Overview: Ecclesiastes

The Book of Ecclesiastes. It is part of the wisdom literature of the Bible and begins with this line: The words of "Ecclesiastes", the son of David, king in Jerusalem. In Hebrew, the word "Kohelet" means someone who has gathered people together in this case to teach. And many times in English it is translated 'teacher' and it is said that this teacher is the son or descendant of King David. There are different opinions about who this figure could have been. Many think it refers to King Solomon, others perhaps to one of the later kings of the line of David.

While others think that this is a later Israelite teacher who has adopted a Solomon-like character as the teacher's assistant. Whichever is correct, the key is to recognize that the teacher is a character in the book, distinct from the author of the book, who remains anonymous. Thus we hear the professor's voice throughout most of the book, but it is a different voice than the author's, who introduces us to the professor in the first sentence. And then at the end he closes the book, summarizing and evaluating everything the teacher just said. The author is someone who wants us to listen to everything the teacher has to say and then helps us consider it and come to our own conclusion.

So what does the teacher have to say? The author summarizes the basic message of the master at the beginning and the end and it is "Hevel", "Hevel", everything is completely "Hevel". Most English Bibles translate this word "hevel" as nonsense, but that doesn't really capture the essence of the idea. In Hebrew "hevel" literally means vapor or smoke, and the master uses this word 38 times in the book as a metaphor to describe how life is primarily temporary or transitory like a cloud of smoke; but secondly, that life is also an enigma or a paradox. Like smoke, life seems shapely and stable, but when you try to grasp it, there is nothing there.

There is so much beauty and goodness in the world, but just when you are enjoying life, tragedy strikes and everything seems to disappear. We all have a strong sense of justice, but bad things happen to good people all the time, so life is constantly unpredictable. It is unstable, or in the words of the master like "an attempt to catch the wind" - "hevel". This is somewhat disappointing. So why does he say all this? The basic purpose is to address all the ways we try to give meaning and purpose to our lives without God. And allow the teacher to analyze them.

So the author thinks that we spend most of our time and energy on things that ultimately have no meaning or importance for our entire life. He allows the teacher to teach us a difficult lesson, and indeed this can be seen most clearly in the opening and closing poems, which focus first on time and then on death. Therefore, the teacher says that you can spend your entire life working and contributing because you believe that this makes your life meaningful. You really have to stop and consider the passage of time. Despite all the human effort in the world, nothing really changes.

Of course! We develop technology and build nations, which rise and fall, but go climb a mountain and see if it impresses you. It has been there long before us and it will be there long after us. In reality, no one will remember you or anything you did in a hundred years. But that mountain will still be there and the ocean will still crash on the beach and the sun will still rise and set. Then someday time will erase you and me and everything we care about. And if this wasn't discouraging enough, the professor also keeps talking about death throughout the book; but especially in this poem near the end, she says that death is the great equalizer that makes most of our daily activities meaningless.

It devours the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor; No matter who we are, whether we have done good or evil, we will all die and that is inevitable. So, with these two ideas in mind, the teacher examines all the activities and false hopes in which we invest our lives to find meaning and significance, such as wealth, career or status, and social pleasures. Therefore, you think that if you work hard you will add value to life. But he thinks about the stress and fatigue caused by all the worries and sleepless nights. And when you finally achieve some wealth, you'll be too old to enjoy it anyway. and when the time comes to pass his fortune on to someone else, that person may not even know what he has done.

Or maybe you think that pleasure will make life worth living for you. Try it, live for your vacations and weekend parties; Monday will always come. "Hevel", "Hevel", everything is completely "Hevel". So why does the teacher raise his voice? That we become pure hedonists or relativists? Not really! She would also be "Hevel." The teacher accepts the ideas of Proverbs, that living according to the wisdom and fear of God has real advantages; that, overall, life can get better for you. The problem is that even living with wisdom and fear of God is also "Hevel", because they do not guarantee a good life.

Good people die tragically and terrible people live long and prosper. There are so many exceptions that wisdom itself is Hevel. Again, not nonsense but an enigma, because wisdom doesn't always work the way you think it should. So what is the way forward in the midst of all this hell? Here, paradoxically, the master reveals that the key to truly enjoying life under the Sun is to accept the Hevel, to accept that everything in your life is out of your control. About six different times, in some of the loneliest moments of his monologue, the maestro talks about God's gift of enjoying the simple, good things in life, like friendship or family, a good meal or a sunny day. .

You can't control these things and they certainly aren't guaranteed. But therein lies the beauty: when I manage to maintain an attitude of complete faith in God, I free myself to simply enjoy life as I experience it, not as I think it should be, because even my expectations that this is how life should be, in the end it is "Hevel", "Hevel". Everything under the sun is completely "hevel." And so, the professor's words come to an end. And right at the end, the author speaks again and concludes by saying that it is important to listen to the teacher's words.

He compares them to a shepherd's crook with a point on the end, which can cause you pain when he touches you; but he says that the teacher is trying to lead you in the right direction towards greater wisdom. The author then warns us that you can misinterpret the teacher's words and spend your entire life drowning in books, trying to answer existential riddles. Don't try because you will never succeed. Then, the author offers his conclusion and it is this: “Fear God and keep his commandments”; This is the entire duty of the people. For God will judge every work and everything hidden, whether good or bad.

Therefore, the author thinks that it is good to let the teacher challenge your false hopes and remind you that time and death make your life completely out of your control, but what gives true meaning to life is hope. of God's judgment, the hope that one day God will clear up all "Hevel" and bring true justice to our world. And it is this hope that should compel us to live a life of honesty and integrity before God, even though I remain baffled by most of life's mysteries. And this is the wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes. Contact us: [email protected]