Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_600.lzh/4_620.TXT

Text File | 1994-09-29 | 7KB | 128 lines

And if the tree .fall toward the south, or toward the
north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shah
be; where the seed falls, and it grows up into a plant,
and to a tree, there it continues, whether to the north
or to the south; and so accordingly brings forth fruit,
and such as it is men partake of it; to which purpose
Jarchi, and who applies it to the disciple of a wise
man, who is profitable in the place where he is, not
only in life, but after death: or where the fruit of a
tree fall, there they are, so Aben Ezra reads the last
clause in the plural number; that is, there are per-
sons enough to gather the fruit; and so where a rich
man is, there are poor enough about him to partake of
his bounty: or as when a tree is cut down, let it fall
where it will, there it abides, and is no more fruitful;
so when a man is cut off by death, as he was then, so
he remains; ifa gracious and good man, and has done
good, he is like a tree that falls to the south, he enters
into the paradise of God, the joys of heaven; and if
not a good man, and has not done good, he is like a
tree'that falls to the north, he goes into a state of
darkness, misery, and distress; see Rev. xxii. 11, 14, 15/.
or however, be this as it will, he is no more useful-in
this world; and therefore it becomes men to do all 'the
good they can in health and life, for there is none to
be done in the grave where they are going: or else the
sense is, that as when a tree falls, whether it be to the
south or to the north, it matters not to the owner,
there it lies, and is of the same advantage to him; so
an act of beneficence, let it be done to what object
soever, a worthy or an unworthy one, yet being done
with a view to the glory of God and the good .of men,
it shall not lose its reward: and so this is an answer to
the objection of some against giving, because they do
not know whether the object proposed is deserving:
though some think the same thing is intended by these
metaphorical expressions, as is suggested in the latter
part of the preceding verse, that evils or calamities
may come upon men like heavy showers of rain, which
wash away things; or like storms and tempests of rain,
thunder and lightning, which break down trees, and
cause them to fall to the north or to the south; and
thus in like manner by one judgment or another men
may be stripped of all their substance, and therefore it
is right to 'make use of it while they have it.
Ver. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, &c.]
Who before he sows his seed is careful to observe where
the wind is, from what corner it blows, and forbears
sowing until it is down or changes, lest it should be
troublesome unto him in sowing, or blow away his
seed, and waits for a better season; such a man may
lose his seed-time and never sow at all, and his corn
in his barn may be devoured by vermin, or be destroyed
by one accident or another, and so he may lose both his
seed and his crop. And he that re.gardeth the clouds shall
not reap; which are uncertain signs of weather; and
ifa man gives heed to them, and puts off his sowing
from time to time, for the sake of better weather, as
he may never sow, so it is impossible that he should
reap; and if he sows, and when his corn is ripe and
forbears to reap because of the clouds, lest his grain
should be wet, may never reap at all: and so it is with
respect to liberality; if a man will raise diff, culties,
and make objections, and attend unto them; if he
puts off giving till such an affliction is removed fi'om
him and his family, or that is grown up; or such an
estate is obtained, or he has got to such a pitch of
riches, or till more proper and deserving ob. jects pre-
sent, with twenty things more of the like kind; if he
defers giving on such accounts, or through fear of
want, which may possess his miud for various reasons,
he may never give nor get, yea, never do.any good
work; for, if nothing is done till all difficulties are re-
moved, no good thing will ever be done.
Ver. 5..,Is thou knowest not what is the way of the
spirit, &c.] If indeed a man could foresee and be
assured of seasonable weather for sowing and reaping,
or a proper opportunity for doing good, all circum-
stances agreeing, it would be right to wait for it, and
take it; but as these things are not in our power, nor
within the compass of our knowledge, we should take
the tirst opportunity of doing good, and leave the
issue to divine Providence: as in many things in nature
we are and should be content to be ignorant of them,
and leave them with God, who brings them about by
his secret power and providence: as, for instance, we
know not the way of the spirit, or of the wind {r}, as
some render it; from whence it conles and whither it
goes, where and when it will subside, or what wind
will blow next; or of the spirit or soul of man, how
it enters into the body. So the Targum," how the
"spirit of the breath of life goes into the body of an
"infant :" whether it is by traduction, as some, which
is not likely; or by transfusion, or by creation out of
nothing, or by formation out of something pre-exist-
ent, and by an immediate infusion of it: or, what is
the way of the breath; of the breath of a child in the
womb, whether it breathes or not,; if it does, how ?
if not, how does it live? or what is the way of the
soul out of the body, how it goes out of it when the
body dies. Nor how the bones do grow in the womb of
her that is with-child; or is .full, pregnant, big with-
child: or in the womb that is full {}; full of liquids, and
yet bones are separated from them, grow out of them,
and in them, and are hardened; all which how it should
be is unknown: bones are mentioned because they are
the more solid and substantial parts of the body, the
basis and strength of it; and because it may seem more
difficult how any part of the seed should harden into
them, whilst other parts are converted into skin and
flesh. Even so thou knowest not the worlcs of God, who
maketh all; the Targum. adds, in wisdom; as men
are ignorant of many of the works of nature, so of
those of Providence, especially which are future; as
whether men shall be rich or poor, have days of pro-
sperity or adversity; what their latter end will be,.
whether they shall not stand in need of the assistance
of others, it may be of them or theirs to whom they
now give; or what will be the issue of present acts of
beneficence and liberality; these, with many other


{r} \^xwrh\^ venti, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator,
Drusius, Mercerus, Amama, Cocceius, Gejerus, Rambachius; so
Broughton, and the Syriac and Arabic versions.
{s} \^halmh Njbb\^ in utero pleno, Mercerus, Gejerus, Gussetius, p.
936. in ventre pleno, Cocceius, so Aben Ezra.