THE QUESTION `WHAT IS THAT GOOD?'
6
it were, his thesis, `all is superlatively vain', and then conducts the reader through the intricate mazes of
investigation to the final statement of chapter 12:8, `Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth, all is vanity'. Whatever our
private opinions may be, we cannot charge the writer with either inconsistency or wandering. His proposition and
his proof are in sight throughout the book, as we shall see more clearly when we trace this special feature through.
Another feature that is constant is that which is brought out in the structure, namely, the process of investigation.
Chapter 1:12,13 reads:
`I Koheleth was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all things that are done under heaven'.
So in conclusion (12:9) we read:
`And moreover, because Koheleth was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and
sought out, and set in order many proverbs'.
We have in the appendix sought to show the connection both of theme and wording that exists between
Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. Here, Koheleth tells us that many of his proverbs were sought out and set in order after
the experience recorded in Ecclesiastes, and presumably connected with it. If Ecclesiastes is untrue, we should
expect to find that in `Proverbs', being inspired Scripture, the errors will be corrected. This is not the case however.
Where Proverbs speaks of the same things as Ecclesiastes, it uses similar words and leads in the same direction. It
will be observed that Koheleth refers in this chapter to `the words of the wise', saying that they are as `goads'. The
words of the wise come in the introduction of the book of Proverbs, and are immediately followed by that section of
Proverbs that were written FOR Solomon.
It must be understood that some wise sayings in the collection known as `The Proverbs' were written BY
Solomon, and that some were written FOR Solomon. Those written for the guidance of Solomon are found in
Proverbs 1:6 to 9:18; 19:20 to 24:34; 27:1 to 29:27; and 30:1 to 31:31. The opening section, 1:6 to 9:18 is a fivefold
alternation of `the call of Wisdom' with the warning against `the foreign woman' (see The Companion Bible,
p. 865).
Solomon gives sound advice on many weighty themes - but in the Proverbs written BY Solomon, warning
concerning `strange women' is absent. Those who know the sad end of Solomon's career can see the reason for this
repeated warning, and this ominous omission.
`Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who
was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women
cause to sin' (Neh. 13:26).
Turn again to the structure of the seven occurrences of koheleth. Look at the central reference 7:27. What did
Koheleth find? He found by bitter experience what he might have known by simply believing the words of the wise
that were written for his guidance:
`I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth
God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her' (Ecc. 7:26).
This is entirely in harmony with the introductory proverbs for Solomon's guidance, and with his own conclusion:
`Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD' (Prov. 18:22).
`A prudent wife is from the LORD' (Prov. 19:14).
The Book of Proverbs closes with an acrostic. Chapter 31:10-31 contains twenty-two verses, and each verse
begins with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in their true order. This acrostic is written in
praise of the `virtuous woman in whom the heart of her husband can safely trust'. It was a full-length portrait of the
wife that Solomon should have chosen. Instead, the Song of Solomon reveals the faithful Shulamite and her
shepherd lover in vivid contrast with Solomon and his `three score queens, and four score concubines, and virgins
without number' (Song of Sol. 6:8). In l Kings 11:3 we find that Solomon's quest has at length burdened his soul
with `seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines'. A THOUSAND in all! No wonder the