The Teacher laments that all of life is meaningless; indeed even searching for wisdom (he says in chapter 1) is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, All mere breath
I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless.
"Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?"
I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly‑‑my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well‑‑the delights of the heart of man.
As in the previous chapter, the Hebrew word hebel, is translated as "meaningless". The word is literally "mere breath", a concrete metaphor for things that rapidly disappear without a trace.
The Teacher examines all the joys and riches of life, from laughter, through wine, great building projects, possessions of slaves and flocks, precious metals, even a harem ("the delights of the heart of man"), yet ... was this of any value?
In verse 3 the Teacher emphasizes that as he indulged in these various pleasures, he did so thoughtfully and carefully. His pleasure was not mindless drunkeness but experiments in pleasure. One can, for example, enjoy the pleasures of wine, drinking just enough to get a pleasant buzz, while taking care not to drink too much and experience the nausea of a hangover. Greek philosophers across the Mediterranean Sea were doing this in 450 BC, analyzing human emotions, joys, pleasures. (See these Wikipedia pages on Epicureanism. and hedonism, for example.)
Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, Far greater than those before me
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless,
a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
The Teacher, a powerful king of Jerusalem, has access to all the wealth and pleasures one could want. He has the experience of pass kings before him. And so he engages in an experiment: What is the most pleasureable? What gives man the greatest delight? And the answer is that, in the end, they are all the same -- they are all mere breath, meaningless. The obvious lesson being taught here is that if Solomon (or the Teacher) cannot achieve meaning from all his wealth and pleasures, then these will certainly not satisfy mere common folk and like you and me.
Ecclesiastes 2:12-18, Philosophy
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?
I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I thought in my heart, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless." For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Since all types of pleasure do not bring satisfaction, the Teacher turns to wisdom and philosophy. He studies wisdom and its value and -- unlike the claims of the book of Proverbs! -- decides that it too is meaningless. Regardless of what they've done, both the fool and the wise face the same fate: death and the grave. And eventually they will be forgotten.
Verse 14 has a line that runs counter to the theme of this chapter: "The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness." Alter suggests that this proverb (which would fit perfectly well in the previous book!) is set up here to be challenged.
Ecclesiastes 2:19-20, The one who comes after me
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
One can work very hard on building up a program, a community, a university or even a kingdom, only for those empires to sink and decay after one's death. King Solomon, indeed, is a classic example of this as the foolish actions of his son Rehoboam led ten of the twelve kingdoms to rebel; this was followed by centuries of sporadic civil war.
In one university where I served as an administrator, I watched another administrator relentlessly collect data and statistics to make the regular accreditation visits both valuable and easy. (These visits occurred every five years. A good review was critical for the university's standing and success.) Over decades of accreditation studies, the administrator collected thousands of files of documents about the university, its history, its students and faculty. She retired on a Friday. On the following Monday I watched as workers collected the many thousands of folders of accreditation statistics and destroyed them.
In another university I saw a similar phenomenon: a university president and provost made large scale changes to the university, lifting the quality of instruction in a variety of ways. Many of the improvements by those administrators were not welcomed by longterm faculty who saw their ancient traditions challenged. After the president and provost retired, after the many public accolades about their improvements, I watched faculty calmly return to old practices with a sigh of relief. Much of the progress has since been undone.
I believe in seeking improvements and progress. But the Teacher has some various serious warnings about our expectations.
Ecclesiastes 2:21-23, Anxious striving
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
In verse 22, the Hebrew word rayon shows up again. Earlier, in 1:17, it described as "herding" [the wind]; here it is translated "anxious striving."
The Teacher is issuing some warnings here. From a secular, practical point of view, one's perceived contributions -- whether one's pleasures or one's artistic architecture -- may be undone by those who follow. After Solomon's massive temple project, his son's foolishness led to centuries of warfare that eventually brought down that temple.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, Just eat, drink, work
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
The Teacher summarizes the past experiences. Since all human endeavors are "mere breath", then one should simply enjoy the basic pleasures available to him; one should merely appreciate the beautiful world that God has given him in his few years.
There is a strong argument to this, but it is almost completely secular. I have friends (some atheist or agnostic) who would agree that this passage summarizes their goals and describes all that life has to offer. In terms of Greek philosophy, this is a statement similar to the broad statements of Epicureanism.
This passage is a shocking to a religious Jew or Christian reading through these sacred texts. Some have argued that this passage is the beginning of an apologetic to Judaism, offering the first of two life paths. I said a little bit about that in the introduction; I will return to this idea in the last chapter.
Ecclesiastes 2:26, But maybe...?
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
This is a strange passage.... After two chapters of cynicism, the author suddenly seems to say that, well, the sinner is forced to gain wealth just so he can hand it over to the person who has wisdom, knowledge and happiness. The Hebrew word chata, translated here "sinner", simply means someone who misses the mark. It is possible (says Alter) that our cynical Teacher is saying that some get wealth, others useless work and toil -- and have no say over that. God just chooses who to bless, who to curse and attempting to sort this out is like herding the wind. Davidson allows that interpretation and says the passage is ambiguous.
One commentator argues that Ecclesiastes gives us occasional windows where we look past the sun and see things from God’s perspective. This is supposedly one of those windows. In that light, “wealth” might be interpreted as things of value; the godless person chases wealth and gets nothing while God hands value and meaning over to the one who pleases him.
We should read this passage and seek to understand it, without hurrying past it, to "Christianize" it, or explain it away. We will return to the implications of this message at the end of the book.
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