Page 120 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

Study Section 13: Ecclesiastes

13.1 Connect

Ecclesiastes, or Qohelet as it is called in the Hebrew Bible, means “the one who teaches an
assembly.” This particular Teacher is identified as “son of David, king in Jerusalem.” He is most
likely Solomon, who, more than any other king in Israel had great wisdom (Eccl. 1:16; 1 Kings
10:1-9) and great opportunity to pursue wisdom due to his great wealth (Eccl. 2:4-9; 1 Kings
10:14-29). A variety of arguments have been put forth to suggest some later king than
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Solomon as the writer, yet we can do no better than keep with this traditional interpretation.

The first word written by the Teacher is “meaningless.” In fact, he uses the word five times in 1:2, twice
for the English phrase “utterly meaningless” to emphasize his theme. The word means “vapor, breath, or
vanity” and is used 36 times in Ecclesiastes. The teacher is emphatic. All of life is meaningless. The
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New Testament expresses the same theology about life in general. Romans 8:20 uses the equivalent
Greek word translated here as “frustration.” “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its
own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it…” Again, we might state. All life is meaningless or
frustrating.

The second point made directs our thinking more
specifically. “What do people gain from all their labors at
which they toil under the sun (1:3)?” Here is another
favorite phrase of the Teacher, “under the sun.” Used 29
times it refers to life without God’s special revelation. He is
guiding us toward “a true assessment of the world apart
from the light of God’s redeeming love. His perspective on
the world and life is restricted; he describes it as life ‘under
the sun,’ that is, apart from heavenly realities, apart from
God. In other words, his hopelessness is the result of the Figure 58: Under the sun
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curse of the fall without recourse to God’s redemption.”

The Teacher purposely limits his considerations to what he can hear and see and experience of this life.
His information comes from natural revelation. He never uses the personal name Yahweh, always
referring to deity with the more generic “God.” He wants his readers to consider life from a pagan
perspective. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine

198 Among these arguments are the words “was king” (1:12) and “anyone who has ruled” (1:16) as if implying
someone later than Solomon. The issue is one of translation. The first is better translated “became king” and the
second does not refer to “rule” at all in the Hebrew. “Anyone” or “all” is the word. The student can check out
Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 478-488, for a more thorough discussion.
199 Victor P. Hamilton,, lbh, TWOT, vol. 1, 204.
200 Tremper Longman III, The Book of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), 39.
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