ECCLESIASTES. 615 ECCLESIASTICAl CORPORATION. Morcl exhibits. To a?s'.ini<>, as some scholars are inclined to do. that the speaker is ■personified wisdom' (and hence the feminine) is not satis- factory, since nowhere is wisdom mentioned as the speaker, arious other explanations have been brouirht forward, none of which, however, has met with general acceptance. Kolieleth im- presses one as an intentional disguise, and therefore a more or less artificial formation, and since Icahal is a characteristic Hebrew word for ■congregation.' it is not impossible that by in- rentiiij; the form Kolulcth, the author intends to carry the idea of anonymity. Kohcleth would thus be about the equivalent of our anonymous. The book itself consists of twelve chapters, forming a series of discourses on the vanity of earthly things, and is put into the mouth of Kohcleth. who describes himself as "a son of David. King in .Jerusalem" (i. 1). Whether Solomon was originally in the mind of the author is not certain, for 'son of David' may be an interpolation: but it is probable, for. to the Jews of the post-exilic period, to which Eeclesi- astes belongs, Solomon had become the ideal of a king endowed with wisdom, riches, and power, and who, therefore, could properly be chosen as an illustration for the central doctrine of the author's philoso])hy. To prove the theory of the vanity of life it was necessary to choose some one who could represent life in all its manifesta- tions. Solomon was such a man, and the author's argument is that if Solomon came to the conclusion that wisdom, pleasures, riches, power, were all vain, there could be no doubt about it. The introduction of Solomon by im- plication gave rise to the tradition which as- cribed the authorship to Solomon. This tradi- tion prevented a proper understanding and gave rise to methods of interpretation that disguised the real character of the book, which is un- doubtedly skeptical. Everj-thing is questioned — the value of virtue, immortality, divine justice, the providence of God, the advantage of wisdom — in short, everything but the existence of God Himself The character of the skepticism is pe- culiarly Oriental. The tone is the same that ■we find in Omar Kha)-yam, so that it is not necessary to assume an influence of Greek thought, though such influence undoubtedly ex- isted at the time of the composition of Ecclesi- astes. The book, however, must belong to a period of depression in the history of the Jews when internal conditions suggested a doubt as to the validity of the prophetical teachings which had emphasized God's providence for Israel, His justice and goodness, and the necessity of vir- tue and morality as a condition to securing divine favor and with it happiness. Such a period sets in toward the close of the Persian dominion, and the dejiression became accentuated from one age to the other, so that it is difficult to pick out any particular decade after the fourth century to which Ecclesiastes is more applicable than any other. Hence scholars vary considerably in assigning a date to Ecclesiastes; and. while some pass beyond the fourth century, several are inclined to bring the date of the com- position down to the days of Herod. The lan- guage points to a late date. The Book of Daniel, with its optimism and its aim to en- courage the .Jews in the hour of greatest despair, is the antidote and antithesis to Ecclesiastes, and, except for the fact that an author might fear to produce so pessimistic a work in such perilous times as the days of Antiochus Epiph- ancs, one is tempted to suppose that the two books were written in the same period. Ecclesiastes became a popular book, much to the alarm of pious Jews, who shrank from its skeptical tone and conclusions. Hence the at- tempt was made to tone dow n its most audacious utterances, to intersperse liberally throughout the book plirases indicative of the author's piety, and al)Ove all, by adding a pious con- clusion, to give to the book a religious tone. This was done with such success that the skep- tical tone was disguised and the book, though not without discussion by the Jewish rabbis, was admitted into the canon. Consult the commentaries of Graetz, Delitzsch, Renan, Plumptre, Wright, Hitzig, and Ewald; also Cheyne, Job and Solomon (1887); Palm, Die Kokelct Litleiatur (Mannheim, 188G) ; SchifTer, Das hiich Kohelet nach dcr Auffassung dcr jiidisschen ^'eisen des Talmuds (Leipzig, 1884) ; Bickell, Kolirlefhs VnirrKiichunacn iiber de>i Werth des Daseins (Innsbruck, 188C) ; Dil- lon, Skeptics of the Old Testament (London, 1895). ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS FOR ENGLAND. A corporate body estalili>hcd by act of Parliament constituting an important administrative agency for the Established Clmrch of England. The commissioners arc about fifty in number, and include all the bishops of the Estab- lished Church in England and Wales, the deans of Cantcrliury, Saint Paul's, and Westminster, and five Cabinet Ministers, in addition to twelve lay members, appointed partly by the Crown and partly by the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are required to lay before the Crown in council such olans as appear to them best adapted for cariy- ing out the objects of their appointment. By acts subsequent to their organization, they now have authority to divide or unite existing par- ishes and to create additional jurisdictions, known as districts. At the time of their ap- jiointment, in order that they might be provided with fimds to carry out their plans, the seven best-endowed sees of the Established Church were laid under a contribution which amounted to an annual sura of £22,800. In addition to the in- come thus provided, several canonrics in various cathedrals and other ecclesiastical preferments were suppressed, and the entire emoluments were vested in the commissioners. The commissioners expend their funds on church buildings, on the augmentation of poor livings, and on the endowment of new churches in new cures, called districts: and in so doing, though the fund they handle is a conunon one. they are bound to consider the needs of the places whence the income is derived. In the augmentation of poor livings the commissioners often contribute a certain sum on condition that the persons in- terested rai^e an equal sum. The average income of the English beneficed clergy at the present time is £240 per benefice, and the funds for the augmentation of the benefices would amount to about £3 each if the.v were equally distributed. Consult Whitehead, Church Lair (London. 1892). ECCLESIASTICAL CORPORATION, A bod.v cor|)orale constituted of an pcclcsiasti<':il per- son or persons and subject to ecclesiastical judi- catories. Ecclesiastical corporations are divided
