Life? Don't Talk To ME About Life

Ecclesiastes 1-12

     Before we delve into this book of the Book I’d just like to say that this is my favorite one in the Tanakh. I admit that there are a lot more compelling stories, characters and theology throughout the Old Testament, but this book is my absolute favorite from start to finish. It is attributed to my favorite character in the Hebrew Scriptures, Solomon. When I first read this book ten years ago I felt like it was drawn right from my own personal worldview. I completely agreed, and still do somewhat, with Solomon’s perspective. There is a sort of depressing view that one could take when reading this book, but I love reading it. It is a very freeing philosophy that Solomon presents because he encourages the reader to indulge in the pleasures that life has to offer, but at the same time he cautions the reader against becoming a fool because of it. This is the true Wisdom that Solomon is sharing. That’s just my opinion, though. Let’s get into the history of this book.
     The title, Ecclesiastes, comes from the Latin version of the Greek word (Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklesiastes) for the Hebrew title קֹהֶלֶת which sounds like Koheleth. Koheleth literally translates to ‘Gatherer’, but is traditionally translated as ‘Teacher’. Koheleth is written in First Person and the author claims to be the son of David and the king in Jerusalem. Though Solomon is the author by tradition, the actual author is anonymous.
      In fact, many scholars agree that the book was written between 400 and 100 B.C. and so could not possibly have been written by the actual first son of David because that guy is supposed to have lived in the tenth century B.C. The main argument against Solomonic authorship is the fact that this book contains words that do not appear in any other ancient texts until hundreds of years after the time of King Solomon.
      However, this argument can be challenged by the fact that there are a limited number of texts from the ancient Near East so there can be no definitive way to verify when a certain word was in use or not. Another challenge to the 400-100 B.C. authorship lies in the Koheleth borrowing phrases from even older works such as the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, 9:7-10 being the most used example. Add to that the lack of any reference to any later works of wisdom such as the classic Greek texts from the fifth century to the first B.C. This could support the notion that Solomon was the actual author because he was a king that would have had access to great works of other foreign nations’ history on account of his many wives from those nations.
     This book may trouble certain people. It can come across as very cynical and depressing. It may be especially troubling for Christians because Koheleth talks a lot about the finality of death. There is no talk of a happy afterlife or God rewarding you for your good works. There is no concept of salvation because that is not what the author was about. In fact, I'm not even sure there was a concept of salvation in those old days.
     Yet, this book was included for a reason. When it came time to decide what made it into the Hebrew Scriptures this was a known piece of work and deemed worthy of inclusion. There is much wisdom in these pages if you can see past the grim portrayal of the Real World.