Introduction to Ecclesiastes

Let’s begin our journey into the book of Ecclesiastes with a brief introduction . The author referred to himself as “the Preacher.” In the opening verse of the book he made two claims: namely that he was the son of David and that he was the king in Jerusalem. It is believed that he was none other than King Solomon, a man of great wisdom.

The term, “the Preacher” is taken from the Hebrew word “Koheleth” meaning one who addresses an assembly. And the term “Ecclesiastes” is the Greek version of the word “Koheleth.” It was the title given to this book in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The word “Ecclesia” means an assembly of the called-out ones – the church. And Ecclesiastes means the leader of the “Ecclesia.”  So, we know that the author saw himself as the leader of the assembled people of God. 

A quick scan of the book gives us a very pessimistic outlook of life that Solomon had gathered through personal experiences, researches and observations of what went on in the life of others. To him everything was vanity and meaninglessness. He portrayed life as one deplorable joke and death seemed to be the punchline. We can’ t help but to get the appalling impression that life is just a cycle of grim and gloom that goes on endlessly and meaninglessly. We get the ugly picture of the exploitation and oppression. Then there was the abuse of justice. What about the hardworking people failing to enjoy the benefit of their hard work? Worst of all, everyone, both man and animal, all share the same end – death. Wisely, Solomon asked many questions and then realized that knowledge, what he and all of mankind know and will ever know, is but a little fraction of all that is to be known. That fact so overwhelmed him that he saw no perfect answer to the mysteries surrounding human existence. Since we can never answer all the questions to the mysteries of life, one has to learn to cope with life.

As one carefully examines this book we will discover that the author had very artfully put together a piece of writing that depict what life would be without God.  The climatic and triumphant conclusion found is in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. It says: “The conclusion, when all has been heard is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”