전도서 2:12의 인용 해설

Similarly, pertaining to the phrase “Do not be excessively wise,” our sages of blessed memory in Shemos Rabbah, parashah 10, explained that this verse was written by King Solomon is in reference to himself, who [thought that he was] wiser than the Torah’s warning [against marrying too many wives].¹³Tractate Sanhedrin 21a, states that a king may not have more than eighteen wives. Solomon also transgressed the prohibition of going to Egypt by going there to buy more horses. He had believed that since the Torah stated the rationale for this prohibition [as], “He may not have many wives, so that his heart will not stray,”¹⁴Deut. 17:17. and he was confident in himself that he would not reach such a level [of sinning], he therefore dared to transgress these negative commandments. [The Midrash continues]: “Solomon said: ‘For that which I thought I was wiser than the Torah’s laws, and where I thought I had understood the Torah’ wisdom, [I discovered] that [my] wisdom and understanding consisted of madness and foolishness. Why? ‘For what is man who will come after the King? It has already been done’ (Eccl. 2:12).” The Midrash is expressing that [Solomon was lamenting]: “I am unable to penetrate the deepest secrets embedded within the laws of the Torah, for [even when the Torah provides a rationale for a commandment], who knows how many other reasons there may be in addition to that [stated] rationale. Even where I knew the rationale, and I was convinced that there is no other reason for [that commandment], even [for this I learned] that it is foolish to nullify that warning, as it emanated from the “mouth” of the Holy One blessed be He. The Torah is built upon that hok [statute], and he who nullifies any statute, ruins the Torah’s entire structure.

A kabbalistic approach views the activity which resulted in the universe materialising as totally dependent on the Creator Who is both the labourer and the architect (referred to in Bereshit Rabbah 1,1). In that parable we had said that a king who builds a palace does not do so merely by relying on his own knowledge, but he employs experts to advise him. The architect in turn does not build without first having used his mental and intellectual faculties. This is the deeper meaning behind the words of Solomon in Kohelet 2,12 כי מה האדם שיבא אחרי המלך את אשר כבר עשוהו, “for what can man who comes after the king do? It has already been done.” The crucial word is עשוהו instead of עשהו. The plural is a reference to G-d together with His בית דינו, “His court of advisors” (compare Kohelet Rabbah 2,14).

This is similar to the parable cited in the Midrash on Koheles.⁵See Midrash Rabbah on Koheles, 2:14, where it comments on Koheles 2:12: “‘I turned myself to behold wisdom’: R. Nahman made two comparisons…. The other comparison was to a huge palace with so many doors that whoever entered it lost his way. There was a shrewd man who, on entering, took a rope of reed-grass that he tied to the entrance. All were then able to enter and depart by means of the guiding rope.” [It compares one who applies deep analysis to a person who enters] a large palace which contains many rooms [and he must strategize to find a way out]. To find his way back to the entrance, he ties one rope to another so that he can retrace his steps. However, someone who has a lamp that illuminates the way to the door does not need to exert that much effort, and can find the door with minimal searching and exertion. However, he will not gain an understanding of the palace. This is not so with the one who has no lamp and must exert much effort to understand the intricacies of the palace; he stumbles and repeatedly gets lost until he finally locates the exit. Such a person obtains a great light – namely, a much greater insight into the design of the building, than the other.

Me makes...fools Heb. יהולל, He makes mad, an expression of folly and foolishness.