AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES

The superscription identifies the author as the "Preacher," which is a loose translation of the Hebrew text. Based on this, the Septuagint (LXX), the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, gives the book the name from which our word "Ecclesiastes" is derived.

The identity of the author is problematic, although the traditional ascription has been to King Solomon. The strongest evidence in the text against Solomon as the writer is the allusion to a line of kings over Jerusalem PRIOR TO the author's time (Ecc.1v16). Hence, it is best to treat the author as an anonymous one, and this is consistent with the fact that Solomon's name nowhere appears in the work. Ecclesiastes gives us a glimpse into the life of one who had the means to pursue happiness through any avenue. He had tried wisdom, pleasure, alcohol, human achievement, the fruits of great riches, and sex, but he concluded that all of this was emptiness (Ecc.2v11).

He was deeply troubled by injustice in this life. Many good men suffer while the wicked prosper in their wickedness. Regardless of how righteously a man tries to live, he ends up in the same grave as any other man--or beast! A man can do all the right things, but "chance" can still cancel it all out. The pessimism of this book is as pronounced as is the optimism of Proverbs. Only at the end does the author tell us what he found to be the real source of meaning in life--reverence for God (Ecc.12v13-14). He had left God out of the picture in his search for happiness. This is the book for the secular humanist to read, because it shows how utterly meaningless and unjust life is in a closed system where God does not play an effective role. The author's solution is that true happiness is found only when we revere God as the center of our lives!

Return to Ecclesiastes

Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /