Ecclesiastes 1

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 . INTRODUCTION.

1. the Preacher--and Convener of assemblies for the purpose. See my Preface. Koheleth in Hebrew, a symbolical name for Solomon, and of Heavenly Wisdom speaking through and identified with him. Ecclesiastes 1:12 shows that "king of Jerusalem" is in apposition, not with "David," but "Preacher."
of Jerusalem--rather, "in Jerusalem," for it was merely his metropolis, not his whole kingdom.

2. The theme proposed of the first part of his discourse.
Vanity of vanities--Hebraism for the most utter vanity. So "holy of holies" ( Exodus 26:33 ); "servant of servants" ( Genesis 9:25 ). The repetition increases the force.
all--Hebrew, "the all"; all without exception, namely, earthly things.
vanity--not in themselves, for God maketh nothing in vain ( 1 Timothy 4:4 1 Timothy 4:5 ), but vain when put in the place of God and made the end, instead of the means ( Psalms 39:5 Psalms 39:6 , 62:9 , Matthew 6:33 ); vain, also, because of the "vanity" to which they are "subjected" by the fall ( Romans 8:20 ).

3. What profit . . . labour--that is, "What profit" as to the chief good ( Matthew 16:26 ). Labor is profitable in its proper place ( Genesis 2:15 , 3:19 , Proverbs 14:23 ).
under the sun--that is, in this life, as opposed to the future world. The phrase often recurs, but only in Ecclesiastes.

4. earth . . . for ever--( Psalms 104:5 ). While the earth remains the same, the generations of men are ever changing; what lasting profit, then, can there be from the toils of one whose sojourn on earth, as an individual, is so brief? The "for ever" is comparative, not absolute ( Psalms 102:26 ).

5. ( Psalms 19:5 Psalms 19:6 ). "Panting" as the Hebrew for "hasteth"; metaphor, from a runner ( Psalms 19:5 , "a strong man") in a "race." It applies rather to the rising sun, which seems laboriously to mount up to the meridian, than to the setting sun; the accents too favor MAURER, "And (that too, returning) to his place, where panting he riseth."

6. according to his circuits--that is, it returns afresh to its former circuits, however many be its previous veerings about. The north and south winds are the two prevailing winds in Palestine and Egypt.

7. By subterraneous cavities, and by evaporation forming rain clouds, the fountains and rivers are supplied from the sea, into which they then flow back. The connection is: Individual men are continually changing, while the succession of the race continues; just as the sun, wind, and rivers are ever shifting about, while the cycle in which they move is invariable; they return to the point whence they set out. Hence is man, as in these objects of nature which are his analogue, with all the seeming changes "there is no new thing" ( Ecclesiastes 1:9 ).

8. MAURER translates, "All words are wearied out," that is, are inadequate, as also, "man cannot express" all the things in the world which undergo this ceaseless, changeless cycle of vicissitudes: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing them," &c. But it is plainly a return to the idea ( Ecclesiastes 1:3 ) as to man's "labor," which is only wearisome and profitless; "no new" good can accrue from it ( Ecclesiastes 1:9 ); for as the sun, &c., so man's laborious works move in a changeless cycle. The eye and ear are two of the taskmasters for which man toils. But these are never "satisfied" ( Ecclesiastes 6:7 , Proverbs 27:20 ). Nor can they be so hereafter, for there will be nothing "new." Not so the chief good, Jesus Christ ( John 4:13 John 4:14 , Revelation 21:5 ).