And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
Ver. 30. And they that weep] viz. In the loss of wife or children: let them moderate their grief, as Abraham did in the loss of Sarah, Genesis 23:2; "He came to weep for her;" where the Hebrew hath one little letter extraordinary, Hebrew Text Note to note, that Abraham wept but a little for her; and this, not because she was old and overly worn (as the Rabbins give the reason), but because he had hope of a happy resurrection, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, and because she was his still, though dead; therefore he so often in that chapter calleth her "my dead," 1Co 7:4; 1 Corinthians 7:11; 1 Corinthians 7:13; 1 Corinthians 7:15 .
And they that rejoice] In the marrying of wives, or birth of children. The marriage day is called the day of "the rejoicing of a man's heart," Song of Solomon 3:11 : and when should men be merry rather than at the recovering of the lost rib? But he was to blame that said, he had married a wife, and therefore he could not come. And he was a wiser man that said, Uxori nubere nolo meae, (Martial.)
As if they possessed not] Mind earthly things we must, as if we minded them not: as a man may hear a tale, and have his mind elsewhere; or as a man that baits at an inn, his mind is somewhere else. A right believer (saith Mr Ward) goes through the world as a man whose mind is in a deep study; or as one that hath special haste of some weighty business. Rebus non me trado, sed commodo, saith Seneca. Be not wholly dulled or drowned in the world; look at it out of the eyes' end only, lest, as the serpent Scytale, it bewitch us with its beautiful colours, and sting us to death.