Book 21 - Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes is part of the Wisdom and Poetry books, but it does not function like most of the others.

There is no collection of prayers, no set of short proverbs, and no narrative storyline. Instead, Ecclesiastes is a single extended reflection spoken almost entirely by one voice.

What kind of book is this?

Ecclesiastes is a philosophical reflection written in poetic prose. It examines ordinary parts of life such as work, pleasure, success, wisdom, time, wealth, legacy, and death.

Rather than teaching through commands or stories, the book works by observation. The speaker looks at life as it is lived and describes what he sees.

Who is speaking?

The speaker refers to himself as “the Teacher” or “the Preacher,” depending on the translation. The Hebrew word is Qoheleth.

The book presents this voice as someone with access to power, resources, and experience. He describes building projects, wealth, education, influence, and freedom to pursue whatever he wanted. Whether this figure is meant to be Solomon himself or a later writer adopting that voice is debated. The book itself does not settle the question.

What matters for reading Ecclesiastes is that the speaker is positioned as someone who has already achieved what many people spend their lives chasing.

The word that dominates the book

The most repeated word in Ecclesiastes is often translated as “meaningless.”

Your Bible may use that word consistently. Other translations use “vanity,” “futility,” “vapor,” or “breath.” All of these are attempts to translate the same Hebrew word: hebel.

The speaker applies this word broadly. He uses it to describe work, wisdom, pleasure, success, injustice, youth, aging, and even life itself. It isn't reserved for one specific failure or disappointment. It becomes the lens through which everything is evaluated.

The repetition is intentional. The book returns to this word again and again to frame how the speaker understands the world.

What the speaker examines

Throughout the book, the speaker tests different paths people commonly assume will provide lasting satisfaction.

He looks at:

• Achievement and productivity

• Pleasure and enjoyment

• Knowledge and wisdom

• Wealth and accumulation

• Reputation and legacy

• Justice and fairness

• The passage of time

• The certainty of death

Each is examined carefully, often acknowledged as good or enjoyable in some sense, and then placed next to its limits.

How the book is structured

Ecclesiastes does not move in a straight line. Ideas and observations are repeated and referred back to throughout.

The book closes with a short epilogue, spoken in a different voice than most of what comes before. This closing section summarizes the Teacher’s reflections and states a concluding perspective:

People should fear God, keep His commandments, and remember that human actions are ultimately subject to divine judgment.

The epilogue does not walk back the observations made earlier in the book. It simply frames them.

What Ecclesiastes is not trying to do

Ecclesiastes is not a collection of promises. It is not a guide to success or a list of answers. It doesn't explain suffering or provide a clear system for how to make life work.

What it does offer is an honest look at human effort and expectation, spoken by someone who has already experienced many of the things others are always chasing. As we still do today.

Tomorrow, before we wrap up the wisdom/poetry books with Song of Songs, we'll get into how Ecclesiastes has affected me. We'll look at the question, what actually gives life meaning?