eccles

And the sons of the Elohim are guarded (nor is mention made of a similar case) until Solomon came and joined himself with the daughters of men; like as it is written, Eccles. ii. 8: VThONVGVTh, Ve-Thonogoth, “And the delights of the sons of men,” &c. Where (in the feminine gender) he calleth the word ThONVGVTh, Thonogoth, and not (as elsewhere in the masculine gender) ThONVGIM, Thonogim, “sons of Adam;” so that it is intimated in an occult manner that the latter (the sons of the Elohim) are of those other spirits who are not contained under the supernal wisdom; concerning which it is written, 1 Kings v. 12: “And the Lord gave wisdom unto Solomon.” (Concerning these matters, further see the “Treatise of the Revolutions.”)

“And it is written, Eccles. v. 6: ‘Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.’

“Because Wisdom cometh not from man, who is stern and wrathful, like as it is written, Eccles. ix. 17: ‘The words of wise men are heard in quiet.’

Also we have learned: From that curving part within the ears depend all those Lords of Wings concerning whom it is written, Eccles. x. 20: “For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and the Lord of the Wings shall tell the matter.”

And concerning this (matter) thus speaketh Solomon the king, Eccles. vii. 16: “All these things have I seen in the days of my HBL, Hebel; there is a just man who perisheth in his Tzedeq,” &c.

Concerning whom it is written, Eccles. x. 20: “For a bird of the air shall carry the voice,” &c.

R. Helbo also said in the name of Rab Huna : Every man in whom is the fear of God, his words are heard ; as it is said, "The end of the matter, all having been heard, fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole man" (Eccles. xii. 13).

In the West when a man marries, they say to him, "Masa' or Mose' ?" — Masa', as it is written, "Whoso findeth [masa'] a wife findeth a great good"; Mose', as it is written, "And I find [mose'] more bitter than death the woman" etc. (Eccles. vii. 26).

Rab Hamnuna said : What means that which is written, "Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation [pesher] of a thing?" (Eccles. viii. 1)? [It means]. Who is like the Holy One, blessed be He, Who knows how to make a reconciliation [pesharah] between the two righteous men, Hezekiah and Isaiah. Hezekiah said, "Let Isaiah come to me, for so we find that Elijah went to Ahab ; as it is said, 'And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab' (I Kings xviii. 2)." Isaiah said, "Let Hezekiah come to me, for so we find that Jehoram, son of Ahab, went to Elisha" (II Kings iii. 12).

R. Hanan said : Even if the lord of dreams inform a man that he will die on the morrow, he should not despair of [the divine] mercy; as it is said, "For through the multitude of dreams and vanities there are also many words ; but fear thou God" (Eccles. v. 6),

R. Johanan said : R. Meir, on concluding the reading of the Book of Job, used to say: It is the fate of man to die and of cattle to be slaughtered, and all are destined to die. Happy is he who has grown in Torah and whose labour has been in Torah ; who has caused tranquillity of spirit to his Creator, advanced in good repute, and departed from the world with a good name. Of him said Solomon, "A good name is better than precious oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth " (Eccles. vii. 1).

He asked him, "Do they know all that ; for lo, it is written, 'The dead know not anything' (Eccles. ix. 5)?" He answered, "If thou hast read [this verse], thou hast not read it a second time ; if a second time, then not a third time ; and if a third time, its meaning has not been explained to thee. 'For the living know that they shall die' (ibid.) — this refers to the righteous who are called living even in their death ; as it is said, 'And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a living man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he smote the two altar-hearths of Moab ; he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow' (II Sam. xxiii. 20).

R. Samuel b. Nahmani also said in the name of R. Jonathan : What means that which is written, "Guard thy foot when thou goest to the house of God" (Eccles. iv. 17)? Guard thyself so that thou sinnest not; but if thou sinnest, bring an offering into My presence. "And be ready to hearken " (Eccles. iv. 1 7) — Raba said : Be ready to hearken to the words of the Sages ; for if they sin, they bring an offering and repent. "It is better than when fools give sacrifices" (ibid.) — be not like the fools who sin and bring an offering without repenting.

R. Samuel b. Nahmani also said in the name of R. Jonathan : What means that which is written, "Guard thy foot when thou goest to the house of God" (Eccles. iv. 17)? Guard thyself so that thou sinnest not; but if thou sinnest, bring an offering into My presence. "And be ready to hearken " (Eccles. iv. 1 7) — Raba said : Be ready to hearken to the words of the Sages ; for if they sin, they bring an offering and repent. "It is better than when fools give sacrifices" (ibid.) — be not like the fools who sin and bring an offering without repenting.

It is quoted in objection, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered" (Eccles. i. 15) — "that which is crooked cannot be made straight," i.e. one who has omitted the Shema' of the evening or morning, or the Tefillah of the evening or morning; "and that which is wanting cannot be numbered," i.e. his companions were numbered for the purpose of a religious duty, and he was not numbered among them!

Rab Zotra b. Tobiah also said in the name of Rab : What means that which is written, "He hath made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccles. iii. 11)? It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, makes every occupation agreeable in the eyes of those who follow it.

Rab Hisda said : [There is no reality in] any dream without a fast. Rab Hisda also said : An uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter. Rab Hisda also said : Neither a good nor a bad dream is fulfilled in every detail. Rab Hisda also said : A bad dream is preferable to a good dream. Rab Hisda also said : When a dream is bad, the pain it causes is sufficient [to prevent its fulfilment], and when the dream is good, the joy it brings is sufficient. Rab Joseph said : As for a good dream, even in my own case, its cheerfulness frustrates it [so that it is not realised]. Rab Hisda also said : A bad dream is worse than scourging ; as it is said, "God hath so made it that men should fear before Him" (Eccles. 3:14), and Rabbah b. Bar Hannah said in the name of R. Johanan : This refers to a bad dream.

[They said to Bar Hedja] : We were made to read in our dream the words "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy" (Eccles, ix. 7). To Abbai he said : Thy business will prosper and thou wilt eat and drink and read Scriptural verses from the joy of thy heart. To Raba he said : Thy business will fail, thou wilt slaughter [cattle] but not eat, and thou wilt drink and read Scriptural verses to banish thy dread.

Then He should have created two other stars ! "There is nothing new under the sun" (Eccles. i. 9). Rab Nahman said : The Holy One, blessed be He, will hereafter restore them; as it is said, "And the 'Ajish will be comforted for her children."

R. Alexander said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi : Thunder was only created to break the pride of the heart ; as it is said, "God hath so made it that men should fear before Him" (Eccles. iii. 14). Also said R. Alexander in the nanie of R.Joshua b. Levi : Who sees the rainbow should prostrate himself upon his face; as it is said, "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud...and when I saw it, I fell upon my face" (Ezek. i. 28). In the West they curse one who acts thus, because it has the appearance as though he worships the rainbow ; but he should certainly pronounce a benediction. What is the benediction ? "Blessed. ..Who remembrest the Covenant." It has been taught in a Baraita : R. Ishmael, the son of R. Johanan b. Baroka says: [The benediction is, "Blessed...] Who art faithful with Thy Covenant and fulfillest Thy word." Rab Pappa said: Let us therefore say both : "Blessed ... Who remembrest the Covenant, art faithful with Thy Covenant and fulfillest Thy word."

Rab Huna stated that Rab said in the name of R. Meir : A man's words should always be few before the Holy One, blessed be He ; as it is said, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter a word before God ; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few" (Eccles. v. 1).

Rab said : The evil impulse is like a fly and dwells between the two entrances of the heart ; as it is said, "Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumers fetid and putrid" (Eccles. x. 1). Samuel said : It is like a kind of wheat [hittah] ; as it is said, "Sin [hatt'at] croucheth at the door" (Gen. iv. 7).

Our Rabbis have taught : There are two reins in man, one prompting him to good, the other to evil. It is probable that the good is on the right side and the bad on the left ; for it is written, "A wise man's understanding is at his right hand; but a fool's understanding at his left" (Eccles. x. 2).

And he also opened his mouth and expounded the passage, "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails planted are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd" (Eccles. xii. 11). Wherefore are the words of the Law likened to goads? It is to tell thee, that as a goad is what keeps the heifer in her furrows, so as to produce sustenance for the world, so the words of the Law keep the learners of them from the ways of death for the ways of life. If you say, that as a goad is what moves, so the words of the Law will move; no, for the teaching says "nails." If you say, that as a nail is a thing which diminishes and does not add, so the words of the Law diminish and do not add; no, for the teaching says "planted." As planting is a thing which is fruitful and multiplies, so too the words of the Law are fruitful and multiply. "Masters of assemblies." These are the disciples of wise men, who sit by companies and study in the Law, some declaring unclean and others declaring clean, some binding and others loosing, some disqualifying and others pronouncing ceremonially pure. Perhaps a man may say, How under those circumstances am I to learn the Law? The teaching says, All of them "are given from one shepherd." One God gave them, one pastor uttered them from the mouth of the Lord of all that is made, blessed be He, for it is written, "and God spake all these words" (Ex. xx. 1). Also do thou make thine ear as the upper millstone, and procure for thyself an understanding heart to hear the words of those who declare unclean and the words of those who declare clean, the words of those who bind and the words of those who loose, the words of those who disqualify and the words of those who pronounce ceremonially pure. On the same occasion he said to them, It is not an orphan generation in the midst of which El'azar ben Azariah lives. And why did they not tell him without hesitation? It was on account of the matter that occurred. For there is a Baraitha, A matter occurred with regard to R. Jose, son of a Damascene woman, viz., that he went to visit R. El'azar in Lod. He said to him, What was there new in the College to day?

and clearing out the stove. She took it and put it upon her foot and was burned, and her evil star was in the ascendant, and I have brought her. R. Baybi bar Abai said to him, Have ye permission to do thus? He said to him, And is it not written, "There is that is destroyed without judgment" (Prov. xiii. 23)? R. Baybi said to him, There is also the passage, "One generation goeth, and another generation cometh" (Eccles. i. 4). The Angel said, I shepherd them, till they have fulfilled the generation, and again I hand them over to Dumah. He said to him, But in the final result what hast thou done with the years? He said, If there is a mighty Rabbi, who does not fulfil his threats, I add them to him, and so there is compensation.

R. Jochanan, when he came upon this passage, wept, "For God shall bring every work into judgment concerning every hidden thing" (Eccles. xii. 14). A slave, whose master punishes sins of error as though they were sins of presumption—is there any help for him? What is the meaning of "concerning every hidden thing"? Rab said, This means the man who kills a louse in the presence of his neighbour, so that he is disgusted at it. But Samuel said, This means the man who spits in the presence of his neighbour, so that he is disgusted. What is the meaning of "whether it be good or whether it be evil"? The men of the house of R. Jannai say, This is he that gives a coin to a poor man publicly. For this story is told of R. Jannai himself. He saw a man who gave a coin to a poor man publicly. He said to him, It had been better that thou hadst not given it to him now, for thou hast given it to him and hast put him to shame. The men of the house of R. Shila say, This is he that gives alms to a woman secretly, because he brings her into suspicion. Rabba said, This is he that sends home to his wife meat that is not bled on the eve of the sabbath. But lo, on the other hand, Rabba himself sent such home. Ah, but it was a different matter as regards the daughter of R. Chasda, for he was certain about her, as being a woman of experience.

I. (6) He who has not observed the Feast on the first high holiday of the Feast, may keep the Feast during any part of its extent, even including the last high holiday of the Feast; but if the whole period be passed, and he have not observed the Feast, he is not bound afterwards. It is with reference to such a person that the words are used, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be counted" (Eccles. i. 15).

If the Feast has passed and he has not offered, he is not bound to make another offering, and with regard to this it is said, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be counted" (Eccles. i. 15). Bar He He said to Hillel, This expression to "be counted" must mean to "be filled." Nay, but this is the sense. His fellows counted upon him to fulfil a positive command and he was not counted among them.

Acher cut the plants. It is of him that the Scripture says, "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin" (Eccles. v. 6). What was the matter referred to? He saw the Metatron, to whom is given the permission to sit to record the merits of Israel. He said, We are taught that in heaven there is no sitting down nor anger nor back nor weariness. Are there—God forbid!—two First Principles? They brought out the Metatron and gave him sixty strokes with a lash of fire. They said to him, What is the reason that, when thou sawest him, thou didst not rise up before him? He was given permission to strike out the merits of Acher. There came out a Bath-Kol and said, "'Return, O backsliding children' (Jer. iii. 14), except Acher." He said, Inasmuch as that man is excluded from yonder world, let him go and enjoy himself in this world. Acher went forth into evil courses. He went forth and met a loose woman. He solicited her. She said to him, Art not thou Elisha ben Abuyah? He pulled up a radish from the garden on the Sabbath and gave it to her. She said, He is another.

Acher asked this question of R. Meir, after he (Acher) had gone forth into evil courses, and said to him, What is the meaning of the passage, "God hath even made the one side by side with the other?" (Eccles. vii. 14) He said to him, Every thing which the Holy One, blessed be He, created, He created with its counterpart. He created mountains, He created hills. He created seas, He created rivers. He said to him, R. Akiba thy teacher did not say so, but he explained it as meaning that He created righteous, He created sinners. He created the garden of Eden, He created Gehenna. To every individual belong two shares, one in the garden of Eden, and one in Gehenna. If a man is meritorious and righteous, he receives his own portion and also the portion of his neighbour in the garden of Eden. If he has incurred guilt, and is a wicked man, he receives his own portion and also the portion of his neighbour in Gehenna. R. Mesharshia said, What is the Scripture proof? As regards the righteous, it is written, "Therefore in their land they shall possess double;" (Is. lxi. 7) as regards the wicked it is said, "And break them with a double breach" (Jer. xvii. 18).