“While I was still independent and unordained, nothing seemed to be beyond my grasp; at one time I considered becoming a knight and entering the lists. But after I was called into the pastoral office I was (truly) put to school and learned: I am nothing.” — Nicholas Selnecker, one of the authors of the Formula of Concord.Ecclesiastes means “the Teacher” based on the title the author gives himself seven times in the beginning, middle and end of the book (1:1,2,12; 7:27; 12:8,9,10). The author identifies himself with Solomon, “the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1; 1:16; 2:4-8). Solomon’s time on the throne was 970 – 930 BC. Some have seen Ecclesiastes as a repentant poem at the end of his reign. A question about the date is sometimes raised by certain words in the original text that are more common with later Hebrew, but we need to remember that Solomon was one of the wisest and best educated men of his time, and for the occasional foreign (Aramaic) word to pop up in his speech is no different than an educated man in our circles dropping a Latin phrase like quid pro quo, or quoting Shakespeare.
The purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes is to convince the readers that the Creator, not his creation, is to be prized most of all. In Jewish synagogues, Ecclesiastes is the historical lesson read in the fall every year during the Feast of Tabernacles. Lutheran churches do not follow this custom, but regular reading of Scripture will bring Ecclesiastes before our eyes whether we read our Bibles about once each year or every three years.
The book falls into a few broad categories:
1. Introduction, 1:1-18
2. Pleasure, wisdom and folly (2:1-26)
3. A time for everything (3:1-22)
4. Oppression and advancement (4:1-5:7)
5. Riches (5:8-6:12)
6. Wisdom (7:1-8:1)
7. Obedience (8:2-9:12)
8. Wisdom is better than folly (9:13-10:20)
9. Bread Upon the Waters (11:1-12:14)
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." (NIV)
These are incredibly strong words, meant to give a strong impression. On the surface, this seems to be the theme of Ecclesiastes -- except that it isn't. The real idea that Solomon is trying to give to us is something else. Think of the listener as a person newly attracted to the faith, a person "of the outer court" of Jerusalem. He's wondering what Judaism -- the true faith -- has for him besides membership in this culture that sits like a beautiful oasis on the edge of the great Eastern Desert. Solomon tells him: All the beauty around you doesn't mean anything unless you know who made it. Look at me, he will say, I've tried it all. But it's not worth a pile of magic beans without the Lord.
The purpose of Ecclesiastes is to show the reader that the Creator, not his creation, is to be prized most of all.
Note: One of the strongest arguments about the language of Ecclesiastes is the use of the Hebrew word sheh- rather than asher as a relative pronoun. The pronoun sheh- occurs 57 times in the twelve chapters, but 28 of those are in the first two chapters. The more common Hebrew asher (“who, which”) occurs 82 times, and the variation between the two terms may simply be one of style. In fact, the Hebrew of Ecclesiastes is very simplistic, with a tendency toward a very elementary grammar. In other words, Ecclesiastes is grammatically the Dr. Seuss of the Bible.
