Ecclesiastes 1:1
“The Words of the Preacher: All Is Vanity”Ecclesiastes 1:1–3
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- דִּבְרֵיdiv·Rei[the] words ofH1697N-mpcNoun Plural Masculine Construct
- קֹהֶלֶתko·He·letTeacherH6953N-fsNoun Singular Feminine Absolute
- בֶּןben[the] son ofH1121N-mscNoun Singular Masculine Construct
- דָּוִדda·VidDavidH1732N-proper-mNoun Proper Masculine
- מֶלֶךְMe·lekhkingH4428N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absolute
- בִּירוּשָׁלִָםbi·ru·sha·Limin JerusalemH3389Prep-b ¦ N-properNoun Proper LocationבִּinירוּשָׁלִָםJerusalem
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
- Preacher (KJV) / Teacher (BSB) קֹהֶלֶת
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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Ecclesiastes 1:1–3. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
Here is, I. An account of the penman of this book; it was Solomon, for no other son of David was king of Jerusalem; but he conceals his name Solomon, peaceable, because by his sin he had brought trouble upon himself and his kingdom, had broken his peace with God and lost the peace of his conscience, and therefore was no more worthy of that name. Call me not Solomon, call me Marah, for, behold, for peace I had great bitterness. But he calls himself,
1.The preacher, which intimates his present character. He is Koheleth, which comes from a word which signifies to gather; but it is of a feminine termination, by which perhaps Solomon intends to upbraid himself with his effeminacy, which contributed more than any thing to his apostasy; for it was to please his wives that he set up idols, Nehemiah 13:26. Or the word soul must be understood, and so Koheleth is,
(1.)A penitent soul, or one gathered, one that had rambled and gone astray like a lost sheep, but was now reduced, gathered in from his wanderings, gathered home to his duty, and come at length to himself. The spirit that was dissipated after a thousand vanities is now collected and made to centre in God. Divine grace can make great sinners great converts, and renew even those to repentance who, after they had known the way of righteousness, turned aside from it, and heal their backslidings, though it is a difficult case. It is only the penitent soul that God will accept, the heart that is broken, not the head that is bowed down like a bulrush only for a day, David's repentance, not Ahab's. And it is only the gathered soul that is the penitent soul, that comes back from its by-paths, that no longer scatters its way to the strangers (Jeremiah 3:13), but is united to fear God's name. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, and therefore we have here the words of the penitent, and those published. If eminent professors of religion fall into gross sin, they are concerned, for the honour of God and the repairing of the damage they have done to his kingdom, openly to testify their repentance, that the antidote may be administered as extensively as the poison.
(2.)A preaching soul, or one gathering. Being himself gathered to the congregation of saints, out of which he had by his sin thrown himself, and being reconciled to the church, he endeavours to gather others to it that had gone astray like him, and perhaps were led astray by his example. He that has done any thing to seduce his brother ought to do all he can to restore him. Perhaps Solomon called together a congregation of his people, as he had done at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:2), so now at the rededicating of himself. In that assembly he presided as the people's mouth to God in prayer (Ecclesiastes 1:12); in this as God's mouth to them in preaching. God by his Spirit made him a preacher, in token of his being reconciled to him; a commission is a tacit pardon. Christ sufficiently testifies his forgiving Peter by committing his lambs and sheep to his trust. Observe, Penitents should be preachers; those that have taken warning themselves to turn and live should give warning to others not to go on and die. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren. Preachers must be preaching souls, for that only is likely to reach to the heart that comes from the heart. Paul served God with his spirit in the gospel of his Son, Romans 1:9.
2.The son of David. His taking this title intimates,
(1.)That he looked upon it as a great honour to be the son of so good a man, and valued himself very much upon it.
(2.)That he also looked upon it as a great aggravation of his sin that he had such a father, who had given him a good education and put up many a good prayer for him; it cuts him to the heart to think that he should be a blemish and disgrace to the name and family of such a one as David. It aggravated the sin of Jehoiakim that he was the son of Josiah, Jeremiah 22:15-17.
(3.)That his being the son of David encouraged him to repent and hope for mercy, for David had fallen into sin, by which he should have been warned not to sin, but was not; but David repented, and therein he took example from him and found mercy as he did. Yet this was not all; he was that son of David concerning whom God had said that though he would chasten his transgression with the rod, yet he would not break his covenant with him, Psalm 89:34. Christ, the great preacher, was the Son of David.
3.King of Jerusalem. This he mentions,
(1.)As that which was a very great aggravation of his sin. He was a king. God had done much for him, in raising him to the throne, and yet he had so ill requited him; his dignity made the bad example and influence of his sin the more dangerous, and many would follow his pernicious ways; especially as he was king of Jerusalem, the holy city, where God's temple was, and of his own building too, where the priests, the Lord's ministers, were, and his prophets who had taught him better things.
(2.)As that which might give some advantage to what he wrote, for where the word of a king is there is power. He thought it no disparagement to him, as a king, to be a preacher; but the people would regard him the more as a preacher because he was a king. If men of honour would lay out themselves to do good, what a great deal of good might they do! Solomon looked as great in the pulpit, preaching the vanity of the world, as in his throne of ivory, judging.
The Chaldee-paraphrase (which, in this book, makes very large additions to the text, or comments upon it, all along) gives this account of Solomon's writing this book, That by the spirit of prophecy he foresaw the revolt of the ten tribes from his son, and, in process of time, the destruction of Jerusalem and the house of the sanctuary, and the captivity of the people, in the foresight of which he said, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; and to that he applies many passages in this book.
II.The general scope and design of the book.
What is it that this royal preacher has to say? That which he aims at is, for the making of us truly religious, to take down our esteem of and expectation from the things of this world. In order to this, he shows,
1.That they are all vanity, Ecclesiastes 1:2. This is the proposition he lays down and undertakes to prove: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. It was no new text; his father David had more than once spoken to the same purport. The truth itself here asserted is, that all is vanity, all besides God and considered as abstract from him, the all of this world, all worldly employments and enjoyments, the all that is in the world (1 John 2:16), all that which is agreeable to our senses and to our fancies in this present state, which gains pleasure to ourselves or reputation with others. It is all vanity, not only in the abuse of it, when it is perverted by the sin of man, but even in the use of it. Man, considered with reference to these things, is vanity (Psalm 39:5, Psalm 39:6), and, if there were not another life after this, were made in vain (Psalm 89:47); and those things, considered in reference to man (whatever they are in themselves), are vanity. They are impertinent to the soul, foreign, and add nothing to it; they do not answer the end, nor yield any true satisfaction; they are uncertain in their continuance, are fading, and perishing, and passing away, and will certainly deceive and disappoint those that put a confidence in them. Let us not therefore love vanity (Psalm 4:2), nor lift up our souls to it (Psalm 24:4), for we shall but weary ourselves for it, Hebrews 2:13. It is expressed here very emphatically; not only, All is vain, but in the abstract, All is vanity; as if vanity were the proprium quarto modo - property in the fourth mode, of the things of this world, that which enters into the nature of them. The are not only vanity, but vanity of vanities, the vainest vanity, vanity in the highest degree, nothing but vanity, such a vanity as is the cause of a great deal of vanity. And this is redoubled, because the thing is certain and past dispute, it is vanity of vanities. This intimates that the wise man had his own heart fully convinced of and much affected with this truth, and that he was very desirous that others should be convinced of it and affected with it, as he was, but that he found the generality of men very loth to believe it and consider it (Job 33:14); it intimates likewise that we cannot comprehend and express the vanity of this world. But who is it that speaks thus slightly of the world? Is it one that will stand to what he says? Yes, he puts his name to it - saith the preacher. Is it one that was a competent judge? Yes, as much as ever any man was. Many speak contemptuously of the world because they are hermits, and know it not, or beggars, and have it not; but Solomon knew it. He had dived into nature's depths (1 Kings 4:33), and he had it, more of it perhaps than ever any man had, his head filled with its notions and his belly with its hidden treasures (Psalm 17:14), and he passes this judgment on it. But did he speak as one having authority? Yes, not only that of a king, but that of a prophet, a preacher; he spoke in God's name, and was divinely inspired to say it. But did he not say it in his haste, or in a passion, upon occasion of some particular disappointment? No; he said it deliberately, said it and proved it, laid it down as a fundamental principle, on which he grounded the necessity of being religious. And, as some think, one main thing he designed was to show that the everlasting throne and kingdom which God had by Nathan promised to David and his seed must be of another world; for all things in this world are subject to vanity, and therefore have not in them sufficient to answer the extent of that promise. If Solomon find all to be vanity, then the kingdom of the Messiah must come, in which we shall inherit substance.
2.That they are insufficient to make us happy. And for this he appeals to men's consciences: What profit has a man of all the pains he takes? Ecclesiastes 1:3. Observe here,
(1.)The business of this world described. It is labour; the word signifies both care and toil. It is work that wearies men. There is a constant fatigue in worldly business. It is labour under the sun; that is a phrase peculiar to this book, where we meet with it twenty-eight times. There is a world above the sun, a world which needs not the sun, for the glory of God is its light, where there is work without labour and with great profit, the work of angels; but he speaks of the work under the sun, the pains of which are great and the gains little. It is under the sun, under the influence of the sun, by its light and in its heat; as we have the benefit of the light of the day, so we have sometimes the burden and heat of the day (Matthew 20:12), and therefore in the sweat of our face we eat bread. In the dark and cold grave the weary are at rest.
(2.)The benefit of that business enquired into: What profit has a man of all that labour? Solomon says (Proverbs 14:23), In all labour there is profit; and yet here he denies that there is any profit. As to our present condition in the world, it is true that by labour we get that which we call profit; we eat the labour of our hands; but as the wealth of the world is commonly called substance, and yet it is that which is not (Proverbs 22:5), so it is called profit, but the question is whether it be really so or no. And here he determines that it is not, that it is not a real benefit, that it is not a remaining benefit. In short, the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much of them, are not sufficient to make us happy, nor will they be a portion for us.
[1.]As to the body, and the life that now is, What profit has a man of all his labour? A man's life consists not in an abundance, Luke 12:15. As goods are increased care about them is increased, and those are increased that eat of them, and a little thing will embitter all the comfort of them; and then what profit has a man of all his labour? Early up, and never the nearer.
[2.]As to the soul, and the life that is to come, we may much more truly say, What profit has a man of all his labour? All he gets by it will not supply the wants of the soul, nor satisfy its desires, will not atone for the sin of the soul, nor cure its diseases, nor contervail the loss of it; what profit will they be of to the soul in death, in judgment, or in the everlasting state? The fruit of our labour in heavenly things is meat that endures to eternal life, but the fruit of our labour for the world is only meat that perishes.
Historical interpretation
Fifteen Centuries of Reception
12 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
But we can also investigate these things before we even come to the very body of the book, such as why Solomon, who seems to have served the will of the Holy Spirit in those three books is called in Proverbs “Solomon, the Son of David, who ruled in Israel,” but in the second book “Solomon” is not written, but it reads, “the words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem.” To be sure he writes that he is “Son of David” just as in the first book and also “king of Israel.” But there he wrote “Proverbs” but here “words” and called himself “Ecclesiastes,” when he had called himself “Solomon” there. And although there he mentioned only the country over which he reigned, here he both mentioned the nation and designated the place of his kingdom as “Jerusalem.” …I do not think that anyone can doubt that Solomon in rather many respects bears the type of Christ, either because he is named “Man of Peace” or because “the Queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” This is also the case because he is called “the son of David” and reigns in Israel and because he rules over those kings, on whose behalf he himself is called “king of kings.” And again the true “Ecclesiastes” is that very one “who although he was in the form of God, humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant” in order to gather an ecclesial body, for Ecclesiastes is called from his gathering a congregation.…
Therefore in the first book of Proverbs, when he sets us in moral disciplines, he is said to be “king in Israel” but not yet in Jerusalem because, although we are said to be Israel because of our faith, we nonetheless have not yet arrived to this point so that we seem to have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. But when we will have made progress and will have arrived there so that we will share in the church of the firstborn, which is in heaven, and we know from the ancient and natural reasons we have discussed that the heavenly Jerusalem is our heavenly mother, then already Christ himself will be made our “Ecclesiastes” and will be said to reign not only “in Israel” but also “in Jerusalem.”
These words speaks Solomon, the son of David the king and prophet, to the whole Church of God, a prince most honoured, and a prophet most wise above all men. How vain and fruitless are the affairs of men, and all pursuits that occupy man! For there is not one who can tell of any profit attaching to those things which men who creep on earth strive by body and soul to attain to, in servitude all the while to what is transient, and undesirous of considering anything heavenly with the noble eye of the soul. And the life of men wears away, as day by day, and in the periods of hours and years, and the determinate courses of the sun, some are ever coming, and others passing away. And the matter is like the transit of torrents as they fall into the measureless deep of the sea with a mighty noise. And all things that have been constituted by God for the sake of men abide the same: as, for instance, I that man is born of earth, and departs to earth again; that the earth itself continues stable; that the sun accomplishes its circuit about it perfectly, and rolls round to the same mark again; and that the winds in like manner, and the mighty rivers which flow into the sea, and the breezes that beat upon it, all act without forcing it to pass beyond its limits, and without themselves also violating their appointed laws. And these things, indeed, as bearing upon the good of this life of ours, are established thus fittingly. But those things which are of men's devising, whether words or deeds, have no measure. And there is a plenteous multitude of words, but there is no profit from random and foolish talking. But the race of men is naturally insatiate in its thirst both for speaking and for hearing what is spoken; and it is man's habit, too, to desire to look with idle eyes on all that happens. What can occur afterwards, or what can be wrought by men which has not been done already? What new thing is there worthy of mention, of which there has never yet been experience? For I think there is nothing which one may call new, or which, on considering it, one shall discover to be strange or unknown to those of old. But as former things are buried in oblivion, so also things that are now subsistent will in the course of time vanish utterly from the knowledge of those who shall come after us. And I speak not these things unadvisedly, as acting now the preacher. But all these things were carefully pondered by me when entrusted with the kingdom of the Hebrews in Jerusalem. And I examined diligently, and considered discreetly, the nature of all that is on earth, and I perceived it to be most various; and I saw that to man it is given to labour upon earth, ever carried about by all different occasions of toil, and with no result of his work. And all things here below are full of the spirit of strangeness and abomination, so that it is not possible for one to retrieve them now; nay, rather it is not possible for one at all to conceive what utter vanity has taken possession of all human affairs. For once. on a time I communed with myself, and thought that then I was wiser in this than all that were before me, and I was expert in understanding parables and the natures of things. But I learned that I gave myself to such pursuits to no purpose, and that if wisdom follows knowledge, so troubles attend on wisdom.
Before us for exposition lies Ecclesiastes, which requires labor in spiritual interpretation quite as great as the benefit to be obtained. The thoughts of Proverbs [have] already prepared the mind by exercise.… Then for those who have developed to the more advanced stages of learning there comes the ascent toward this truly sublime and Godinspired work of Scripture [i.e., the book of Ecclesiastes]. If then the exercise in expressions [from the book of Proverbs] which prepares us for these lessons is so painful and difficult to understand, how great an effort must be envisaged in these lofty thoughts which now lie before us for interpretation?… Nevertheless, since it is also one of the Master’s commands that we must search the Scriptures, there is an absolute necessity, even if our mind falls short of the truth, failing to match the greatness of the ideas, that we should still ensure by all the zeal for the Word of which we are capable that we do not appear to disregard the Lord’s command. Let us therefore search the Scripture lying before us to the best of our ability. For surely he who has given the command to search the Scriptures will also give us the ability to do so, as it is written, “The Lord will give a word to those who preach good news with great power.”
[The book of] Ecclesiastes is offered for our examination because it is especially useful and valuable for contemplation. When [the book of] Proverbs has exercised our minds by its obscure words, wise sayings, riddles and various twists of words as contained in the introduction, we find an ascent for those persons who have advanced to more perfect lessons with regard to this lofty, divinely inspired book. If a toilsome, arduous meditation on Proverbs prepares us for these lessons, how much more laborious and difficult must it be to now examine such sublime matters proposed for our contemplation!… Since one of the divine precepts bids us to search the Scriptures, it is indeed necessary that once our minds have pursued the truth even though we failed to attain the nobility of its thoughts, we are not perceived as despising the Lord’s command in our effort to discharge our duty worthily. Therefore let us examine the Scripture before us as best we can, for he [God] who has bidden us to search will bestow the power [to preach]. As it is written, “The Lord will give a word to those who preach it with much power.”
The teaching of Ecclesiastes pertains only to suitable behavior in the church, that is, how to direct a person in virtue. This book aims to elevate our minds above the senses, to abandon great, brilliant and noble appearances, to transcend the senses and to attain what transcends them.Perhaps this inscription refers to the leader of the church [ekklēsia]. The true Ecclesiastes [ekklēsiastes, Christ] gathers into one assembly those persons who often have been scattered and frequently deceived. Who could he be except the true king of Israel to whom Nathaniel said, “You are the son of God and the king of Israel”? If these words pertain to the king of Israel, the Son of God, as the Gospel says, then he is called Ecclesiastes. We will not deviate from the inscription’s meaning provided that we learn about him who firmly establishes the church through the Gospel and to whom these words apply. “The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David”: thus Matthew begins his gospel with the name David and calls him Lord.
Now the teaching of this book looks exclusively to the conduct of the church and gives instruction in those things by which one would achieve the life of virtue. For the object of what is said here is to raise the mind above sensation, to persuade it to abandon all that seems to be great and splendid in the world of existence, to catch a glimpse through the eyes of the soul of those things which are unattainable by sense perception, and to conceive a desire for those things to which sense does not attain. Perhaps the title of the book also envisages the one who leads the church (ekkl&#;sia). For the true Ecclesiast [is] he who collects into one body what has been scattered and assembles (ekkl&#;siazon) into one whole those who have been led astray in many ways by various deceits. Who else would he be but the true King of Israel, the Son of God, to whom Nathanael said, “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”? If therefore these are words of the King of Israel, and this same one is also the Son of God, as the gospel says, then the same one is called Ecclesiast (Assembler). Perhaps we may not unreasonably give this sense to the expression used in the title, so that we may learn by this that the meaning of these words has reference to him who established the church forever through the gospel message. Words, it says, of the Ecclesiast, the Son of David. And Matthew so names him at the beginning of his gospel, calling the Lord “Son of David.”
Question: [Are the] words of Ecclesiastes said by the author personally?Answer: Actually the Spirit is the author of the divinely inspired Scriptures. The Spirit inspires so that words are expressed, but the wise man is also involved. For the Spirit has not himself invisibly written the letter and put down the text, but he breathes it into the soul. Either the real author is Solomon, or some [other] wise men have written it. Maybe we should opt for the latter so that nobody may say that the speaker talks about himself.
Solomon, who here appears as Ecclesiastes, that is, who preaches what is appropriate for the church, is the son of David. He came after Saul, whose rule was destroyed and terminated. Solomon is son of this king David in two ways.… The first is according to nature and lineage; the second is according to his teaching. One has to understand Paul in this [second] way when he says, “For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” David thus was Solomon’s father in both respects: according to nature—Solomon was his heir and “David begot Solomon”—but he was also his father in terms of instruction. David was wise as only few are—especially wise regarding God.…But Solomon also became wise in a way that few achieve: he became wise through the wisdom [he received] and through his human lineage. According to both ways Solomon thus was the son of David.
But especially in terms of his words as Ecclesiastes is he the son of David, not so much according to nature as according to instruction. For the sons of the wise beget wise people, since they are wise themselves. But someone who is father of a son according to nature does not necessarily become a father again. Many were sons and did not become fathers. The sons according to the Spirit, however, become fathers themselves.
The church is [the assembly] of pure souls. It is the true knowledge of the ages and worlds and about their judgment and provision. Ecclesiastes is Christ, the author of that knowledge. Or, Ecclesiastes is one who, having purified the soul by moral contemplation, leads his or her soul to the contemplation of the physical [world].
Solomon is here given the Greek name Ecclesiastes [Heb Qōhelet], for he gathers the assembly [qāhāl], that is, the church. But we can call him the Preacher because he speaks to the people and his word is directed not only to one person but to everyone.
"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King in Jerusalem." The
Scriptures state very clearly that Solomon was known by three names: 'Peace-making', that is 'Solomon'; 'Yedidia',
that is 'beloved of Yahweh'; and the name used here 'Qoheleth', that is
Ecclesiastes. He is called Ecclesiastes
in Greek because he gathered together a crowd of people, "a congregation", which we can call a demagogue because he spoke to
the people and his sermon was not addressed specifically to one man but more
usually to all men. Moreover he is
called 'peace-making' and 'beloved of Yahweh' because there was peace during
his reign and the Lord loved him. For
also Psalm 44, and 71, are known by titles connected with love and
peace-making. Although these psalms
pertain to Christ and the Church they exhibit Solomon's joy and strength, and
according to tradition were composed concerning Solomon.
He also produced an equal number of titles to the three volumes: "Proverbs", "Ecclesiastes", and "Song of
Songs". He teaches for children in "Proverbs" and gives instruction in the
form of maxims almost with a sense of duty, and his sermons here are repeated
continually to his son. In "Ecclesiastes" he teaches a man of mature
age that he should not think anything in the world to be perpetual, but that
all things that we perceive are in fact vain and fleeting. In "Song
of Songs" he embraces an elderly man in the covenant, who has already been
prepared in spurning his times. For
unless we first abandon our moral failings and renounce the pomposity of our
world, and prepare ourselves so we are ready for the arrival of Christ, we will
not be able to say: "let him kiss
me from the kiss of his mouth" [Cant. 1,1.]. Philosophers educate their followers in a
manner similar to this type of instruction: first of all they teach ethics,
then explain physics, and then anyone whom they see to excel in these first two
they then go on to teach theology.
Moreover even this should be examined more closely because Solomon is
named differently in the three books. In
"Proverbs" for example he is thus
named: "The Proverbs of Solomon, the son
of David, King of Israel." [Prov. 1,1.] But in Ecclesiastes: "The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King of Jerusalem. "'Israel'
in fact is unnecessary here because it is not found in the Greek or Latin
manuscripts. But in "Song of Songs" he is neither named 'son of David', not 'King of
Israel' or 'King of Jerusalem', but only as "The
Song of Songs of Solomon". This is
just as the Proverbs and the crude arrangement pertain to the twelve tribes and
to the whole of Israel. And although the
contempt of the world only comes to city-dwellers, these are the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, therefore Solomon intends "Song
of Songs" particularly for those who desire spiritual enlightenment. To those readers just embarking on their
education paternal honour and the authority of the king are claimed in their
own merit, but to those who have completed their learning, and in the case
where the disciple has been enlightened not by fear, but by love, his own name
suffices. Then, he is equal to his
teacher and he is unaware that he is a king.
This is the case here. But in a
more spiritual understanding Solomon was peace making and beloved of the Lord
God, and Ecclesiastes can be seen as our Christ too, who destroying the inner
wall and expelling evil from his flesh, makes each of them one, saying -
"I give you my peace, I relinquish my peace to you" [John 14, 27.],
about which the Lord says to his disciples "This is my chosen son whom I
love: listen to him" [Matt. 3, 17.],
and that is he who is father of the Church.
Speaking by no means to the Synagogue of the Jews but to the crowd of
people the King of Jerusalem (that which was built out of the living rocks, not
that about which he says "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill
prophets" [Matth. 23, 37.],
and "Look, let your empty house be left for us" [Matth. 23, 38.]),
but that by which it is forbidden to swear because it is the city of a great
king. This is the son of David, to whom
the blind cried out in the Gospel: "pity us, son of David"; and the
whole crowd sang out in unison: "Hosanna to the son of David". Then there is the fact that the word of God
does not come to him as is the case with Jeremiah and the other prophets, but
on account of his being rich, being a king, holding power, his wisdom and his
other virtues, he speaks to the men of the church himself, and he speaks words
to the apostles about which Psalm 18.5 tells us: "their sound went out to
the whole world and their words went to the ends of the earth". Some scholars think wrongly, therefore, that
we are tempted into desire and luxury by this book, when it teaches quite to
the contrary: everything we perceive in the world is vain; nor is it fitting
for us to seek those things eagerly which perish while we possess them.
This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth,) because in it, Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world: to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys.
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This verse
The book opens by naming its speaker, the Preacher, a gatherer and teacher of wisdom who is the son of David and king in Jerusalem, long understood to be Solomon.
“The words”
Dâbâr, word or speech, here the Preacher’s whole teaching gathered into one book.
“of the Preacher,”
Qôheleth, the one who assembles, a teacher who gathers hearers and gathers wisdom to give them. The form is feminine, though it names a man, and may point to his office.
“the son of David,”
Bên, son. With the next phrase it points to Solomon, and the same pairing opens Proverbs (Proverbs 1:1).
“king in Jerusalem.”
He speaks from the seat of Israel’s power, with access to everything the world could give, which is why his verdict on it carries such weight.
Passage studyEcclesiastes 1:1–3
Vanity of Vanities, Saith the Preacher
Summary
Ecclesiastes opens by naming its speaker, the Preacher, the son of David and king in Jerusalem, a man who had every wisdom, wealth and power this world can give. His first words are his verdict on all of it: “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Then he asks the question his whole book explores: what lasting profit does a man have from all his toil under the sun? These three verses tell us honestly how fleeting earthly life and labour are, and the book they open leads us to fear God, who alone gives our lives and our work a worth that lasts. In Christ, the greater Son of David, that answer is complete.
Who is the Preacher, the son of David?
The first verse works like a title page, naming whose words follow. “The words” translates dâbâr, which means word or speech, and in a separate sense a matter, affair or thing. Here it stands for the Preacher’s teaching as a whole, the body of observations and conclusions about life that fill the book.
“The Preacher” is qôheleth, a title unique to this book. It comes from a root meaning to assemble or gather, and in form it is a feminine participle, “one who assembles”, though it names a man. The feminine may point to an office or role, the work of teaching. The title fits both sides of what he does. He gathers people to hear him, as a lecturer or speaker, and he gathers wisdom, sayings and experience to set before them. The Hebrew title, Koheleth, is used as the speaker’s pen name, and English Bibles render it “the Preacher”.
He is “the son of David”, bên meaning son, and “king in Jerusalem”. Together these titles point to Solomon, David’s son, who reigned over Israel from Jerusalem from about 970 to 931 BC. God gave Solomon wisdom and largeness of heart, and his fame spread to the nations round about (1 Kings 4:29–34). His reign was a time of peace and prosperity, and he built the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6). The book of Proverbs opens in almost the same words: “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel” (Proverbs 1:1).
This gives weight to all that follows. The man about to call everything vanity had wisdom, wealth, power and pleasure in full measure, in the capital city of God’s people. When he weighs life under the sun and finds it wanting, he speaks from the height of human achievement, as one who has seen it all. If a king of his standing still had to search for lasting meaning, every one of us shares that longing.
Did Solomon write Ecclesiastes?
The book names its speaker only by his titles, and it has long been received as Solomon’s words. Believers differ on how to take that. Some hold that Solomon wrote it himself, out of his own testing of everything his wealth and wisdom could reach. Others hold that a later wise man of Israel, writing perhaps after the exile, spoke in Solomon’s voice as the Preacher, and they point to features of the book’s language. On either reading these are God’s words, and the Preacher speaks with the authority of a king who knew wisdom and had tasted all the world could offer.
Vanity of vanities
The Preacher’s first words after his title are the thesis of the whole book. “Vanity” translates hebel, whose base sense is breath or vapour. In Scripture it almost always carries a figurative sense: futility, something transitory and unsatisfactory, and sometimes a worthless idol. The picture behind it is something that looks substantial for a moment and then is gone, like a breath, leaving nothing behind.
“Vanity of vanities”, hebel hebalim, is the Hebrew way of forming a superlative, as “Holy of Holies” means the holiest place. So the phrase means utter vanity, the uttermost futility. The Preacher says it twice and then widens it to everything: “all is vanity.” Every human endeavour, achievement, pleasure and pursuit under the sun comes under that word when it is sought as an end in itself.
“Saith” is ʼâmar, the ordinary verb for saying, which can also mean to tell or to command. The weight of the verse lies in what he says. He states a conclusion drawn from long observation and experience, and the chapters that follow show how he reached it, as he tests wisdom, pleasure, wealth, toil and power one after another and finds that none of them gives lasting satisfaction.
Other Scripture speaks of man’s life in the same way. David prays, “verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psalm 39:5). Isaiah sets the passing of all flesh against what lasts: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:6–8). Paul counts everything that was gain to him as loss for Christ (Philippians 3:7–8). And Paul also writes, in the KJV’s English word, that “the creature was made subject to vanity”, so that the whole creation groans as it waits for its deliverance (Romans 8:20–22). The emptiness the Preacher sees belongs to a world estranged from its Creator.
Is Ecclesiastes a pessimistic book?
Ecclesiastes is honest, and its honesty leads somewhere good. The Preacher tells the truth about the limits of life when it is weighed by earthly measures alone, and he shows how empty it is to look for final satisfaction in anything apart from God. That sobering verdict clears the way for the book’s conclusion: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
So “all is vanity” is a hard truth meant to turn us toward God. The Preacher is realistic about this world in order to point beyond it, and the book’s dark tone serves that purpose. It calls us to look past the created to the Creator for our purpose.
What profit hath a man of all his labour?
Verse 3 turns the declaration into a question, the one the Preacher pursues through the rest of the book. “Profit” is yithrôwn, from a root meaning to be preeminent or to gain. It has a ring of trade about it: surplus, net gain, advantage, what is left on the balance when all the costs are paid. The Preacher is asking what lasting return a person has after spending effort, years and life itself.
“A man” is ʼâdâm, a human being, or humanity as a whole. The question concerns every person, because labour and striving are common to us all. “Labour” is ʻâmâl, toil and wearing effort, and also worry and grief. It is work that wears down the body and the mind, the long and often frustrating striving that fills so much of human life.
In Israel, hard work, wealth and wisdom were rightly esteemed, and people expected them to lead to a good life. The Preacher presses further and asks whether any of them yields lasting happiness or an enduring legacy. He asks it as a rhetorical question, and later he gives his own answer after testing his great works: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). A psalm makes the same point about wealth, for wise men die and leave their riches to others, and “man being in honour abideth not” (Psalm 49:10–12). The verses that follow this one describe the wearying rounds of life and nature that keep turning while nothing truly changes (Ecclesiastes 1:3–11).
What does “under the sun” mean?
“Under the sun” marks out the Preacher’s field of view: life as it is lived and seen on the earth, everything that happens in this passing, material world. The phrase is a hallmark of Ecclesiastes and comes almost thirty times. He uses it of what he watches: “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and “I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there” (Ecclesiastes 3:16). Within those limits, judged by what human eyes can see, our labour leaves no surplus that lasts, and its frustrations stand out. Each time the phrase returns, it reminds us of the edge of the Preacher’s view, and that the lasting answer must come from the God who is above the sun.
Christ, the greater Son of David
A son of David who reigned in Jerusalem and searched for lasting meaning points us to the true Son of David. Matthew opens his Gospel with “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1), and Jesus reigns as King over all creation. The Preacher’s wisdom was vast, yet it showed the need for something beyond human reach. Christ is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), the one “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). God has made him unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is the Word who was with God in the beginning and by whom all things were made (John 1:1–3), and he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Earthly kingdoms pass away, but Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), and his reign is free of the decay that marks them. Against the breath-like pleasures of this world he offers living water: “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst” (John 4:13–14).
Jesus also asks a question about profit, and it carries the Preacher’s question to its deepest point: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26). He measures gain by the eternal destiny of the soul. And Paul gives believers the answer to verse 3: “your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Work done in Christ and for his glory becomes service with eternal worth. Its reward is “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 1:4), and “a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4), a true and lasting profit that nothing under the sun can supply.
Labour that lasts
These verses give us a true account of the world. The things our age urges us to gather, wealth, status, power and even knowledge, pass like a breath when they are chased for their own sake, and a king who had them all says so plainly. That truth is a kindness, because it frees us from a treadmill that never ends.
The same book that calls all things vanity goes on to point us to the God who gives them, so that his gifts, even the plain ones of daily life, can be received with joy. In Christ our work has a purpose that reaches past the sun, and the Lord who calls us to fear him has promised that labour done for him is never lost. On that foundation a life is built that will not dissipate like breath.
Ecclesiastes 1:1 This verse
“The words”
Dâbâr, word or speech, here the Preacher’s whole teaching gathered into one book.
“of the Preacher,”
Qôheleth, the one who assembles, a teacher who gathers hearers and gathers wisdom to give them. The form is feminine, though it names a man, and may point to his office.
“the son of David,”
Bên, son. With the next phrase it points to Solomon, and the same pairing opens Proverbs (Proverbs 1:1).
“king in Jerusalem.”
He speaks from the seat of Israel’s power, with access to everything the world could give, which is why his verdict on it carries such weight.
Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Vanity of vanities,”
Hebel is breath or vapour, and so futility, something fleeting and unsatisfying. Doubled, it is a superlative: utter vanity.
“saith the Preacher,”
ʼÂmar is the plain verb for saying. The force of the verse comes from the words he says and from the man who says them.
“vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
The cry is repeated and then widened to everything under the sun, every pursuit sought as an end in itself. The book’s last word on it is to fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
Ecclesiastes 1:3
“What profit hath a man”
Yithrôwn is surplus or net gain, what is left over after all the cost. ʼÂdâm makes the question one for every human being. The question expects the reader to see that there is no lasting gain within the world’s own terms (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
“of all his labour”
ʻÂmâl is toil that wearies, with worry and grief in it, the burdensome striving of daily life.
“which he taketh under the sun?”
The book’s recurring phrase for life as it is lived and seen on earth. Jesus asks a deeper question of profit, measured by the soul (Matthew 16:26), and in the Lord our labour is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
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