144 Interchange of Words. Solomon's characteristic use of DN as equivalent to appears also in the following passages from his Proverbs, where, as likewise in Job 32. 21, 34. 11, Psalm 140. 2 (1), N and DN seem to be used synonymously, for the sake of simple variety, without the sharp antithesis of Psalms 49. 3 (2), 62. 10 (9); Isaiah 2. 9, 5. 15, 31. 8 :— PRov. 6. 12. 12. 14. 24. 30. אדם בליעל איש און הולך עקשות פה : מפרי פי-איש ישבע־טוב וגמול ידי-אדם ישוב לו : על שדה איש-עצל עברתי ועל כרם אדם חסר-לב : It is also worthy of particular attention, in connection with the question of authorship, that Solomon's Proverbs contain several instances of ,9 .16 in אדם zway is connected with דרך In like manner .8 ,2 .21 ,7 ,2 .16 ,21 .5 in איש and with ,24 .20 ,3 .19 Now the rareness with which is used throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes precludes so extensive an interchange between D and as that which pervades the Proverbs of Solomon. Identity of Usage. 145 Yet it is a striking fact, directly confirmatory of the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes, that two of the eight instances of exemplify this very interchange which is so markedly characteristic of Solomon's Proverbs : איש אדם 6. 2. A MAN to whom God giveth riches and wealth and glory, .. 5. 18 (19). Every MAN also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, איש אשר יתן לו האלהים גם כל האדם אשר נתן לו עשר ונכסים וכבוד ...: האלהים עשר ונכסים ...: אם יוליד איש מאה ושנים כי אם שנים הרבה יחיה האדם בכלם ישמח ...: רבות יחיה ...: 6. 3. If a MAN beget a hundred, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, . 11. 8. Yet if MAN live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. The relation of x in 6. 2, 3 to 7 in 5. 18, has already been noticed in page 134; and while a specific reason has been assigned for the two words being used distinctively and not as mere synonyms, yet the fact that, except in respect of DN and x, 5. 18 is to a great extent verbally identical with 6. 2, and 11. 8 with 6. 3, affords a delicate point of resemblance between Ecclesiastes and Solomon's Proverbs, there being in them, as has just been observed, several instances of the same sort of verbal identity except in respect of This common אדם and איש these two words feature of the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Proverbs of Solomon, viewed in connection with the other K 146 Solomon's Temple Prayer. aforesaid facts about the use of D, is peculiarly valuable in proof of the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes, the coincidence being neither accidental nor within the range of such similarity as a designing imitator would be at pains to produce. The striking phraseological coincidence, in respect of the phrase, heart of the sons of man (D), between Proverbs 15. 11, Ecclesiastes 8. 11, 9. 3, 1 Kings 8. 39, and 2 Chronicles 6. 30, has already been specified in page 107, as a most valuable testimony to the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes, this phrase being peculiar to the Solomonic Scriptures. Similarly valuable is the coincidence between 1 Kings 8. 46, 2 Chronicles 6. 36, and Ecclesiastes 7. 20. Not only is D used in both instances with the same individual import, but the statements themselves are similar, though not with the verbal similarity of cunningly devised personation. In the prayer also, the words for there is no man who sinneth not, are purely parenthetical, and therefore not likely to have been selected by an imitator; whereas the similar statement in Ecclesiastes 7. 20 occupies a position of special prominence in the section containing it : ECCLESIASTES 7. 20. I KINGS 8. 46 and 2 CHRON. 6. 36. כי אדם אין צידק בארץ אשר כי יחטאו-לך כי אין אדם אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא: לא יחטא ואנפת בם ...: FOR there is NO just MAN in the earth, WHO doeth good and SINNETH NOT. If they sin against thee (for there is NO MAN WHO SINNETH NOT), and thou be angry with them, . . . The individual signification of s as one of the prominent characteristics of Ecclesiastes, besides being in thorough harmony with Solomon's Proverbs, is thus in exact conformity with all the instances of DN (three in number) in Solomon's Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8. 38, 39, 46). The use of DN and N in Ecclesiastes in the characteristic way in which they are used in the history and Proverbs of Solomon is one of the most valuable of all those coincidences which attest the Solomonic authorship of the book. This coincidence does not lie exposed on the surface, like mere verbal coincidence in the fre חכמה and כסיל quent use of such words as it is deep below the surface, and is so peculiarly intricate as to be perceptible only on such a minute scrutiny and comparison of passages as lies altogether beyond the range of an imitator personating that son of David who was king in Jerusalem. The finding of . There still remains for notice in this section one other coincidence of special value in connection with the question of authorship. In the English Bible, however, this coincidence is obscured by the circumstance that n is represented sometimes by woman and sometimes by wife. In Proverbs 20. 6 Solomon asks the question, 'A faithful man, who can find?' and a similar question is asked in 31. 10, A virtuous woman, who can find?' In these passages man, ws, and woman, ns, are qualified by faithful and 148 The finding of Good. virtuous respectively; and it is said of n-ngs that her price is above rubies. In Proverbs 18. 22, however, the noun ns, with the verb y, is used without a qualifying adjective or noun: He that findeth findeth ai.' So peculiar does this announcement seem to have been considered, that in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and some other versions, a qualifying adjective is inserted, thus— Septuagint.—Ὃς εὗρε γυναῖκα ἀγαθὴν, εὗρε χάριτας. The authorised English version of 1611, on the other hand, coincides with the older versions of Tyndale, Coverdale, and Cranmer, in reading 'Whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing.' On this passage Dr. Kennicott thus expatiates 'Can it be truly said that every wife is a blessing? Could an universal maxim of this nature proceed from the wisest of men? Could such a proverb possibly be delivered by him who represents the evil and the foolish woman as a curse? . . . 'Tis presumed therefore that Solomon in the text before us expressed himself thus,-He that findeth a GOOD wife findeth a good thing? Notwithstanding such reasoning as this, which is of no critical value, it must surely be evident that to qualify with ni, good, is to change a pithy proverb into a pointless platitude, similarly as the insertion of good before 'name' in the English version of Proverbs 22. 1 and Ecclesiastes 7. 1 impairs the expressiveness of the original. Just as in Jeremiah 5. 1, the prophet significantly implies that he only is worthy of being called |