For that is the end of all men.] Or, "in the which is the end of all men." In which house of sorrow, a man is minded of the common end of all men. A man seeth his own end in the end of another man, and is admonished of his frailty and mortality; for it is the way of the whole earth. (Josh. xxiii. 14. Heb. ix. 27)

And the living will lay it to heart.] Or, "will put it up, and fasten it to his heart; will be seriously and sadly affected with it, and have deep impressions thereby made upon his spirit," of the greatness and power of God, who draweth away our breath, and we perish; (Psalm civ. 29) and of his own vanity and baseness, even in his best estate. (Psalm xxxix. 5) Putting in the heart,' noteth diligent attendance on a thing, où dévì øpeoì Báλλeo σñow: (Deut. xi. 18. Isai. xlii. 25. Luke xxi. 14) whereas feasting and jollity is very likely to draw off the remembrance of God. (Job i. 5. Deut. viii. 12-14. Isai. xxii. 13. Amos vi. 3-6. Deut. xxxii. 15. Isai. v. 11, 12)

Ver. 3. Sorrow is better than laughter.] "That sorrow which ariseth from the meditation of death, a sad, sober, and composed temper of spirit, whereby a man is rendered capable of instruction, and sensible of serious things which concern his peace, is better, and doth a man much more good, than laughter and the jollity which belongeth unto feastings." The word signifieth anger; and so by some is the sense rendered, "that charitable and wholesome anger which reproveth men for their faults, and so maketh them sorrowful, is better than the flattery of parasites, which feedeth their foolish lusts with laughter and vain mirth, and so tendeth unto ruin."

For by the sadness of the countenance.] Heb. "by the illness or badness of the countenance, (Neh. ii. 2, badness of heart, 1 Sam. xvii. 28) the heart is made better." Vain lusts and foolish exorbitant light affections are checked and suppressed; as the outward man is grieved, the inward man is amended: (Prov. xx. 30. 2 Cor. iv. 16, and vii. 9, 10) whereas, on the other side, empty mirth doth dissolve the heart, and let it out unto more vanity. (chap. ii. 2, 3. Hos. iv. 11. Esther i. 10. 1 Sam. xxv. 36)

Ver. 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning.] He proveth sorrow to be better, wholesomer for the soul, than

laughter, by the judgement and choice of wise men and of fools. That which wise men prefer, is indeed better than that which fools make choice of: but wise men prefer spectacles, places, occasions of sorrow; fools make choice of the contrary: ergo that is better than this. Wise men consider the end of things, and choose the most proper means unto the best ends: whereas fools look only on things present and before their eyes. By "the house of mourning," we understand any place or object which occasioneth mourning. So the grave is called 'domus sæculi,' the house of ages, or a man's long home, Eccles. xii. 5. So 'a trench' is called, 'a house of measures.' (1 Kings xviii. 32. Isai. iii. 21)

The heart of the wise.] When his body is elsewhere, yet his thoughts and heart are thinking on the evil day, which wicked men thrust far from them. (Amos vi. 3) So Job in prosperity did with a religious fear forecast evil, Job iii. 25. (Neh. ii. 2-5. Psalm cxxxvii. 6)

But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.] Though he may, by poverty, business, or many other diversions, be absent in his body; yet, by his good-will, he would have his share in every merry-meeting; his heart is upon pleasures, and his love runs wholly that way; so that he is amazed and overwhelmed through unpreparedness of heart, when any sudden evil overtakes him. (1 Pet. iv. 3, 4. 2 Pet. ii. 13, 14) Houses of joy we read of, Isai. xxxii. 13. Here, then, we are taught to moderate ourselves in regard of outward pleasures; because love of them is the character of a fool, and of an heart estranged from God. (Job xxi. 12, 13. Prov. xxi. 17. 1 Cor. vii. 30. 1 John ii. 15, 16)

Ver. 5. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.] He instanceth in another cause of sorrow, namely, the rebukes of wise and good men which though they may sad the heart of a man for the present, yet they are much more wholesome and beneficial, than the songs and flatteries of ungodly parasites, which soothe men in their sins, and feed the flame of their lusts and corruptions. It is better to hear, i. e. " patiently, and obediently to listen" to the counsel and reproof of a prudent friend, who doth seasonably and faithfully discover his errors to him, than that a man should hear the song of fools. (Prov. xiii. 18, and xv. 31, 32. and xvii. 6. Psalm cxli. 5) It is a token

of a wise and teachable disposition, to receive with meekness the words of reproof, as David did, not only from Nathan a prophet, (2 Sam. xii. 7—13) but from Abigail a woman. (1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33. Heb. xiii. 22. Prov. ix. 9, and xvii. 10) By "the song of fools," understand any flattering speeches or any merry and pleasant discourses:-being a synecdoche, whereby all kind of jests and bewitching pleasures are signified. (Isai. xxiv. 8, 9. Gen. xxxi. 27)

Ver. 6. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.] The voice of thorns: so the noise of chariots is called the voice of chariots; and the noise the fire makes in stubble, is called the voice of a flame. (Joel ii. 5. Ezek. i. 24) Fools are here elegantly compared unto thorns ;---they are burdens to the place they live in; (Gen. iii. 17, 18) they are intractable; he must be fenced, which toucheth them; (2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7) they are unprofitable, good for nothing but the fire. (Heb. vi. 8) The laughter of these fools, that is, all those flatteries, jests, vain and frothy discourses, mimical and apish practices, whereby they beget laughter, and feed the delights of vain men like themselves, are compared to the noise of thorns burning under a pot: as these make a sudden blaze, and a great noise, but do no good, presently go out, and the meat is left as raw as when it was put in. "In stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis Incassum furit :" whereas a solemn fire, in coals of great wood, boileth the meat without any such noise so the effuse mirth and jollity of fools, i. e. of wicked men, though it may seem to promise more pleasure and content than the more sad and severe conversation of serious men, yet that doth suddenly vanish without leaving any solid joy behind it; whereas the reproof of wise men sinketh down into the heart, and helps to work out the scum and vanity which lay within it. (Psalm lviii. 9, and cxviii. 12) And as the crackling of thorns to the ear, so the laughter and vain mirth of fools to the heart of a wise man is wholly offensive and unsavory. Hereby seems likewise to be noted the aptness of vain men to be caught with every light and empty pleasure, as fire doth suddenly take in thorns, and pass through them. (Exod. xxii. 6)

Ver. 7. This may

Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad, &c.] be understood two different ways: 1. That even wise men, when they see innocence oppressed, and violence

prevail instead of justice; or, when they themselves are unrighteously oppressed, are hereby much shaken and discomposed, tempted to passion and indignation against so great disorder; (Psalm 1xxiii 2, 3, 8, 13, 21. Prov. xxiii. 17. Hab. i. 2, 3, 13, 14. 2 Sam. xvi. 9) and then the latter clause is thus to be taken, " and it," namely oppression, "destroyeth the heart of a gift," i. e. " a heart endowed and adorned with excellent gifts from above;"-which sense the Chaldee paraphrase favoureth. And, many times, when two substantives come together, the latter is taken adjectively, as Psalm v. 6, "a man of blood," i. e. "a bloody man."-Psalm cxl. 11. "A man of tongue," i. e. " an evil speaker."-Luke iv. 22, "words of grace" i.e. "gracious words."-Ephes. iv. 24, "holiness of truth," i. e. "true holiness" and in this sense likewise doth the Septuagint, and the vulgar Latin, render this clause, ἀπολλύει τὴν καρδίαν εὐτονίας αὐτοῦ, “ Perdet robur cordis ejus." So by Cor muneris,' they understand 'Cor munificum et liberale.'

2. Oppression,' i. e. 'wealth, gotten by oppression,' maketh a wise man mad. When a wise man turneth oppressor, and seeth bribes and gifts come in apace, he becometh 'mad in greediness' to get more; or mad in violence' against his poor neighbours; or 'mad in his understanding ;' his eye is blinded, his heart is infatuated and besotted; he is bereft of his wonted wisdom, ruining his family when he thinks to raise and to establish it: and so gifts destroy the 'heart;' i. e. his 'understanding.' (Hos. iv. 11. Deut. xvi. 19. Exod. xxiii. 8) Either sense will consist well with the scope of the wise man in the whole context, which is to persuade unto patience against fretfulness, when oppressors grow rich, and run madding after gain; and to direct them to wait. quietly and observe the end of such men, (as David also directeth, Psalm xxxvii. 37, 38, and lxxiii. 17) and not to break forth into anger and madness at the p esent disorder, which we conceive to be in these things.

Ver. 8. Better is the end of a thing, than the beginning, &c.] This maxim holds in many things: the beginnings are difficult and painful; the end fruitful, and rewards those pains; as, in the studies of learning, in the ways of virtue, in the bearing of afflictions, &c. (Heb. xii. 11) On the other side, the beginnings of vice seem sweet and pleasant; but they

end in bitterness, like the roll that was sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly. (Rev. x. 9, 10. 2 Sam. ii. 26) So, in business,—a man may suddenly enterprise some great work, and glory in the conceit of his abilities, who, after, comes off with shame; and is not able to finish it, for want of wisdom to forecast events. (Luke xiii. 28-32. 1 Kings xx. 11) Perseverance is that which crowns and honours an enterprise. (Matth. x. 22. Heb. iii. 6. Rev. ii. 26) Many begin in the spirit, who end in the flesh. (Gal. iii. 3) They use to say of the devil, that he cannot change his feet. He can begin like a saint, and transform himself into an angel of light; but he will still end like himself. But though this be applicable many ways, yet here the scope of the Wise man is to arm us with moderation of spirit against the present and prevailing oppressions, which we meet with. Although thou see much violence, and do thyself suffer much evil thereby ; yet do not despond, nor give over waiting upon God: do not look only on the present face of things, but patiently expect what issue he will give; go on in his way, be not dismayed nor affrighted from any good purpose: many times, the end is comfortable, when the beginnings are troublesome; and they who sowed in tears, do reap in joy.' (Psalm cxxvi. 5, 6. lxxiii. 17. James v. 11. Heb. x. 36, 37. Phil. iv. 5. Isai. x. 12, 24, 25) And the patient in spirit, than the proud in spirit.] "Long in spirit;" that can long restrain and keep in anger or impatience. This is frequently in scripture attributed unto God; (Exod. xxxiv. 6. Neh. ix. 17. Psalm cxlv. 8) and is the evidence of his power; (Numb. xiv. 17, 18. Nahum i. 3) and so it is of wisdom and strength in a man. (Prov. xiv. 29, and xvi. 32)

Than the proud in spirit.] The proper antithesis had been, than the hasty, or "short in spirit," as the expression is, Prov. xiv. 29, 17. Exod. vi. 9. But his purpose is to shew, that patience is rooted in humility: the meaner esteem men have of themselves, the more willing they are to endure what God inflicts, and to wait his time for an issue out of trouble. Whereas pride and high-mindedness makes men wilful, and impatient of any opposition. (Prov. xiii. 10) Therefore, when God humbled David, we find how strong he was to bear the railing and cursing of Shimei. (2 Sam. xvi. 11, 12. Hab. ii. 3, 4)