Ecclesiastes 7:15 - Exposition

All things have I seen in the days of my vanity . Koheleth gives his own experience of an anomalous condition which often obtains in human affairs. "All," being here defined by the article, must refer to the cases which he has mentioned or proceeds to mention. "The days of vanity" mean merely "fleeting, vain days" (comp. Ecclesiastes 6:12 ). The expression denotes the writer's view of the emptiness and transitoriness of life ( Ecclesiastes 1:2 ), and it may also have special reference to his own vain efforts to solve the problems of existence. There is a just ( righteous ) man that perisheth in his righteousness . Here is a difficulty about the dispensation of good and evil, which has always perplexed the thoughtful. It finds expression in Psalms 73:1-28 ; though the singer propounds a solution ( Psalms 73:17 ) which Koheleth misses. The meaning of the preposition ( בְּ ) before "righteousness" is disputed. Delitzsch, Wright, and others take it as equivalent to "in spite of," as in Deuteronomy 1:32 , where "in this thing" means "notwithstanding," "for all this thing." Righteousness has the promise of long life and prosperity; it is an anomaly that it should meet with disaster and early death. We cannot argue from this that the author did not believe in temporal rewards and punishments; he states merely certain of his own experiences, which may be abnormal and capable of explanation. For his special purpose this was sufficient. Others take the preposition to mean "through," "in consequence of." Good men have always been persecuted for righteousness' sake ( Matthew 5:10 , Matthew 5:11 ; John 17:14 ; 2 Timothy 3:12 ), and so far the interpretation is quite admissible, and is perhaps supported by Deuteronomy 1:16 , which makes a certain sort of righteousness the cause of disaster. But looking to the second clause of the present verse, where we can hardly suppose that the wicked man is said to attain to long life in consequence of his wickedness, we are safe in adopting the rendering, "in spite of." There is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in ( in spite of ) his wickedness . The verb arak , "to make long," "to prolong," is used both with and without the accusative "days" (see Ecclesiastes 8:12 , Ecclesiastes 8:13 ; Deuteronomy 5:33 ; Proverbs 28:2 ). Septuagint, ἐστὶν ἀσεβῆς μένων ἐν κακίᾳ αὐτοῦ , There is an ungodly man remaining in his wickedness," which does not convey the sense of the original. According to the moral government of God experienced by the Hebrews in their history, the sinner was to suffer calamity and to be cut off prematurely. This is the contention of Job's friends, against which he argues so warmly. The writer of the Book of Wisdom has learned to look for the correction of such anomalies in another life. He sees that length of days is not always a blessing, and that retribution awaits the evil beyond the grave (Wis. 1:9; 3:4, 10; 4:8, 19, etc.). Abel perished in early youth; Cain had his days prolonged. This apparent inversion of moral order leads to another reflection concerning the danger of exaggerations.