Ecclesiastes

Martin Landert

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the

Teacher. "Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaningless." (Eccl. 1:2 NIV)

Student

1. Introduction

“Few biblical writings have sparked such an array of opinions as to what they mean as Ecclesiastes. Trying to figure out the gist of its message is as tantalizing and frustrating as it is important.

The book presents us with a chest full of puzzles. Each time we open it we have to cope again with its style, track down its arguments, decode its imagery. And when we do we sense God at work, we see our human problems laid bare, we find warnings against our simple solutions.

We sharpen our longings for the One whose cross and resurrection are windows on the fullness of what God wants human life to be.”

Lasor, 497.

“Few biblical writings have sparked such an array of opinions as to what they mean as Ecclesiastes. Trying to figure out the gist of its message is as tantalizing and frustrating as it is important.

The book presents us with a chest full of puzzles. Each time we open it we have to cope again with its style, track down its arguments, decode its imagery. And when we do we sense God at work, we see our human problems laid bare, we find warnings against our simple solutions.

We sharpen our longings for the One whose cross and resurrection are windows on the fullness of what God wants human life to be.”

Lasor, 497.

2. Title of the Book

The Hebrew title “Qoheleth” is taken from verse 1.

• Ecc. 1:1 “The words of the Teacher son of David, king in

Jerusalem.”

• Qoheleth means “one who assembles or calls together”.

‘Ecclesiastes’: transliteration of the Greek title in the LXX

“ekklesiastes” = “assembly” or “a member of the assembly.”

3. AuthorshipTraditionally, both Jewish and Christian scholars have attributed the book of Ecclesiastes to King Solomon.

Internal evidence pointing to Solomonic authorship:

•The author’s self-claimed ancestry, position and wisdom (1:1, 12, 16); •His impressive accomplishments, explorations of pleasure and unparalleled wealth (2:1-10), and •Display of proverbial wisdom & reference to his collection of proverbs (ch. 7).

3. AuthorshipArguments against Solomonic authorship:

•Critical analysis of the text led scholars to adopt a postexilic theory also based on internal evidence:

• No mention of the name SolomonOnly cryptic (obscure) references (1:1, 12, 16; 2:9)Even these references disappear after chapter 2.

• Anti-royalty/Solomonic and non-royalty allusionsA king would not point to injustice in his own landThe perspective is one from outside the court.

3. AuthorshipLanguage & Syntax

• Two Persian loanwords in Ecclesiastes (all others in the Bible: postexilic).

• High frequency Aramaic loanwords and sentence structures also point to fifth century B.C. or later.

• Language of Ecclesiastes similar to other postexilic works like Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

• Masculine name pattern similar to Qohelet, e.g. Soperet and Pokeret found only in postexilic books (Ezra and Nehemiah), i.e. Persian period.

Based on Choon Leong Seow, Ecclesiastes (The Anchor Bible, New York: Doubleday, 1997), 12-19.

Summary

An unknown author, a Jewish thinker. Taking on “Solomonic guise”.

Intent: Not deception but identification to capture attention

4. Date & Place

Those who think that the tone of the book points to it being written by

Solomon place the date of authorship late in Solomon’s life. 

Those who do not accept Solomonic authorship identify a postexilic

date of writing: 400-200 B.C.

•Internal evidence from the text (climate and vegetation) point to a

writing in Palestine, addressing an urban audience.

5. SettingIf we assume a postexilic date of writing, more specifically 450 to 350 B.C., we are looking at the time of Nehemiah. The socioeconomic context: valuable insights for the understanding of Ecclesiastes.  Monetary and commercial economy:•Prominent role of money in postexilic times (Persians spread use of coins)

Used everywhere, a commodity: taxes, everyday business, bribes

•Ecclesiastes for an audience deeply concerned with the acquisition of money.

- Who loves $ has never enough (5:10) & has indigestion (5:12)- What is the bottom line? (1:3; 3:9; 5:16)- Qoheleth: many economic terms- Jerusalem: competitive—work on Sabbath (Neh. 13:15-22)!!!

5. SettingEconomic opportunities and risks

Persian system of property grants•The fruit of labour enjoyed alive (5:18: 9:6)•Gap between “haves” and “have nots,” increasing injustice (5:8-9)•Envy drives people to work harder (4:4-6)

Some are favoured and some are not•Middle-class people in a changing world•The rich have substitutes for military—but they face battle of death themselves (8:8)

An uncertain world•Upside-down, outside one’s control (10:5-7) •Exorbitant interest (> 60% p.a.), default on loans often, also Jews (Neh. 5:3-5).

•People hoard wealth, are tight and keep waiting for perfect time

Social Problems

Helplessness

6. Literary StyleVarious proposals for the unique style of Ecclesiastes

• A “theological anthropology” where Qoheleth looks at humanity with respect to what God has done in the universe

• Ecclesiastes is performative: the reader participates in discovering how hard it is to see how life, and therefore the book, fits together.

• Ecclesiastes is not just Wisdom Literature but should be put in connection with other genres of the Old Testament.

Possible Styles

• A dialogue between Qoheleth & his heart, evaluating various perspectives.

• The work of one man who tries to make sense of life as he experiences it.

6. Literary Style

Characteristics

•Rhethorical features:Repetition, reflection, proverbs, description, tension

• Solution: Ecclesiastes is similar to Job—use similar reading strategy

The ending provides the proper perspective, especially 12:13-14.

Apply proper hermeneutical principles: read in context

Recognize: tensions placed strategically to serve author's intent.

7. Structure

1A: Reflection: Everything is transient & unreliable1)Preface (1:2-11)

2)Nothing is ultimately reliable (1:12-2:26)

3)Everything is in the hand of God (3:1-22)

4)Relative good is not good enough (4:1-16)

2A: Reflection: Everything is elusive1)No one knows what is good (6:10-7:14)

2)Righteousness & wisdom are elusive (7:15-29)

3)It’s an arbitrary world (8:1-17)

1B: Ethics: Coping with uncertainty1)Attitude before God (5:1-7)

2)Enjoyment, not greed (5:8-6:9)

2B: Ethics: Coping with risks & death1)Carpe diem (9:1-10)

2)The world is full of risks (9:11-10:15)

3)Living with risks (10:16-11:6)

4)Enjoy life & remember God & death (11:7-12:8)

Epilogue: Fear God and keep his instructions (12:9-14)

8. Theme

• Keyword: The word ֶה�ֶב�ל ”Hebel”

translated ‘vanity’ (NRS, NKJ, NAS) or

‘meaningless’ (NIV) is the literal word

for “Breath” or “Vapor.”

• The metaphorical senses are

• Emptiness: Lacking in substance

• Temporariness: Disappears quickly

• Meaninglessness: Impossible to grasp

• Enigma

Ecclesiastes reports Qoheleth’s search for meaning, purpose and

satisfaction in life.

7. Theme

Qoheleth’s quest based on his own intellect—

Life is thoroughly enigmatic

•Not starting with the “fear of the Lord” as in Prov 9:10 results in folly.

•Augustine: “I was trying to find the origin of evil, but I was quite blind to

the evil in my own method of research.” (Confessions 7.5)

Qoheleth’s journey: any aspect of life & enterprise is found to be

meaningless/fleeting

•Things do not last, neither money nor achievements.

•Tensions and contradictions cannot easily be explained away.

Largely based on C. Bartholomew and R. O’Dowd. Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2011), 193-200.

7. Theme

And yet, life is meaningful and good

•Carpe diem (seize the day), (2:24-26; 3:10-22; 8:10-15; 9:7-10; 11:7-

12:7).

•Contrast with reality. Tension resolved in 7:23-29 as Qoheleth sees his

wisdom as folly, remembering (11:7-12:7) God as creator of everything

(12:1).

The epilogue: What life is really about

•Fear God and obey him (12:13-14)—the conclusion of the entire quest.

By now, the narrator agrees with Qoheleth who found his way (back) to

God.

•Barth: “Basically, and comprehensively, therefore, to be a man is to be

with God.”

7. Theme

Ecclesiastes today

•Many struggle with meaninglessness of life, also Christians. Quick

answers don’t work.

•Don’t dwell on reasons, trust that resolution will follow the struggle.

•What wisdom is

– Wisdom is not just knowing how to live.

– Wisdom needs to be embodied: our life/person should image of

God. In this process of sanctification, suffering is unavoidable.

– Redemption and authenticity• We know Jesus: our redeemer & full embodiment of wisdom.• We are called to be authentic in our Christian life, even in our

questions/struggles.

7. Theme

Ecclesiastes & the New Testament—A perspective Qoheleth did not have

•When Jesus died, he took all the hebel of separation from God on

himself, giving us access to the Kingdom of God, so that we find meaning

in Christ.

•Death is not the end: but the beginning of life in God’s presence.

•The Gospels abound with imagery of meals, celebration & feasting.– Jesus linking his eating and drinking to wisdom (Matt. 11:16-19)– Jesus talks about the banquet in the kingdom (Matt. 22:1-14)

8. Purpose

To teach the hearer/reader to accept the encompassing limits of humanity, and recognize that

life is a gift to be lived and enjoyed from the perspective of accountability to God.

In Psalm 13 David reminds us that even in darkness we find salvation in God

It is only when one loves life and the world so much that without them everything would be gone, that one

can believe in the resurrection and the new world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, p.157.

It is only when one loves life and the world so much that without them everything would be gone, that one

can believe in the resurrection and the new world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, p.157.

Smoke, nothing but smoke.

[That’s what the Quester says.]

    There’s nothing to anything—

it’s all smoke.(Eccl. 1:2 MSG)