144501661 ecclesiastes-chapter-one

ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER O
E
WRITTE
A
D EDITED BY GLE

PEASE
I quote many authors in this study, and if some do not wish their thoughts to be
shared in this way they can let me know, and I will delete their wisdom from the
study. My email is gdpease1@gmail.com
I
TRODUCTIO

1. Paul Haopt wrote, " The Book of Ecclesiastes is unparalleled in the
whole range of Biblical Literature. Ernest Renan spoke of it as
the only charming book that was ever written by a Jew.
Heinrich Heine called it the Canticles of Skepticism, while
Franz Delitzsch thought it was entitled to the name of the
Canticles of the Fear of God. From the earliest times down
to the present age Ecclesiastes has attracted the attention of
thinkers. It was a favorite book of Frederick the Great, who
referred to it as a Mirror of Princes."
The negativity of this book causes many to totally neglect and reject it, but we nee to reallize that
both the positive and negative are an important part of life and reality that we need to pay attention
to.Your battery will not work if you connect only the positive cable, for it demands the negative as
well to function. If you are absolute positive person who will accept no place for the negative, you will
be doing a lot of walking, for your car will never start until you compromise your absolute rejection
of the negative and hook that negative cable up.
We need to be thankful for people who spot the negatives of life and refuse to be only positive. Should
the engineer who sees a crack in the structure of the bridge be optimistic about it never being a
problem, or should he report it to be inspected and repaired? Most bridge-crossers would be
thankful if he was a pessimist about it and ordered it fixed.We need people in all walks of life who are
negative about things that are risky and dangerous. They are the keys to survival in a fallen world.
2. Richard Eder (L.A. Times). "Many of you have heard the story of the many who lost his wallet at night and was searching
for
it under a street light. A passer-by stopped and asked what he was doing. “Looking for my wallet,” the
man replied, “I dropped it only a few moments ago.” Together they searched for some time, going to the
very edges of the light and then, finally, the one who was helping asked, “Where did you drop it?” to
which the man replied, “Over there” while pointing to some point outside of the reach of the street light.
“They why are you searching here?” the helper asked exasperated. “Because,” the man calmly
replied, “its dark over there and much easier to see things here in the light.”
The author of Ecclesiastes, in pointing to wisdom and meaning in life, realizes that the direction
he is pointing is not where most people are wanting to look. It is not so easily controlled. It is not where
one might expect to find it. So he chronicles for us a journey where he pursues wisdom, pursues life’s
meaning, by going down the paths that others have taken previously in their search."
3. Dr. Jerry Morrissey, "The whole book is a numerical composition, divided into

two parts 2:1-6:9 and 6: 10- 11:6, each consisting of 93 verses, flanked by a prologue
of 18 verses and an 18 verse epilogue, yielding 111 verses per part. In the strange
world of numerology the numbers, 18, 93, 111, 186, and 222, are all related to the
number 37.
4. Pastor Bob Leroe, "Ecclesiastes is perhaps the most puzzling and misunderstood
book of the Bible. It’s been called “the mystery book of the Old Testament” (Ray
Steadman). Few sermons are preached from its pages. We may wonder what it’s
doing in the Bible; it seems out of place. Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon,
who had ample opportunities to observe and experience life thoroughly. He wrote
this book after he had plunged into materialism, sensuality, even idolatry. He got
lost following his desires and saw his life evaporating into insignificance.
ow
repentant and nearing the end of his days, he writes a philosophical book for
unbelievers, exposing the secular mind/worldview. The title of the book refers to an
“assembly”, Solomon’s students. He calls himself “the Teacher” and conveys the
logical and tragic outcome of regarding life as a cosmic accident. Solomon offers his
class only two options--a life of hopelessness, or trust in God."
5. GEORGE AARO
BARTO
, Ph.D.,
"The earliest commentaries on Ecclesiastes are probably rep-resented
in the Jewish Midrashim, the beginnings of which go
back to the period when the canonicity of the book was first fully
recognized, if not to a date even earlier. These works were com-posed
for the edification of congregations, and while the literal
sense of a passage was not ignored, if that sense was at all edifying,
or would not give offense by its unorthodox character, nevertheless
the greatest liberties were taken with the text when it seemed
necessary to find edification or orthodoxy in a passage which ob-viously
contained none. The general view of these Midrashim
was that Solomon wrote Qoheleth in his old age, when weary' of
life, to "expose the emptiness and vanity of all worldly pursuits
and carnal gratifications, and to show that the happiness of man
consists in fearing God and obeying his commands."
Meantime, among Christians, the book of Ecclesiastes was
being interpreted by similar methods. The earliest Christian
commentator on Qolieleth was Gregory Thaumaturgus, who died
in 270 A.D., whose Metaphrasis in Ecdesianten Solomonis gives
an interpretative paraphrase of the book. The genuineness of
this work has been questioned, some assigning it to Gregory

azianzen, but Harnack still assigns it to Thaumaturgus. {Ge-schkhte
drr altchristlicJien IMeratur, I, 430, and Chronologie,
II, 99.) Gregory regards Solomon as a i)roi:)het, holding that his
purpose was *'t() show that all the affairs and pursuits of man
which are undertaken in human things are vain and useless, in
order to lead us to the contemplation of heavenly things." Gregory

of
yssa and Jerome followed in g<)(xl time with commentaries
on the book, and each pursued a similar strain. The allegorical
method was emi)l(n'ed in its most developed form, esi>ecially by
Jerome, who wrote his commentary to induce Basilica, a Roman
lady, to embrace the monastic life. According to him, the purpose
of the book is "to show the utter vanity of ever}* sublunary- enjoy-ment,
and hence the necessity of ])etaking one's self to an ascetic
life, devoted entirely to the service of GOD."
6. REV. AAEO
AUGUSTUS MOEGA
, M.A.,
THE book of Ecclesiastes is in the form of a philo-sopliical
Essay or Treatise, and in this respect it differs
from the other Sacred Writings. In it Solomon
demonstrates, first, that true happiness cannot be found
in any of the means or appUances of the present world,
owing to their uncertain and transitory nature; he
then proceeds to establish the immortality of the soul,
and a future judgment, by arguments based on the
confused spectacle of Wrong, Inequality, and Injustice
presented here on earth; and after delivering several
precepts, social, political, and religious, bearing on the
general welfare and happiness of mankind, he draws the con-clusion
that in the fear of God and the keeping of His command-ments,
or in other words, in a life regulated with constant
reference to a future state of existence and a final Account, true happiness consists..
He commences by asserting the vanity of all earthly things, viewed in themselves,
and illustrates their monotony and endless recurrence by examples drawn from natural
phenomena. For instance, the generations of man follow each other in constant succes-sion;
they ply the same round of incessant toil, without the power of effecting any
substantial change ; they cannot increase or diminish the bulk of the earth, although
they may vary the surface of it, and thus they depart without having produced anything
that could strictly be called new. The course of the elements is equally without
novelty ; the winds and waters fulfil their appointed revolutions, and recommence them
again and again; and in like manner human events are constantly being reproduced;
so that it may be truly affirmed that man cannot emerge from his present sphere so as
to produce any new development of it.
7. REV. GEORGE GRA
VILLE BRADLEY, D.D.
DEAN OF WESTMINISTER
In the first place, the study of the Book is beset with
' special difficulties, other and in some respects far greater
difficulties than those which cross the path, and tax the judg-ment,
of the reader of the Book of Job. Whatever may be
the occasional obscurities of portions of that book, its chief

current of thought runs, in the main, clear and transparent.
In Ecclesiastes the case is quite different. The book is in
many respects — not in one but in many — an enigma. It is
not only that some of the most important verses — sometimes
just those on which we would lay our hands as containing at
last the surest indications of its true aim, and of its highest
and most momentous teaching — are written in a language
which is, to us, so obscure that we dare not rely absolutely
on the meaning which we would fain attach to them. We
feel like those who, toiling up some Alpine height, either see
the pathway suddenly disappear, or must rest their feet on
a support that they feel may give way suddenly beneath
tbem. This is a difficulty which it shares in some, though
in a far less, degree, with some of the most striking portions
of the Book of Job. But quite apart from these, and from
other difficulties, in which I yet hope to interest you, two
problems meet us at its very threshold, which, in treating the
Book of Job, we can in one case easily answer, in the other
cheerfully put aside. In the first place, it is not merely the
obscurity of this or that verse which we find baffle us in
reading Ecclesiastes ; but when we ask the question which
seems the first and most important of all questions, viz. what
is the main design and purpose of the book, we are at once
bewildered by the multiplicity of answers. To some it has
presented itself as merely the sad outpouring of the deep
melancholy of a world-weary monarch, sated with all that
life can offer.
Others have found in it * a penitential dirge ;
the sad confession and recantation of a repentant Solomon,
reconciled at last to the God whom he had forgotten.
There are not a few who will tell you something quite
different. They will confidently assure you that its main
object was to prepare the way for Christ, by expressly teach-ing
the doctrine of a future life, and of a judgment beyond
the grave. A Christian Father, St. Jerome, was followed by
an army of commentators, who read in it a discourse on
the blessedness of an ascetic, and even of a monastic, life.
Others, on the other hand, will give you a very different
answer; they will tell you not merely that it contains
a protest against an enervating asceticism, but that it
breathes throughout the spirit of the merest scepticism, or of
utter indifferentism, or of simple epicureanism ; or that its
real undertone is that of a cynical materialism, or of a gloomy
fatalism, or of a still darker pessimism ; they will absolutely
deny its having any claim to rank as a religious book at all,
still less to take its place in the most sacred of all books.

Again, while some tell us that it is a genuin - record of the
age of Solomon, others see in it a philosophical treatise of
centuries later, saturated with Greek thought. To some it is
a political pamphlet; a satire, almost a lampoon, on ^me
Eastern government ; to others a handbook for courtiers ;
with some it ranks as a systematic treatise ; with others as
a drama, or dialogue, in which two or more voices answer
and refute each other ; to others it seems a collection, put
together almost at random, of various sayings ; to others
a strange soliloquy, full of cross currents and conflicting
eddies, now steeped in sadness, now commending enjoy-ment,
now pointing to the reign of law, now asserting the
supremacy of mere chance, preaching now a kosmos, now
' a chaos."
Those dreary
sentiments, those disjointed proverbs, those hollow wraiths
of unavailing consolation, those wearisome repetitions, those
unintelligible utterances, those terrible pictures of human
destinies, those snatches of startling and, as it might seem,
wholly irreligious teaching, those * hard sayings,' will gather
a fresh interest as we try to track them through their many
windings to their true sense and actual teaching. We shall see
in them, if we do so faithfully, no body of Christian doctrine
wrapped up in an unchristian form, but that which is at all
times one of the most moving of all spectacles — the human
spirit led to face in hours of gloom its relations towards the
world and towards its God — struggling with the same problems
that vex our souls, and feeling its way through a night of
darkness to some measure at least of light and knowledge.
We shall feel that we are listening to one of those of whom
our Saviour said that * they desired to see the things which
we see, and did not see them.'"
8. REV. CHARLES BRIDGES, M.A.,
The Author confesses that he has felt his measure of
difficulty as to some of the statements of this Book.
But the result of his inquiry into its Divine credentials
has been solidly satisfactory. The conclusion there-fore
was natural, that a Book that ' had God for its
Author,' must have ' truth, without any mixture of er-ror,
for its matter.'^ Some of its maxims have indeed
been too hastily supposed to countenance Epicurean
indulgence.
ay — even Voltaire and his Monarch

disciple have dared to claim detached passages as fa-vouring
their sceptical philosophy. But ' all of them'
— as Mr. Scott observes — ' admit of a sound and use-ful
interpretation, when accurately investigated, and
when the general scope of the book is attended to.'^
If any difficulties still remain, as Lord Bacon remarks
— ' If they teach us nothing else, they will at least
teach us our own blindness.' Thus Pascal profoundly
remarks on the Scriptures — ' There is enough bright-ness
to illuminate the elect, and enough obscurity to
humble them. " All things work together for good "
to the elect ; even the obscurities of Scripture, which
these honour and reverence on account of that Divine
clearness and beauty, which they understand.' There
is, however, a wide difference between what appears
upon the surface, and what a thoughtful mind in a
prayerful spirit will open from the inner Scripture. It
is most important to study the Bible in the spirit of
the Bible — to exercise a critical habit in a spiritual
atmosphere. Prayer, faith, humility, diligence, will
bring rest and satisfaction to minds exercised in the
school of God. As an able preacher remarks — ' We
expect to find some difficulties in a revelation from a
Being like God to such a creature as man. We even
rejoice in these difficulties. They are the occasion of
our growth in grace. They exercise our humility.
They are like the leaves and flowers, of which the
crown of faith is woven. They remind us of our own
weakness and ignorance, and of Christ's power and
wisdom. They send us to Him and to the Gospel.'
Our last testimony on this anxious point we draw
from the highest school of instruction— the death-bed.
' We must acknowledge' — said the late Adolph Monod
— ' that in the beginning of the study of Scripture,
there are many difficulties, and much obscurity. Some
labour is necessary to dissipate them ; and the mind of
man is naturally slow and idle ; and he easily loses
courage, and is satisfied with reading over and over
again, without penetrating further than the surface ;
and he learns nothing new ; and the constant perusal
of the same thing causeth weariness, as if the word of
God was not interesting ; as if we could not find some
new instruction in it ; as if it were not inexhaustible
as God Himself. Let us ever' — ^he adds — ' beware of
thinking these difficulties insurmountable. "We must
give ourselves trouble. For here, as in every part of

the Christian life, God will have us to be labourers
with Himself ; and the knowledge of the Bible, and a
relish for the Bible, are the fruit and recompence of this
humble, sincere, and persevering study.'
9. MARK COPELA
D, "MESSAGE...
1. The futility of life "under the sun" - cf. 1:2,14
a. A key word is "vanity" (occurs 35 times in 29 verses),
which means "futility, uselessness, nothingness"
b. A key phrase is "under the sun" (occurs 29 times in 27
verses), which suggests "from an earthly point of view"
-- The book illustrates the vanity of life when looked at
solely from an earthly perspective
2. The importance of serving God throughout life - cf. 11:9-12:1,
13-14
a. The meaning of life is not found in experiencing the things
of this world
b. The meaning of life is found in serving the Creator of this
world!
10. RAY STEDMA
, "The book of Ecclesiastes, or "the Preacher," is unique in
scripture. There is no other book like it, because it is the only book in the Bible that
reflects a human, rather than a divine, point of view. This book is filled with error.
And yet it is wholly inspired. This may confuse some people, because many feel that
inspiration is a guarantee of truth. This is not necessarily so. Inspiration merely
guarantees accuracy from a particular point of view; if it is God's point of view it is
true; if it is man's point of view it may be true, and it may not. If it is the Devil's
point of view it may or may not be true, as well, but the Devil's ultimate end, of
course, is evil. Inspiration guarantees an accurate reflection of these various points
of view.
Therefore the Bible does have much error in it. Whenever false views of men are
quoted or set forth, the Bible is speaking error. Whenever Satan speaks, most of his
statements are in error, and even the truth that he uses is twisted and distorted, and
therefore is erroneous.
So it is quite possible to "prove" all kinds of utterly false things by quoting the
Bible. because in that sense the Bible is filled with error. But the Bible always points
out the error which it presents and makes it clear that it is error, as in the case with
this book. Because of its remarkable character Ecclesiastes is the most misused book
of the Bible. This is the favorite book of atheists and agnostics. And many cults love
to quote this book's erroneous viewpoints and give the impression that these are
scriptural, divine words of God concerning life.

But right away in its introduction this book is very careful to point out that what it
records is not divine truth. It presents only the human view of life. You'll find that
over and over, throughout the whole course of Ecclesiastes, one phrase is repeated
again and again: "under the sun," "under the sun." Everything is evaluated
according to appearances alone -- this is man's point of view of reality and is utterly
exclusive of divine revelation. As such, Ecclesiastes very accurately
summarizes what man thinks.
11. ROBERT BUCHA
A
, D.D., "As regards the period and circumstances in the
life of Solo-mon
in which this book was written, it contains within itself
internal evidence of the fact that it was written near the
close of its inspired author's career, and after divine grace had
raised him up from his grievous fall, and restored him once
more to the fear, the love, and the service of God. In his
earlier years, as is well known, he was eminent for his piety.
Even from his birth it is testified that " the Lord loved him,"
in token of which He sent the prophet
athan to give him the
significant name of Jedidiah — that is, " Beloved of the Lord."
When, still young and tender, he succeeded, by divine aj^point-ment,
to the throne of the kingdom, we read of him that " He
loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father"
(1 Kings iii. 3). Scarcely had he entered on his regal office
when, along with a multitude of his people, he " went to the
high place that was at Gibeon," the tabernacle of the congrega-tion
of God ; and after offering burnt -offerings unto the Lord, he
earnestly besought Him, sajdng — "
ow, Lord God, let thy
promise unto David my father be established, for thou hast
made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in
multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may
go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this
thy people that is so great?" (2 Chron. i. 9, 10). The Lord
had been pleased in a vision to invite him to ask whatever
he would desire to have ; and this was the petition of the
youthful king — '• I am but a little child," said he, in . a sjjirit
of beautiful humility : " I know not how to go out or come in.
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast
chosen, a great people tliat cannot be numbered nor counted
for multitude. Give, therefore, thy servant an understanding
heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and
bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people 1" It
was in answer to this truly touching and memorable request
that "God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked
riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given

thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was
none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise
like unto thee. And I liave also given thee that which thou
hast not asked, both riches and honour: so that there shall
not be any of the kings like unto thee all thy days" (1 Kings
iii. 7-14).
And now a dark and mournful period of his history begins.

ot that his capital is less brilliant, or his court less crowded,
or his royal estate less glitteriug and gorgeous than before. In
all these respects he shines with only increasing splendour; but
the moral glory of the man and of his reign are passing away.
His most honoured guests and associates are not now the wise
and good, the virtuous and holy, but those who are lovers oi
pleasure more than lovers of God. Strange women and loose-
' living men are now his companions and friends, and they have
corrupted his heart, and led him away from the God of his
fathers. That temple which he had reared with so much care,
and dedicated with so much solemnity to the service of the one
Jehovah, is now forsaken for the altars of idolatry — for Ash-toreth,
the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcora, the abomina-tion
of the Ammonites; for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab,
and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed !
Ichabod ! Ichabod ! — for the glory is departed !
In this new career on which the misguided king has entered,
it is evident from many unequivocal tokens that he is ill at
ease. His former serenity no longer sits upon his brow. Often
it is throbbing with the burning fever of intemperance, and
oftener still with the anguish of remorse. In the vain hope of
obtaining relief from this internal disquietude, his mind is ever
on the rack, in quest of new occupations or new pleasures.
ow
he tears himself away from those base sensual indulgences to
which he has given way, and shuts himself up in his chamber
among his neglected books. Anon, growing weary of this soli-tude
and of these exhausting studies, he plunges anew into all
those degrading excesses which for the time he had laid aside,
until the very satiety and disgust which they speedily produce,
drive him once more away to seek his lost peace of mind in some
more hopeful pursuit. Sick of his luxurious palace, and of its
maddening pleasures, he hurries forth from the city to breathe
the freshness and to enjoy the repose of nature, and his old love
of nature's works returns. He sits him down beneath the cool
shade of its majestic trees, and regales him with the odours of
its fragrant flowers, and persuades himself that in this Elysium

his happiness will return. He will enlarge and beautify his
gardens, and store them with all that is rarest and fairest in the
vegetable kingdom, and in this innocent and delightful employ-ment,
health shall come back to his languid frame, and cheerful-ness
to his care-worn and desolate heart. In a word, he tries
every means of expelling the worm that is gnawing at his con-science
but one ; and he tries in vain. And were it not that
this book of Ecclesiastes has been handed down to us among
the Scriptures of Truth, we might have seemed to be shut up to
the mournful conclusion that he had gone to the grave in a state
of hopeless and final estrangement from God. But this book is
the cheering and decisive evidence that before his sun went
down, the clouds which for a season covered it had rolled away,
and tliat its setting was bright with the radiance of life and im-mortality.
TJiere can hardly be a doubt in the mind of any
one who carefully examines the question, and who places this
book side by side with that record of Solomon's personal history
which the first book of Kings and the second book of Chro-nicles
contain — that this book is the complement, so to speak,
of the historical narrative — that the one comes in where the
other ends — and that without it we should have lost the grandest
lessons which the life of Solomon was designed to teach.
If the previous sketch of its inspired author's history has at
all served its inteiided purpose, it can hardly have failed to
throw much light on the design with which the book of Eccle-siastes
was written. Read in the light of its connection with
his preceding life, its design becomes clear as day. Ancient
heathen moralists were wont to speculate much on what they
called the summum honum, or chief good of man. In their able,
and in many respects instructive and remarkable treatises, they
left the grand question still unresolved. But, guided by the
Spirit of God, and taught by his own terrible experience, the
king of Israel has expounded this mystery. He has taught us
infallibly what is " that good for the sons of men which they
should do under the heaven all the days of their life" (Eccles.
»/4i. 3). The summum honum, the chief good, is " to fear God and
to keep his commandments." The design of the book of Ecclesi-astes
is to illustrate and enforce this all-important truth ; and
never, perhaps, did any son of Adam occupy such a vantage-ground
for performing this great work as the son of David. Do the
wise men of this world object to the conclusion here pronounced,
that only one who could grapple with the deep things of science
and philosophy is competent to instruct them on such a theme
In respect even of natural knowledge and mental endowments,

Solomon was the wisest of men's sons. Do the men of culti-vated
taste and intellectual refinement contend that only those
who are capable of ai:»preciatiug the beauties of nature and the
graces of art, and the productions of literary genius, are entitled
to say whether happiness may not be found in earthly and
created things 1 In every one of these attainments Solomon
was the first man of his age : a poet, a naturalist, an assiduous
cultivator of the fine arts, eminent for every accomplisliment in
which the scholar or the man of taste can excel. Or, once
more, do the men of the world — the gay, joyous, pleasure-loving,
boon companions who laugh care away — or those whose wealth,
and rank, and power, place all sorts of enjoyment within their
reach, and at their command — do they think themselves entitled
to hold that no one who is a stranger to their favoured circle
can tell what elements of happiness it includes, and how much
it can do to furnish man with all that his heart can desire ? Of
that brilliant circle Solomon was the very centre and star. If
wit, or wine, or mirthful company, or song, or sensual indulgence,
could give man the contentment and happiness for which his
nature longs, Solomon was the man of all others that must have
had the fullest share of all those blessings. He is, therefore, by
their own confession, the very master at whose feet they ought
to sit, in order that they may listen to his experience, and learn
his decision. The Lord, in His mysterious providence, per-mitted
His own Jedidiah to forsake Him for a season, and to go
after other gods, that in His own time and way He might
bring the Wanderer back, to tell the men of all after-times, and
to tell it as one who had authority to speak, what he had found.
And this, at his return, is the sum of that truth which, in this
blessed book, he has given by inspiration to the world — that
without God, and away from God, all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
11. CHRISTIA
D. GI
SBURG.,
"1475-1530. — So numerous and conflicting were the opinions
about this book in the fifteenth century, that E,. Isaac Aramah,
who was desirous of making himself master of the subject, was
perfectly astonished to find that both the ancient and more
modern commentators were so greatly divided. Some forcing
upon it a strange and far-fetched literal sense ; others., a philoso-phical
meaning .J too mysterious and profound to be understood ;
and others., again., interpreting it according to the Midrash., find
in it laws and statutes full of piety. The point in which all of
them have erred alike is., that they alter the sense of the booh into
palatable sentiment ; and yet not one of tliem has put such sense
into it as to be able to boast., with reason.^ that they have drawn
from this rock ivholesome food., or elicited sweetness from this flint

{i.e.., from this difficult book). Rejecting, therefore, all these
different views, R. Aramah came to the conclusion, that every
statement in this book is perfectly ijlain and consistent with ortho-doxy.,
that it contains the sid}limest of all contemplations., and
teaches the highest order of heavenly wisdom. Rabbi A. was
therefore amazed how it could ever enter into the minds of com-mentators
to think that the sages, of blessed memory, wanted to
put such a book among the apocrypha, and that the only reason
why they left it in the canon was, that the first and last ivords of
it were consistent with the law.
"
ow, it was not because thinking men found it difficult to
discover the good sense of it that the sages wanted to hide this
book, but for fear of the multitude, who waste the riches of the
law. But as it is the habit of these ignorant people to look
merely at the beginning and the end of a book, and these por-tions
unmistakeably contain the fear of God, therefore the wise
men at last determined not to hide it from these people."
1548. — As grammatical exegesis was comparatively little
pursued in the sixteenth centmy, the difficulties of Coheleth
occasioned no trouble, and the book was regarded by its com-mentators
as surpassing all other books of Scripture in heavenly
lessons. Thus Elisha Galicho, or Galiko, who flourished in the
second half of the sixteenth century,' tells us, in the preface to
his commentary on Coheleth —
Since all the pursuits of this world and its lusts cling to the creature in
consequence of his earthliness and desire, and the soul of man covets these
things, and is in danger of being inextricably ensnared by them, many
lessons are given in the Law, Prophets, and Hagiographa, to point out the
way to the tree of life. Hence both the earlier and latter sages carefully
composed encouragement and admonitions, parables and proverbs, to teach
man wisdom by moral sayings, the fear of God, and the fear of sin, making
hedges and fences for the benefit of the multitude. And Solomon excelled
all in his moral Proverbs, which are as numerous as the advantages which
accrue to man when he inclines his ears to them.
ow, to surpass even
these, he wrote Coheleth, the whole of which, from beginning to end,
is perpetually turning round the same point, and that is, to expose the
vanity of all eartbly pursuits, and to teach man to know that his happiness
is no happiness at all, and that his wishes and desires are vain and delusive,
and will not bear examination ; that the great object of life in this world is
to attain to the perfection of the soul, and its immortality ; to acquire that
light which will shine in the light of the countenance of the Eternal King
in the world to come. This is the design of this holy book, which is a guide
wliereunto all must look.

1770. — A new era now commenced in Biblical exegesis, and
in Hebrew literature generally. The immortal Mendelssobn
was now directing the mispent Jewish intellect and zeal to the
proper study of the Word of God, in accordance with the literal
and grammatical sense. His first effort to this effect was the
publication of a Hebrew commentary on Coheleth, which
appeared, according to the Jewish chronology, in 5530, i. e.,
1770 of the Christian era.^
Mendelssohn, too, complains that " nearly all the commen-tators
who have preceded me have almost entirely failed in doing
justice to their task of interpretation .... I have not
found in one of them an interpretation adequate to the correct
explanation of the connection of the verses of the book ; but,
according to their method, nearly every verse is spoken sepa-rately
and unconnectedly ; and this would not be right in a
private and insignificant author, and much less in a wise king "
(p. 73). As to the design of the book, Mendelssohn thinks tJiat
Solomon wrote it to propound the doctrine of the immortality of the
soulj and the necessity of leading a cheerful and contented life; and
interspersed these cardinal points with lessons of minor importance^
such as worship^ politics^ domestic economy^ c&c.
1831. — In 1831 Moses Heinemann published a translation of
Coheleth, with brief but comprehensive notes. He too thinks
that this book contains a collection of diverse experience^ ohserva-tions^
opinions^ truths,, and lessons of ivisdom, which Solomon
collected together (hence the name /l/Hp, collector or compiler),, to
shew that everlasting life is the sole end of our existence here,, and
that everything earthly and sensual is vain,, foolish,, and transi-tory.^
This view of regarding the book as a collection of differ-ent
opinions, &c., has its origin in an anxiety to remove from
Solomon every obnoxious sentiment.
In the early part of the Christian era Coheleth seems not to
have been in great favour with the Fathers of the Church,
judging from the general silence which prevails about it m the
first" second, and a part of the third centuries. This is rather
ominous, as we should have expected that, from its shewing the
emptiness of all earthly things, this book would be welcomed by
the suffering followers of Christ, who had to lose all for their
Master's sake, and to take up their cross and follow Him.
Whether this silence is owing to the fact that Coheleth is
nowhere quoted in the
ew Testament, or to the doubts which
existed in the minds of some respecting its canonicity, or to

some other cause, it is not easy to divine.
210-270. — However, in the first half of the third century,
the wonder-working Gregory (Thaumaturgus), who was born at

eocajsareia, in Cappadocia, at the beginning of the third century,
and died in 270, wrote a short metaphrase of Coheleth.' Con-sidering
that he was the pupil and convert of Origen, the father of
allegorical interpretation in the Greek Church, we are astonished
to find such a comparatively simple paraphrase. According to
Thaumaturgus, the design of the Preacher is to shew that all the
affairs and pursuits of man which are undertaken in human things
are vain and useless, in order to lead us to the contemplation of
heavenly things.
12. BY MI
OS DEVI
E, M.A. ,
"There are two books which stand at opposite extremes
in the Old Testament : The Song of Songs and Ecclesi-astes.
The old Rabbis used to shake their heads at the
Song of Songs. It was too human and happy, too
exuberant with the joy of life to suit their sober theology.
They only allowed that love story in the Bible on one
condition. AU human passion must be ignored. It
must be spiritualised as a mystic parable of the love
of God, just as later on it became Christianised as an'
allegory of the love of Christ for the Church. The Book
of Ecclesiastes was the other extreme. It was equally
objectionable, because it reflected the heart of man as
a chaos of gloom, and told the truth without gloss or
apology. So Ecclesiastes has T)een baptized both as an
orthodox Jew and a devout Christian. He was neither.
He was a man with a melancholy bias recording his
experience. On a broad view of inspiration we see that
there is room in the Bible for all phases of Ufe. The
Bible is a Hving book, because it is so true to Ufe. I am
not surprised to find in it both a song of songs and a
sigh of sighs. Men cry to God in many languages, and
God hears and understands.
There is an unmistakable note of joy in all the " still
sad music " of this book. " There is nothing better for
a man than that he should eat and drink and make his
soul enjoy good in his labour. It is the gift of God." ^
" Every man also to whom God hath given riches and
wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and
to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour ; this is
the gift of God." ^ " God makes him to'sing in the joy

of his heart." ^ " Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for akeady
God has accepted thy works . . . enjoy life with the
wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy
vanity." ^ « Rejoice, yomig man, in thy youth, and
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth." *
Ecclesiastes saw a silver lining to the cloud, because
amidst all the anomalies of life he clung to the beUef in
a moral government of the world."
Much
that is spoken in the earlier portion of the book is spoken
in order to be confuted, and its insufliciency, its ex-aggerations,
its one-sidedness, and its half-truths are
manifest in the light of the ultimate conclusion. Through
all these perplexities he goes on * sounding his dim and
perilous way,' with pitfalls on this side of him and bogs
on that, till he comes out at last upon the open way,
with firm ground under foot and a cl^ar sky overhead." ^
This is a tale of Pilgrim's Progress.
" Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter :
Fear God and keep His commandments : for this is
the whole (duty) of man." Such is the triumph of
Ecclesiastes. " To probe to the bottom the misery of
the world, to find nothing but chaos and unsolved
enigmas, to follow the logic of thought wherever it leads,
and yet suddenly to stop short of the obvious conclusion
that there is no God and no moral government of the
world at all, but instead, to fall back on the simple,
plain duties of rehgion," ^ this is the victory which has in-stalled
Ecclesiastes to a niche in our admiration and love.
In many a subtle question versed
He touch'd a jarring lyre at first
But ever strove to make it true :
Perplext in faith, but pure in deeds.
At last, he beat his music out.
And it harmonised with the strains of the sweet Psalmist
of Israel.
Ecclesiastes is the prodigal son of the Old Testament.
With a bold adventurous spirit he claimed the portion of
hfe which belonged to him. Leaving the shelter of the
ancestral roof, he journeyed into a " far country " —
read many books, sat at the feet of many masters, saw
hfe and death. He too, perhaps, may have " wasted

his substance with riotous living." Then came the day
of disenchantment. " When he had spent all, there
arose a mighty famine in the land, and he began to be
in want." He had come to the end of his intellectual
resources. ' Life had not fulfilled its promise. He saw
Perpetual emptiness ! unceasing change !

o code,

o master spirit, no determined road.^
The restlessness, the hunger of the heart remained.
When he came to himself the vision of early days awak-ened
his soul. He recalled* the melodies of home : " The
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." ^ And he arose,
and came to his father. The weary traveller found rest
under the old roof.
13. DAVID RUSSELL SCOTT, M.A.
"But perhaps the question may be asked why this
voice of despondency, disappointment and defeat, of
misery and scepticism, this voice of the decadent is
allowed to utter itself in Holy Writ. As a matter of
fact Koheleth did not get within the bounds of Scripture
without difficulty. Jewish scholars debated his claim
to a place in the Sacred College of Holy Writers. But
they did elect him. And, whatever may have been
the reasons for their decision, we cannot grudge him
the honour nor complain that " in the great record of
the spiritual history of the chosen and typical race, a
place has been kept for the sigh of defeated hopes, for
the gloom of the soul vanquished by the sense of the
anomalies and mysteries of human life." True ; no
Christian can subscribe to his faith, which is to him
both incomplete and false ; but may not the presence
of a faith, incomplete and even false, in the Scriptures
be interpreted as a sign and symbol, as a kind of parable,
that our imperfect faiths and mistaken beliefs are for-given
? A sceptical creed did not keep Koheleth out
of the Sacred Canon ; an imperfect faith will not keep
a man out of the Kingdom. God pardons false and
mistaken thinking as well as what we call our sins."
14. “The purpose of the book seems to be to show that self-gratification and successful
worldliness do not bring
satisfaction to the human heart. Life without a knowledge of and fellowship with God

is empty and meaningless.
Man has a destiny which calls for cooperation with God in some worthy enterprise,
and in this he finds abiding
peace of soul...” (H.I. Hester, The Heart Of Hebrew History, p.311).
15. “The basic theme of Qoheleth is the ultimate futility of a life based upon earthly
ambitions and desires. Any
world view which does not rise above the horizon of man himself is doomed to
meaninglessness and frustration.
To view personal happiness or enjoyment as life’s greatest good is sheer folly in view of
the transcendent value of God Himself as over against His created universe. Happiness
can
never be achieved by pursuing after it, since such a pursuit involves
the absurdity of self-deification... Transient mortals must realize that
they are mere creatures, and that they derive importance only from
their relationship to the almighty Creator... In other words Ecclesiastes
is really intended to be a tract for the conversion of the self-sufficient
individual; it compels him to discard his comfortable, self-flattering
illusions and face honestly the instability of all those materialistic props
on which he attempts to base his security...Only as one finds a new
meaning for life in surrendering to the sovereignty of God and faithful
obedience to His will in moral conduct can one find a valid principle
and goal for responsible human living.” (Zondervan Pictorial
Encyclopedia Of The Bible, Vol. 2, pp. 187-188).
16. A. H. Mc
EILE, B.D. "A writer in the Spectator has aptly styled the book of
Koheleth "A Hebrew Journal intime" The fascination of it
arises from the fact that it advances no theories; it is not a
thesis or a study, it is not a sermon or a collection of moral
aphorisms. It is the outpouring of the mind of a rich Jew, who
has seen much of the sad side of life, and who is intensely in
earnest. But while he reveals his mind and character, he tells
little of his personal circumstances . He states that he was
wealthy, and able to provide for himself every possible luxury
(ii. 4-10). He seems to have lived in or near Jerusalem, for
he clearly implies that he was an eyewitness of facts which
occurred at the "holy place" (viii. 10). He must have been
an old man at the time of writing; not only because his
language seems to have lost the buoyancy of youth (for that
is a point on which different students of his book might think,
and have thought, differently), but because his feverish attempts
(i. 12 -ii. 11) to find the summum bonum of life in pleasure,
and in wisdom, cannot have been abandoned in a few years,
while they were now far enough in the past to be looked at as
by-gone memories. He had had experience not only of youth

but also of manhood s prime, (xi. 10). And apparently
he had lived long enough to find himself alone in the world,
without son or brother (iv. 8 : the following words seem to
shew that he is referring to himself). Lastly, he had had
private sorrows and disappointments. Here and there " one
of a thousand" he might find "a man," but he had never
found a woman who was worthy of her name ; which probably
means (to translate his bitter generalisation into facts) that his
life had been saddened by a woman, who had been "more
bitter than death," whose heart had been "snares and nets,
and her hands fetters" (vii. 26-28).
17. Charles R. Swindoll
Synopsis of Ecclesiastes
Who wrote it? Since the author didn’t give his name, but referred to himself only as
“the teacher” or “preacher” (Hebrew: Qoheleth, Greek: ekklesiastes), we cannot be
certain. However, most of the evidence suggests that King Solomon was the author.
We can conclude this because the writer identified himself as a son of David and
king over Israel in Jerusalem (Ecclesiastes 1:1, 12). He also said he was the wisest
person to rule Jerusalem (1:16), built extensive projects (2:4-6), and had great
wealth (2:7-8).
What is it? Ecclesiastes is probably best understood as a “journal” of Solomon’s
reflections on meaning and purpose from the world’s limited perspective. It is his
presentation of evidence and conclusions based on observations and experiences for
those who have neither the time nor the resources to take the journey themselves.
Where was it written? Solomon said repeatedly that he was king over Jerusalem in
Israel (1:1, 12), and this book was probably written there.
When was it written? Ecclesiastes was probably written about 925 BC, toward the
end of Solomon’s life. As an old man, Solomon wisely reflected on his journey
through life, including his drift away from and back to God.
Why was it written? While affirming a high view of God’s sovereignty and
humanity’s utter dependence on Him (Ecclesiastes 3:4), Ecclesiastes was written to
show that life apart from God is empty and meaningless. Verse 2:11 says, “Thus I
considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had
exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after the wind and there was no
profit under the sun.” Yet Solomon ended by saying, “The conclusion, when all has
been heard, is: fear God and keep his commandments” (12:13). While life apart
from God is frustrating, life with God and enjoying His gifts with thanksgiving can
be abundant, regardless of our daily circumstances.

19. F. CRAWFORD BURKITT.
This author has put the whole chapter in the form of poetry.
Bubble of bubbles 1 All things are a Bubble !
What is the use of all Man's toil and trouble ?
Year after year the Crop comes up and dies^
The Earth remains/ Mankind is only Stubble*
The rising Sun will set and rise once more;
The Wind goes roving round from Shore to
Shore,
From
orth to South it goes, and round and
round/
And back again to where it was before*
All rivers run into the Sea we know.
And yet the Sea doth never overflow;
Back to the place from whence their Waters
came
By unknown Channels must the Rivers go*
The weary Round continues as begun,
The Eye sees naught effective to be done.

or does the Ear hear aught to satisfy —
There's nothing, nothing,
ew under the Sun*
Something (they tell us) really
ew at last !
Why, surely, it was known in Ages past;
The Memory has faded, that is all.
And all our Lore will vanish just as fast.
(EccL i 12-11 26)
I in Jerusalem was Israel's King;
I set my Mind to study everything
Under the Heavens, how God hath contrived
That grievous Care men to their work should

bring*
I saw what was accomplished everywhere,
And all was Bubble and a meal of Air;
That which comes short cannot be made enough,
And what grows crooked Man can not make fair
I told myself. More Wisdom I have gained
Than all that in Jerusalem have reigned;
Wisdom and Folly both proved empty Air,
The more I knew, the more my Mind was pained,
I said, Then Til put Pleasure to the Test,
And this was just a Bubble like the rest;
Laughter seemed foolish, pointless was my Play,
Even in my Cups I kept in mind my Quest.
For all my Gaiety was but a Phase,
Sought for Experience, to learn the ways
By which men seek to get themselves some
Good
While they fulfil the
umber of their Days*
So I went on and built, and planted too.
Gardens of beauty, bright with every Hue,
Watered unfailingly and bowered with Trees —
The Paradise of Eden made anew.
I got me Slaves and Slavegirls, stores of Gold,
With Flocks and Herds above what can be told,
Till I became more splendid and more rich
Than any King before me was of old.
From nothing that I wanted I refrained,
And all the while my Wisdom still remained,
And I got Pleasure in my Work and Toil —
And that was just the Harvest that I gained.
The work itself that was so well begun
Was but a Spider's Web that I had spun,

aught but a Bubble and a meal of Air:

There's nothing to be Gained under the Sun.
I looked at what my Wisdom had prepared.
In which some Folly too had partly shared.
And when I thought upon my Heirs to be
I asked. Is Folly then with Wisdom paired ?
I saw that Wisdom is the better state
As Light is better than the Dark, its Mate;
The Wise Man's Eyes are in his Head, the
Fool
Walks in the Dark and recks not of his Fate.
But there's one Law no Wisdom can defy,
Though I be wise, I like the Fool must die;
What Gain will then to me my Wisdom bring ?
** This also is a Bubble ** was my Cry*
For Fools forget the wise Man who has died —
What am I saying ? Can it be denied
A time will come when All will be forgot.
The Fool and Wise together, side by side ?
And so I hated Life; it seemed a Curse,
All things under the Sun were so perverse.
All was a Bubble and a meal of Air,
And all my Wisdom had but made it worse.
14 ECCLESIASTES
All I had done and all I had to do
I hated leaving to
o one knows Who.
One coming after me perhaps as Wise,
Perhaps a Fool — that was a Bubble, too !
For if a Man with wisdom toil for long.

And then his Work be fated to belong
To some one else who has not toiled, why this
Is one more Bubble, nay, a grievous Wrong !
For what has such a one his Profit in?
A weary Struggle all his Days have been.
Even in the
ight liis Mind had little Rest,
And what is his Reward ? A Bubble thin !
Surely the Worker should enjoy his Fill;
It is not so: hath God, then* managed ill ?
For who can think the ancient Adage true
That '' God gives whom He chooses Craft and
Skill,
But to the Sinner He gives Care and Zest
To toil and work to feather his own
est
For God to give to whom He chooses ? —
ay,
This is a thinner Bubble than the rest.
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,
.son of David, king in Jerusalem:
1. GLE

PEASE, "What is the point of so much pessimism and negativity in the
Bible? We need to realize that negative thinking does have some positive value. It
makes you realize that the values we often treasure to give meaning to our lives are
really not adequate at all in the ultimate scheme of things. People spend their lives
pursuing dreams and things only to learn in the end that they do not give ultimate

meaning. They all pass away, and if you do not have something greater than all of
your earthly dreams and possession, you have nothing. It is all vanity without some
ultimate value, and that is the point of all the pessimism of Solomon. He had it all as
far as the world was concerned, but he and all he had is long gone. Had he no
relationship to God, it would have all been of no value at all. He is telling us that to
have it all is not enough to give life meaning and ultimate happiness. We need the
spiritual and eternal values that last or it is all dust in the wind.
Meaninglessness is a major malady of the modern man's mind. The magnitude of
this meaningless mania is monumental. This is the cause for all of the meaningless
drinking to excess, and all of the drug abuse, and all of the folly of sexual abuse, and
all of the crazy things peope will do to try and force happiness into their lives.
Masses of young healthy people kill themselves evey year because they cannot find
anything that give their lives meaning. A study of one hundred Harvard University
alumni revealed that after twenty years they had achieved goals of great success and
wealth, but the majority confessed in being caught in a feeling of futility in spite of it
all. Success is not the same thing as meaning. Only meaning gives people true
success and happiness, and without the ultimate and the spiritual there can be no
meaning that never ends. All ends without that which never ends, and so we need
the spiritual and eternal to really have meaning in our lives. The rich young ruler
had it all, but he knew he needed more than things and success, and so he came
asking Jesus, "What must I do to be saved." He did not like the answer and went
back to his meaningless life, and so it is with those who refuse the meaning of the
eternal that God has provided in His Son.
Solomon was one of the few men in history who could fulfill all the fantasies of life
that he records. It is easy for the poor and average person to say it is no big deal to
have it all in terms of wealth, power and glory. They lack credibility, but Solomon
actuall had it all, and for him to say it just does not cut it as the ultimate goal of life,
is to have complete credibility. He is the perfect example of one who can say that all
men dream of having is vanity, for he actuall had it all. He experienced the reality of
the negativity he writes about. Most people still dream that getting more and more
of things, power and honor will satisfy their being forever, but that is only because
they have never reached that goal yet, and so it is always appealing. Solomon had
reached the ultimate in human achievement, and he knew is was not the answer.
Warning signs are negative, for they are telling you what not to do, but their
purpose is positive, for they are designed to protect you from injury or even death.
Solomon is so negative and pessimistic as a warning to all people not to pursue
worldly goals as the chief end of their lives, for to do so is not wise, but the worst
folly of all. Don't focus on anthing under the sun as your ultimate goal, but look
beyond the sun, and set your affections on things above where God dwells. Knowing
what is not the way to go saves a lot to time and effort, and Solomon tells us in this
book a good many ways not to go to be ultimately wise and successful in living a life
pleasing to God. He traveled all the wrong roads himself, and he found them to be

dead ends. If we pay attention to him we will not have to learn the hard way, but
benefit from his experience. All of God's gifts are finally worthless without God.
Solomon drank from all the rivers of pleasure available to mankind, but they could
never quench his thirst apart from the river of life provided by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Even when we have life in Christ we still need to recognize the value of the
negative and pessimistic view of life. It is part of a positive perspective. The engineer
who sees cracks in the structure of the bridge out not to be optimistic and think it
will hold up okay, and so I will ignore it and not report it. He should be pessimistic
believing that it could lead to the death of many people, and, therefore, get it
reported to those who can fix it. We need to be negative and pessimistic about all
that is dangerous to life and health. You need to be pessimistic about how you look
when you get up every morning, and go look in the mirror and make something
more presentable out of the mess you see. If you do not do so, nobody is going to be
very positive about you that day. Like batteries we need both a positive and a
negative to be whole and properly functioning.We are to weep with those who weep
as well as rejoice with those who rejoice. This book is a reminder that we need to be
both negative and positive to be complete. In much of this book Solomon is an
expert in gloomology, which is the science of being blind to all but the negative. But
even a skilled gloomologist can see that it is futile to be always negative, and so
Solomon comes to a very hopeful and positive conclusion, and even some positive
perspectives along the way.
The first negative thinking in the Bible is that of God in Gen. 2:18 where he says, "It
is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." God saw a
negative reality and was motivated to correct it. You have to see and determine a
negative in order to be motivated to do something about it. It is people who see bad
things who do good things to make a difference so that bad things do not dominate.
The absolute positive thinker would say it was a perfect world and nothing need be
done. All will be okay forever. But God saw something lacking even in his almost
perfect world and it was his spying of that one negative reality that changed the
history of the world. Believers need to see the negative in order to change it just as
God did.
God's great love for man was based on his pessimism about man being able to save
himself from his sin and sinful nature. Had he been a positive thinker only and said
it will all work out some how if we just give it time, we would all be lost forever. God
knew better because he was a pessimist about man. He knew man could only be
saved if he had a Savior who could do for him what he could never do for himself.
Thank God for his negative thinking that led him to provide a way by which man
could have his sins atoned for by Christ. J. Gresham Machen the great theologian
said, "...the deepest pessimism is the starting point of Christianity." He point out
that all other schemes of salvation start with optimism. They believe man can work
out his salvation without God. Humanism says man can be his own savior, for they

are optimists where God is a pesimist.
Positive pessimism is also the foundation of the freedoms and protections we have in
America from the abuse of power. Our government is based on checks and balances
that says not one group or person can have total power, for it is known that human
natue cannot have total power and not abuse it. This pessimism keep our country
free from dictatorship and tyranny that people have had to suffer all through
history all over the world.
Pastor Ovidiu Radulescu wrote, "Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Maybe the
person who sit closest to you, and who know you the best, can answer the best.
one
of us like to be labeling this…a pessimist, right? And yet I discovered both, optimist
and pessimist are necessary to make the world that we live in, a better place, both of
them. The optimist invents the airplane ( I can fly, you’ll see!…), and the pessimist
invents the parachute… You know, this things are together, I don’t want one
without other. The optimist said: “My cup runs over, what a blessing!” The
pessimist said “My cup runs over: what a mess!” We need both… And you know:
most times the pessimist and the optimist are right. Both of them are right. The
difference is that the optimist tries to say: is a lot more enjoyment in life with less
pain. That seems to be the basic message of Ecclesiastic.
Solomon puts his title as preacher before king because he has a message from God
to share with the world. Ecclesiastes is the Latin form of the Greek word for
preacher. Morgan and others like to call him the debater instead. He is a hard
preacher to understand sometimes, and if we sat in a church listening to him we
might have a problem staying awake. He is a king, however, and commands our
attention. Joseph Parker wrote, "It is no anonymous writer that asks us to pause on
the road of life, but a king, grand in all kinglilness, who ask us to sit down and listen
to his tale of personal experience. The opportunity is a grand one, and sholuld be
seized with avidity by all earnest students."
1B. CHARLES BRIDGES, "The Preacher^s ordinary course combined oral and
written instruction. "He taught the people knowl-edge
; and that which was written was upright, even
words of truth," (chap. xii. 9, 10.) His oral teaching
was wondrously diversified in every track of science.
' He was the encyclopaedia of that early age.' (1 Kings,
iv. 30-33.) From all nations around, and from all *
ranks, they flocked to hear his wisdom. (lb. 34.)
Our Lord reads us a lesson of conviction from one of

these illustrious strangers : " The queen of the south
shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and
shall condemn it ; for she came from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and,
behold, a greater than Solomon is here." (lb. x. Matt,
xii. 42.)
At his last period of life the Preacher laboured with
unwearied devotedness, to repair the dishonour to God
from his evil example. " He still taught the people
knowledge, and sought to find out acceptable words."
(Chap. xii. 9, 10.) Perhaps this office, as with restored
Peter in after days, was the seal of his restoration.
" When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Feed my sheep." (Luke, xxii. 32 ; John, xii. 15-17.)
But however his vast stores of wisdom may have fit-ted
him for his work, the school of experience furnish-ed
a far higher qualification. His main subject is the
utter vanity of earthly show, and the substantial
happiness of the enjoyment and service of God ; and
who could touch these points with such sensibility and
demonstration, as he, who had so grossly " committed
the two evils — having forsaken the fountain of living
waters, and hewn out to himself cisterns, broken cis-terns,
that could hold no water ?"^ (Jer. ii. 13.)
Most poignantly would he witness to the '' evil and
bitterness" (lb. 19,) of this way of folly. (Jer. ii. 13,
19.)
The Preacher^s parentage also added weight to his
Instructions — The Son of David/ How much di(J he
owe to his godly and affectionate counsel ! ^ Indeed
he stands out as a bright illustration of his own con-

fidence, that the " trained child," though for a while —
perhaps a long while — he may be a wanderer from the
path, yet, when he is old — in his last days — he shall
not depart from it." (Prov. xxii. 6.) Let God be
honoured in the practical exercise of faith, and his
promise will be made good in his own most fitting
time — " I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after
thee." 3
2. BAR
ES, "Preacher - literally, Convener. No one English word represents
the Hebrew קקקקההההללללתתתת qqqqôôôôhhhheeeelllleeeetttthhhh adequately. Though capable, according to Hebrew
usage, of being applied to men in office, it is strictly a feminine participle,
and describes a person in the act of calling together an assembly of people
as if with the intention of addressing them. The word thus understood
refers us to the action of Wisdom personified Pro_1:20; Pro_8:8. In
Proverbs and here, Solomon seems to support two characters, speaking
sometimes in the third person as Wisdom instructing the assembled people,
at other times in the first person. So our Lord speaks of Himself (compare
Luk_11:49 with Mat_23:34) as Wisdom, and as desiring Luk_13:34 to gather
the people together for instruction; It is unfortunate that the word
“Preacher” does not bring this personification before English minds, but a
different idea.
3. CLARKE, "The words of the Preacher - Literally, “The words of
Choheleth, son of David, king of Jerusalem.” But the Targum explains it
thus: “The words of the prophecy, which Choheleth prophesied; the same is
Solomon, son of David the king, who was in Jerusalem. For when Solomon,
king of Israel, saw by the spirit of prophecy that the kingdom of Rehoboam
his son was about to be divided with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; and the
house of the sanctuary was about to be destroyed, and the people of Israel
sent into captivity; he said in his word - Vanity of vanities is all that I have
labored, and David my father; they are altogether vanity.” The word קקקקההההללללתתתת
KKKKoooohhhheeeelllleeeetttthhhh is a feminine noun, from the root קקקקההההלללל kkkkaaaahhhhaaaallll, to collect, gather
together, assemble; and means, she who assembles or collects a
congregation; translated by the Septuagint, ekklhsiasthv, a public speaker, a
speaker in an assembly; and hence translated by us a preacher. In my old
MS. Bible it is explained thus: a talker to the peple; or togyder cleping.
4. GILL, "The words of the preacher,.... Or the preacher's sermon. The
whole book is one continued discourse, and an excellent one it is; consisting
not of mere words, but of solid matter; of things of the greatest importance,

clothed with words apt and acceptable, which the preacher sought out, Ecc_
12:10. The Targum is,
"the words of the prophecy, which the preacher, who is Solomon,
prophesied.''
According to which this book is prophetic; and so it interprets it, and owns
it to be Solomon's. The word "Koheleth", rendered "preacher", is by some
taken to be a proper name of Solomon; who, besides the name of Solomon,
his parents gave him, and Jedidiah, as the Lord called him, had the name of
Koheleth; nay, the Jews say (i), he had seven names, and to these three add
four more, Agur, Jake, Ithiel, and Lemuel; the word by many is left
untranslated (k); but it seems rather to be an appellative, and is by some
rendered "gathered", or the "soul gathered" (l). Solomon had apostatized
from the church and people of God, and had followed idols; but now was
brought back by repentance, and was gathered into the fold, from whence
he had strayed as a lost sheep; and therefore chooses to call himself by this
name, when he preached his recantation sermon, as this book may be said
to be. Others rather render it, "the gatherer" (m); and was so called, as the
Jewish writers say (n), either because he gathered and got much wisdom, as
it is certain he did; or because he gathered much people from all parts, to
hear his wisdom, 1Ki_4:34; in which he was a type of Christ, Gen_49:10; or
this discourse of his was delivered in a large congregation, got together for
that purpose; as he gathered and assembled together the heads and chief of
the people, at the dedication of the temple, 1Ki_8:1; so he might call them
together to hear the retraction he made of his sins and errors, and
repentance for them: and this might justly entitle him to the character of a
"preacher", as we render it, an office of great honour, as well as of great
importance to the souls of men; which Solomon, though a king, did not
disdain to appear in; as David his father before him, and Noah before him,
the father, king, and governor of the new world, Psa_34:11. The word used
is in the feminine gender, as ministers of the Gospel are sometimes
expressed by a word of the like kind; and are called maidens, Psa_68:11; to
denote their virgin purity, and uncorruptness in doctrine and conversation:
and here some respect may be had to Wisdom, or Christ, frequently spoken
of by Solomon, as a woman, and who now spoke by him; which is a much
better reason for the use of the word than his effeminacy, which his sin or
his old age had brought him to. The word "soul" may be supplied, as by
some, and be rendered, "the preaching soul" (o); since, no doubt, he
performed his work as such with all his heart and soul. He further describes
himself by his descent,
the son of David; which he mentions either as an honour to him, that he was
the son of so great, so wise, so holy, and good a man; or as an aggravation of
his fall, that being the descendant of such a person, and having had so
religious an education, and so good an example before him, and yet should
sin so foully as he had done; and it might also encourage him, that he had
interest in the sure mercies of David, and in the promises made to him, that
when his children sinned, they should be chastised, yet his lovingkindness
and covenant should not depart from them.

King of Jerusalem; not of Jerusalem only, but of all Israel, for as yet no
division was made; see Ecc_1:12. In Jerusalem, the city of Wisdom, as
Jarchi observes, where many wise and good men dwelt, as well as it was the
metropolis of the nation; and, which was more, it was the city where the
temple stood, and where the worship of God was performed, and his priests
ministered, and his people served him; and yet he, their king, that should
have set them a better example, fell into idolatry!
5. HE
RY, "Here is, I. An account of the penman of this book; it was
Solomon, for no other son of David was king of Jerusalem; but he conceals
his name Solomon, peaceable, because by his sin he had brought trouble
upon himself and his kingdom, had broken his peace with God and lost the
peace of his conscience, and therefore was no more worthy of that name.
Call me not Solomon, call me MMMMaaaarrrraaaahhhh, for, behold, for peace I had great
bitterness. But he calls himself,
1. The preacher, which intimates his present character. He is KKKKoooohhhheeeelllleeeetttthhhh,
which comes from a word which signifies to gather; but it is of a feminine
termination, by which perhaps Solomon intends to upbraid himself with his
effeminacy, which contributed more than any thing to his apostasy; for it
was to please his wives that he set up idols, Neh_13:26. Or the word soul
must be understood, and so KKKKoooohhhheeeelllleeeetttthhhh is,
(1.) A penitent soul, or one gathered, one that had rambled and gone
astray like a lost sheep, but was now reduced, gathered in from his
wanderings, gathered home to his duty, and come at length to himself. The
spirit that was dissipated after a thousand vanities is now collected and
made to centre in God. Divine grace can make great sinners great converts,
and renew even those to repentance who, after they had known the way of
righteousness, turned aside from it, and heal their backslidings, though it
is a difficult case. It is only the penitent soul that God will accept, the heart
that is broken, not the head that is bowed down like a bulrush only for a day,
David's repentance, not Ahab's. And it is only the gathered soul that is the
penitent soul, that comes back from its by-paths, that no longer scatters its
way to the strangers (Jer_3:13), but is united to fear God's name. Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, and therefore we have here
the words of the penitent, and those published. If eminent professors of
religion fall into gross sin, they are concerned, for the honour of God and
the repairing of the damage they have done to his kingdom, openly to testify
their repentance, that the antidote may be administered as extensively as
the poison.
(2.) A preaching soul, or one gathering. Being himself gathered to the
congregation of saints, out of which he had by his sin thrown himself, and
being reconciled to the church, he endeavours to gather others to it that had
gone astray like him, and perhaps were led astray by his example. He that
has done any thing to seduce his brother ought to do all he can to restore
him. Perhaps Solomon called together a congregation of his people, as he
had done at the dedication of the temple (1Ki_8:2), so now at the
rededicating of himself. In that assembly he presided as the people's mouth

to God in prayer (Ecc_1:12); in this as God's mouth to them in preaching.
God by his Spirit made him a preacher, in token of his being reconciled to
him; a commission is a tacit pardon. Christ sufficiently testifies his
forgiving Peter by committing his lambs and sheep to his trust. Observe,
Penitents should be preachers; those that have taken warning themselves to
turn and live should give warning to others not to go on and die. When thou
art converted strengthen thy brethren. Preachers must be preaching souls,
for that only is likely to reach to the heart that comes from the heart. Paul
served God with his spirit in the gospel of his Son, Rom_1:9.
2. The son of David. His taking this title intimates, (1.) That he looked upon
it as a great honour to be the son of so good a man, and valued himself very
much upon it. (2.) That he also looked upon it as a great aggravation of his
sin that he had such a father, who had given him a good education and put
up many a good prayer for him; it cuts him to the heart to think that he
should be a blemish and disgrace to the name and family of such a one as
David. It aggravated the sin of Jehoiakim that he was the son of Josiah, Jer_
22:15-17. (3.) That his being the son of David encouraged him to repent and
hope for mercy, for David had fallen into sin, by which he should have been
warned not to sin, but was not; but David repented, and therein he took
example from him and found mercy as he did. Yet this was not all; he was
that son of David concerning whom God had said that though he would
chasten his transgression with the rod, yet he would not break his
covenant with him, Psa_89:34. Christ, the great preacher, was the Son of
David.
3. King of Jerusalem. This he mentions, (1.) As that which was a very great
aggravation of his sin. He was a king. God had done much for him, in raising
him to the throne, and yet he had so ill requited him; his dignity made the
bad example and influence of his sin the more dangerous, and many would
follow his pernicious ways; especially as he was king of Jerusalem, the holy
city, where God's temple was, and of his own building too, where the
priests, the Lord's ministers, were, and his prophets who had taught him
better things. (2.) As that which might give some advantage to what he
wrote, for where the word of a king is there is power. He thought it no
disparagement to him, as a king, to be a preacher; but the people would
regard him the more as a preacher because he was a king. If men of honour
would lay out themselves to do good, what a great deal of good might they
do! Solomon looked as great in the pulpit, preaching the vanity of the world,
as in his throne of ivory, judging.
The Chaldee-paraphrase (which, in this book, makes very large additions to
the text, or comments upon it, all along) gives this account of Solomon's
writing this book, That by the spirit of prophecy he foresaw the revolt of the
ten tribes from his son, and, in process of time, the destruction of
Jerusalem and the house of the sanctuary, and the captivity of the people, in
the foresight of which he said, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; and to that
he applies many passages in this book.
6. JAMISO
, "the Preacher — and Convener of assemblies for the purpose.
See on Introduction. KKKKoooohhhheeeelllleeeetttthhhh in Hebrew, a symbolical name for Solomon,
and of Heavenly Wisdom speaking through and identified with him. Ecc_

1:12 shows that “king of Jerusalem” is in apposition, not with “David,” but
“Preacher.”
of Jerusalem — rather, “in Jerusalem,” for it was merely his metropolis, not
his whole kingdom.
7. K&D, "The title, Ecc_1:1, The words of Koheleth, son of David, king in
Jerusalem, has been already explained in the Introduction. The verse,
which does not admit of being properly halved, is rightly divided by “son of
David” by the accent Zakef; for the apposition, “king in Jerusalem,” does
not belong to “David,” but to “Koheleth.” In several similar cases, such as
Eze_1:3, the accentuation leaves the designation of the oppositional genitive
undefined; in Gen_10:21 it proceeds on an erroneous supposition; it is
rightly defined in Amo_1:1, for example, as in the passage before us. That
“king” is without the article, is explained from this, that it is determined by
“in Jerusalem,” as elsewhere by “of Israel” (“Judah”). The expression (cf.
2Ki_14:23) is singular.
8. PASTOR A
DREW CHA
, " Ray Stedman rightly calls this book “The Inspired
Book of Error.” But how can God’s book, the Bible, support error, and also be
accepted as inspired, truthful and real then? Listen to Stedman’s explanation:
There is no other book like it, because it is the only book in the Bible that reflects a
human, rather than divine, point of view. This book is filled with error. And yet it is
wholly inspired. This may confuse people, because many feel that inspiration is a
guarantee of truth. This is not necessarily so. Inspiration merely guarantees
accuracy from a particular point of view; if it is God’s point of view.
WHY IS THIS A
ERRO
EOUS BUT I
SPIRED BOOK?
I
SPIRATIO
DOES
OT MEA
EVERY WORD I
THE BIBLE IS TRUE
“These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son…”(V.1) Very quickly, we
know these words are of a human. It contains the observation from a man’s point of
view, not from God’s but a man’s. This man is, according to tradition and from the
data in the book, Solomon, King David’s son. This book was written when he was
already quite old, having experienced life and tried out all sorts of things and
approaches to life. He certainly had the means and the opportunity to experienced
what he wrote he experienced. So what he wrote was from his observation of life…
Apparently he had turned his heart away from God as recorded in 1 Kings 11:4,6
(
IV) “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his
heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father
had been… So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the
LORD completely, as David his father had done.”
Furthermore, there is no strong “Thus saith the Lord” recorded in the book. Let us

be aware that the Bible also records man’s point of view i.e. his speeches too– may
be true may not be, also speeches of the devil too. So inspiration guarantees only an
accurate reflection of the views recorded by those who made it. We know there are
false views that are quoted such as speeches of Job’s friends and Satan’s twisting of
God’s Word is recorded such as his speech to Eve, “You will surely not die”
(Gen.3:4) in direct contradiction and twisting of “for when you eat of it you will
surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Furthermore, we know of countless cults and anti-God
movements that have arose out of misquoting and using them as “proofs” for
erroneous teaching as they wrench Scripture texts out of it divinely inspired context
and all you’ll get is heresy. In fact according to Stedman this book is the favorite of
atheists and skeptics because it contains lots of support for humanistic ideas. Thus,
though inspired these words of Ecclesiastes may be, it is no guarantee that those are
true words, in fact quite the opposite."
9. RAY STEDMA
, "Unfortunately, the translators here refer to Solomon as "the
Preacher," and I am sorry they used that term as it makes the book sound a little
preachy at the beginning. On reading that second verse it would be so easy to affect
a "stained-glass" voice. In a modern audience this, of course, would turn everybody
off. The word translated preacher is the Hebrew word Qoheleth, which really means
"the one who gathers, assembles, or collects things." This is an apt title for the
author of this book, who has examined and then collected together the philosophies
by which people live. But I think a more accurate English translation would be "the
Searcher." Here is a searching mind that has looked over all of life and seen what is
behind people's actions. Searcher is the word that I am going to use wherever
preacher occurs, because the writer is not really a preacher or proclaimer, but a
searcher.
This is indeed a search, and if you are concerned about what the Searcher
discovered, he tells us. You do not have to read the last chapter to find out the
results of his search, because he puts it right here in verse 2: "Vanity of vanities" —
that is what he found. Vanity here does not mean "pride in appearance." Perhaps
some people spend too much time in front of the mirror in the morning, admiring
themselves a little. We call that vanity, pride of face, but that is not what this
Searcher is talking about. The word here, in the original, means "emptiness, futility,
meaninglessness, blahness."

othing in itself; the Searcher claims, will satisfy.
o thing, no pleasure, no
relationship, nothing he found had enduring value in life. Everyone has seized on
one or another of these philosophies, these views of life, and tries to make it satisfy
him or her. But according to this Searcher, who has gone through it all, nothing will
work. When he says, "Vanity of vanities, emptiness of emptiness," that is the
Hebrew way of declaring the superlative. There is nothing emptier, this man
concludes, than life.

2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
Life is a jest, and all things shew it ;
I thought so once, and now I know it.'
1. GLE

PEASE, Solomon says all is meaningless, and sometimes Christians say
everything is meaningful, and there is a reason for everything, as is everything is
this fallen world has a purpose. This means that nothing is meaningless, and so you
have both extremes of thought, and neither extreme will hold water when given any
depth of thought. The only truly Biblical view of reality is that some things are
meaningless, and some are meaningful. It is not just Solomon, but God makes clear
in other parts of his revealed will that there is much that is meaningless. The word
here for meaningless and vanity is used in the following places:
Deut. 32:21, I kings 16:13, 26, II kings 17:15, Ps. 4:2, 10:7, 12:2, 94:11, Isa. 41:29,
44:9, 59:4, Jer. 2:5. In these texts God makes it clear that there is much in life,
especially the life of disobedience, that is vain and meaningless. It is just not true to
Scripture or reality that everything happens for a reason. Much is pure folly due to
the sinfulness of man and his meaningless pursuits. If everything was meaningful
and a part of God's plan, then all evil would be good, for it would be a part of God's
plan. It is not, and that is why we are to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is
in heaven. So much is not God's will on earth. All evil is not God's plan, but the
enemy of his plan. When we sin and disobey God's will we are not following his
plan, but defying his plan. All the folly and sin in the Bible and in every day life is
not because God has a reason for it as if it was a part of his plan. God will achieve
his end in spite of the evil of the world, but evil is not his plan.
Everything has a cause, but not a reason. To say there is a reason is to imply that it
is part of a plan, and this just makes all the evil and folly of the world which God
condemns and judges men for, a part of his plan, thus, making God the author of all
evil and folly.
obody wants to believe this and release Satan,demons, and all the
evil works of human choices as the real culprits behind this fallen world. Why not
face the realilty that sin and evil are the enemy that God hates, and why he
commands us to avoid it to be pleasing to Him. The optimism that says everything

happens for a reason is a form of blasphemy, for it makes God the author of all he
hates and condemns. In this verse Solomon is just going to the other extreme, which
is also insane, and denies that God has a plan at all, and that much in the world and
life is very meaningful and purposeful. The truly wise person will avoid both
heresies. This, of course, is not Solomon's final view, but only how he feels about his
life of pleasure without God. He is starting from the bottom and working himself to
the top. As somone wrote, "A life of nothing,nothing worth; From that first nothing
ere our birth; To that last nothing under earth."
It is valid for a Christian to be negative and pessimistic at times, but the over all
perspective of the believer is to be optimistic and positive. An unknown poet put it-
"How stupid is life?" said the mole.
"This earth is a dull dirty hole.
I eat, I dig and I store,
But I find it all a bore."
The larks sang high in the blue,
"How sweet is the morning dew.
How clear the brooks, how fair the flowers.
I rejoice in this world of ours."
Which would you be of the two?
I side with the lark, don’t you?
The truth is everything on earth is truly meaningless w/o God. As Paul said:
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage
SO THAT I MAY HAVE CHRIST” Phil.3:8 (
LT).
Remember this…
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about
the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless (1
Cor.15:58,
LT).
1B. DR. DAVE COLLI
GS, "Church, we want to look at the reality of life without
rose colored glasses on. Life is absurd. Ecclesiastes, a little book in the Old

Testament, speaks to that absurdity. I believe if we can understand the message of
Ecclesiastes, we will be more equipped to live quality lives at the beginning of this
21st century. Let us look now in Ecclesiastes; these are the words of the teacher, the
son of David, king in Jerusalem. If you are using the International Version, chapter
one verse two says "meaningless;" if you are using some of the other versions, it says
"vanity," and I am going to argue that both of these are poor translations of the
Hebrew word. I am going to translate this word as absurd. "Absurd says the
teacher, utterly absurd, everything is absurd.
Absurd means "unreasonable and inharmonious." He is saying life is unreasonable.
Do not think that you could ever create a syllogism that says premise one and
premise two always equal premise three and live life that way, because life does not
work that way. Solomon is not saying that life is a stupid farce by a mean God. He is
saying life is absurd. You can not make one and one equal two in human
relationships. Life is not a mathematical formula. Life can not be run through the
computer to spit out all the right answers, and if you only live by those right
answers, you will be happy, wealthy, healthy and popular. Life is absurd. It is
unreasonable and inharmonious. Some of our marriages would do a hundred
percent better if we did not expect everyday to be like a perfect day that comes to us
once in a while. Maybe the perfect day is the exception, and the normal day is the
normal day. To be unhappy that everyday is not perfect is an unrealistic expectation
of life. Maybe some of you would be happier in your work if you did not expect
every day to be the top day of your career. Maybe you could understand that there
are some days that are diamonds and some days that are stone. That is the reality of
life.
The thesis of this study is the unreasonableness and the inharmonious nature of life
and how to live well if you accept that as the reality of life. You can not live well if
you think life is always fair and reasonable. You can not live well if you expect life
to always be harmonious and beautiful. You can live well if you accept that life is
sometimes unreasonable, unfair, and often inharmonious; and because that is the
reality of life, I will commit myself to a certain behavior without expectation for it to
produce perfect results. "What does a man gain from all his labor at which he toils
under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Life is absurd because the workshop remains while the craftsman profits very little
from his labor and passes away quickly."
1C. Pastor Edward Frey, "Meaningless. The original idea behind that word is
“breath.” The idea becomes very clear on a cold day, when we see our warm breath,
only to watch it vanish. That is an accurate picture of life on earth. Behind all the
hustle and bustle, the sparkle and shine, lies an existence that is empty and fleeting.
This is hard to accept because we want a piece of the eternal right now. Deep down
inside all of us there is the desire to obtain paradise. So we grasp at thin air in the
hopes of catching something that will last.
And so off we run, searching for more. We shop, we purchase, we stockpile, and we
hoard away all sorts of things. And why? Deep down we’re trying to convince

ourselves that our lives are meaningful. Have you ever taken a look in your garage
or your attic? I believe the average American’s garage is proof of Solomon’s
observation: Everything is meaningless.
ow, there might be a few items in there
that mean something at the moment because they are important at that time. For
example, the lawnmower, the bicycle, the car (if you can fit it in there), are generally
meaningful things. Then there’s all that stuff, which when you look at it you might
ask, what’s the meaning of all this? Then we get frustrated because we have all these
things, but really don’t know what to make of it all. What once was so important
often turns into a meaningless memento that is now stashed in some cobweb-ridden
corner. It’s all an effort in futility. Solomon understood this frustration.
1D. British poet, Matthew Arnold wrote:
Most men eddy about
Here and there - eat and drink,
Chatter and love and hate
Gather and squander, are raised
Aloft, are hurled in the dust,
Striving blindly, achieving

othing; and then they die-
Shakespeare put it this way-
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale told
by an idiot, furll of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
1E. ALEXA
DER MACLARE
, "
ow in reading this Book of Ecclesiastes—which
I am afraid a great many people do not read at all—we have always to remember
that the wild things and the bitter things which the Preacher is saying so abundantly
through its course do not represent his ultimate convictions, but thoughts that he
took up in his progress from error to truth. His first word is: ‘All is vanity! 'That
conviction had been set vibrating in his heart, as it is set vibrating in the heart of
every man who does as he did, viz., seeks for solid good away from God. That is his
starting-point. It is not true. All is not vanity, except to some blase cynic, made
cynical by the failure of his voluptuousness, and to whom ‘all things here are out of
joint, 'and everything looks yellow because his own biliary system is out of order.
That is the beginning of the book, and there are hosts of other things in the course of
it as one-sided, as cynically bitter, and therefore superficial. But the end of it is: ‘Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; fear God, and keep His commandments:

for this is the whole duty of man. 'In his journey from the one point to the other my
text is the first step, ‘One generation goeth, and another cometh: the earth abideth
for ever.’
1F. RALPH WARDLAW, D. D. "In the first place : It is to be considered as the
affect^
ing result of Solomon's own experience.— He had en-tered
into the spirit of the universal inquiry, *' who will
show us any good ?" and had made trial of the various
sources of worldly happiness. He had repaired in per-son
to the different springs, determined to take nothing
upon the reported experience of others, but to taste the
waters for himself. He had drunk freely of them all :
and in this treatise, he describes their respective pro-perties
and virtues. — The Book might, therefore, with
sufficient appropriateness, be entitled "The Experi-ence
OF Solomon."
Secondly. We are not to understand it as the lan-guage
of a mind soured and fretted by disappointment ;
the verdict of a morose and discontented cynic, the in-cessant
frustration of whose hopes and desires had made
him renounce the world in disgust, while his heart was
yet unchanged, and continued secretly to hanker after
the same enjoyments ; or of a wasted sensualist, who,
having run his career of pleasure, felt himself incapable
of any longer actually enjoying what still, however en-grossed
his peevish and unavailing wishes: — but we
are to regard it as the conclusion come to by one who
had felt the bitterness of a course of sin, and the empti-ness
of this world's joys, and, having been reclaimed
from " the error of his way," having renounced and
wept over his follies, was more than ever satisfied that
" the fear of the Lord is wisdom," and that " the ways
of wisdom are the only ways of pleasantness, and her

paths alone the paths of peace."
Thirdly.
either must we conceive him to affirm, in
these words, that there is no good whatever, no kind of
enjoyment, no degree of happiness, to be derived from
the things of the world, when they are kept in their
own place, estimated on right principles, and used in a
proper manner Sentiments widely different from any
thing so ascetic and enthusiastic as this, will repeatedly
come in our way in the course of the Book — The
words before us are to be interpreted of every thing in
this world when pursued as the portion of him who
seeks it, — when considered as constituting the happiness
of a rational, immortal, and accountable being. His
verdict is, that to such a creature they can yield, by
themselves, no genuine and worthy satisfaction ; and
that, whilst they are, in their own nature, unsatisfying,
even in this world, they are worse, infinitely worse than
profitless, for the world to come. On this ground it
is, that he pronounces them vanity.—he had weighed
them all in the balances, and had found them wanting.
Fourthly. The peculiar emphasis may be remarked
with which this verdict is expressed. — He does not
merely say, all things are vain . " all is vanity ;"'
—vanity itself, and vanity of vanities ; that is, the
greatest vanity, — sheer, perfect vanity — And he dou-bles
the emphatic asseveration, " Vanity of vanities ;
vanity of vanities ; all is vanity." — This shows, first, the
strength of the impression on his own mind. It is not
the language of a judgment hesitating between two
opinions, or of a heart lingering between opposite de-sires;
but of a mind thoroughly made up, of a heart
loathing itself for having ever for a moment yielded to

a different sentiment, of decided conviction, of powerful
experimental feeling.— It shows, secondly, the earnest-ness
of his desire, to produce a similar impression on
the minds of others. It was a lesson which he himself
had learned by the bitterest experience ; and he is anx-ious
to prevent others from learning it in the same way.
He wishes them to take his word for it ; not to venture
after him in a repetition of the sad experiments on
which his conclusion was founded ; but to enter di-rectly
on another course ; to seek immediately and
earnestly a better portion,— even the " peace" of them
that *' love God's law,"— the '' life" that lies in the
" Divine favour,"— the joys and the hopes of true
religion.
1G. DAVID RUSSELL SCOTT, M.A.
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ! With such
hopeless words does this book open words which,
with little variance in form, have been often repeated
and are still heard to-day, but which man, so long as
he has retained a semblance of health and sanity, has
never really believed ; if he had, he would have easily
found some more or less agreeable means of ending his
vain existence. The words in the interrogative form
most common to-day " Is Life worth living ? "
present a question which has been almost invariably
and finally answered by the men who put the question
living on and apparently being glad to do so in spite
of the real or imaginary misery of their lot. To the
selfish and whining pessimist, to the man who has a
grudge against his treatment by the world, to any
one tired and sick of life, no more wholesome tonic can
be given than the one which Epictetus administered to

such of his contemporaries as affected world-sickness.
He told them that there were many exits from the
theatre of life, and if they did not like the show they
could retire by the nearest door and make room for
men of a more modest and grateful spirit.
o nervous
anxiety need be felt in administering this tonic. It
will have no fatal results. Even if it should do no
good, it will prove absolutely harmless in the case of
whining complainers, morbid egotists, and selfish
critics of life. But while this tonic may be the only
possible and safe cure in the case of those who enjoy
life by crying out against its vanity and by putting,
with a deluded seriousness, the question, Is Life worth
living ? it is not the treatment we are justified in
meting out to Koheleth. He was not an immature
youth ; he was a man of observation and experience,
who courageously faced the facts of life and compels
us to do the same, and, though his conclusions may be
hopeless and even bitter, they left him with at least
the one redeeming feature of a true compassion.
Justice at least demands that we look at the facts
which he saw and as he saw them and weigh the con-siderations
which brought him to his hopeless judgment
and reasoned conviction of the vanity of existence.
Koheleth is no dainty dilettante playing idly with the
facts of life. He thinks and he feels seriously and
intensely ; he deserves sympathetic consideration,
even though we, likewise thinking seriously and feeling
intensely, are compelled to reject absolutely his hopeless
words.
1H. William D. Barrick, Th.D., Discouragement, despair, and disappoint
ment. “when Solomon was old, . . . his

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