The topic of [Ecclesiastes'] confession detains us because for by speaking about himself he lists all those characteristics enabling us to recognize the vanity of this life. It is as though he now puts a greater censure upon mens' deeds and accuses them of passion due to their arrogance. Among those things he includes is an expensive home, many vineyards, beautiful gardens, pools and orchards, do we find a person who regards himself as lord over his fellow man? "I obtained servants, maidens, servants born to me in my house" [2.7]. Do you see here a pride which makes false pretensions? Such words as these rise up against God. As prophecy has told us [Ps 118.91], all things serve [God] whose power is over them. As for the person who appropriates to himself [J.335] what belongs to God and attributes to himself power over the human race as if he were its lord, what other arrogant statement transgressing human nature makes this person regard himself as different from those over whom he rules? "I obtained servants and maidens." What are you saying? You condemn man who is free and autonomous to servitude, and you contradict God by perverting the natural law. Man, who was created as lord over the earth, you have put under the yoke of servitude as a transgressor and rebel against the divine precept. You have forgotten the limit of your authority which consists in jurisdiction over brutish animals. Scripture says that man shall rule birds, beasts, fish, four-footed animals and reptiles [Gen 1.26]. How can you transgress the servitude bestowed upon you and raise yourself against man's freedom by stripping yourself of the servitude proper to beasts? "You have subjected all things to man," the psalmist prophetically cries out [Ps 8.7-8], referring to those subject to reason as "sheep, oxen, and cattle" [M.665].
Do sheep and oxen beget [J.336] men for you? Irrational beasts have only one kind of servitude. Do these form a paltry sum for you? "He makes grass grow for the cattle and green herbs for the service of men" [Ps 103.14]. But once you have freed yourself from servitude and bondage, you desire to have others serve you. "I have obtained servants and maidens." What value is this, I ask? What merit do you see in their nature? What small worth have you bestowed upon them? What payment do you exchange for your nature which God has fashioned? God has said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness" [Gen 1.26]. Since we are made according to God's likeness and are appointed to rule over the entire earth, tell me, who is the person who sells and buys? Only God can do this; however, it does not pertain to him at all "for the gifts of God are irrevocable" [Rom 11.29]. Because God called human nature to freedom which had become addicted to sin, he would not subject it to servitude again. If God did not subject freedom to slavery, who can deny his lordship? How does the ruler of the entire earth obtain dominion [J.337] since every possession requires payment? How can we properly estimate the earth in its entirety as well as its contents? If these things are inestimable, tell me, how much greater is man's value who is over them? If you mention the entire world you discover nothing equivalent to man's honor. He who knows human nature says that the world is not an adequate exchange for man's soul. When the Lord of the earth bought man, he acquired nothing more precious. He will then proclaim this surpassing possession along with the earth, island, sea and everything in them.
What is the deposit God puts down? What will he receive from the contract by which he has received possession? Does an account, written agreement or small amount of money deceive you in order to obtain the image of God? Oh, what a delusion! If the contract perishes, moths corrode the letters and dripping water brings destruction, where are your pledges of domination? I see nothing more than a title [J.338] under your control. What authority enhances your nature? It is neither time, beauty, honor nor virtue. These yield a life similarly dominated by passions of both soul and body with you as its lord: suffering and cheerfulness, joy and sadness, grief and pleasure, wrath and fear, pain and death. Do not these belong to both slave and lord who breathe the same air and look upon the sun? Does not food [M.668] nourish them both? Do not they have the same intestines? Do not both become dust in death? Is there not one standard? Is there not a common rule and a common hell? How can you who are equal in all things have superiority so that as man, you consider yourself as man's ruler and say "I have servants and maidens" as if they were goats or cattle? When Ecclesiastes said that "I have servants and maidens" he also speaks of his prosperity in flocks and herds: "I also had abundant possessions of flocks and herds," both of which were subject to his authority.
Ecclesiastes proceeds to mention great sins [J.339] and cries out that avarice is the root of all evil. "I collected for myself both silver and gold" [2.8]. What is more harmful than gold mixed with earth in those locations where the Creator had originally placed it? What is more advantageous for you than the earth's bounty which the Creator has made? Do not fruit trees contribute to your nourishment? Then why do you violate the bounds of authority? Show what the Creator has bestowed upon you such as mining, digging, burning and gathering what you have not scattered. This is not an accusation against gathering metal from the earth to manufacture money but since the mind cannot be free of avarice, Ecclesiastes adds "The special treasures of kings and princes" [2.8]. Kings gather wealth from provinces, a clear indication that they impose burdens, collect taxes and take money from their subjects. And so Ecclesiastes says that he gathers gold and silver. But whether or not this is true, I know that a great benefit lies in store for the person who collects such material possessions. [J.340] Let us exchange neither a mina, drachma or talent with avaricious persons; instead, let us hasten to turn everything into gold. As soon as possible let us exchange the earth, sand, mountains plains and vales for this material. What contribution do these have for happiness? If one sees in the universe what he now beholds on a small scale, how can such wealth benefit the soul or body? How can gold make a person wise, ingenious, contemplative, skilled, dear to God, pure, lacking passion and free from evil? Or if this is not the case, what good is there in being strong in body or in seeing one's life prolonged for many years and free from illness and harm? However, [M.669] no one is so vain nor inattentive to human nature to realize that these benefits are available for men even though a great amount of money is available for everyone.
We now observe many wealthy persons living pitiful lives; if it were not for people capable of healing them, they would not deem life worth living. If neither body nor soul benefits from [J.341] our opinion of gold's abundance, then how much more futile is it to prove gold's value to persons who possess it! For what material advantage is our lack of taste, smell, hearing or the sense of touch? As for me, let no one offer food or clothing in exchange for gold. The person who gives bread or clothing for gold exchanges a benefit for something useless in order to live, whereas anyone who takes nourishing food instead of gold lives. What profit, advise, lesson, warning or consolation for bodily pains can we derive from such material aggrandizement? A greedy person counts money, stores it up, signs documents, seals them, denies requests and swears falsely to another unfaithful person. Such is his happiness, the goal of his efforts and pleasure, as long as prosperity fuels his false oaths. However, this person claims that gold's appearance is lovely; it is more beautiful than the color of fire, the star's beauty and the sun's rays. Who hinders your enjoyment so that [J.342] you must provide pleasure for your eyes through gold's beautiful color? Yet Ecclesiastes says that fire goes out, the sun sets and our pleasure derived from such beauty is transitory. Tell me, how does gold differ from lead when it becomes dark? But Ecclesiastes says that necklaces, buckles, girdles, armlets, crowns and such adornments come neither from fire nor the stars. Trust in material objects leads to the highest form of vanity. With this in mind I now ask what type of person craves gold decorations, earrings, skins which adorn the neck or any other bodily limb? The body assumes the gleam of gold's splendor when we adorn ourselves with it. Anyone who sees a person wearing gold thinks it were for sale as in a market, but the person wearing it [J.343] is more concerned about its nature. If gold is well-wrought or carved, even though its color is green or has fiery gems, it does not assume any of these accretions; rather, if we suffer any kind of mutilation, or if our eyes exude pus [M.672], or if a scar horribly marks our cheek, such deformity belongs to appearance only and gold's gleam cannot cover it over; also, if the body suffers any calamity, gold cannot relieve its distress.
Is there any beautiful object worth pursuing which brings neither health to the body nor relief to pain? And what about deceived persons who cling to gold with their whole heart even though such possessions trouble their consciences? What do they promise themselves when they have something of so great a value? If they could change gold's substance, would they also desire to change their humanity into gold, a substance which lacks reason, intelligence and sensation as well as being pale in color, heavy, speechless and without soul and feeling? I do not think they would choose these things nor crave after [J.344] gold. If people of sound mind curse the properties of inanimate nature, what insanity makes them commit murder and steal to possess such a useless object? Not only do they carry this out, but they fail to see how it differs from the fruit [ tokos ] of evil thoughts, robbery or murder. How does a burglar differ from other robbers when he establishes himself as lord by committing murder or when he possesses what does not belong to him through usury [ tokos ]? Oh, how terrible is this usury, the name of a thief! Oh, what a bitter marriage and evil wedlock of which our human nature is ignorant while the disease of avarice has begun anew in lifeless persons! How grievous is that conception which gives birth to such usury!
Only animate beings have the distinction between male and female. God the Creator said "Increase and multiply" [Gen 1.28] that one generation might give birth to a succeeding one. But from what kind of marriage does the birth [ tokos ] of gold derive? What sort of conception brings it to fruition? I am aware of the pains belonging to such a birth from the prophet's words, "Behold, he has travailed with unrighteousness, has conceived trouble and has brought forth iniquity" [Ps 7.14]. Such is that birth which avarice yields [J.345], iniquity begets and hate delivers. When urgently pressed, the person who always conceals abundance swears not to be pregnant with a purse and begets usury [ tokos ] out of desire for gain. He assumes the ambition of a money-lender devoted to material gain in the same way a person extinguishes a flame with oil. The calamity of a loan has no remedy; instead, it becomes worse. Just as arable land becomes dry and automatically produces thorns, so do the usuries [M.673] of the arrogant abound. A person extends his hand with money in the same way a fishing line conceals a hook with bait; similarly, a wretched person eager for wealth is drawn by a concealed hook. Such are the benefits of usury. Anyone who forcefully takes or steals provisions is a violent and rapacious person, but the person who reveals in public the injustice he committed in contracts and so bears bitter witness to the distress it caused and who acknowledges his [J.346] transgression is loving, kind, a guardian and the like. Gain which results from stealing is called theft, a euphemism for the bitter deprivation of a debtor. Such miserable persons are indeed despicable: "I collected for myself both silver and gold" [2.8], but a wise person learns from what Ecclesiastes has listed and enumerated. In this way we may learn from his experience of the need to guard against evil before its assault and not to be associated with thieves and harmful beasts by taking heed of such dangers before they occur.
The divine Apostle [Paul] clearly defines the passion of covetousness as the root of all evils [1Tm 6.10]. Just as we must rid ourselves of any juice which causes corruption, rot and inflammation, the same applies to a harmful, corruptible humor which devours a sore. Thus sickness rushes upon [J.347] persons fond of money and attracted to licentiousness; disgrace is attributed to abundance of gold and silver and follows closely upon sickness. Ecclesiastes says "I have procured for myself singing men and singing women [2.8]," or butlers and female cupbearers, the delight of guests. These terms sufficiently describe passion which, in turn, induces sickness with regard to money. Oh what disgraceful zeal! The rush of pleasure crashes upon us like a two-fold torrent flooding the soul that we may see and hear evil. Singing distracts us from hearing while appearances captivate our vision. Thus the soothing harmony of female voices introduce passion; then appearances, like a war machine assaulting the eyes, dissolves and overthrows us by songs. However, wine is the leader of this troop which, like an evil bowman, strikes us down with two arrows directed to the ears and eyes, the focal points of pleasure. The arrow of hearing is singing while the arrow of vision consists in appearances. The term "butlers" is not merely a name but derives from its function. Thus [M.676] free-flowing wine [J.348] and a youth adorned for this service who is either in woman's clothing or happens to be a woman herself, contribute to enflame the revellers. What is the result of all this? We must remain silent and not proceedfurther concerning those persons who set pleasure as a goal, take care to enliven their songs with music and to adorn servants with garments. In this way remembrance of their actions may not lacerate the wounds of other more afflicted persons through our condemnation. Gold and silver thus act as delightful snares for such persons.
Because of the affliction resulting from pleasure, scripture calls it a serpent [Gen 3.1] whose entire body enters once it pokes its head through a hole in the wall. What do I mean? Nature furnishes a habitation for man but pleasure [J.349] creeps into the soul through a hole whose immoderate, extravagant need for ornamentation attracts one's attention. Then that beast, pleasure, creeps into the beautiful gardens, vineyards, baths and orchards. Next the serpent drags us away by our fondness for money resulting in intemperance, the last and worst aspect of pleasure's savage nature. But just as the serpent cannot pull with its tail--its rough scales naturally [J.350] resist anything it draws--so we cannot expel the creeping of pleasure from our soul's extremities unless we firmly resist evil's first impulses. Because of this the teacher of virtue [Ecclesiastes] bids us to observe the serpents's head, the beginning of evil, which is harmless, provided that we do not let him in. The person hostile to pleasure is not subject to individual assaults of passion whereas another person who has given a foothold to evil has accepted the beast in its entirety. Ecclesiastes expressed in public the passions which he once eagerly pursued, thereby summing up his feelings on such matters. When he said at the beginning, "I have enlarged my work" and now adds what he has acquired he says "I have become great" [2.9]. Ecclesiastes thus shows that his knowledge does not derive from insignificant, contradictory elements; instead, he called upon his experience that his memory [of the past] may not be the same as his predecessors.
Ecclesiastes says "I have become great" and adds "I advanced [M.677] beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem." Having already been trained in all wisdom for the danger at hand, he now sets forth his goal. "My wisdom remained with me" [2.9]. These words reveal that every enjoyable thought with regard to wisdom brought me the best of anything available [J.351]. Sight was united to longing, and choice of visual delights has brought me enjoyment. Nothing which I had once pondered provides enjoyment now, but I do possess pleasant recollections; the only benefit left for me consists in enjoyable thoughts about my former possessions.
"I did not withhold my heart from all my mirth, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion in all my labor" [2.10]. Here Ecclesiastes says that he possessed a portion of his labor. After having thoroughly surveyed everything which bestows enjoyment, that is, the beauty of buildings, vineyards, gardens, pools, orchards, authority over people, wealth of possessions and parties, Ecclesiastes names all the delights which he knows and has scrutinized in his wisdom. Once he says that we have sought satisfaction, that our eyes hit upon pleasant sights and that nothing hinders our souls' desire, he interprets the first words of his prologue, namely, that all things [J.352] are vanity. While pondering these matters, Ecclesiastes says that mens' senses and pursuits are vain.
"I have looked," Ecclesiastes says, "on all my works which my hands have made and on my labor which I have labored to perform, and behold, all was vanity and waywardness of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun" [2.11]. Each sense perception has its limits and operation under the sun, but further on he says that the senses cannot comprehend transcendent reality. Ecclesiastes teaches us that we should not admire wealth, honor, authority, banquets, parties and so forth. Instead, he sees that their one end is vanity whose abundance is unlimited. When tracing formless letters in water [M.600], this act of writing only has existence while we perform it because our hand always follows the water's surface and smooths over the impressions just made. Our exertions and energy on behalf of pleasure [J.353] are similar. Once the action ceases, pleasure is blotted out and nothing remains; neither do those persons who have experienced pleasure have any trace of it. Such is the meaning of Ecclesiastes' words when he says that nothing remains under the sun for those who labor, for their end is vanity. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever, free us from such vanity. Amen.