79. faciendum est: a fut. pass. periphrastic with overtones of destiny, the very thing which shall (must) be done; i.e., the future repeats the past. There is a fixed round of events; God has predetermined them all; man cannot change them. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3.1).
80. valet: = potest, common in late Lat.
81. praecessit…quae fuerunt: the antecedent of quae is treated as collective sg. subj. of praecessit, whatever things were before us, that has already gone (occurred) before.
saeculis: saeculum,century, generation.
83. recordatio: = memoria; the cor, heart, was regarded as the seat of memory.
novissimo: the phrase annus novus was often used of the new year or the coming year; similarly novissimo here refers to the distant future.
84. Israhel: of Israel.
86. pessimam: the point is that God has given humans the power to reason and a desire for knowledge, and yet, despite man’s diligence, he is mocked by an inability to understand truly the meaning of life and the universe.
88. universa: = omnia (sunt).
perversi: here, the crooked.
difficile: = difficiliter.
90. corde: cor, heart.
91. sapientia: ABL. OF SPECIFICATION.
The Futility of Man’s Life on Earth
“Job” Leon Bonnat 1880 Musée Bonnat Bayonne, France
Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
Verba Ecclesiastae, filii David, regis Hierusalem.
“Vanitas vanitatum,” dixit Ecclesiastes: “Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas. Quid habet amplius homo de universo labore 70 suo, quo laborat sub sole? Generatio praeterit, et generatio advenit; terra autem in aeternum stat. Oritur sol, et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur ibique renascens. Gyrat per meridiem et flectitur ad aquilonem; lustrans universa, circuitu pergit spiritus et in circulos suos regreditur. Omnia flumina intrant in 75 mare, et mare non redundat: ad locum, unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur ut iterum fluant. Cunctae res difficiles: non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur. Quid est quod fuit?—ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est?—ipsum quod faciendum est. Nihil sub 80 sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere, ‘Ecce, hoc recens est.’ Iam enim praecessit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos. Non est priorum memoria, sed nec eorum quidem quae postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo.
“Ego Ecclesiastes fui rex Israhel in Hierusalem et proposui 85 in animo meo quaerere et investigare sapienter de omnibus quae fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem pessimam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea. Vidi cuncta quae fiunt sub sole, et, ecce, universa vanitas et adflictio 95 spiritus. Perversi difficile corriguntur, et stultorum infinitus est numerus. Locutus 90 sum in corde meo, dicens, ‘Ecce, magnus effectus sum, et praecessi omnes sapientia qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem; et mens mea contemplata est multa sapienter, et didici.’ Dedique cor meum ut scirem prudentiam, atque doctrinam, erroresque et stultitiam; et agnovi quod in his quoque esset labor et afflictio spiritus, eo quod in multa sapientia multa sit indignatio—et qui addit scientiam, addit et laborem.” (Ecclesiastes 1.1–18)
92. contemplata est: contemplari.
93. prudentiam…stultitiam (94): i.e., he sought to understand all life.
94. agnovi quod: I learned that; in late Lat. quod is regularly employed with either a subjunct. or an indic. vb. to introduce IND. STATE.
95. eo quod: for the reason that.
indignatio:occasion for indignation; i.e., in this world there is no guarantee that men will be rewarded according to their deserts, for the righteous often suffer, the wicked sometimes prosper, and the wise man has the same futile end as the fool—death. Though he lacked belief in an afterlife where injustices would be corrected, and acknowledges the ugly realities of life, the author did not surrender to despair; rather, he said carpe diem, observe the golden mean, be wise, and accept the reality of a God and a universe which you cannot fully understand.
96. laborem: here, sorrow, suffering.
98. vobis: dat. with maledicere, to insult, curse.
calumniantibus: calumniari,to accuse falsely.
99. percutit: percutere, to strike.
maxillam:jaw; here, one side of the jaw (in view of the following alteram).
100. tibi: the DAT. OF SEPARATION was often used instead of the abl.
vestimentum:clothing, but here robe or some other outergarment, in contrast to tunicam, tunic, a shirtlike garment worn under the toga or indoors and when working.
101. petenti te: = class. petenti a te.
ne repetas: sc. ab eo; note ne + pres. subjunct. in the 2nd pers. as a variant for expressing a prohibition, where class. Lat. prose would usually have noli + inf., as in the preceding line, or ne + perf. subjunct.
102. prout: just as (= ut + indic.).
et: with facite, = etiam.
103. vobis: DAT. OF POSSESSION, with quae…est gratia, what thanks do you have, i.e., what special regard do you deserve?
104. diligentes se: who love them.
105. siquidem: conj., if indeed, since, inasmuch as.
106. mutuum: a loan.
