs," Prof. Bickell's discovery + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sceptics of the Old Testament: +Job - Koheleth - Agur, by Emile Joseph Dillon + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCEPTICS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT *** + +This file should be named 8193-8.txt or 8193-8.zip + +Produced by David Starner, Thomas Berger +and the Distributed Prooreaders team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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