King Solomons Solace, Book · Chapter 42
CAP. XLII.
The Princes having examined and approved Solomons wordes for veritie, agree to collect the ſame into a booke: to the which they prefixe a fit title, and declare the reaſons thereof.
ZAdoke hauing thus anſwered to all the former exceptions and obiections taken and oppoſed to the king and his wordes: the Princes & Lordes which were thus aſſembled in counſell, and hitherto liſtned to the diſputatiō and conference between Zadok & Abiather, anſwered & ſaid to Zadok. Ye hauehave both learnedly and right godly anſwered and reſolued all thoſe doubts (moſt reuerend Father) whereby the ſooner, as both we & al others are and ſhalbe moved to eſteeme worthily of the K. as of a Sainct of the L. & no leſſe of thoſe his Sermons and wordes ſo conſonant to Gods truth, and profitable to inſtruct and teach all men; ſo now let vsus conſent in one mind, to collect thoſe Sermons and wordes, as wee may beſt call them into memory. Ye hauehave wel ſaid (my L. ſaide Zadok) & it ſhalbe good and profitable both for our ſelues, and for many others, that we do as ye hauehave ſaide. But firſt, it may pleaſe you, that we agree on ſome fit Title to be prefixed, and ye Helioreph & Ahiah the kings ſcribes, or one of them, woulde write the ſame. With a very good-will (ſaide the Scribes) and what ſhall wee write: Write thus (ſaid Zadok Eccl. 1. foreign The words of that Koheleth (or the preacher) the ſon of David K. in Ieruſalem.The title of Solomons laſt wordes.
And thus hauehave we written (ſaid the ſcribes): But (my L. ſaid zadok) how like ye this title? we like it very wel (anſwered the Princes) May it pleaſe you alſo it be examined, that the reaſons thereof being declared, all others may likewiſe bee ſatiſfied with vsus; Yea (ſaid zadok) it pleaſeth me right well? howbeit, with conuenient breuitie: for we hauehave beene here talking very long, and it is more then time we were with his maieſtie to giuegive him comfort in his afflictions.Debarim. The firſt worde in this title is foreign Debarim, the which (as ye know) ſignifieth not onelyonly bare words, ſpeeches, ſermons or orations: but alſo matters, thinges and cauſes, yea and ſuch as are not vulgar ordinary, or common, but rather, graue, profitable, memorable, and of price, as ſuch where of the kings father ſometimes modulated ſaying:
Mine heart is willing to diſcloſe
a goodly thing:Pſalme 45.1.
For in my workes I will report
of Iah the King.
Such wordes vttered Moſes the Lordes ſeruant before our fathers: when he ſaid, hearken O ye heavens & I ſhal ſpeake, Deut. 32.….& let the earth heare the wordes of my mouth. And the like words the diuine preacher in his publike Sermons is wont to vtter & declare vntounto the people with great wiſedome and grauitie, for thoſe indeede are the thinges, which the king hath lately vttered and ſpoken of, in the audience of vsus and others,foreign. Concinator. and the which we purpoſe to gather and commit to writing.
The next word is foreign of the Preacher, or that Preacher This is made (as well ye know) of foreign to congregate, to aſſē ble, and call people together, to make a Church, and is a participle rather feminine then maſculine, howbeit in this place let it be vſed for both, that it may be referred aſwell to the perſon as to the thinges or matters by him vttered.Solomon a preacher, Eccles. 1.12. And firſt as it ſignifieth a preacher or one preaching we may apply the word to the King, who notwithſtanding his great royaltie and glory, diſdaineth not this name appellatiue, yea, hee hath willingly admitted it by his owne choice. For albeit hee bee no publike preacher or teacher in the Church which is a thing rather appertinent to the prieſts and Leuits, yet in either gender the word rightly fitteth him. Firſt, in regard of ye ſingular wiſdom which hath beene aboundantly gathered and noted in him. For in him is gathered the wiſedome and knowledge of all the Patriarks, Prophets, Maiſters, Teachers & wiſe men: the Lord hauing granted him wiſedome and vnderſtanding exceeding much and a large heart, euen as the ſand that is on the Sea ſhore. Secondly in regard of his ſoule ſo wiſely inſtructed, or of the Church, which is to receiue the doctrine of his wordes to the edification of the ſaintes. Neither may it ſeeme ſtrange vntounto them which are acquainted with the wordes and phraſes of holy write,foreign that this gendre is applyed to ſuch a perſon who (though maſculine) wee find to bee called Shelomoh (as a perſon feminine) tender, delicate and peaceable, or a faire and chaſt virgin, whom a man affecteth and woweth in honeſt louelove. Howſoeuer it bee that ſome men, not acquainted with our tongue may eſteeme this title to be impoſed on him for his vnmeaſurable louelove of women, by the which hee was effeminated and changed in nature. Thirdly he may be called Choheleth, or Preacher in that hee ſpake not to one or to a few, but before many great perſonages and others of diuers nations. For as he hath ſpoken in the great aſſembly, ſo are his words fit to inſtruct and teach all. Fourthly, as he hath had a ſpeciall regard for the glory of the great God, to the which he had built a magnificent houſe: ſo as the figure of the holy Meſſiah which gathereth to himſelfe, teacheth and preſerueth his holy church, he hath a ſpeciall care (with that wiſedome which the Lord had given him in his time) to call together and to aſſemble the people into the ſame, to the hearing of the lawe of GOD and performance of his right ſeruice, as to him (indéed) it appertained.The right office of a K. in 2 points. Beſides that the office of a King (as ye well know) is not onelyonly to defend and rule the people, but alſo as well by himſelfe, as by his prophets, prieſtes and miniſters (by his commā dement) in their ſeuerall functions, to teach and excite his ſubiects to feare the Lord, and to walke in his wayes. Fifthly hee may bee thus called. For that beeing ſufficiently ſchooled in his afflictions, and repenting thoſe his tranſgreſſions and ſins before vsus al, he can beſt admoniſh and warne al others to flye that miſery and trouble, by contemning and abandoning the vanities of this guilefull worlde and to aſpire (in the feare of God) to the higheſt felicitie: & they are called happy whō the harms & exāples of others either ſéen or heard of can cauſe to be warie. * In the ſecond place the word foreign may not vnaptly be applyed to the matter or cauſe it ſelfe which is handled,The matter of the Booke or Words meete to be preached openly. and then it ſoundeth as thus: The words of the Sermon (or preaching) of the ſonne of David. For (indeede) as thoſe words were vttred before & appertaining to many, as a publike Sermon or Oration, or matters or cauſes: ſo are they right excellent and worthy, not only to bee read & heard in the Churches, or Congregations, but alſo to bee preached and publiſhed in open ſermons, as the word not of man, but of God and right profitable to inſtruct & teach all men, on the one ſide how to know and to eſtéeme of the world: how to liue and order themſelues in the world: how to contemne & eſchew the vanities of the worlde: on the other ſide how to knowe the right Good, and how to walke in the world, and to attaine the higheſt felicitie. Therefore although the King bee no publike Preacher, yet ſhall thoſe his wordes be preached, heard, and eſtéemed of the people of God in the Church with all reuerence for their better inſtruction, to the glory of God. Thus hauehave I ſayde of the perſon,The difference betweene Solomon & other preachers and their words with an emphaſis. and of his wordes. Howbeit, to make difference aſwell betwéene him & all other Preachers as betwéene thoſe his words and the words of others, as alſo to adde the more emphaſis to either part, hauehave wee prefixed this particle (foreign) ha, the which (as ye know) beſides the note of a prepoſitiue article, pointeth expoſitiuely to that ſpeciall perſon and thing, whereof there was mention made before, as the King himſelfe did, when pointing to thoſe things which hee had deſcried within the limites of vanities kingdome ſayde: And all that, or that whole, is vanitie. Againe, this particle being prefixed to a Nowne appellatiue, addeth vntounto it a ſingular emphaſis or force, as it is to be ſeene in the firſt Pſalme, where the Kings of father pointing to ſome excellent perſon ſayd foreign Bleſſed is that man. So we ſay here: The wordes of That ſingular Preacher or Congregator: or of that right excellent Sermon. *The third word of the Title is foreign The Sonne of David. if it bee aſked,3 The ſonne of Dauid. Solomons name is concealed. Eccles. 1. why the Name of Shelomon is héere concealed: It may be anſwered. Firſt, becauſe it pleaſed the King to entitle himſelfe the Preacher when he acknowledged not himſelf for king of Iſrael, but only ſaid, that he had bin king. And albeit we hold our Lord the King yet honorable in his place (as true Subiects ought to do, and neither to diſcouer his faults & imperfections as Cham did the nakednes of his father, nor to conceale that with the envious, which may giuegive a light to the glory of the worthy) yet, conſidering the Kings cauſe, and the humors of men, wee had need to walke warily in this matter. And we know that howſoeuer the king ſhalbe honored or ſuſpected with thē that come after vsus,The eſtimation of the words. the words (being indéed the words of truth) ſhall ſtand and be receiued of prize, as thoſe which procéeded not only from this perſon: but from the true Solomon the ſonne of David, by whoſe ſpirit the king hath abounded in wiſedom & ſpoken thoſe words. For it is wel known, and the king himſelf hath not concealed it, that by his tranſgreſſions hee hath prouoked Iehovah his God to anger (as it is before declared) whereby hee is depriued of that excellent Peace and Dignitie, which his Name Shelomoh importeth. For the time was that the Lord fauouring him,Eccles. 47.13. gaue him a glorious raigne, when he had made all quiet round about him, that he might build an houſe to his name, and prepare the Sanctuarie for euer, and for that his peace, he was beloued. But now, there bee ſtirred vp againſt him diuers great enemies,Solomon himſelf concealeth his name Solomon, becauſe he had tranſgreſſed. Ruth. 1.20. whereby in ſteed of peace, hee is forced to embrace warres and troubles: moreouer entring into the reckning of his own demerits and condition, he acknowledgeth himſelf rather an occaſioner of warres, then a procurer of peace, and to be called rather afflicted and vexed, then delicate and tender, according as once Naomi ſayd to her citizens: Call me not Naomi, beautifull, but call me Marah, bitter. For the Almighty hath given me much bitterneſſe. Therefore it might bee, that ſome (though not any of vsus) hearing thoſe wordes publiſhed vnderunder the title of Solomon, whome they know to bee a tranſgreſſour and cauſer of warres, may vnhappily ſuſpect and doubt of the authoritie thereof: for things are commonly eſtéemed according to the credit of their Authors (as Abiather before ſaid.A Leſſon for preachers.) Therfore it is méet, that they which take on them to preach to others, or to teach others, be themſelues firſt of all reformed and conformed in life and conuerſation, leſt whiles they endeuor to ſaue others, they remaine themſelues caſt-awayes, occaſion their words to be derided, and their doctrine reiected. And that theſe words might be vnderſtood, & ſo eſteemed as the very words of truth, and of that excellent * Prophet, and Pastor, That is the Meſsiah.which ſhall be raiſed vp in his time to preach, and to feede the people of God with the heauenly Manna, they are entituled Of the Sonne of David. Howbeit, to put difference betweene him, and ſome others of that Name, and there withall to retaine the right honor and dignitie of the perſons, whom it pleaſed the Lord in louelove and mercy to aduance and ſet on the throne of Iſrael, we hauehave added in the fourth place,4. King in Ieruſalem. King in Hieruſalem, which may be vnderſtood of King Solomon, and next of the holy Meſsiah: And although the Name bee not put downe háere,Solomon Pro. 1.1 1. King. 1.35. yet the godly learned ſhall well perceiue the Author of theſe wordes to bee the ſame which in the title of the Kings wiſe Prouerbes is named Solomon. For this perſon (beyond all Davids ſonnes) was onelyonly preferred to the throne of Iſrael, on the which hee ſitteth and ruleth all the twelue Tribes; for the moſt part hath dwelt in Hieruſalem, which Citie his father David conſtituted the Metropolitane and chiefe ſeat of the Kingdome, and therein ruling the people of God in equitie and righteouſneſſe, he beareth a type and Figure of the holy Meſsiah the ſonne of David, that King of righteouſnes and peace who raigneth and ſhall raigne ouer the houſe of Iſrael for euer (as I hauehave ſaid) from whom,The author and authoritie of holy ſcriptures. as from the chief Paſtor & author, the authoritie & credit of thoſe words is to bee deriued, as is the authoritie of all the holy Scriptures, by whomſoeuer the wordes and Doctrines thereof hauehave beene, or ſhall bee written, preached, or taught. Loe, thus hauehave I ſpoken for the better vnderſtanding of this Title, which we thinke good to prefixe to thoſe the Kings words, by vsus to be collected. Now if it pleaſe you (my good Lordes all) let eueryevery one of vsus call to minde. what wee hauehave heard the king to vtter in this time of his Repentāce: the which I would ſhould be ſimply & plainly gathered and regiſtred without any addition or diminution of any thing,How the words are to be collected and written, that ſo the Wordes as they be indited by the ſinger of the holy Ghoſt, may remaine the ſame ſound & whole to be remēbred, vnderſtood, expounded and learned by thē only to whom the ſame ſpirit ſhall giuegive both wiſdom, vtterance & capacity the ſame to performe in poſterity.
* Very well ſpoken, (ſayde the Princes) and turning themſelues towards Helioreph and Ahiah The Kings Secretaries, they requeſted them to write according to that eueryevery one of them ſhould call to minde and deliuer of thoſe the Kings laſt words: The Secretaries write the words.to whom they anſwered, We are heare ready, and as ye ſhall remember and relate the Kings owne wordes: ſo ſhall we receiue the ſame with all willingneſſe and faithfully regiſter them.zadoke beginneth the Collection. Say on (my Lords in order one after another. They giuegive good eare (ſayde zadok) and I will beginne to report what I hauehave heard. The matters are waightie and graue, they require both attention, truſt and diligence. Write, and begin thus:
Eccles. 1.2. Vanity of vanities (ſaith the Preacher) vanity of vanities all is vanitie.
Verſe. 3. What remaineth vntounto man in all his travell which he taketh vnderunder the Sunne? &c.
Cap 2.1. I ſayd in my heart Go too nowe, I will proove thee with ioy: therefore take thou pleaſure in pleaſant things: & beholde this alſo is vanity. &c.
The Booke of the Eccleſiaſtes or the Preacher diſtinguiſhed into 12. Chapters.Cap. 3. To all things there is an appointed Time, and a time to every purpoſe vnderunder heaven.&c.
Cap. 4.1. So I turned and conſidered all the oppreſſions that are wrought vnderunder the Sunne, &c.
Cap. 5.1. Be not raſh with thy mouth: nor let thine heart be haſty to vtter a thing bofore God.&c.
Cap. 6.1. There is an euill which I ſaw vnderunder the Sunne, and it is much among men.&c.
Cap. 7.1. Surely there be many things that encreaſe vanitie: and what availeth it man.&c.
Cap. 8. Who is as the wiſe man? & who knoweth the interpretation of a thing?&c.
Cap. 9.1. I have ſurely given mine heart to all this, and to declare all this.&c.
Cap. 10.1. Dead flyes cauſe to ſtincke and putrifie the beſt oyntment of the Apothecary.&c.
Chap. 11.1. Caſt thy bread vponupon the waters, and after many dayes thou ſhalt find it.&c.
Cap. 12.1. Remember nowe thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth.&c.
Verſe 8. Vanitie of vanities ſaith the Preacher: and all is Vanitie.