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UNDERSTANDING AND PREACHING ECCLESIASTES

Joel James

Introduction:

While many interpreters take a negative view of Ecclesiastes, it is actually an

extraordinarily important OT book. In fact, next to Proverbs itself, there is no OT
book that's more important to daily life than Ecclesiastes. Therefore, it's critical that
we study and apply Ecclesiastes in our personal quiet times, in our preaching, and in
our counselling.

Negative perspectives on Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes has been described as pessimistic, fatalistic, nihilistic, sceptical, and

cynical. 1 Its counsel to eat, drink, and enjoy life seems, at best, sub-Christian. It says
things that make you wonder if the Holy Spirit was asleep at the wheel when He
inspired it.

Key point: More than any other book in the Bible, your understanding of the overall
purpose of Ecclesiastes will determine how you interpret it.

Five approaches to interpreting Ecclesiastes:

1. The typical Jewish approach: Most Jewish interpreters assume that Solomon wrote
Ecclesiastes during his time of estrangement from God when his foreign wives
turned his heart away from God.

2. The early Christian approach: The early Christian scholar, Jerome, believed
Ecclesiastes was written to promote a monastic life in which you reject all worldly
pleasures and pursuits.

3. The typical liberal approach: Those who deny Solomonic authorship often date the
book very late, believing that the author was influenced by the Greek philosopher
Epicurus (c. 300 BC).

4. Dialog with an opponent: This is a common ancient and modern approach to the
book. Many commentators take the view that Solomon is dialoguing with an
invisible opponent; therefore, the negative ideas are all really his sceptical
opponent's point of view. That's a convenient stratagem: its weakness is that there's
actually no evidence of such a debate. Not only is the opponent invisible, so is the
supposed dialog (compare Malachi and Romans).

5. The evangelistic approach: Many modern interpreters, including Derek Kidner and
Michael Eaton in their excellent commentaries, believe that the book of Ecclesiastes

1
Walter Kaiser, Total Life, Everyman's Bible Commentary, 11.
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is primarily evangelistic. It seems clear that Solomon expected the book to circulate
beyond Israel, but J. Stafford Wright brings up a valid point when he says:
"Strangely, there is no reference to repentance and forgiveness .... [Solomon]
assumes that the readers know about [them]." 2

Critique of the evangelistic view:

• Ecclesiastes gives no call to repentance.

• The primary purpose of biblical wisdom literature was never evangelistic.
The wisdom books are addressed to believers; they assume faith, and go
from there.

Summary: There are two problems with these approaches to interpreting Ecclesiastes.

• Several require the imposition of schemes that don't actually fit the content of the
book (e.g., the dialog with an invisible opponent view and the evangelistic view).
• Others ignore large portions of the book, such as the strong statements about the
fear of the Lord or about enjoying life as a gift from God.

Roland Murphy: If there is one feature that is common to all periods of the
history of the interpretation of Ecclesiastes it is that of selective emphasis." 3

Two principles for understanding Ecclesiastes rightly:

1) Understanding the purpose of biblical wisdom literature

2) Understanding the determinative influence of Genesis 1-3 (especially Genesis 3) on
Ecclesiastes

1) To interpret Ecclesiastes you must understand the purpose of wisdom literature:

Song of Solomon: how to live wisely in marriage

Job: how to live wisely when unexpected calamities run over you
Wisdom psalms: how to live wisely when it appears that crime does pay
Proverbs: how to live wisely in all of life.

Ecclesiastes walks hand-in-hand with those wisdom books, especially in purpose.

Derek Kidner says this on the relationship between Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes:

Between them, the three books clearly cover three aspects of existence which
no-one can afford to overlook. The demands of practical good management;
the enigma of calamities that are beyond control or explanation; and the
tantalizing hollowness and brevity of human life. 4

2
Wright "Introduction to Ecclesiastes" in, Reflecting with Solomon, ed. Roy Zuck, 172.
3
Roland Murphy, Ecclesiastes, in the Word Biblical Commentary, lv.
4
Kidner, The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, 116.
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Question: If wise, skilful, peaceful living is the focus of the other wisdom books,
might it be the focus of Ecclesiastes as well? How would we know? By searching
Ecclesiastes to see if we find the themes of the fear of the Lord and peaceful, stable
living.

The fear of the Lord:

Ecc 2:25 3:13-14 5:7, 20 8:12 12:13-14

The fear of the Lord principle links the purpose of Ecclesiastes to the overall purpose
of the other wisdom books. (Note: Many interpreters consider these verses to be
insertions by a later scribe, desperately trying to sanitise Ecclesiastes. There is no
manuscript evidence for that. These verses are original.)

J. Stafford Wright's summary: The world does not contain the key to itself. It
can be found only in God. Roughly speaking, this is the theme of chapters 1-
6. 5

Wise, stable living:

Ecclesiastes' motto: Vanity of vanity, all is vanity. Hebel: vanity empty,

meaningless, purposeless, mysterious, dissatisfying, frustrating.

How do you live in this world? Ecc 2:25

• Ecclesiastes' goal is to teach you to live skillfully, calmly, and stably in a world full
of frustration.
• Ecclesiastes teaches you how to handle life, not when things go wrong, but in a
world that is wrong.

2) To interpret Ecclesiastes, you must understand the determinative influence of Genesis

1-3 (especially Genesis 3) on Ecclesiastes.

The role of the early chapters of Genesis in Ecclesiastes:

Duane Garrett:
One other aspect of the theology of Ecclesiastes … is its theological and literary
dependence on the early chapters of Genesis .… Ecclesiastes can also be called a
collection of reflections on creation and the fall, or even reflections on the continuing
significance of creation and the fall. 6

Michael Eaton:
It would seem then that the Preacher is drawing on the themes of these Genesis
chapters and is pressing home their implications. 7

5
Wright, "Introduction to Ecclesiastes," 172.
6
Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, in The New American Commentary, 278-79.
7
Eaton, Ecclesiastes, in Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 46.
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Ardel Caneday:
The difficulty of interpreting this book is proportionally related to one's own
readiness to adopt [Solomon's] presupposition—that everything about this world is
marred by the tyranny of the curse which the Lord God placed upon all creation. If
one fails to recognize that this is a foundational presupposition from which
Ecclesiastes operates, then one will fail to comprehend the message of the book, and
bewilderment will continue. 8

Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book primarily designed to bring believers to grips with the reality
of the Fall and the Curse, and to teach them how wise, godly people reduce the frustration
of living in such a world. Luther summed it up this way: Solomon wants to put us at peace
and to give us a quiet mind in the everyday affairs and business of this life, so that we may
live contentedly in the present without care and yearning about the future. 9

Themes from the early chapters of Genesis developed in Ecclesiastes:

Key text: Gen 3:17-19 Ecc 2:14-17; 5:15-16; 6:6; 9:2-3; 3:18-21; 7:1-4; 12:1-7 death

Key name: Adam Ecc 1:13 beni hadam "sons of the Adam/man"

Results of the Fall: Ecc 3:9 toil and suffering

Ecc 2:11,17-20 futility of labour
Ecc 2:24; 3:12 (Hebrew: nothing good in a man) 10
Ecc 7:29 original sin
Ecc 7:20 universal depravity
Ecc 4:4 rivalry (Cain and Abel)
Ecc 4:9-12 benefits of companionship
Ecc 6:10 the naming of creation (Gen 2:19)

Ecclesiastes is, at its heart, an applicational commentary on Genesis 3. Therefore,

Solomon's "cynicism" is not cynicism; it's realism in a world still labouring under the
Curse (Ecc 1:14-15). Is how things are in this world the way they should be? No.

Ecc 12:13-14

Judgement means that things are not now as they should be: what is, is wrong.

According to Solomon, wise living under the Fall includes grappling with the
dissatisfaction, frustration, and meaninglessness of it all, so that you long for God to
fix it. Is that such a sub-Christian view of things?

8
Caneday, "Qoheleth: Enigmatic Pessimist or Godly Sage," in Reflecting with Solomon, ed. Roy Zuck, 81.
9
Martin Luther, quoted in Roland Murphy, Ecclesiastes, in the Word Biblical Commentary, lii.
10
See Kaiser, Total Life, 58 and C. L. Seow, Ecclesiastes, in The Anchor Bible, 139, for others who believe we
should translate these two verses as the Masoritic text reads, rather than assuming that the comparative
word/letter mem has dropped out of the Hebrew (as the key English versions assume, translating better than).
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NT support for this view of Ecclesiastes:

Romans 8:18-21 1 Tim 6:17 (cp. Ecc 5:18-20, etc.) 1 Cor 10:31

Conclusion:

The purpose of the wisdom books of the OT is primarily to teach believers how to
live wisely. Ecclesiastes' role in the triad of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes is to teach
you to live wisely in a Genesis 3, fallen world.

Outline of Ecclesiastes:

Bishop Robert Lowth's warning in 1815 still holds true: Scarcely any two
commentators have agreed concerning the plan of the work, and accurate division of
it into parts or sections. 11

An attempt at outlining Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 1 Introduction

Author (1:1), motto (1:2), opening poem detailing the weariness of life in a world
(1:3-11), the grievous task God has given the sons of the Adam, Solomon's research
methods.

Ecclesiastes 2-6 Wise counsel for reducing frustration in a Genesis 3 world

In these chapters, Solomon addresses eleven things that bring frustration to life:

1) 2:1-26 seeking meaning, purpose, and contentment in the wrong place

2) 3:1-15 a wrong view of God's sovereignty
3) 3:16-17 injustice
4) 3:18-22 a wrong view of man and death
5) 4:1-3 oppression
6) 4:4-6 work (rivalry, laziness, and over work)
7) 4:7-12 a lack of companionship
8) 4:13-16 the fleeting nature of popularity
9) 5:1-7 foolish religion
10) 5:8-9 political corruption
11) 5:10-20 wrong views of money

6:1-12 summarises the lessons of chapters 1-5

Ecclesiastes 7-11:6 Wise warnings about the misuse of wisdom

11
Quoted in Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Word Biblical Commentary, liii.
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These chapters are designed to rebuke those who idolised wisdom, thinking (as Job's
friends did) that if you live wisely or righteously enough, you can exercise sovereign
control over whether you receive blessing or calamity from God (as such, it is a
powerful polemic against today's Word-Faith movement—there is nothing new
under the sun!).

7:1-14 what's good for a man: facing death realistically, self-restraint,

satisfaction with the present, wisdom above money, acknowledging
that it is impossible to know God's daily future plan for your life
7:15-18 warning about misusing wisdom to manipulate God
7:19-29 wisdom's enemy: man and his sinfulness
8:1-6 wisdom on submitting to authority
8:7-17 false wisdom vs. true wisdom: against formulas for controlling
what you get from God
9:1-12 death and wisdom
9:13-10:20 wisdom's value, wisdom's vulnerability
11:1-6 wisdom for living worry free (a replacement of formulas for
controlling God)

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14 Conclusion

11:7-12:7 wisdom for youth, old age, and death

12:8-14 what is, is wrong; trust God to fix it

Study tools

The most helpful piece ever written on Ecclesiastes is an article by J. Stafford Wright, "The
Interpretation of Ecclesiastes," originally printed in the Evangelical Quarterly in 1946. It has
been reprinted in Reflecting with Solomon: Selected Studies on the Book of Ecclesiastes,
edited by Roy Zuck, and can also be found at the following website:
http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html

Roy Zuck's Reflecting with Solomon has many helpful chapters and is worth owning as an
introduction. Walter Kaiser's Total Life (Everymans) is very good at following the flow of
Solomon's thought, but by the nature of the series, lacks technical detail. Michael Eaton
(Tyndale) has produced a very helpful, highly usable commentary. Derek Kidner's The
Message of Ecclesiastes (The Bible Speaks Today) is full of insight and is highly quotable;
Kidner understands wisdom literature as well or better than anyone. Duane Garret (New
American Commentary) is worth owning, but is not quite so helpful as Eaton. Roland
Murphy (Word Biblical Commentary) moves you into the more technical commentaries, and
is helpful with the Hebrew. Keil and Delitzsch is heavy on details, but not so helpful on the
overall picture. C. L. Seow (Anchor) is helpful in places, but is not a priority purchase.