Part One: About the Book.
Part Two: we do an in depth study of the book itself. (Chapter links below)
Part Three: A bit of Review in The Wrap.
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The original idea occurred as a question... "what is the LEAST studied book of the Old Testament?"
The first answer turned into our study of the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. And it really didn't turn out like we expected: https://themediadesk.com/newfiles7/sosintro.htm
But it was the ones that came in as Show and Place that were just as fascinating. Those would be Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and some of the smaller, somewhat odd, history books like Ezra.
They too are seldom, if ever studied, and as it turns out, there's a good reason the casual Sunday School Class or Bible Study that is, well, half gossip session and sports update, leaves them alone. For one, the first two on that list aren't even easy to say. And most of the congregation would have to check the index to find them in the Bible. "Go to Psalms and make a right," isn't going to help them a lot.
Also, the subjects dealt with in two of them aren't pleasant. At all. Perhaps a quote that sets the tone is in order.
"Most smart people tend to feel queasy when the conversation turns to things like 'certain death' and 'total failure' and the idea of a 'doomed generation.' But not me. I am comfortable with these themes. There is nothing new about them, except when they come all at once. Any conversation that can make smart people confront a mix of Death, Doom, and Failure with a straight face is probably worth listening in on."And that's what we've got with Ecclesiastes. From the second sentence in the book on, the theme is that life is futile, along the lines of 'be good, work hard, live well... die anyway, and then God will judge everything you've said and done'.
- Hunter S. Thompson (1937 - 2005)
Most of the most popular translations attribute Ecclesiastes to Solomon, just as the Song was. However, the text itself does not list an author.
The first verse does not state the name of the writer. The word "qoheleth" which is only used seven times in the OT, all of which are in Ecclesiastes, means "teacher / preacher" and can also mean 'somebody who collects sayings'. We'll also look at the fact that the English seems to state that this 'teacher' is a son of David who is/was king, would indicate that this teacher is a member of the royal household, and implies that it was Solomon. We'll check with the Hebrew later.
We'll see how all this comes into play later, but for now, we'll go with the same thing we said in the introduction to the Song... that the book is in the Wisdom Tradition, which is in the style of Solomon... but he didn't write it. Now with this one, perhaps, just perhaps, whoever this teacher/preacher is who collected the sayings, wrote stuff down, or, more likely, dictated it to a scribe, that Solomon had said, or, depending on exactly how long after Solomon had exited the scene, ... this was all 'stuff' that Solomon was supposed to have said years before.
But IF Solomon had directly dictated the book, wouldn't the scribe have mentioned the king by name immediately as having said "a vaporous self delusion, all of it, is 'nothingness'."?
As for what we know about the book itself. From the language used, and the style of the writing (the 'conversational style' popularized by Plato), the text was probably written somewhere within a human lifetime of 500 BC, during or just after the Babylonian exile. Whereas Solomon reigned until about 930 BC.
So the prospect that the text was an oral tradition, or, perhaps, selections from a diary or journal, such as the "Meditations" of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180, ruled 161 to 180. See links below.), that were then collected, and in some cases commented on, by the 'teacher' and assembled as part of the writings of wisdom literature and included in the Hebrew Bible with Proverbs and Job. It was already in this form when the Septuagint was compiled and translated from Hebrew to Greek in about 250 BC. It was also included in the Qumran cache of scrolls near the Dead Sea during the Roman period.
Keep the Stoic Philosopher Emperor in mind, he shows up in Chapter 1.
One aspect of the book that is uniquely Jewish is the tradition in some families and congregations of reading parts of it, and in some cases the entire book, during the Festival of Booths, or during other celebrations.... to remind them not to be too happy in the 'here and now'.
Something else that the book is famous for is the use, perhaps the Over-Use of a single word in a couple of forms (singular, plural, etc). It is the use of the term that became "vanity" in the KJV, "hebel / habel" in the Hebrew. That word is used 73 times in the OT, 38 of them are in Ecclesiastes, and FIVE of them, are in verse 2 of Ecclesiastes.
We'll look at it again as we work through the book. More accurately, we'll look at it almost forty times, and we'll find out that it means..... all sorts of things.
"hebel" can mean 'vanity' in it's traditional meaning of 'excessive pride in appearance or something that is futile, without value, or meaningless'.
In that light the Hebrew word can also be taken to mean a 'vapor' that disperses into the slightest breeze and vanishes. It also is something that is empty, fleeting, without use or value, or that is doomed disappoint, and eventually, to fail. Go back and read our opening quote from Hunter Thompson for some perspective on that.
The overall idea is the transience of things of this world. And that all too human tendency to attach value to them. That value may be something as intangible as emotional attachment, such as the sentimental value somebody says a personal memento has for them, when, objectively, the item should have been relegated to the waste bin years ago. In the larger scheme of things, everything that is in this world, natural or man-made, ranging from a wildflower to the Great Pyramid, is going to pass away. And that includes individual people themselves, and everything to do with them, such as foolishness, wisdom, beauty, and everything else. Which are subjects that comes up later in the text.
Another theme that comes up throughout the book is the corruption and decay inherent in everything in this world, and in everything that humans do. Some of which is just the way nature works, this writer's famous line is "there's plenty of mud and cold French Fries to go around". And some of this corruption and decay is the result of intentional evil acts by individuals who are either stupid, mean, or both.
It may seem odd, but as evil and wickedness are mentioned as part of the human condition, NONE of the words for the embodiment of evil, leading with "satan" (accuser / adversary), as used in Job 1 : 6, are ever mentioned in Ecclesiastes.
Now, having pointed out that everything in and of this world is going to end up in the compost pile, the Teacher / Preacher also points out that all blessings are from GOD. And, in the end, GOD will judge all.
And, as we go, we'll point out that you have seen plenty of references to Ecclesiastes here and there, on T-shirts and posters, and on the radio. And you may know it came from our book, but perhaps you've never looked into the book to see what else is there.
Stand by.... you are about to.
We have linked to the study chapters below, and included a highlight verse as well.
Chapter 1, the study.
9 "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new." (NLT)
-and-
Chapter 2: the study.
16 "For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!" (ESV)
Chapter 3: the study.
1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (KJV)
(see the 'full' version of the Byrds song Turn! Turn! Turn! below)
-and-
Chapter 4: the study.
2 "And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive" (RSV)
Chapter 5: the study.
15 "As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand." (ASV)
-and-
Chapter 6: the study.
1 "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men" (NKJV)
Chapter 7: the study.
10 "It isn't wise to ask, 'Why is everything worse than it used to be?'" (CEV)
-and-
Chapter 8: the study.
11 "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong." (NIV)
Chapter 9: the study.
5 "The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered."(NLT)
-and
Chapter 10: the study.
3 "Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool." (NASB)
Chapter 11: the study.
10 "Get rid of what troubles you or wears down your body, because childhood and youth are pointless." (GWT)
-and-
Chapter 12: the study.
13 "Let vs heare the conclusion of the whole matter: Feare God, and keepe his commandements, for this is the whole duetie of man." (1611 KJV)
The Wrap: something of a review and a conclusion, of sorts.
Outside references linked below:
The various translations above, except for the original King James from 1611, are available at: https://biblehub.com/
1611 King James Version (KJV)
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/
Hebrew - English interlinear
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ecclesiastes/1.htm
Compare Bible Verses in All Translations https://www.biblestudytools.com/compare-translations/ecclesiastes/
An Encyclopedia article about: Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Aurelius-Roman-emperor
The "Meditations", downloadable for free:
A New English Translation of the Septuagint https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/
ECCLESIAST https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/26-eccles-nets.pdf
A Dead Sea Scroll
The 'original' song was written by Pete Seeger in 1959 based on the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes three from the 1611, with certain lyrical deviations, such as the repetition of the word 'turn'. It was recorded by him and other groups before the Byrds did it in 1965 when it became a hit.
More about the song:
Our in depth look at The Song of Songs which is Solomon's https://themediadesk.com/newfiles7/sosintro.htm
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
http://centralparkchurchofchrist.org
With the assistance and cooperation of The Media Desk.
https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
"4Q109 Qoheleta (Ecclesiastes), Language: Hebrew
Date: 175-150 B.C.
Location: Qumran Cave 4. Contents: Ecclesiastes 5:14-18, 6:1, 3-8..."
https://dssenglishbible.com/scroll4Q109.htm
The Byrds - "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkx0SuEGMOc
"Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds 1965 hit used lyrics that dated back more than 2,000 years" https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/turn-turn-turn.html