Read about the book called Ecclesiastes here. It covers much more background information than I can. Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to Solomon, but most scholars consider that wrong. Because of word usage, it evidently was written somewhere between 450-180 BCE, after the Babylonian exile. Solomon would have lived around 400 years before the earliest date. The book seems to have a confusing and mysterious history and purpose. No one is quite sure where it came from, how it was compiled, and why it is considered divine scripture.
It begins by introducing "the teacher," which is what the word Ecclesiastes refers to. The main body of the book is supposed to be the words of the teacher, with only the introduction and ending words in the voice of another. Because of what I read in the Wikipedia article, I am wondering if this book was even typically Jewish. Could its ideas have been adopted by the Jews, originating with another people group? We will consider that as we read through.
The opening lines introduce the teacher as the son of David, king in Jerusalem. "Son of David" can refer to a descendant. The first words of the teacher set the tone for the entire book: "Meaningless! Meaningless! Says the teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" If this were written today, it would be observed that the teacher is probably depressed.
Verses 3-11 are in the form of a poem which basically talks about how nothing ever changes. The generations, the earth, the sun, the winds, the streams, they all just keep on doing what they've always done. It's tiresome and boring. Eyes keep on seeing, ears keep on hearing the same old stuff. There is nothing new under the sun. No one can point to anything new. No one remembers the distant past and the distant future will not remember our descendants. It sounds like the author was living in a stagnant period of history, without access to information. That isn't exactly true today is it? If he was to be teleported into our present, he would marvel at the all the novelty, almost too much novelty.
The author's words have kept him alive, in a way, for over 2,000 years. Today we have an unprecedented access to the past, and technology is preserving the present with disturbing thoroughness. It is true that people haven't changed much. Most still have to labor for their daily bread. Most live unremarkable lives, being born, being educated, finding employment, finding life partners, raising children, living to relatively old age, and dying. Of all the people who have ever existed, very few remain in the public consciousness for any length of time. But why is that a problem? Isn't it enough to have had the chance to live and experience life? Can we not find some pleasure or satisfaction in many of the things that keep on doing what they've always done? Yes, the sun sets every evening, but most people still gaze at its beauty with awe, every time.
More to come.
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