The argument of Ecclesiastes does not flow smoothly. It meanders, with jumps and starts, through the general messiness of human experience, to which it is a response. There is also an intermingling of poetry and prose. Nevertheless, the following outline seeks to reflect, at least in a general way, the structure of the book and its main discourses. The announced theme of "meaninglessness" futility provides a literary frame around the whole ; And the movement from the unrelieved disillusionment of chs.
A striking feature of the book is its frequent use of key words and phrases: e. Also to be noted is the presence of passages interwoven throughout the book that serve as key indicators of the author's theme and purpose: ,14,17 ; ,17, ; ,22 ; ,6,16 ; ; ,12 ; ,24 ; ,15,17 ; ,12 ; ; ,, ; ,8, see notes on these passages where present. The enjoyment of life as God gives it is a key concept in the book see and note, 26 ; and note, 22 ; ; ; and note; ; All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Shoebox Collection Week is Here! Plus Toggle navigation. Password Assistance. Email address. Book of Ecclesiastes. Share Tweet Save. Chapters 1. Summary Summary of the Book of Ecclesiastes This summary of the book of Ecclesiastes provides information about the title, author s , date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Please contact us or click here to learn more about how to enable JavaScript on your browser.
Follow us:. Listen Now. Solomon followed David on the throne in Jerusalem as the only Davidic son to rule over all Israel from that city He was the wisest man in the world during his time 1 Kings —30 and wrote most of the book of Proverbs Proverbs ; ; Therefore, we can safely identify Solomon as the qoheleth of the opening verse.
With Solomon as the author of the book, we know it had to have been written sometime before his death in BC. The content of Ecclesiastes reflects someone looking back on a life that was long on experience but short on lasting rewards.
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. Once Qoheleth has considered the potential sources of fulfillment and has rejected them, he offers an alternate perspective on life.
In —15 he advises a moderate course of action:. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. Though nothing can offer fulfillment, one need not adopt a pessimistic, cynical, or fatalistic view toward life.
Enjoy life for what it is: a gift from the hand of God. Using pairs of antitheses in —8, Qoheleth begins to address why it is that God needs to be in the center of our worldview. Stability can only be found in a God-centered approach. The basic worldview of Qoheleth having been set forth, the next sections address the application of that worldview to the situations of life. It is not difficult to apply it when life is going smoothly, but how does it stand up when adversity comes? That is the concern of — Qoheleth considers various situations in life that produce adversity.
It is of interest that he focuses on the daily, routine frustrations that are all too frequently our common lot. If the book of Job were to be criticized, one might complain that the scenario is too artificial.
No one we know is the kind of person Job was, and very likely no one we know suffered to the extent Job did. King James I commissioned a group of Biblical scholars in to establish an authoritative translation of the Bible from the ancient languages and other translations at the time, and the work was completed in The original King James Bible included the Apocrypha but in a separate section. A literary masterpiece of the English language, the original King James Bible is still in use today!
Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. And how dieth the wise man?
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