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Ecclesiastes 1

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The Words of the Preacher: All Is Vanity 1–3

1
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. ​
2
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. ​
3
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? ​

The Cycles of Wearisome Repetition 4–11

4
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. ​
5
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. ​
6
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. ​
8
All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ​
9
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ​
10
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
11
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Qoheleth’s Investigation into Wisdom 12–18

12
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ​
13
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. ​
14
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. ​
15
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. ​
16
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
17
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. ​
18
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ecclesiastes 1

Verse 1

The words of the Preacher — Qoheleth is a participle of qahal, to gather an assembly; it occurs only in this book, seven times (1:1–2, 12; 7:27; 12:8–10). 'Son of David, king in Jerusalem' fits Solomon, who 'reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel' (1 Kin 11:42) and spoke 'three thousand proverbs' (1 Kin 4:32); 12:9 says the Preacher 'set in order many proverbs'.

Verse 2

Vanity of vanities — Hebel, what is transitory and unsatisfactory, stands five times in this verse, and 'vanity of vanities' is the Hebrew superlative, as in 'the song of songs' (Song 1:1). The word is used of man himself: 'Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away' (Ps 144:4). The saying frames the book, returning in 12:8.

Verse 3

What profit hath a man — Yithron is gain beyond what was put in, and occurs only in Ecclesiastes. 'Labour' (amal) is toil, wearing effort. 'Under the sun' occurs 29 times in this book and nowhere else in the KJV; it is the ground of every question the book asks, and 3:9 asks this one again.

Verse 4

the earth abideth for ever — 'Passeth away' and 'cometh' are the plain verbs halak and bo, to go and to come; against them the earth 'abideth' (amad, stands), as the psalmist says, 'thou hast established the earth, and it abideth' (Ps 119:90). The earth outlasts the generations, though not the Lord's words: 'Heaven and earth shall pass away' (Matt 24:35).

Verse 5

hasteth to his place — Shaaph is to inhale eagerly, to pant, and the sun is pictured as panting back to where it arose. Its course is not its own; it is appointed: 'his going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it' (Ps 19:6), and 'the sun knoweth his going down' (Ps 104:19).

Verse 7

the sea is not full — The 'rivers' (nachal) are streams that empty into the sea, and 'thither they return again' (shub) to their source. Scripture assigns the return to the LORD: he 'calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name' (Amos 5:8).

Verse 8

All things are full of labour — 'Things' is dabar, which also means 'words', the word of 'The words of the Preacher' (v.1); 'full of labour' is yagea, weary. Man 'cannot utter it'. The eye and ear are never filled, as 'the eyes of man are never satisfied' (Prov 27:20); 4:8 says it of a man alone, 'neither is his eye satisfied with riches'.

Verse 9

no new thing under the sun — The qualification is 'under the sun'. 'New' is chadash, and v.10 asks, 'Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?' The LORD speaks otherwise of his own work: 'Behold, I will do a new thing' (Isa 43:19), 'the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth' (Jer 31:22), and 'Behold, I make all things new' (Rev 21:5).

Verse 12

king over Israel in Jerusalem — 'I the Preacher' takes the name of v.1 into the first person. The office is the one recorded of Solomon: 'king Solomon was king over all Israel' (1 Kin 4:1), 'reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel' forty years (1 Kin 11:42). What follows, from v.13, is what he 'gave' his heart to learn.

Verse 13

this sore travail — Inyan, 'travail', is business or occupation and occurs only in Ecclesiastes (eight verses). 'Sore' is ra, evil or grievous, and 'exercised' (anah) is to be afflicted or kept busy. It is given by God, as 3:10 repeats: 'I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.' 'Under heaven' here widens 'under the sun'.

Verse 14

vexation of spirit — Ruach is both wind and spirit, and reuth, 'vexation', is a feeding upon, a grasping after: the whole is a grasping at wind. The phrase returns in 1:17, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 4:4, 4:6, 4:16 and 6:9. It follows 'all the works that are done under the sun', the works he has 'seen' (raah).

Verse 15

cannot be made straight — Avath, to wrest or bend, and taqan, to straighten. Taqan is found only three times, in 1:15; 7:13, 'who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?'; and 12:9, where the Preacher 'set in order' many proverbs. Chesron, 'wanting', occurs only here. What God makes crooked, only he straightens: 'the crooked shall be made straight' (Isa 40:4).

Verse 17

madness and folly — Holelah (madness) is found four times, all in this book (1:17; 2:12; 7:25; 9:3); siklut (folly) in seven verses. He 'gave' his heart to know them as he did wisdom (v.13), a test repeated in 7:25: 'to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness'. The verdict is the same as v.14, with raayon in place of reuth.

Verse 18

in much wisdom is much grief — 'Grief' is kaas, vexation, and 'sorrow' is makob, pain. The same kaas is in 7:3, 'Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better'. The book ends on a different note of wisdom: 'Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man' (12:13).