Ecclesiastes


The meaning of life


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About Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes addresses the question of the meaning of life. Why do I exist? What is my purpose? A key word is the Hebrew hevel, which appears 38 times in the book. The literal meaning is breath, smoke, or vapor, describing something fleeting that quickly evaporates and disappears. The word is used 73 times in the Old Testament, but over 50% of its occurrences are here in Ecclesiastes! There is also a connection to Adam and Eve's second son, Abel, whose name in Hebrew is Hevel, see Genesis 4:2. His name is associated with his premature death when he was murdered by his brother Cain, see Genesis 4:8, 10. Even in this book, Abel's blood cries out.

Structure
Apart from the introduction and summary, the book consists of seven units that form a chiastic pattern:

Introduction (Ecclesiastes 1:1)
 A Poem – the fleeting nature of life (Ecclesiastes 1:2–11)
   B Wisdom cannot explain the meaning of life (Eccl 1:12–2:26)
   C Poem – time (Eccl 3:1–15)
   & nbsp;D Central section – Fear God (Ecclesiastes 3:16–6:11)
   C´ Poem – time (Ecclesiastes 7:15–10:19)
 & nbsp;B´ Wisdom cannot explain the meaning of life (Ecclesiastes 7:15–10:19)
 A´ Poem – the fleeting nature of life (Ecclesiastes 10:20–12:8)
Summary (Ecclesiastes 12:9–14)

The book consists of 2,987 words and the central verse is “This too is vanity (emptiness; completely meaningless) and a chasing after the wind,” see Ecclesiastes 6:9. Up to and including this verse, there are 111 verses, and after it there are also 111 verses. These five words in 6:9b form the mathematical center and also coincide with the end of the chiastic center! This verse also contains the book's key word hevel, which means meaninglessness and emptiness. The numerical value of the word is 37 (5+2+30). The total number of verses (222) is also a multiple of 37 (6x37). The exact phrase “This too is vanity (emptiness; completely meaningless) and a chasing after the wind” is also found seven times in the first half of the book, see Eccl 1:14; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 16; 6:9. The fact that a similar phrase appears an eighth time (in Eccl 3:19) indicates that there is hope for a new beginning, see Rom 8:19–21.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents


Persons (2) BETA

Persons in Ecclesiastes


Places (1)

Places in Ecclesiastes


Unique words (53)

Unique words in Ecclesiastes



Genre: Poetry

  Written: 930 BC

Author: Unknown, possibly Solomon

No author is specified, but the description fits Solomon, who was David's son, see Ecclesiastes 1:12. The description of wealth and wisdom also fits well, see Ecclesiastes 2:1–11. At the same time, descriptions may also indicate that the book was written about him, in which case the date is later. Finds in Qumran (4Q109) dated to 200-175 BC show that the book was already included in the Hebrew Bible in 400-200 BC.

Reading time: ca 1 hour.

Total amount of words in this book: 2987

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Ecclesiastes

Everything is vanity …

11Words of the Preacher (the teacher, the collector, the seeker – Hebrew Qohelet), son of David, king of Jerusalem. [Hebrew qohelet describes someone who gathers a crowd, speaks, teaches, and also seeks, collects, and compiles. The Hebrew word for assembly is qahal. The one who speaks before it is a qohelet, which is also the Hebrew name of this book. The English name is Ecclesiastes, from the Greek word for assembly ekklesia. The word qohelet appears only seven times in the Bible, all of them in this book, see Eccl 1:1, 2, 12; 7:27; 12:8, 9, 10.]
2“Vanity of vanities (Hebrew hevel havalim),”
    says [complains] the Preacher (the seeker, the teacher, the speaker – Hebrew Qohelet),
“vanity of vanities,
    all is vanity.” [Rom 8:20]

[The Hebrew word for vanity (Hebrew hevel) appears 38 times in Ecclesiastes, which is more than in all other Old Testament books combined. The word means breath, smoke, or vapor and describes something fleeting that quickly evaporates and disappears. The repetition of the word reinforces the degree of emptiness and meaninglessness. Adam and Eve's second son, Abel, is called Hevel in Hebrew, see Genesis 4:1–2. Perhaps the choice of name reflected the disappointment after their first son Cain, who did not turn out to be the promise in Genesis 3:15.]
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Poetry – the fleeting life!

[Verses 3-11 describe the transience of life. By describing the human life cycle, the water cycle, and the course of nature, the author shows how little influence the individual has. Throughout the book, there are two perspectives: under the sun and under the heavens. In the first perspective, “under the sun” (i.e., purely human—without God), life is meaningless. But in the higher perspective “under the heavens” (when God is also included in the equation), there is meaning, see Ecclesiastes 3:1!] 3What profit has a man from all his labor
    in which he labors under the sun?
 4One generation passes away, another generation comes,
    and the earth remains forever.

5The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries to the place where it rises. 6The wind blows south
    and turns north;
it whirls around and around,
    and returns to its course.
7All rivers flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is not full.
To the places where the rivers flow,
    there they return again. [This describes the water cycle.]
8All words (things) wear out,
    a man cannot speak (embrace) them [all],
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
    nor the ear full of hearing.
9What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done (again),
    there is nothing new under the sun.
 10Is there anything about which one can say,
    “See, this is new?”
It has already been in ages before us [long before our time].

 11There is no memory of those who were first (lived before us),
    nor will there be any memory of those who come later,
among those who will come after (live after us).
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Humans cannot understand the meaning of life (1:12-2:26)

[Now follows a passage in which the Preacher tries to understand the meaning of life. The style shifts from poetry to prose and from third person to first person. Seven areas are examined to see if they can provide the answer to the meaning of life, but all come to the same depressing conclusion. The mystery of the meaning of life remains.]

1. Trying to find a philosophical explanation

12I, the Preacher (the teacher, the collector, the seeker – Hebrew Qohelet), am king over Israel in Jerusalem. [The title fits King Solomon.]

Poem about time

[Verses 1-8 form a large chiasm. It begins in verse 1, where two different words for time are used, a definite time and an interval of time. Verses 2-8 consist of fourteen pairs. The first twelve are arranged in a neat chiastic pattern. Verse 2 begins with the positive (be born, plant). Verses 3-4 reverse this and begin with the negative (die, break down, weep, mourn). In the middle, the chiasm is mirrored. Verses 5-6 have the positive component first. Verse 7 mirrors verse 2 and thus begins with the negative component (tear apart, be silent). Verse 8 ends with its own chiasm framed by love/peace, with hate and war at the center. It is connected to verse 1, and together they frame the entire passage. Below, the positive word is highlighted in bold.
    Seeing the chiasm also helps with interpretation. A time to “cast away” (Hebrew shalach) stones in verse 5 must be something positive, and therefore the most likely interpretation is that it has to do with expanding farmland. There is also a chiasm in the choice of words here; verse 6 ends with the same Hebrew word for “cast away” and indicates that verses 5-6 belong together as a smaller unit. However, the meaning in verse 6 is negative—to throw something away.]
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31For everything there is
    a set time (agreed, appointed time),
    and a suitable time (period; season)
for everything pleasant (good; all joyful activities) under heaven.
2A time to be born (give birth) – and a time to die,
a time to plant – and a time to uproot what has been planted,
3a time to kill (slaughter) – and a time to heal,
a time to break down – and a time to build up,
4a time to weep – and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn – and a time to dance,

5a time to throw away (Hebrew shalach) stones [to prepare farmland] – and a time to gather stones,
a time to embrace (hold in one's arms, hug) – and a time to refrain from embracing (hugging),
6a time to seek (look for) – and a time to lose,
a time to keep – and a time to throw away (Hebrew shalach),
7a time to tear apart – and a time to sew together,
a time to be silent – and a time to speak,
 8a time to love
    and a time to hate,
    a time for war,
and a time for peace.
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 9What profit has the worker from his labor? 10I have seen the task that God (Elohim) has given to the sons of man to perform. 11He has made everything beautiful (appropriate, fitting) for its (his) time [all human tasks (verse 10) and the contrasts of life (verses 1-8) find their perfection in God], he has also given eternity (the hidden – Hebrew ha olam) in their hearts so that man cannot explore (find, understand) the work that God (Elohim) has done from the beginning (literally from the head) to the end.

[This is the only time in the Old Testament that olam appears in the definite form. This is the fourth (and central) of seven occurrences in Ecclesiastes. The word olam comes from alam, which means hidden. One meaning is something that is hidden and cannot be seen. The word also has the meaning of ages that have been (Eccl 1:10) and the future and eternity (Eccl 1:4). Later Jewish interpretation translates the word as “world.” Man is created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), and in every human being there is a latent longing for God (Romans 1:19).
12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and be satisfied as long as they live. 13But also that every human being should eat and drink and find joy in their work is a gift from God (Elohim).
14I know that whatever God (Elohim) does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor can anything be taken away from it, for God (Elohim) has done (arranged) it so that people should revere (fear, have godliness) him.

[The Preacher's double “I know” (verses 12 and 14) seems to serve as a contrast to “I have seen” (verses 10, 16, 22). What he has seen comes from observation and experience, while “knowing” comes from intuitive knowledge.
15What is has been for a long time,
    and what is to come already exists,
    and God (Elohim) seeks what is hunted. 16Furthermore, I saw under the sun,
    in the place of justice, that wickedness was there,
    and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.
17I, I [I repeat to emphasize, see Eccl 1:16] said in my heart, “God (Elohim) will judge [both]
    the righteous and the wicked,
for there is a time (period) for every desire
    and for every work.”
18I, I said in my heart: “It is because of the sons of man that God (Elohim) sifts them, so that they may see that they themselves are like wild animals.” 19For what befalls the sons of man befalls the wild animals. One thing befalls them—as one dies, so dies the other; all have a spirit (alternative translation: they all breathe). In this, man has no advantage over the wild beast, for all is vanity (emptiness; completely meaningless). [Hebrew has a completely different way of expressing itself than our language. But what this sentence means is that everything that breathes has a spirit, and as long as we breathe, we live; when we stop breathing, we die. In this respect, there is no difference between humans and animals. Otherwise, the Bible makes a clear distinction between animals and humans, for only humans are created in the image of God. In this respect, humans are unique and have no connection with animals.] 20All go to one place, all are from dust, and all return to dust. [Humans were formed from dust, see Genesis 2:7; 3:19.] 21Who knows if the spirit of man goes upward or if the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?
     22And I have seen that there is nothing better than for man to rejoice in his work, for that is his lot, for who will let him see what will come after him?




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