The purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes is declared in the prologue “Meaningless! Meaningless! …” and the general conclusion is stated in the epilogue. At the end the author says to “fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man”, that one day we will have to give an account to Him. The book very often returns to the word vanity suggesting the uselessness and deceptiveness of life.
People try to search for significance and meaning in life by self-indulgence in riches such as money and property, looking at nature, positions and titles of authority, intelligence and religion. However, each one of these and any others will eventually lead to frustrations in the world and not provide the solution that one is searching for. The theme for the book is basically that satisfaction can only be found in God. The big question is that if God exists and is concerned for the response that man has towards God, then why is life so difficult and frustrating. The answer is found in verse 7:29 “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”
The book of Ecclesiastes is generally thought of as an extreme case of pessimism and because of this, many have questioned it’s inclusion into the canon of Scripture. Though this book is in the category of wisdom literature, the specific genre of the book is somewhat uncertain. It shares literary forms much like that of Proverbs such as aphorisms which are short truth statements and admonitions which are imperative or jussive forms of advice. But it also includes a didactic narrative, or a short story with a moral.
The majority of the book was written such that it takes the form of a monologue spoken by a character called ‘(the) Qoheleth’, which probably has teacher as it’s closest meaning.
Historically, the book has been accredited to Solomon which is supported in the opening verse in which the author, Qoheleth, is describes as the “son of David, king in Jerusalem.” And once again in 1:12 the author states “I, the Teacher [Qoheleth], was king over Israel in Jerusalem.” However, as Young notes, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the words and teachings of Qoheleth were authored at a later date by someone other than Solomon:
On the other hand, granting that Solomonic authorship cannot be ruled out, one must fairly ask how strong is the case that Solomon should be equated with Qoheleth? Certainly his identification as the “son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1) strengthens the identification. However, it must be realized that any king of Judah could be identified as a “son of David.” Though the claim in 1:16 of being wiser than all who ruled Jerusalem before him initially appears practically moot in the mouth of Solomon (who was preceded only by his father, David), the possibility that he is including non-Israelite kings over Jerusalem and the unlikelihood of a successor to Solomon plausibly making such a claim would favor identification of Solomon as Qoheleth. It must still be asked, though, why the name of Solomon was avoided. If solomon was Qoheleth, why not just say so? If there is some attempt to conceal Solomon’s identity, it certainly was not totally successful — nor was it very heartily attempted. Perhaps the title was a well-known one for Solomon and no other identification was necessary.
E.J. Young, E.J. 1960. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan
Generally, it is agreed that the book was composed at a later time since the work seems to have been known by Ben Sira. A date between the fifth and second centuries is probable.
The book questions the meaninglessness of nature, wealth, and the riches life has to offer and then looks at the divine order of life. The frustration of politics and life in general is studied, and then a standpoint of life in view of death. The author goes on to give some wise proverbs about relationships, planning, speech and thought. Towards the end, we find the wisdom for the future and the present, the frustrations of ages past, and the author concludes with his epilogue, the credibility of the author and his “conclusion of the matter.”
Biblical Studies 