And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.
Ver. 16. The place of judgment, that wickedness was there,] i.e., That wrong reigned in the places of judicature, that justice was shamefully perverted, and public authority abused to public injury. Cato saw as much in the Roman States, and complained that private robbers were laid in cold irons, when public thieves went in gold chains, and were clothed in purple. a Another, not without cause, complains that, even among us Christians, some follow the administration of justice as a trade only, with an unquenchable and unconscionable desire of gain, which justifies the common resemblance of the courts of justice to the bush, whereto while the sheep flees for defence in ill weather, he is sure to lose part of his fleece. Such wickedness saw the wise man in the place of judgment, where he least looked for it. God himself "looked for judgment, but behold a scab." Isaiah 5:7 , marg. So the Hebrew hath it.
a A. Gell., lib. xi. cap. 16.