Proverbs offers a first year sequence in the life of Wisdom. But following Proverbs is a fascinating book that makes it clear that wisdom can be more complicated than the simple black-and-white of Proverbs.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, Meaningless!
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
The book begins in despair. The Hebrew Qoholeth, translated "Teacher" here, is "an assembler of sayings," It is from this word that we get the Hebrew title to this book, Qoholeth; the Greek translation, based on ecclesia (assembly"), is Ecclesiastes. The author is a "son of" David. Traditionally this is understood to be Solomon but the Hebrew would allow a "descendant of" David, a king of Judea in the Davidic line.
One more important bit of Hebrew: The word hebel, translated here "Utterly meaningless" ("vanity of vanities", KJV) is a word for "breath" or "vapor". A breath or vapor is something that disappears rapidly, leaving no trace. Alter translates the word as "mere breath," a strong image on the ephemeral illusions this book intends to confront.
Ecclesiastes 1:3-7, Circles and cycles
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north;
round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
Numerous circles of life are described here, generations, sunrise/sunset, the wind, the cycle of water. So far, except for the first line, we merely have some observations. But the Teacher does not see these circles of life as positive.
Ecclesiastes 1:8-9, Wearisome
All things are wearisome, more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
The cycles in verses 3 to 7 now are seen as tiring and wearisome. Why should man try to achieve anything, if everything that comes is just a repeat of the past? Nothing is new. We make no real impact on the world.
Ecclesiastes 1:10-11, Forgotten long ago
Is there anything of which one can say, "
Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered by those who follow.
This is a very “unchristian” view of the world. It is tempting to hurry and "explain away" this passage but I think it is important to let this message of Scripture sink in. (If we attempt to “Christianize” Ecclesiastes, it will lose its impact.)
How might one respond to this recognition that “all is meaningless”? What are the different paths people take in trying to resolve this problem?
The Harry Chapin song, Halfway to Heaven, is about a man at a midpoint, a man who is halfway home and halfway through life, who stops and reconsiders what he is doing. You won’t like his conclusion....
Alter argues that for the Israelites, who emphasized being remembered by their ancestors (see their genealogies!), being forgotten is a deeply disturbing idea. The Hebrew reader is being slapped in the face by the claims of the Teacher. We, too, should feel the impact of these radical statements.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-15,
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.
What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
Whether the Teacher is Solomon or some later king, like Hezekiah, the writing is from the point of view of one who has all the wealth and resources to ask questions about life. Exploring wisdom, attempting to understand life, all this is burdensome, says the Teacher -- indeed, it is a burden he blames on God!
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, Herding the wind
I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
The Teacher has grown in wisdom more than any previous king of Jerusalem. One envisions looking back at a long line of kings. If so, this is not Solomon but a descendant who is incorporating all that Solomon taught. (Davidson argues that the text has Aramaisms and other linguistic tags that point to a date much than Solomon.)
Alter translates holelah (here "madness") as "revelry." The word appears in Ecclesiastes four times and does not appear in the rest of the Old Testament. It implies wild partying, an emphasis on pleasure and decadence.
"Is there value in wisdom?" asks the Teacher. One might assume he has read -- and most likely written -- much of Proverbs, and yet he asks this question. The answer given here is that even wisdom is "chasing the wind". (The Hebrew word rayon is translated "herding" by Alter.) Wisdom and knowledge only bring sorrow and grief; catching them is like trying to herd the wind.
The philosophy described here might be similar to nihilism.
Are you depressed yet? We will continue herding the wind tomorrow, in chapter 2.
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