Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Chapter 2

127 CHAPTER II CHAPTER 2 1. (Verse 1). I said in my heart, etc. Here the author touches on his third point. So after the tedium of study there is a turning to pleasure. Since there were labor and vexation in study, he thought to leave that behind and turn to pleasure in which is delight. So he says: I said in my heart, that is, I made this decision because of the spiritual vexation in study. His word and reflection now is not of wisdom , but of dissatisfaction, because when he does not find rest interiorly, he looks for it outside. So he said: I will go and abound with delights and enjoy good things. I will go, by leaving good behind. Psalm 77:39 states: Human beings are made “a wind that goes and returns not.” I will abound with delights, namely, carnal rather than spiritual .1 The Song of Songs 7:6 says: “How beautiful . . . are you and how comely, my dearest, in delights.” He went back from spiritual to carnal delights. Isaiah 22:12-13 reads: “The Lord . . . called to weeping and mourning. . . . Behold joy and gladness . . . the slaying of rams,” etc.2 And enjoy good things, in rest. For men and women enjoy things when their desire has found rest. Wisdom 2:6 states: 1 Hugh of St. Cher, 75c also calls these delights “carnal.” 2 All of Isaiah 22:12-13 reads: “And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping and to mourning, to baldness, and to wearing of sackcloth. And behold joy and gladness, killing of calves, slaying of rams,eating flesh and drinking wine:Let us eat and drink,for tomorrow we shall die.” 128 ST. BONAVENTURE’S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES “Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present.And let us speedily use creatures as in youth.” And Proverbs 7:18 has: “Come, . . . let us enjoy the desired embraces.” Because this reflection was blameworthy and reprehensible, he rebuked himself, for present delight is not a true delight, but a deception. So he adds: And I saw that this, too, is vanity, since it does not endure nor refresh , but fades away and deceives. 2. (Verse 2). So he says: Laughter I counted error, in that it seduces people. And to joy I said: Why are you vainly deceived ?, because by rejoicing you are deceived. Laughter is exterior, while joy is interior. Laughter deceives, because it offers good that turns out to be evil. Proverbs 14:13 says: “Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning takes hold of the end of joy.” And James 4:9 states: “Let your laughter be turned into mourning,”because Luke 6:25 proclaims: “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall . . . weep.”3 This is the laughter of the delirious, for it is mistaken and passing. In the same way joy deceives interiorly . Job 21:12-13 reads: “They rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in good things, and in a moment they go down to hell.” And Job 20:5 has: “The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment.” 3. (Verse 3). I thought in my heart, etc. The author treats here of the fourth point, namely, a return to a reflection on what is useful, a return from pleasure to sobriety. So he says: I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, because wine in an astonishing way inclines to pleasure . For Ephesians 5:18 reads: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is voluptuousness.” And Proverbs 20:1 states: “Wine is a voluptuous thing, and drunkenness is riotous. Whoever delights in these things will not be wise.”4 He 3 Hugh of St. Cher, 75g also cites Luke 6:25. 4 Hugh of St. Cher, 75v, a also cites Proverbs 20:1. 129 CHAPTER II thought to withdraw from the beckoning of pleasure, so that I might turn to wisdom. That is, to reflect on the wise and to abandon reflecting on the foolish, such as in the preceding reflection. So he says: And might avoid folly, as he is encouraged to do by wisdom. Proverbs 1:22 advises: “Children, how long will you love childishness? Fools, how long will they covet things that are harmful?”5 He does this not only for his own good, but also for the...