Ecclesiastes 5:12

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. THE SLEEP OF A LABOURING MAN IS SWEET ... Another argument against anxiety to gain riches. "Sleep ... sweet," answers to "quietness" (); "eat little or much," to "abundance," "not suffer ... sleep," to "vexation of spirit." Fears for his wealth, and an over- loaded stomach without 'labouring' (cf. ), will not suffer the rich oppressor to sleep....

9-17 The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the labourer is sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance...

Verse Ecclesiastes 5:12. _THE SLEEP OF A LABOURING MAN_ IS _SWEET_] His labour is healthy exercise. He is without possessions, and without cares; his sleep, being undisturbed, is sound and refreshing....

LABOURING MAN - Not a slave (Septuagint), but everyone who, according to the divine direction, earns his bread in the sweat of his brow....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 5:1 Section 6. Man's outward and secular life being unable to secure happiness and satisfaction, can these be found in _popular religion?_ Religious exercises need the observation of strict rules, which are far from meeting with general attention. Koheleth proceeds to give instruction, in the form of maxims, concerning public worship, prayer, and vows. ECCLESIASTES 5:1 This verse, in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, forms the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 4:1; and is taken independently; but the division in our version is more natural, and the connection of this with the following verses is obvious....

THE SLEEP OF A LABOURING MAN [IS] SWEET, WHETHER HE EAT LITTLE OR MUCH,.... Or "of a servant" i, who enjoys sleep equally as a king; a tiller of the ground, as Jarchi; who also interprets it of one that serves the Lord, as likewise the Targum; a beloved one of his, to whom he gives sleep, Psalms 127:2. A refreshing sleep is always reckoned a great mercy and blessing, and which labouring men enjoy with sweetness k; for if they have but little to eat at supper, yet coming weary from their work, sleep is easily brought on when they lie down, and sound sleep they have, and rise in the morning lively and active, and fit for business; or, if they eat more plentifully, yet through their labour they have a good digestion, and their sleep is not hindered: so that should it be answered to the above question, what has the master more than the servant, though he eats and drinks more freely, and of t...

3. EXHORTATIONS ON DIFFERENT VANITIES CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Concerning worship and vows (Ecclesiastes 5:1)_ 2. Concerning extortions (Ecclesiastes 5:8) 3. The vanities of wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:10) 4. The conclusion (Ecclesiastes 5:18) Ecclesiastes 5:1. The writer, King Solomon, seems to have been exhausted in his descriptions as to the things under the sun. He pauseth and turns to something different. He meditates on worship, that man aims to get in touch with the unsee

CONCERNING DESPOTISM AND WEALTH. Ecclesiastes 5:8 f. The oppression and injustice that one sees (_in_ an Oriental satrapy) are not to be wondered at when we remember the graded hierarchy of officials who are all eager simply to enrich themselves. There is no reference to God; read, One high official is watching over another, and there are higher ones (perhaps the king) over them. Yet on the whole a king, especially if he take an interest in agriculture, is an advantage to a country. So we may interpret the extremely difficult Ecclesiastes 5:9 (_cf. mg.)._ Ecclesiastes 5:10 ff. The avaricious man is always poor; though his wealth increases he lacks satisfaction, enlarged inc

TO SLEEP. to sleep soundly....

_The sleep of a labouring man is sweet_ We may probably, as suggested in the "Ideal Biography" of the _Introduction_ch. iii., see in this reflection the reminiscence of a state with which the writer had once been familiar, and after which, now that it had passed away, he yearned regretfully. Again we get on the track of the maxims of Epicurean teachers. So Horace; "Somnus agrestium Lenis virorum non humiles domos Fastidit umbrosamque ripam, Non Zephyris agitata Tempe." "Gentle slumber scorneth not The ploughman's poor and lowly cot, Nor yet the bank with sheltering shade, Nor Tempe with its breezy glade." _Od_. iii. 1. 21 24. See the passage from Virgil, _Georg_. iv., already quoted in the note on ch. Ecclesiastes 2:24, and "Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on