Ecclesiastes Introduction

Ecclesiastes is a Greek word signifying "Preacher". The Hebrew word is "Ko-he-leth" signifying "one who convenes an assembly". The American Standard Version of the Bible calls it "The Great Orator". Moffatt translate it, "The Speaker".

Tradition attributes this book to Solomon because it is "Wisdom Literature" and most writings of this nature were attributed to Solomon. But there is some evidence that the book may have been written by someone else. i.e.

1. Chapter 1 verse 12 indicates that the author was, at one time, King of Israel but had resigned to search for wisdom. Solomon was king up until his death.
2. Chapter 4 verses 13 thru 16, and Chapter 10 verse 16, speaks of the king as a child. Solomon was a man when he became king.
3. Like Proverbs, the language is "post exile" and contains many Arabian words. The language of Solomon was 400 years earlier.
4. The author probably wrote the book about 200 BC and lived in or near Jerusalem at a time of poverty and oppression. He undoubtedly was well versed in the wisdom of Solomon, had a vigorous and active mind and was a "realistic humanist".

Ecclesiastes expands the theory that history and nature move in a cycle. This was a widespread view of life in the non-Jewish world of Babylon, Egypt and Greece. This belief led to a since of futility, cynicism and pessimism. This "sense" abounds in the Book of Ecclesiastes. The term most used is "vanity" to describe this "sense". Webster defines "vanity" as the quality of being empty, vain or without meaning. The author concludes that "all is vanity", in vain and without meaning. The circle of repetitions, which the author sees in nature and history, is evident in the books repetition of ideas.

It is next to impossible to outline this book, however, the author limited his observations to 3 types of people and perhaps we can outline the book relative to those 3 categories and one final observation.

1. The 5 experiments that he conducted upon himself.
2. The observations of people around him.
3. The observations he made on society.
4. Final observations.

We will look at these four, briefly, here in the introduction to the book of Ecclesiastes.

The Five Experiments

1. In Search of Wisdom. ( Chapter 1:12-18, 7:23, 9:17 and 10:3 ) Notice he conducted these experiments upon himself and then noted the results. First he experimented with the "pursuit of wisdom". He applied himself in search of understanding and discovered that the lot of man was not a happy one, it was all foolishness, chasing the wind. He was well educated, he worked hard, but in the end, he realized that the more wisdom you have the more grief you have.
2. In Search of Pleasure. ( Chapter 2:1-5, and 10:12-15 ) Then he set out to enjoy himself, to be merry. Notice the areas in which he looked to find pleasure. First, he tried drinking. He noticed that many men find pleasure in this. He found it to be a path of "folly". Then he tried to find pleasure in doing great public works, this to was folly
3. In search of Wealth. Then he bought slaves, bred great herds, collected silver, gold and taxes from many kings, many beautiful concubines, anything he wanted, he took. He concluded that riches caused loss of sleep and ultimately, amounted to nothing.
4. In search of satisfying Labor. He pursued labor and concluded that all it did was make the man rich that followed him and who knows if he would be wise or a fool, so he turned about and gave up his heart to despair. Besides, most of the results of labor are left to chance. Pestilence, plagues, lightening, wind, all destroy what you have worked for and rain prevents the harvest. He concludes that labor is vanity.
5. In search of Evil-doing. He tried living with prostitutes and found that it was like being put in bondage, she is more bitter than death. He found that even though God made man to be wise and to escape evil, they always follow their own downward road. Thus he discovered the folly of wickedness and the foolishness of evil doing.

The Observations of People.

When he looked round about him, this is what he observed.

1. He saw the oppressed. He concludes from his observations that many are oppressed and poor and have no one to comfort them. They are oppressed by the rich and powerful. Yet it is better to be poor and wise than to be rich and foolish. Such a person might even become king. Yet from what he had observed, most of the poor would be better off dead.
2. He saw the discontented. He concludes from his observations that man has no advantage over the beast. As one dies, so does the other. All are made of dust and return to the dust. There is nothing for the oppressed to do but work, for this is his lot.
3. He saw the lonely. He concludes that people, who have no one who cares, are living and working for nothing. Two can accomplish more than twice what one can do. If one fails, the other pulls him up. If a man falls when he is alone, he is in trouble. Also on a cold night, two under the blanket gain warmth from one another. But this to is vanity, where is one to find someone like that.

Observations on Society

1. Unsafe Working Conditions. Looking around he was shocked at the unsafe working conditions that he saw. He concludes that many are working only to be done in by their work. The man who digs a ditch will fall into it and be covered up. The man who works on a wall will be bit by a snake that infests the wall. The man that quarries stone will be hurt by them. The man who splits logs will be endangered because his ax is dull. All labor is vanity.
2. People in Bondage to the Government. ( Chapter 10:16-20 ) What chance had the average man? The king is like a little child. The leaders are already drunk and it is only morning. Laziness lets the roof leak and soon the rafters will rot. Money buys everything and woe to the man who curses the king or the rich man, even in his thoughts, for a little bird will tell them what you said and you will be judges. To complain would be vanity.

He concludes after all these observations that we should eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. He really encourages the youth to have that philosophy in light of the vanity of old age.

The author has obviously lived for some time among pagans because he is caught up in mistaken theologies. First, he has seen and partially adhered to blind pagan faith and secondly, he has come to the conclusion that God is imprisoned in the theology of his own making. So, he concludes, be good, but not to good.

Final Observations.

1. Jehovah, the God of Israel, is not mentioned anywhere.
2. Elohim, a form of Jehovah, dwells afar off and had no contact with man and never interferes with the moral machinery of the universe.
3. Nowhere is prayer mentioned.
4. Notice what apparently caused the depression and cynicism of the author.
   1. His rejection of a hereafter.
   2. His disbelief in the immortality of the soul.
   3. His disbelief in the resurrection of the body.

Many people today live and believe like the author of Ecclesiastes. They have no hope of anything else other than what they have here and now. Certainly life is meaningless and would appear to be "vanity.

Why was the Book of Ecclesiastes included in the Bible? There are two reasons:

1. It was popular because it gave a negative opinion of life, expressed some of man's inner feelings from time to time and in spite of the cynicism, contains some wisdom and opinions well worth considering.
2. It was believed to have been written by Solomon.

The last 6 verses, called the "epilogue", was not part of the original text. It was added sometime later by some devout, admiring intellectual. It warns, as John does in Revelation, against anyone adding anything to the scriptures aside from what was written. He declares the author to be wise, a teacher of knowledge, having studied and arranged proverbs and attempting to write words of truth in a pleasing manner. Then he attempts to give some spiritual meaning to the book by declaring that we should fear God and keep his commandments for God will bring every deed of man into judgment, weather good or evil.

None of this, in my opinion, reflects the wisdom of Solomon or his attitude on life.

Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes

Subject	Chapter
The Doctrine of the Vanity of Man	1
Conditions in the Word	2
Be Content with God's Blessings	3
Facts About Human Nature	4
Be Obedient to God	5
The Covetous Miser	6
Some Good Advice	7
Some Wise Advice	8
The State of Man	9
The Use of Wisdom	10
Two Rules of Life	11
Four Final Points	12

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