HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  1.13 Wisdom includes knowledge, insight, and technical or artistic skills. All…under heaven, usually under the sun (e.g., vv. 3, 9, 14). This quest to understand all that happens on earth is an unhappy business because it cannot be attained; see note on 3.11.

  1.14–15 Thus, from a human viewpoint, what happens is vanity. Moreover, humans cannot straighten what God has bent (3.14; 7.13).

  1.17 Madness and folly may be an interpreter’s addition, or, as polar opposite of wisdom, the pair may indicate the universal scope of the quest of v. 13 (2.2–3, 12; 7.25).

  1.18 See note on 7.3.

  ECCLESIASTES 2

  The Futility of Self-Indulgence

  1I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity. 2I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3I 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 mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.a

  9So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10Whatever 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. 11Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind,b and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

  Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God

  12So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the one do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

  14The wise have eyes in their head,

  but fools walk in darkness.

  Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them. 15Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity. 16For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools? 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.c

  18I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me 19—and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? 23For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

  24There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; 25for apart from himd who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one 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 chasing after wind.e

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  a Meaning of Heb uncertain

  b Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  c Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  d Gk Syr: Heb apart from me

  e Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  2.2 See 10.19; Prov 14.13.

  2.3 Wisdom and folly anticipate vv. 12–17; see note on 1.17. Given death and human limits, the “king” seeks what was good…to do.

  2.4–11 Accomplishments summarized as in many royal inscriptions. Mastery over nature and culture and over humans as servants and instruments of pleasure. The “king” achieves all his goals, yet this too is vanity (v. 11).

  2.5–6 In arid Palestine mastery of water is a great work (v. 4).

  2.10 Toil is ambiguous, denoting both the process and result of work (wealth, etc.; v. 18). Reward, also translated lot (3.22), share (9.6), or portion (9.9), is generally a positive gift of God (5.17–18; 9.9). This important term can be used of land given to heirs (Gen 31.14; Josh 19.9), who are both responsible for their portion and free to enjoy its benefits.

  2.11 Nothing…gained, an answer to 1.3, but see 2.13, where lit. “there is more gain in wisdom than in folly.”

  2.12–17 Wisdom is better than folly (v. 12), yet death destroys both the wise and fools (6.8; Ps 49.10), and the wise are forgotten (v. 16; 1.11; Wis 2.4).

  2.12 Madness and folly, a hendiadys, “senseless folly” (7.25; see note on 1.17).

  2.14 The fate or “event” is death (3.19–20; 6.6; 9.2–3).

  2.17 I hated life, perhaps, “I was disillusioned with life” because of its limits and vanity; “hate” in Hebrew has a range of meanings opposite to “love.” Elsewhere life is positive, despite vanity (vv. 24–26; 9.4–6; 11.7–8).

  2.18–26 Death and heirs; the royal experiment concludes.

  2.18 I hated. See note on 2.17. Toil. See note on 2.10. One can leave a business (“toil” as process) or wealth (“toil” as result) to an heir (v. 21; 6.2). Toil can bring pleasure (vv. 10, 24; 3.13, 22; 5.18–19; 9.9) or despair (vv. 18, 20).

  2.19 Who knows? a rhetorical question expecting the answer “nobody,” with the implicit exception of God.

  2.21 Evil, because humans cut off by death do not reap the good they sow.

  2.22–23 What advantage then for human toil?

  2.24–26 A modestly positive but realistic answer to the question of v. 22. Qoheleth constantly associates enjoyment with both work (toil) and play (to eat and drink); see notes on 3.12–15; 3.16–22; 5.18–20; 9.7–10.

  ECCLESIASTES 3

  Everything Has Its Time

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

  2 a time to be born, and a time to die;

  a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

  3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

  a time to break down, and a time to build up;

  4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

  a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

  5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

  a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

  6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

  a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

  7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

  a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

  8 a time to love, and a time to hate;

  a time for war, and a time for peace.

  The God-Given Task

  9What gain have the workers from their toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God h
as done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.a

  Judgment and the Future Belong to God

  16Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. 17I 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. 18I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. 19For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. 20All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? 22So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

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  a Heb what is pursued

  3.1–22 Everything has a season.

  3.1–8 Life’s good and evil conditioned by God’s time. The antithetical pairs are a literary device using opposites to represent life’s totality and variety, which are also represented by their sum (twice seven). The times, which simply happen to people or which require appropriate human action (8.5–6; Am 5.13), are inscrutably in God’s hands (vv. 1, 11, 13; Ps 31.15; Sir 33.7–15; 39.33–34). The opposed items seem good or bad in themselves, but time or circumstance can invert the value of actions (see v. 11; 7.1–4).

  3.11 Suitable. Wisdom requires actions that fit their time (Prov 10.5; 26.1; 27.14; Mt 11.16–19). A sense of past and future (Hebrew ha‘olam, lit. “the age” or “the world”), a difficult expression; suggested translations include “the world,” “eternity,” of “darkness” (“ignorance”). The quest to know all things (“the world”) cannot be attained (1.12–13; 7.25; 8.17; 11.5).

  3.12–15 In the face of limits, enjoy the good, both play and work (2.10, 24; 3.22; 5.17–18; but see 2.18) as God’s gift. God’s deeds intend to lead humans to revere him (v. 14; see note on 7.18).

  3.15 Not a form of “the myth of the eternal return,” for humans do not know what will be (6.12; 8.7). What has gone by, uncertain but may mean “what is pursued.”

  3.16–22 Injustice resides even in the law court (see 8.14). God’s justice is timely (v. 17; see v. 1; 12.14) but is uncertain since humans lack knowledge beyond death (vv. 21–22). It is best to enjoy one’s present work (v. 17; the Hebrew is plural and includes both activities and their products) as divine gift or lot (v. 22; see 2.24–25; 3.13).

  3.17 Some seek to resolve the tension concerning ultimate justice by attributing this verse to a later, more “orthodox” editor of the book.

  3.18 Is testing them. Hebrew uncertain. Animals, as explained in v. 19.

  3.20 One place, Sheol (9.10), the place of the dead (Isa 14.9–20). Dust. See 12.7; Gen 3.19.

  3.21 Who knows? See note on 2.19. Spirit. See 12.7; perhaps Prov 15.24.

  ECCLESIASTES 4

  1Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them. 2And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; 3but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

  4Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.a

  5Fools fold their hands

  and consume their own flesh.

  6Better is a handful with quiet

  than two handfuls with toil,

  and a chasing after wind.b

  7Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling,” they ask, “and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

  The Value of a Friend

  9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

  13Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice. 14One can indeed come out of prison to reign, even though born poor in the kingdom. 15I saw all the living who, moving about under the sun, follow thatc youth who replaced the king;d 16there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.e

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  a Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  b Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  c Heb the second

  d Heb him

  e Or a feeding on wind. See Hos 12.1

  4.1–16 What is better? Oppression and evil can be so great that nonexistence seems better than life; see 6.1–6.

  4.4–12 Negative and positive aspects of toil.

  4.4 All toil…envy of another, perhaps “all toil and all success in work are [inseparable from] human competition.”

  4.5–6 Proverbial sayings: neither self-destructive sloth nor frenetic toil are good.

  4.7–12 Solitary toil (vv. 7–8; see 2.18–23) is pointless compared to toil and life together (vv. 9–12).

  4.13–16 An obscure passage portraying paradoxical reversals of traditional expectations concerning roles and qualities (see 9.13–16; 10.5–7, 16–17; Prov 17.2; 20.29 [gray hair means wisdom]; 26.1; 30.21–23).

  ECCLESIASTES 5a

  Reverence, Humility, and Contentment

  1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.b 2c Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.

  3For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.

  4When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow. 5It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it. 6Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?

  7With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words;d but fear God.

  8If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field.e

  10The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.

  11When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

  12Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.

  13There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, 14and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. 15As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands. 16This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toilin
g for the wind? 17Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and resentment.

  18This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. 19Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. 20For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.

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  a Ch 4.17 in Heb

  b Cn: Heb they do not know how to do evil

  c Ch 5.1 in Heb

  d Meaning of Heb uncertain

  e Meaning of Heb uncertain

  5.1–7 Fear God (v. 7). Though he wrestles with questions of God’s justice and knowability, Qoheleth here affirms traditional practices and views. Right worship (including sacrifice and vows), wisdom, speech (see Jas 1.26), and living all belong together.

  5.1 Guard your steps means care for right behavior; to listen means to obey (see 1 Sam 15.22; Ps 15; Isa 1.11–17).

  5.4–7 Vows and commitments are to be kept, lest God destroy one’s work (v. 6; see Deut 23.21–23; Ps 90.11, 17).

  5.6 It is not clear who the messenger is, but it is possibly a priest (see Num 15.22–31).

  5.8–6.9 Enjoyment enabled.

  5.8 A government hierarchy may or may not be implied here. But watched by means that the high and mighty “look out for” one another, so the poor have no chance for justice.