(5.) =As thou art not one who knows what is the way of the spirit, like the bones in the womb of the pregnant, just so, thou dost not know, with respect to the working of the Deity, Who is He that= (full relative) =performs with regard to the whole.= (The LXX. render the first part ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν γινώσκων, ‘among whom none knows,’ taking no notice of the pronoun _thou_. Did they read the כ at the end of אינך as beginning the following word? That the sentence is equivocal, and that this equivoke helps the general drift of the passage is not to be doubted.) The subject now returns to the previous train of argument, which directs man to do his duty in submission to the inscrutable ways of Providence. 6 In the morning sow thy │ In the morning sow the seed seed, and in the evening │ thou oughtest, and to the withhold not thine hand: │ evening do not withhold thy for thou knowest not whether │ hand, for THOU canst not tell ¹shall prosper, either this │ if it shall succeed, whether or that, or whether they both │ this or another, or if all of _shall be_ alike good. │ it shall be alike good. │ ¹ _Hebrew_ shall be right. │ (6.) =In the morning sow thy seed= (with את, ‘sow that seed which you ought to sow,’) =and to the evening= (note the change of preposition, it renders this passage a better introduction to what is to follow: there is a reference to the evening of life) =do not withhold thy hand= (compare chapter vii. 18, where את is used with this verb, and observe the difference in meaning), =for it is not thou who knowest= (a repetition of this clause from the preceding verse) =whether= (but compare 1 Kings xxii. 24, and 1 Samuel ix. 18, showing that the meaning with זה is ‘what way’ or ‘how,’) =succeeds= (see chapter x. 10 and references) =the this or this, or if both of them as one= (ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό ‘to the same,’ LXX.) =good= (plural; sowing is no doubt taken generically as a type of human labour, performed in expectation of a future harvest, and the Preacher directs us to do our appointed work in patience, and from morning till evening, _i.e._ the whole day through, sure of a good result. The morning or the evening sowing will, one or other, perhaps both, succeed; the transition to what follows is quite natural). 7 ¶ Truly the light _is_ │ Yes, sweet is the light, and sweet, and a pleasant _thing │ a good to the eyes the sight of it is_ for the eyes to behold │ the sun; the sun: │ (7.) =And sweet= (but the participial form ‘sweetened’ is not to be altogether overlooked; thus, ‘is sweetened’) =the light, and a good to the eyes to behold= (_i.e._ to have sight of) =the sun=, (for life _is_ a blessing, and this is a reply to the equivocal ‘I said in my heart’ of chapter iii. 18 and iv. 3).