Notes on the Book of Ecclesiastes, I

(Chapters One through Six)

Introduction

Like the other series of Notes on this Home Page, this document follows an identical format. That is to say, it contains brief–even terse–notations on the most important words of the Book of Ecclesiastes from the vantage point of lectio divina. Despite the rather sparse presentation, this document is not intended to be “another commentary” but a means to employ the original Hebrew words to carry out this venerable practice of lectio divina or sacred reading. As exposed here, a primary way of effecting this is by a close consideration of the Hebrew verbal root system. Although the Hebrew language is limited in comparison with others, this apparent deficiency allows greater depth and expansion on a vertical plane, if you will. Various threads of meaning are more connected than they appear at first glance but on a level generally inaccessible to anyone not familiar with the language. That is why the bulk of these Notes is transliterated. The reader may find all these transliterated words and phrases burdensome, however, they are specifically used to demonstrate the Hebrew verbal root system as perhaps the best way to practice lectio divina.

The English text of the Bible used throughout is the New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. The Introduction to Ecclesiastes of that Revised Standard Edition well sums up the theme of this book: “Ecclesiastes contains the reflections of a philosopher rather than a testimony of belief”...not in a complicated, analytical fashion but one garnered through personal experience.

For easier scrolling and reading, this document is published in two sections, I and II. Section I is complete; Section II is yet to be posted.

At a later point, a Supplement to Ecclesiastes will be found at the end of the completed text which is composed of transliterated Hebrew words used only in this book.

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Chapter One

Vs. 1: The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

-Words (davar, singular): from the common verbal root “to speak.”

-Preacher (Qoheleth): the name of the author of this book (“Son of David” or King Solomon) which occurs only within Ecclesiastes; it derives from the verbal root qahal, to gather together, to assemble. Its first use in the Bible is Ex 32.1: “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron.” Usually qahal has a religious connotation, assembling for prayer, etc. A preacher expresses himself through words and well as through an assembly of people, hence the close connection between davar and Qoheleth.

Vs. 2: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

-Vanity (hevel): the theme of Ecclesiastes which occurs five times in this verse alone. This noun comes from a verbal root meaning “to breathe,” “to exhale” and commonly suggests anything transitory. For another sense, cf. two references: 1) Job 7.16: “Let me alone, for my days are a breath.” 2) Is 30.7: “For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty.” Compare the outward breathing of hevel with ruach (breath, spirit) which is close in meaning. However, the latter seems to imply breathing from the nostrils as opposed to the mouth and alternately can mean “to smell.”

-“All:” or everything both in nature and in human affairs which sets the stage for a distinction between these things and that which endures as symbolized in vs. 4 by “the earth remains forever.”

Vs. 3: What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

-Man (‘adam): often used as person compared with ‘ysh, man opposed to woman.

-Gain (yitron): only occurs in Ecclesiastes: 2.11, 13; 3.9; 5.9, 16; 7.12; 10.10, 11. This noun derives from yatar (to abound, be superior).

-“Man:” prefixed by the preposition l- (to, towards), “to a man” and shows the close connection between a person and the negative implications of “gain.”

-Toil (hamal): in the sense of producing weariness. “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” [Gen 41.51]. “All” is used with respect to this noun and may be compared with “all is vanity.” This word is prefixed by the preposition b- (in), literally as “in all his toil.” Compare b- with l-, “to man in all his toil.”

-Toils: the verb hamal from which the noun is derived.

-“Under the sun.” A phrase frequently used in Ecclesiastes: 1.9, 14; 2.11, 17, 18,19, 20; 3.16; 4.1, 3, 7, 15; 5.13, 18; 6.1, 12; 8.9, 15, 17; 9.3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 10.5. It suggests the heat required by such toil. A similar sentiment is found in Ex 18.11, “He (God) delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.” Compare with “under heaven” as in vs. 13, also frequently occurring in Ecclesiastes.

Vs. 4: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

-Generation (dur): alternately as “age,” “period” and used here without the definite article which re-enforces the endless cycle of human birth and death. This sense if intensified by “goes” and “comes.” Another use of this term is Gen 5.1, “These are the generations of Adam.” The first use of dur is in 2.4 with reference to non-human coming into existence, “The generations of the heavens and the earth.”

-Earth (‘erts). Such stability comes to mind with Gen 1.1, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Often ‘erts (as ‘land’) refers to a particular place which has been set aside for a definite reason: “To your descendants I will give this land” [Gen 12.7].

-Remains (hamad): in the sense of standing or abiding. “For now no strength remains in me” [Dan 10.17]. Also cf. 2.9, “Also my wisdom remained with me.” Such hamad is in conjunction with ‘eretz or earth considered to endure permanently.

Vs. 5: The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

-The previous verse has the earth remaining forever. Contrast this stability with the movability depicted in vss. 5-7: sun, wind and streams.

-Rises (zarach): suggests scattering as rays and used twice in this verse. The second refers to the dawn of a new day but a day which does not differ from the previous one or others before (as well as after) it. This second use (in the context of ‘hastening’) applies to the period from sunset to dawn. “The sun rose upon him (Jacob) as he passed Penuel” [Gen 32.31]. Also cf. Is 60.2, “But the Lord shall arise upon you.”

-Goes down (bo’): the common verb meaning “to enter,” “to come in.”

-Hastens (sha’aph): fundamentally “to breathe hard,” “to pant” and the only use of the verb with this meaning. “Now I will cry out like a woman in travail, I will gasp and pant” [Is 42.14].

-Place (maqom): alternately as “habitation,” “village.” Maqom also applies to a special position set aside from other places and is first used in Gen 1.9: “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”

Vs. 6: The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

-Wind (ruach): the same word for “spirit.” This term is frequently mentioned in Ecclesiastes, especially symbolic of vanity. The first use as “wind” is found in Gen 8.1, “God made a wind blow over the earth.”

-Blows (halak): the common word for “to go.” Here it blows to the south or darom which is derived from a verbal root meaning “to fly in a circle,” “to wheel in flight.” “You whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind” [Job 37.17]. For a different meaning of the same word, “To proclaim liberty to the captives” [Is 61.1].

-North (tsaphon): from a verbal root meaning “to hide,” possibly inferring darkness. “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind” [Sg 4.16]!

-Goes round (savav): with reference to tsaphon. The verb suggests turning as well as surrounding. “The watchmen found me as they went about in the city” [Sg 3.3]. In the verse at hand, savav is found three times. In the last two instances it is used in conjunction with halak (goes).

-Circuits (savyv, singular): from the verbal root savav. For another use, “Let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared” [Ps 76.11].

Vs. 7: All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

-Streams (nachal, singular). This noun can symbolize destruction: “The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me” [Ps 18.4].

-Run (halak): as found in the previous verse, “to blow.” In the verse at hand, “streams” and “run” are similar in sound: hanchalym/holekym.

-Place (maqom): as in vs. 5 with reference to the sun.

-Note the similar sounds words of “there” and “flow again:” sham/shavym. “Flow again” is used in conjunction with the verb halak.

Vs. 8: All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

-“All things” (davar, singular): from the common verbal root meaning “to speak.” This noun alternately means “word.”

-Full of weariness (yagah): alternately as “to be fatigued,” “to labor.” “But you have been weary of me, O Israel” [Is 43.22]!

-Utter (davar): as noted in this same section, the verbal root for “things.”

-“Not satisfied” (savah); also in 4.8, 5.10 and 6.7. “The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted” [Ps 104.16].

-Filled (mala’). “I am full of words” [Job 32.18]. In the verse at hand, mala’ is used with respect to hearing. This verb is similar in meaning to savah yet connotes more a spacial fullness.

Vs. 9: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.

-References to “being” and “doing.” Cf. 3.15: “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” In the verse at hand, the author is not specific and can possibly mean human affairs of both the past and present. Also included may be the almost infinite number of beings which had appeared (and will appear) on the earth.

-“Nothing new (chadash):” the fundamental notion of this adjective’s verbal root is “to polish,” “to shine:” “...and who was girded with a new sword” [2 Sam 21.16]. A noun derived from this root means new moon, usually referring to a religious festival: “On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt” [Ex 19.1].

-“Under the sun:” first used in 1.3. The sun is the greatest physical witness, as ot were, of all human activity and is akin to God’s omni-presence.

Vs. 10: Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new?” It has been already in the ages before us.

-Thing (davar): as in vs. 8, “All things are full of weariness.” As noted there, the noun is derived from the verbal root “to speak.” Compare with ‘amar (to say) used in the verse at hand.

-New (chadash): as in vs. 9.

-Ages (holam, singular): only use of this noun in Ecclesiastes. It essentially means anything which is hidden for a long time. “These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown” [Gen 6.4]. “Before us” refers to the past, and in the context of Ecclesiastes, such newness most likely will be repeated in the future.

Vs. 11: There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after.

-Remembrance (zikron): from the verbal root zakar and from which is derived the noun “male.” Zikron connotes the act of birth where remembrance of the former generation is projected into the present and future. For another related use, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua” [Ex 17.14].

-Former things (ri’shon, singular): from a noun whose primary meaning is “head,” “beginning,” “foremost.” The noun at hand alternately means “forefathers:” “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear my words” [Jer 11.10]. This noun is prefixed with the preposition l- (literally, “to”), and has the sense of “remembrance to (in the sense of ‘direction towards which’) former things.” It thus has a more poignant meaning, i.e., forgetfulness of what is important for the present.

-Later things (‘acharon, singular): related to an adverb meaning “after,” “what is behind.” For another sense, cf. Is 44.6: “I am the first (related to ri’shon) and I am the last.” Also the preposition l- is prefixed to this word. Note that the same preposition is used in the literal translation “not will be to them remembrance.” Thus there are four uses of l- in this verse, all conveying a lamentable condition with regards to the significance of one’s heritage.

Vs. 13: And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.

-Applied (natan): literally, “to give.” Ecclesiastes has three other references: 1.17, 8.9 & 16.

-Mind (lev): literally, “heart.” “O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind” [Ps 26.2]. In this verse, “heart” translates as “reins” or “kidneys.” Lev is used with two verbs:

          1) Seek (darash): literally, “to tread, “to beat,” which connotes searching in the sense of trampling down a field. “And Solomon and the assembly sought the Lord” [2 Chron 1.5].

          2) Search out (tur; also cf. 7.25). This verb connotes a traveling about as well as spying; for the latter, cf. Num 13.16: “These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land.” Darash implies a more vigorous, open form of searching whereas tur suggests something done in secret and unknown to other persons. Both verbs are prefaced with the preposition l- (to, towards) and connote a direction towards-which. Also the letter l in lev may be associated with it.

-Wisdom (chakmah): the object of both darash and tur as already noted. Compare the preposition l- prefixed to both verbs with the preposition b- (in) prefixed to this noun, suggesting “in wisdom.” The noun at hand fundamentally refers to skill or dexterity as Ex 31.6 reveals: “And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I commanded you.”

-Another preposition used in the verse at hand is hal (on, upon): “on all which is done.” This common verb (hasah) is passive, almost as though the two verbs darash and tur control it or everything which is done “under heaven.”

-Business (hinyn). This noun is found only in Ecclesiastes (2.23, 26; 3.10; 4.8; 5.3, 14; 8.16). It is derived from the verb hanah which has multiple means: “to sing,” “to answer,” “to signify,” “to exercise oneself.”

-Unhappy (rah): basically as “evil.”

-Busy (hanah; also cf. 3.10): as just noted, this verb has multiple meanings and is the root for hinyan. It is the only use of this meaning in the Old Testament and connotes “affliction.”

Vs. 14: I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

-“Done under the sun:” compare with the previous verse, “done under heaven.”

-Behold (hineh): a demonstrative word which in this context seems to have gotten the attention of Ecclesiastes who uttered it. It is the first occurrence at this early stage in the book. The other four references are 2.1, 11; 4.1; 5.18.

-Striving (rehuth; also cf. 2.11, 17, 26; 4.4, 6; 6.9): an alternate meaning of this noun is “friend,” “female companion:” “...that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor” [Ex 11.2].

-Wind (ruach): as in vs. 6 and alternately as “spirit.” Note the similar sound between this word and rehuth.

Vs. 15: What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.

-Crooked (hawath): the only use of this verb in the Bible with this particular sense. Hawath can also imply perversion: “...and deal deceitfully with false balances” [Am 8.5]. It is used in 12.3 with another meaning, “and the strong men are bent.”

-Made straight (taqan): in addition to this verse, taqan is used only in 12.9 & 7.13; the Chaldean form is found in Dan 4.26: “My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom.”

-What was lacking (chesron): from the verbal root chasar: “Let not oil be lacking on your head” [9.8]. For another reference, “But you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be” [Dt 15.8].

-Be numbered (manah): has the fundamental meaning of being divided or assigned. For another sense, cf. Jon 2.1: “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”

Vs. 16: I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

-Myself (lev): cf. vs. 13, “And I applied my mind to seek and to search out.” As noted there, lev alternately translates as “heart.”

-Two uses of familiar verbs: said (davar) and “saying” (‘amar), the second being found in the Hebrew text, not in the English RSV. Also, hineh (behold, as in vs. 14) is inserted into the Hebrew text.

-Acquired great (gadal): this verb means “to be great,” “to value highly.” “What is man that you make so much of him” [Job 7.17]?

-Surpassing (yasaph; cf. 2.9): connotes the sense of adding from which the proper name “Joseph” is derived. “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more” [Ps 71.14].

-“Over Jerusalem:” the preposition hal; it is also used in this verse which literally reads, “surpassing all wisdom on all who were before me.” It we go with the tradition that the Book of Ecclesiastes was attributed to King Solomon, then the only person “before me” is his father, King David.

-Mind (lev): second use of this term in the same verse; also cf. vs. 13.

-Experience (ra’ah): the common verb “to see” which here is something the lev does and has two objects:

          1) Wisdom (chakmah): cf. vs. 13, “to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.”

          2) Knowledge (dahath): from the verbal root yadah which implies intimate acquaintance as in Gen 4.1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” For a use of the noun, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” [Hos 4.6].

Vs. 17: And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

-Mind (lev): as last noted in the previous verse.

-Applied (natan): the simple verb “to give.”

-To know (yadah): noted in the previous verse whose object here is:

          1) Wisdom (chakmah): cf. previous verse.

          2) Madness (hollelah): also in vss. 2.12, 7.25, 9.3. The alternate translation is “folly” and derives from a verbal root which fundamentally means “to be bright,” “to shine.” “He shows the diviners to be fools” [Is 44.25].

-Folly (sikloth). The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia which is used for this document has the Hebrew consonant shin whereas most dictionaries have the consonant samech. This word is found only here and in 2.3, 12, 13; 10.1, 13. It derives from a verbal root meaning “to be (to act) foolish.” “Behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly” [1 Sam 26.21].

-Perceived (yadah): second use of this verb in the same sentence.

-Striving (rahyon): alternately as “desire,” “study” and comes from the verbal root rahah meaning to pasture, to feed. It is also found in 2.22 and 4.16, the only instances of its occurrence in the Bible.

-Wind (ruach): first noted in 1.6. In the verse at hand, “after” is missing from the Hebrew text; no preposition is used.

Vs. 18: For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

-Wisdom or chakmah is equivalent to vexation (kahas; cf. 2.23 & 11.10). For an alternate meaning, “The Lord saw it and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and daughters” [Dt 32.19]. I.e., the verbal root suggests being irritated or provoked.

-Increases (yasaph, used twice). Cf. 1.16, “surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me.”

-Knowledge or dahath is equivalent to sorrow (mak’ov). “Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow” [Lam 1.12]. This noun derives from the verbal root ka’av, to cause (have) pain.”

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Chapter Two

Vs. 1: I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.

-Myself (lev): last noted in 1.17 as “mind.”

-Make a test (nasah): “After these things God tested Abraham” [Gen 22.1]. In the verse at hand, the object of this verb is pleasure or simchah. This noun does not necessarily have a negative connotation as the following shows: “...Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord...with rejoicing and with singing” [2 Chron 23.16].

-“Enjoy yourself:” the Hebrew text literally reads, “see in good.”

Vs. 2: I said of laughter, “Is it mad,” and of pleasure, “what use is it?”

-Laughter (sechoq; also 7.3, 6; 10.19): “He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting” [Job 8.21]. This noun is derived from the verbal root sachaq which often connotes derision: “The righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him” [Ps 52.6].

-Mad (meholal): from the verbal root halal which fundamentally refers to anything bright. “It is a land of images, and they are mad over idols” [Jer 50.38].

-Pleasure (simchah): cf. previous verse.

-Use (hosah): from the verbal root hasah, to do. “Any vessel that is used for any purpose” [Lev 11.32].

Vs. 3: I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine–my mind still guiding me with wisdom–and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

-Searched (tur): cf. 1.13 with respect to wisdom.

-Mind (lev): last use in 2.1.

-Cheer (mashak): literally, “to draw out.” “He seizes the poor when he draws him into his net” [Ps 10.9].

-Body (basar): alternately, “flesh.” “I have determined to make an end of all flesh” [Gen 6.13].

-Guiding (nahag): alternately, “to drive,” “to pant.” “And you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you” [Dt 4.27]. In the verse at hand, such guiding is done with wisdom or chakmah last noted in 1.18.

-Lay hold (‘achaz): connotes seizing: “Catch for us the foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom” [Sg 2.15].

-Folly (sekloth): only found in Ecclesiastes; also in 2.12, 13; 7.25; 10.1, 13. From the verbal root sakal, to be foolish.

-Few (mispar): alternately, “number.” “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel...according to the number of names” [Num 1.2].

-“Life:” the Hebrew text has the plural, “lives.”

Vs. 4: I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;

-Vss. 4-8 are reminiscent of Lk 12.13-21, the parable of the rich fool who did not consider where true riches lay. Ecclesiastes engaged in the same enterprises yet realized the need to be “rich toward God” [Lk 12.21].

-I made great (gadal): cf. 1.16, “acquired great.”

-“I built houses.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “I built to me houses.”

Vs. 5: I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

-Gardens (gan, singular): usually a place protected by a fence. “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east” [Gen 2.8]. Also, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride” [Sg 4.12].

-Parks (pardes, singular): a Persian word connoting a plantation or cultivated area surrounding a palace. “And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple” [Neh 2.8]. Also, “Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits” [Sg 4.13].

-Planted (natah): connotes a fixing or setting in order. “Stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth” [Is 51.16]. In the verse at hand, such natah by Ecclesiastes is reminiscent of God with respect to Eden: “The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east” [Gen 2.8].

-“All kinds of fruit trees.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “trees all fruits.”

Vs. 6: I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

-Pools (berekah, singular): from the verbal root meaning “to bless” and from which is derived “knee.” Perhaps the idea is that one stooped or bent down to drink water (from a pool). “And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool” [1 Sam 3.13]. Also, “Your eyes are pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim” [Sg 7.4].

-Forest (yahar): alternately, “honeycomb” as in Sg 5.1: “I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk.” Also, Is 31.13 which is more in tune with the verse at hand: “In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.”

-Growing (tsomeach): from the verbal root tsamach, to sprout.

Vs. 7: I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house; I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

-Bought (qanah): connotes acquisition. “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord” [Gen 4.1].

-Female slaves (shiphchah, singular). “Behold, your handmaid is a servant” [1 Sam 25.41]. Here shiphchah is contrasted with ‘amah which can also refer to a female slave.

-“Slaves who were born in my house.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “sons house were to me.”

-Possessions (miqneh; singular used here): wealth in the sense of having cattle. “He had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him” [Gen 26.14].

-“Any who had been before me in Jerusalem.” As noted in 1.16, the only king prior to Solomon is his father, King David.

Vs. 8: I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, man’s delight.

-Gathered (kanas): in the sense of heaping up. “A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together” [3.5]; also 2.26. For another sense, “And the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it” [Is 28.20].

-Treasure (segulah, singular): from an unused root meaning “to acquire.” “You shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine” [Ex 19.5].

-Provinces (midynah, singular): connotes judgment as detected from the verbal root and usually applies to Persian domains. “In the days of Ahsauerus...who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” [Est 1.1].

-Singers (shyr, singular): “...and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers” [1 Kg 10.12].

-Concubines (tahanug, singular): from the verbal root hanag, to delight. “How fair and pleasant you are, O loved one, delectable maiden (literally, ‘maiden in delights’)” [Sg 7.6]! The RSV notes that this part of vs. 8 is “uncertain.” The Hebrew text literally reads (it seems), “delights sons of man instrument and instruments.” Sidah (instrument) is the only instance of this word in the Bible.

Vs. 9: So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.

-Surpassed (yasaph): similar to 1.16, “surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me.”

-Wisdom or chakmah remained (hamad) with Ecclesiastes in the sense of abiding with him on a permanent basis. “But the earth remains forever” [1.4].

Vs. 10: And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

-Desired (sha’al): more in the sense of asking, demanding. “Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly” [Dt 18.16].

-Keep (‘atsal): alternately, “to separate,” “to refuse.” “And I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them” [Num 11.17].

-Kept (manah): in the sense of restraining. “Seeing the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand” [1 Sam 25.26]. In the verse at hand, the object of manah is lev or heart.

-Pleasure (simchah): cf. vss. 1 & 2.

-Found pleasure (samach): the verbal root for “pleasure” just noted. This verb connotes rejoicing and cheerfulness. “The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out” [Prov 13.9].

-Toil (hamal): first noted in 1.3.

-Reward (cheleq): from a verbal root which originally meant “to be smooth.” “Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things” [Jer 10.16].

Vs. 11: Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

-Considered (panah, with the preposition b-, literally in): the only use of panah in this context which usually translates as “to turn.” This is found in the next verse, “So I turned to consider...”

-Striving (rahyon): cf. 1.17, used with “wind.”

-To be gained (yitron): a noun as in 1.3. Not the similar sound of this noun with rahyon just mentioned.

Vs. 12: So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done.

-Turned (panah): cf. previous verse as “considered.” In this verse panah is used with ra’ah (consider; the common verb ‘to see’) and has three objects:

          1) Wisdom (chakmah): last noted in 2.9.

          2) Madness (hollelah): last noted in 1.17, object of “applied.”

          3) Folly (sekloth): last noted in 2.3, object of “lay hold on.”

-“Do:” missing in the Hebrew text.

Vs. 13: Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

-Saw (ra’ah): cf. its use as “consider” in the previous verse.

-Excels (yitron): cf. its used as “striving” in vs. 11.

Vs. 14: The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them.

-Wise man (chakam): the adjective is used here; related to chakmah as often noted. This is the first use of the term and frequently is found in Ecclesiastes: 2.16, 19; 6.8; 7.7, 19; 8.1, 5, 17; 10.2, 12. “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother” [Prov 10.1].

-Fool (kesyl): from a verbal root meaning “to be foolish” and suggests a sense of languor. “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacence of fools destroys them” [Prov 1.32].

-Perceived (yadah): more basically, “to know,” as noted in 1.17.

-“One fate (miqrah):” also in 3.19; 9.2, 3. The Hebrew text literally reads, “fate one” which is a more vivid way of saying this as in “Day one” (etc.) of Genesis. This noun derives from the verbal root meaning “to meet,” “to happen.” “Then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us, it happened to us by chance” [1 Sam 6.9].

-Comes (qarah): the verbal root from which miqrah is derived as just noted.

Vs. 15: Then I said to myself, “What befalls the fool will befall me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.

-Said (‘amar): compare with davar used in this same verse, second sentence.

-Myself (lev): as lasted noted in 2.1.

-Befalls (qarah): as noted in the previous verse, basically meaning “to call.”

-“Very (‘az) wise:” an adverb alternately meaning “then,” “at that time.”

Vs. 16: For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool!

-Enduring (halom): more specifically, “eternity,” future time.” In the verse at hand this noun is prefixed by the preposition l-, literally, “to.” “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations” [Dt 32.7].

-Remembrance (zikron): last use of this noun is found in 1.11, “There is no remembrance of former things.” In the verse at hand, the lack of such remembrance pertains to both wise man and fool; the same pertains with regards to their deaths.

-“As of:” the Hebrew text has the preposition him, with.

-“Just like:” the Hebrew text has “with the fool.”

Vs. 17: So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

-Hated (sane’): “And let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause” [Ps 35.19].

-Grievous (rah): more specifically, “evil.” For an earlier reference, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with” 1.13].

-“To me:” the Hebrew text literally reads, “upon me.”

-Striving (rehuth): first used in 1.14. Compare with rahyon in 2.11. The preposition “after” is absent in the Hebrew text.

Vs. 18: I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me;

-Second use of hate (sane’), here with respect to toil or hamal, first mentioned in 1.3, “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”

-Leave (nuach): fundamentally, “to rest,” “to set down.” For a different use of this verb, cf. 7.9: “Anger rests in the bosom of fools.”

-The man “who will come after me.” If The Book of Ecclesiastes is viewed as attributed to King Solomon, his successor is his son, Rehoboam: “And now, whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” [1 Kg 12.11].

Vs. 19: and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

-A continuation of the previous verse and words well suited for Rehoboam as noted there.

-Master (shalat): the verb is used and implies a certain vehemency. “...on the very day when the Jews should get the mastery over their foes” [Est 9.1].

Vs. 20: So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

-Turned about (savav): connotes a going around, encompassing. “So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back” [Jer 41.14]. The verse at hand is reminiscent of King Hezekiah in his despair: “Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord” [2 Kg 20.2].

-Heart (lev): also as “mind” as in 1.13, “And I applied my mind.”

-Despair (ya’ash): “You were wearied with the length of your way but you did not say, ‘It is hopeless’” [Is 57.10].

Vs. 21: because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

-Continuation and conclusion of the sentence begun in the previous verse.

-Skill (kishron): only found in Ecclesiastes; as well as 4.4 & 5.11 (as ‘goods’). This word derives from a verbal root meaning “to be right.”

-“For it.” The Hebrew text has the preposition b-, literally, in.

-“Great evil (rahah):” cf. vs. 17for the adjective (rah): “because what is done under the sun was grievous to me.” “But I cannot flee to the hills lest the disaster overtake me and I die” [Gen 19.19].

Vs. 22: What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?

-“What has a man.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “What is to a man.”

-Strain (rahyon): cf. vs. 11, “all was vanity and a striving after wind.”

Vs. 23: For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.

-“Full of pain (makovym):” the Hebrew text lacks “full of.” “Man is also chastened with pain upon his bed and with continual strife in his bones” [Job 33.19].

-Work (hinyn): first found in 1.13, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men;” also cf. vs. 26.

-Vexation (kahas): cf. 1.18, “For in much wisdom is much vexation.”

-Rest (shakav): alternately, “to lie down.” “But before they lay down, the men of the city” [Gen 19.4].

-Mind (lev): as often noted, “heart.”

-This verse is reminiscent of Job 7.4, “When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing until the dawn.”

Vs. 24: There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;

-“Find enjoyment.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “see his soul good.”

-“Find enjoyment:” the Hebrew text literally reads, “see his soul good.” Soul (nephesh): literally, “breath.” “For wisdom will come into your heat, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” [Prov 2.10].

-“Hand of God.” Compare with human hands, “Then I considered all that my hands had done” [2.11].

Vs. 25: for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

-Continuation and conclusion of the previous verse.

-“Apart from him.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “apart from me.” The Hebrew preposition here is chuts and is similar in sound to chush just below.

-Have enjoyment (chush): more specifically, “to make haste.” “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit” [Job 31.5].

Vs. 26: For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

-Pleases (tov): the adjective meaning “good.”

-“God” is lacking in the Hebrew text; instead it reads, “good before him.”

-Joy (simchah): cf. 2.1, “I will make a test of pleasure.”

-Sinner (chata’): first use of this term in Ecclesiastes; also in 7.26, 8.12, 9.2 & 18.

-Work (hinyan): cf. 1.13, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.”

-Gathering (‘asyph): from the verbal root meaning “to collect,” “to gather” and refers to the harvest. “You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field” [Ex 23.16].

-Heaping (kenos): from the verbal root kanas as in 2.8, “I also gathered for myself silver and gold.”

-“Pleases.” The Hebrew text has the adjective tov as noted earlier in this same verse. The preposition “in front of,” “before,” is also used with respect to “God.”

-Striving (rehuth): cf. 1.14, “all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

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Chapter Three

Vs. 1: For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:

-Season (zeman): from a verbal root meaning “to appoint” with this noun found only in three other references, Neh 2.6 (‘I set him a time’) and Est 9.27, 31.

-Time (heth): in the sense of an opportunity and akin to kairos, the LXX translation of this term. “I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it” [Is 60.22]. Such “times” will be listed in vss. 2 through 9 below.

-Matter (chephets): also cf. vs. 17; 5.4, 7; 8.6; 12.1, 10. This noun is from a verbal root meaning “to delight” and is the common use as these other references indicate. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord” [Ps 1.2].

-Vss. 2-9: a list of “times” (heth) which may be listed as follows, some of which will be commented upon:

          -Born, die.

          -Plant, pluck (haqar): “and Ekron shall be uprooted” [Zeph 2.4].

          -Kill (harag: “Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him” [Gen 4.8]. Heal (rapha’): originally, “to sew together.” “And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people” [2 Chron 30.20].

          -Break down (parats): “O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses” [Ps 60.1]. Build up.

          -Weep, laugh (sachaq): “There go the ships and Leviathan which you formed to sport with” [Ps 104.26].

          -Mourn (saphad): literally, “to beat the breast.” Dance (raqad): literally, “to leap,” “to skip.” “He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox” [Ps 29.6]. Note the similar sounding verbs, saphad/raqad.

          -Cast away stones, gather stones.

          -Embrace (chavaq): for an alternate meaning, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest” [Prov 6.10]. “Refrain (rachaq) from embracing:” literally, “to be far away.”

          -Seek, lose (‘avad): alternately, “to perish.” “But the wicked perish” [Ps 37.20].

          -Keep, cast away.

          -Rend (raqah): literally, “to beat,” “spread out.” “And gold leaf was hammered out and cut into threads” [Ex 39.3]. Sew (taphar): “And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” [Gen 3.7].

          -Keep silence, speak.

          -Love (‘ahav): in the sense of desiring. “May those who love your salvation say continually, ‘Great is the Lord” [Ps 40.17]!

          -War, peace (shalom).

Vs. 11: He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

-Beautiful (yapheh): from a verbal root meaning “to shine.” “Behold, you are beautiful, my love” [Sg 1.15]. Compare the sense of the verse at hand with God seeing everything he created as “good,” for instance, Gen 1.4 (etc.). Also, compare time (heth) as noted in the above verses with the seven days of creation.

-Eternity (holam): “It has been already, in the ages before us” [1.10].

-Mind (lev): as frequently noted, “heart.” “Man’s” is lacking in the Hebrew text.

-Find out (matsa’): alternately, “to attain,” “befall.” “Though I sought him, he could not be found” [Ps 37.36].

-Beginning (ro’sh): alternately, “head.” “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” [Gen 1.1]...a slightly alternate noun, same root.

-End (soph): from a verbal root meaning “to take away,” “to destroy” and also found in 7.2, 12.13. “You will find them at the end of the valley” [2 Chron 20.16].

Vs. 12: I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;

-Know (yadah): as in 1.17, “And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.”

-To be happy (samach): as in 2.10, “For my heart found pleasure in all my toil.”

-“Enjoy themselves.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “to do good.”

Vs. 13: also it is God’s gift to man that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.

-The conclusion of the sentence begin in the previous verse.

-Gift (matath): from the verbal root meaning “to give.” “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give” [Prov 25.14].

-“Take pleasure.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “see good.”

Vs. 14: I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him.

-Know (yadah): last noted in vs. 12.

-Forever (holam): as in vs. 11 above, “eternity.” In the verse at hand, holam is prefaced with the preposition l-, literally, “to.”

-Added (yasaph): as in 1.16, “Surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me.”

-“To it:” the Hebrew text has the preposition hal, literally, “on.”

-Taken away (garah): fundamentally “to scrape.” “You shall by no means lessen it; for they are idle” [Ex 5.8].

-Fear (yare’): “You know that your servant feared the Lord” [2 Kg 4.1]. In the verse at hand, this verb is used with the preposition “before.” Usually such fear is expressed directly as the cited verse indicates, whereas in vs. 14 fear implies a continuous or uninterrupted sense.

Vs. 15: That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

-Seeks (baqash): alternately as “to strive after,” “to require” and found in 3.6; 7.28, 29. “To seek the word of the Lord” [Am 8.12].

-Driven away (radaph): alternately, “to put to flight,” “to follow after.” “He who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor” [Prov 21.21].

Vs. 16: Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

-Place (maqom; cf. 11.3), used twice in the verse at hand. It usually refers to a special or sacred area set aside. “The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which you appointed for them” [Ps 104.8].

-Justice (mishpat): alternately, “judgment.” “You shall do no injustice in judgment” [Lev 19.15].

-Righteousness (tsedeq): implies a sense of piety and also found in 5.8 & 7.15. “With righteousness shall he judge” [Is 11.4].

-Wickedness (reshah; used twice in this verse): or “unrighteousness” as in Is 9.17, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness” [Ps 5.4]. This noun derives from a verbal root meaning “to make noise.”

Vs. 17: I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter and for every work.

-Righteous (tsadyq): related to “righteousness” as found in the last verse.

-Wicked (rashah): basically, “to make a tumult.” “The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers” [Is 14.5].

-“Appointed” is not in the Hebrew text.

-Time (heth): last noted in 3.11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

-Matter (chephets): last noted in 3.1, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Vs. 18: I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts.

-Testing (barar): connotes a sense of choosing, separating as well as purity. For the last, cf. Ps 18.26, “With the pure you show yourself pure.”

-To show (ra’ah): the common verb “to see.”

-Beasts (behemah, singular): used with respect to quadrupeds and opposed to birds and fish. “They shall of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth” [Is 18.6].

Vs. 19: For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity.

-Fate (miqrah): as in 2.14 and used twice in the verse at hand, “One fate comes to all of them” (wise man and fool).”

-Breath (ruach): as in 1.6, “and on its circuits the wind returns.”

-Advantage (motar): more specifically as “abundance,” “excellence.” “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want” [Prov 21.5].

Vs. 20: All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

-Place (maqom): first used in 1.5, “and hastens to the place where it rises.” In the verse at hand, the literal translation reads “place one” as in Genesis “day one,” etc.

-Dust (haphar; used twice): “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground” [Gen 2.7].

Vs. 21: Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?

-Spirit (ruach; used twice): as “breath” in vs. 19.

-Goes upward (halah/lemahelah): the adverb being derived from the verb at hand.

-Down (lematah): an adverb derived from a verbal root meaning “to stretch out,” “to extend.”

Vs. 22: So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; who can bring him to see what will be after him?

-Enjoy (samach): as in 2.10, “for my heart found pleasure in all my toil.”

-Lot (cheleq): also in 2.10 (‘reward’); 5.18, 19. This noun derives from a verbal root meaning “to be smooth,” “to divide.”

-“What will be after him.” The Hebrew text literally reads, “in what will be after him.”

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Chapter Four

Vs. 1: Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

-“Again” is missing in the Hebrew text. Instead it has the verb shuv, to turn which is another was of expression the essence of “again.”

-Oppressions (hashuqym): the dictionary gives the plural form and is derived from the verbal root hashaq which refers to defrauding. The only other use of the noun in this plural form is Am 3.9, “See the great tumults within her and the oppressions in her midst.”

-Practiced (hasah): the simple verb “to do,” “to make.”

-Behold (hineh): first found in 1.14, “And behold, all is vanity.”

-Tears (dimhah, singular): “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears” [Ps 6.6].

-Oppressed (hahsaq): the verbal root for “oppressions” as noted above.

-Comfort (nacham): alternately, “to lament,” “to take vengeance” and used twice in the verse at hand. Implied here is that taking vengeance can be a source of comfort. “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted” [Is 54.11].

-“Oppressors:” from the verbal root hahsaq; three uses of this term in the verse at hand.

Vs. 2: And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive;

-This verse continues through the succeeding one.

-Thought (shavach): more fundamentally, “to praise” and connotes a sense of considering a person to be happy. The other reference is found in 8.15, “And I commend enjoyment.” For another meaning of this verb, cf. Ps 89.9: “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.”</