The book of Ecclesiastes is about Solomon’s experience of life. We know it’s about Solomon because he states in Eccl. 1:1 that he is the Son of David and in Eccl. 2:1 that he has been King over Israel in Jerusalem. Solomon was the only son of David to be King over Israel in Jerusalem. After Solomon died the kingdom split and Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king over Judea and Jeroboam, who was not descended from David, became king over the northern tribes who were then referred to as Israel. The Northern Tribes never had a king that was descended from David. Eccl. 1:1 reads, “The words of the Teacher” in some translations and “The words of the Preacher” in others. The Bible Project video found here discusses the meaning of the Hebrew word behind Teacher/Preacher. The footnote in the CSB at the word ‘Teacher’ states, “Or of Qoheleth, or of the Leader of the Assembly”[1] Qoheleth is the transliteration of this Hebrew word and is understood as a proper noun by some. The verb form of this Hebrew word is translated ‘assembled’ in 1 Kgs. 8:1 where Solomon called the leaders of the people to assemble when the ark was brought back to Jerusalem. Also, in looking at the cross references in one reference Bible I counted twenty-two references to the book of Proverbs in just chapter seven of Ecclesiastes. There are a lot of links between Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
You will notice when reading Ecclesiastes that you will see a refrain used over and over. The Bible Project has a good discussion of the Hebrew word ‘hevel’ found in this refrain and used 38 times in this book and depending on your translation is translated ‘futile, vanity, or worthless’. Interestingly in Isa. 57:13 we read,
When you cry out,
let your collection of idols rescue you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me
will inherit the land
and possess my holy mountain. [2] (Bold typeface added)
The two bold lines are an example of synonymous parallelism. Note ‘wind’ is parallel with ‘breath’ and ‘carry all of them off’ is parallel with ‘take them away.’ The word translated ‘breath’ in this passage is the Hebrew word hevel.
Solomon himself seems to define the word in Eccl. 1:14 when he says that everything done “under the sun is futile (hevel) a “pursuit of the wind” as the CSB translates. This phrase “pursuit of the wind” is found nine times in the book. How useless is the activity of pursuing the wind or chasing the wind or trying to catch the wind. The book of Ecclesiastes seems pessimistic to many and even depressive to some, but one commentator has said, “So, in the end, I am not convinced that words like pessimistic or optimistic best describe what Ecclesiastes is all about. I prefer realistic.”[3]
Many people today, including Christians, seek joy, happiness and fulfillment in knowledge, pleasure, possessions, employment, wealth, honor, fame or power. Solomon tells of his personal experience in seeking enjoyment in life through all these pursuits and more and declared they were all hevel. His conclusion is found in the last two verses of the book – ‘fear God and keep His commands.’ And then he warns of a judgment to come.
[1] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Moore, David G., and Daniel L. Akin. 2003. Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Edited by Max Anders. Vol. 14. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.
