Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Book Overview - Ecclesiastes
by John Dummelow
Introduction
1. Title. The title 'Ecclesiastes' has been adopted by the English Version through the Latin Vulgate from the Septuagint (the earliest translation of the OT. into Greek from the original Hebrew), which gives it as the rendering of the Hebrew title Koheleth. It is, however, uncertain whether that word (derived from a root meaning 'to collect') denotes (a) a member of a collective body, i.e. an assembly (Gk. Ecclesia, whence the title 'Ecclesiastes'), implying that the writer was one of a body of persons who thought and discoursed on the subjects engaging attention in the book, or (b) one who collects or convenes an assembly, 'the great orator' which RM substitutes for 'the Preacher' in Ecclesiastes 1:1.
2. Authorship and Date. Was Solomon the author of this book, as Ecclesiastes 1:1, if taken literally, implies? We may safely reply, No, for (a) the original Hebrew throughout the book shows traces of verbal forms, idioms, and style later than Solomon's time; (b) the writer says, 'I.. (not 'am,' but) was king' (Ecclesiastes 1:12); (c) he refers apparently to a series of kings preceding him (Ecclesiastes 1:16); (d) he tells us that he was king 'in Jerusalem,' thus pointing to a date later than the Disruption on Solomon's death, when there began to be kings outside Jerusalem; (e) Solomon would not have drawn with his own hand a picture of moral evils (cp. Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 8:9; Ecclesiastes 10:6-7, Ecclesiastes 10:16), for which he would be held himself in large measure responsible; (f) there is no reference to features characterising Israelitish history in Solomon's day. Besides all these reasons for placing the book later than Solomon's time, it bears distinct traces of the Greek culture established throughout the civilised world after the break up of the Empire of Alexander the Great (died 323 b.c.). Such traces, e.g. appear in (a) the writer's advice to enjoy the present life (Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Ecclesiastes 9:7); (b) his comments on human weakness and disorder (Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 7:7; Ecclesiastes 8:9, Ecclesiastes 8:14; Ecclesiastes 9:16; Ecclesiastes 10:16.), on the vanity and brevity of life (e.g. Ecclesiastes 1:2-17), and on the common destiny of human and brute creation (Ecclesiastes 3:18.); (c) his references to man's inventive capacity (Ecclesiastes 7:29), and (d) his remarks on the phenomena of nature (Ecclesiastes 1:5-6).
Thus the book is decidedly later than the days of Solomon. On the other hand, an acquaintance with its language seems to be shown in the apocryphal book called 'Ecclesi-asticus,' written cirEcclesiastes 180 b.c. We may, therefore, with confidence place Ecclesiastes earlier, though probably not much earlier, than that date.
But if belief in the traditional authorship is on these grounds to be put aside, we need have no scruple in at once rejecting the notion that the writer, whoever he may have been, had the smallest intention of fraud or deceit in thus assuming Solomon's character for literary purposes. Such personation is nothing more than has been practised alike in ancient and modern times with perfectly straightforward motives. Plato's dialogues or the speeches in Thucydides (to take two of the best known cases in classical literature) are examples of language put into the mouths of great men, not as having been literally spoken by them, but as expressing the sentiments which in the writer's opinion under given circumstances might fairly be attributed to them.