Ecclesiastes 12:11

The words of the wise are as goads The general fact is, of course, stated in special connexion with the book which furnishes the writer's theme. They assert that its words also, sweet as they seem, are not without their sting, though, like the prick of the goad, it is for good and not for evil, urging men on to strong and vigorous labour in the fields of thought and action. The comparison was a natural one in any country, but we are reminded of what was said of the words of Pericles that his eloquence "left a sting (κέντρον) in the minds of his hearers (Eupolis, quoted by Liddell and Scott, s. v.κέντρον), and in part also of the Greek proverb, consecrated for us by a yet higher application (Acts 9:5; Acts 26:14) that "it is hard to kick against the pricks," as applicable to resisting wisdom as well as to defying power (Æsch. Agam. 1633, Pindar, Pyth, ii. 173).

as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies The word for "nails" is found in this, or a cognate form, with that meaning in Isaiah 41:7; Jer 10:4; 1 Chronicles 22:3; 2 Chronicles 3:9; and there is no adequate reason for taking it here, as some have done (Ginsburg), in the sense of the "stakes" of a tent. The word "by" however is an interpolation, and the words taken as they stand would run as nails fastened are the masters of assemblies. The whole analogy of the Hebrew is against our referring the last words to any but persons, and we must therefore reject the interpretation that the "words of the wise are as goads, as fastened nails which are put together in collections" (Delitzsch). The "masters of assemblies" (not, as it has been rendered (Tyler) "editors of collections",) can be none else than the heads or leaders of a body of learned men, like the Great Synagogue of the traditions of the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, or the Sanhedrin of a later date. In "the fastened nail" we have a symbolism like that of Isaiah 22:23; Ezra 9:8, and seen also in the Rabbinic proverb, "Well for the man who has a nail to hang things on" (Dukes, Rabbin. Blumenlese, p. 121). In both these cases, it will be noted, the word refers to persons. It is the fitting emblem of fixity and permanence, and forms the natural complement to that of the goads. As it has been well put (Ginsburg), the two words express the several aspects of Truth as progressive and conservative.

which are given from one shepherd The noun is used often in the O. T. both in its literal sense, and of kings and rulers as the shepherds of their people (Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 3:15; Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; Ezekiel 34 passim), and of God as the great Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 23:1; Psalms 80:1, and by implication, Ezekiel 34:23). We have to choose accordingly between the two latter meanings. The words either assert that all the varied forms of the wisdom of the wise come from God, or that all the opinions, however diversified, which are uttered by "the masters of assemblies," are subject to the authority of the President of the assembly. The first gives, it is believed, the most satisfactory meaning, and so taken, the words express the truth declared, without symbolism, in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. It was not, perhaps, without some reference to this thought, though scarcely to this passage, that our Lord claimed for Himself as the one true Guide and Teacher of mankind the title of the "Good Shepherd," and condemned all that had come before Him, assuming that character, as thieves and robbers (John 10:8; John 10:11), and that St Peter speaks of Him as the "chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4) over all who exercise a pastoral office in the Church of Christ.