perishing one, and wine to those bitter of spirit; let him drink and forget his poverty, and his sorrow not remember again.' The T. reads, 'give strong drink to the mournful, and wine to those who are bitter in soul; that they may drink and forget their indigence, and not longer remember their mean attire.” The Syriac has 'let strong drink be granted to the mournful, and wine to those of bitter soul; that they may drink and forget their sorrows, and may not further recall their calamities.' The Lxx. has didote metheen tois en lupais, kai oinon peinein tois en odunais, hina epilathōntai tees penias kai tōn ponōn me mneesthōsin eti: 'give ye strong drink to those in griefs, and wine to drink to those in pains, in order that they may be forgetful of the poverty, and of their troubles have no remembrance any more.' The V. reads, date siceram mærentibus et vinum his qui amaro sunt animo. Bibant et ebliviscantur egestatis suæ, et doloris sui non recordentur amplius: 'give ye strong drink to the mournful, and wine to those who are of bitter soul. Let them drink and forget their indigence, and of their grief have not a remembrance any longer.' So far as the words go, we have here a plain prescription to 'drown sorrow in drink'; but we may well question whether such could have ever been the intention of an inspired writer. To determine the true meaning of these verses, therefore, is of considerable importance, both as a point of morals and of Temperance doctrine.

1. Some regard the passage as an allusion to the exceptional practice of giving intoxicating and stupefying potions to criminals before execution: but the allusion, if such, is a sanction and even command; and the pious mind must revolt from the thought of a Scripture exhortation to make men drunk and unconscious at the approach of death. The great Exemplar, when about to die, was offered 'wine mingled with myrrh,' but it is recorded that He refused it. Could the Spirit that was in Christ' ever have testified adversely to this?

2. The theory that what is recommended is a moderate use of intoxicating liquor as a cordial in time of trouble, is contrary to the natural sense of the words and to the result described-complete oblivion of earthly care. Besides, can intoxicating drink be properly recommended in any quantity as an antidote to trouble? Hannah did not think so (see Note on 1 Sam. i. 15). St James writes, 'Is any afflicted? let him pray '—not fly to the bottle. All experience shows that to use alcoholic fluid for mitigating grief is to subject one's self to a special danger, amounting to moral certainty, of contracting habits of intemperance. Under such conditions the system is doubly susceptible of the delusive influence of alcoholics. 3. If the passage is to be construed as a serious recommendation, it is nothing short of a direct injunction to get intoxicated; advice which could not fail to be stigmatised (1) as most irrational, because certain to multiply care and trouble; (2) as radically opposed to the tenor of Scripture teaching; and (3) as utterly immoral, by giving encouragement to the mother and mistress of all the lowest vices of mankind.

4. An attempt has been made to cut the knot by translating the principal terms so as to exclude all reference to wine and strong drink. It is true that by falling back upon mere etymology, and rendering yayin 'pressure,' and shakar 'reward,' 'bribe,' or 'gift,' an entirely new turn is given to the passage, which is thus paraphrased:-"It is not for kings and princes to receive gifts or bribes, lest (so accepting) they forget the law, pervert the claim of any of the afflicted. Give gifts (rather) to him that is ready to perish, and to those that be of heavy heart;

let him accept [orig. drink] them, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." It cannot, however, be supposed that gifts to kings and princes are indiscriminately to be condemned, or that indiscriminate almsgiving to the poor is to be commended. Besides, the critical objections to this new translation are insuperable. (1) Yayin is never elsewhere used in the sense imparted to it; and what can be meant by giving ‘pressure' to the poor? (2) The connection of yayin with shakar determines the meaning of shakar beyond all fair question.* (3) The allusion to drinking as a cause of loss of judgment and memory is too clear to be mistaken.

5. Any interpretation of verses 6 and 7 which is to preserve their harmony with morality and religion, must exclude from the initial word tenu, 'give thou,' the force of a recommendation or command. (1) It may be regarded as logical, and not mandatory; not as 'do give,' but 'should you give,' then such and such will be the result. The sense would then be tantamount to this :-'It is not becoming in kings and princes to drink wine and strong drink, lest they forget the law and pervert the rights of others; though, should such drink be given to the afflicted, they will simply drink and forget their own cares and become unconscious of their own misfortunes.' The grammatical concord supports this view; for it is not 'Give wine and strong drink to the afflicted, and make them forget their troubles,' but 'Give them wine and strong drink, and the afflicted one will drink (vishteh), and he will forget (yishkekh) his distress.' This usus loquendi is to be found in the proverbs of all languages. In our own we say, 'Set a beggar on horseback, [not meaning 'do set him,' but ‘if you set him,' then] he will ride to perdition.' 'Give some people an inch, and they will take an ell.' This may be defined as the logical imperative, in distinction from the ethical. (2) The imperative tenu, 'give thou,' may be regarded as a term of conditional comparison. Kings and princes (verses 4 and 5) are not to use wine and strong drink because inimical to mental clearness and judicial integrity; but if not fit for those who owe important duties towards others, what are they fit for? The answer is supplied (verses 6 and 7): 'Give them-if at all-to the perishing and careworn, who will find in them oblivion from the very memory of their sorrows.' This, observe, is not a contradiction, but an amplification, of the thought developed in verses 4 and 5. The alternative advice of the text may be thus modernly expressed :-"Better drink so that you forget your own cares, than, occupying a position of influence and trust, you should drink and do injury to others." The whole passage may be viewed as a declarative medal; on whose obverse side is inscribed, "Intoxicating liquors are not fit for those who have to think and act for others"; on the reverse, "Intoxicating liquors are only fit for those who wish to lose the power of thinking and acting for themselves." Can any stronger condemnation be passed upon inebriating compounds of every name? To whom has the Creator given per

The Masorites so called because about the seventh century of the Christian era they accentuated and otherwise edited the Hebrew Scriptures according to masora (tradition)-discriminate between sh-k-r as 'strong drink' and sh-k-r as reward' or 'wages,' by so marking the latter 'sh that it may be pronounced 's,'-sah-kar. Whether they are right or not in so doing, any reader, however ignorant of Hebrew, might see that the words do express very different things, and that the context in every case supports the distinction made by the English translators. Possibly the use of sh-k-r in the sense of reward' or 'wages' was derived from the generic sense of sweetness': but the distinction must have been made at a very remote period, and when made, a difference of pronunciation (which the Masorites may have preserved) would naturally be adopted to indicate the difference of object present to the mind.

mission to drown affliction in the wine-cup? With a voice of infinite pity, the Son of God, addressing the afflicted and perishing, exclaims, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST.” *

CHAPTER XXXI. VERSE 16.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

SHE PLANTETH A VINEYARD] Hebrew, nahtah karem, she planteth a cultivated enclosure,' or 'sets out a plantation.' Kerem here is distinguished from sadeh (in the first clause), ‘an open field.' The Lxx. has katepheusen kteema, 'she planted a possession '; the V., plantavit vineam, ‘she planted a vineyard.'

The late Sir W. a'Beckett, ex-Chief Justice of Victoria, has beautifully expressed the unwisdom of seeking consolation in the cup which mocks:

IN VINO FALSITAS.

Grief banished by wine will come again,
And come with a deeper shade,
Leaving, perchance on the soul a stain,
Which sorrow had never made.
Then fill not the tempting glass for me;
If mournful, I will not be mad;
Better sad, because we are sinful, be,
Than sinful because we are sad.

THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.

CHAPTER II. VERSE 3.

I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

I SOUGHT IN MINE HEART TO Give myself unTO WINE] Hebrew, tarti vě-libe limshok bay-yayin eth-běsari, 'I sought in my heart to draw out my body (or flesh) with wine.' The Lxx. has kateskepsameen ei hee kardia mou helkusen hōs oinos een sarka mou, and I examined whether my heart would draw, as wine, my flesh'; the V., cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere à vino carnem meam, ‘I thought in my heart to withdraw my flesh from wine.' The T. has 'to draw my flesh into the house of the banquet of wine.' The Hebrew mahshak signifies 'to draw,' 'to continue,' 'to spread'; hence Gesenius and others construe the passage—' I sought in my heart to make my body strong with wine.' It would be interesting to know how St Jerome came to write à vino, 'from wine.' The bay-yayiu of the Received Text can bear this rendering only by taking 'b' in the infrequent sense of 'against,' which could hardly be assigned to it here.

YET ACQUAINTING MINE HEART WITH WISDOM] Hebrew, vě-libe nohāg bakhakmah, 'and my heart acting (or urging) with wisdom,' or 'cleaving to wisdom.' The Lxx. has kai kardia mou hōdeegeesen en sophia, and my heart guided (me) with wisdom'; the V., ut animum meum transferrem ad sapientiam, devitaremque stultitiam, 'that I might carry over my mind to wisdom, and avoid folly.'

CHAPTER II. VERSE 4.

I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards.

I PLANTED ME VINEYARDS] Hebrew, nahtati li kerahmim, 'I planted for myself vineyards,' or 'set out plantations.' Ver. 5 has a reference to gannoth u-phardasim, translated in A. V. 'gardens' and 'orchards.' 'to cover,' seems to denote conservatories; and pardasim, grounds-laid out around the royal dwelling.

Gannoth, from ganan,

‘paradises,' pleasure

CHAPTER II. VERSE 24.

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

AND DRINK] Hebrew, vě-shahthath, and he has drunk.' The same phrase recurs, chap. iii. 13; and one similar, chap. v. 18; viii. 15.

CHAPTER VII. VERSE 29.

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

UPRIGHT] Hebrew, yahshar, 'straight '=upright or just.

MANY INVENTIONS] Hebrew, khishvonoth rabim, 'many devices.' Revelation as well as reason explodes the fallacy of confounding nature with art; the work done by means of Divine power lent us, with the work which, being 'upright' and 'fit,' expresses the Divine will and wisdom. The distinction is a cardinal one in ethics, the denial of which would destroy all moral distinctions and responsibility, by identifying the moral quality of all actions as equally divine, since there is no power that is not of God. [See Note on Acts xvii. 29.] The simple existence of an act cannot vindicate its 'uprightness,' which is a relation of adaptedness.

Not everything that man, 'the reasoning animal,' has contrived, is entitled to the distinction of reasonable,' much less of a Divine origin. The 'inventions' of man, the offspring of his understanding, must be compared with the standard of that natural uprightness according to which he was himself created. The true and final test of their uprightness is their fitness to make mankind happier and better. If they cannot endure this test they stand condemned in their own nature. It is in vain to point to the actual manufacture of intoxicating liquor in almost incomputable quantities, and at enormous cost, as a proof that they are designed for use; since, if their influence on man's material and moral condition is evil rather than good, the application of human intelligence to their preparation is but another evidence that though God made man upright, he has abused his faculties by contriving inventions that are at once the monuments and the instruments of his shame.

CHAPTER IX. VERSE 7.

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

EAT THY BREAD WITH JOY] Hebrew, ěkol besimkhah lakhmekah, 'eat with gladness thy bread'; the Lxx., phage en euphrozunee ton arton sou, 'eat with joyfulness thy bread'; the V., comede in lætitia panem tuum, ‘eat with gladness thy bread.'

AND DRINK THY WINE WITH A MERRY HEART] Hebrew, u-shtha vè-lès-tov yayněkah, 'and drink with a good heart thy wine.' The Lxx. reads, kai pie en kardia agathee oinou sou, and drink with a good heart thy wine'; the V., et bibe cum gaudia vinum tuum, and drink with joy thy wine.'. The T. represents this language as prophetic of what God shall say to the good in the world to come,