Ecclesiastes Bible Study: Week One

Format: W I S D O M

Word, information, silence, discussion, orans, motivation

Week 1

Word

Ecclesiastes 1:1 – 2:26 (NRSV)

1The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
² Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
   vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
³ What do people gain from all the toil
   at which they toil under the sun?
⁴ A generation goes, and a generation comes,
   but the earth remains for ever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun goes down,
   and hurries to the place where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south,
   and goes round to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
   and on its circuits the wind returns.
⁷ All streams run to the sea,
   but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
   there they continue to flow.
⁸ All things are wearisome;
   more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
   or the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ What has been is what will be,
   and what has been done is what will be done;
   there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there a thing of which it is said,
   ‘See, this is new’?
It has already been,
   in the ages before us.
¹¹ The people of long ago are not remembered,
   nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
   by those who come after them.

12 I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, ¹³applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. ¹⁴I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight,
   and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, ‘I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.’ ¹⁷And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a chasing after wind.
¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.

2I 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.

9 So 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, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

12 So 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.
¹⁴ The 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.

18 I 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 labours 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.

24 There 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 him 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.

Information

• ·       Ecclesiastes is not a well-known, or a book we know a lot about. In the Hebrew, the word for Teacher/Preacher is Qoheleth. So we never are told who is the author of the book, though it has been attributed to King Solomon.
• ·       The name comes from the Greek word for assembly – ekklesia
• ·       The book was written somewhere between 400 and 200 BC
• ·       The Book of Ecclesiastes falls into the Wisdom literature portion of the Bible, contains a large number of pithy sayings/proverbs
• ·       The general theme is trying to answer hard questions in life and not finding easy answers, one has to trust God and find meaning in God, not in happiness in this world
• ·       The teacher is very focused on figuring out what is wisdom
• ·       There are a couple of very important phrases in the book
• o   “under the sun” – refers to everything on earth, used 29 times in the book
• o   “chasing after wind/feeding on wind” – refers to things that do not hold value or sustain a person
• o   “vanity of vanities” “This also is vanity” – signifies emptiness, from the Hebrew hebel
• ·       The Book makes life sound hopeless, though the point is more focusing your hope on God and setting our sights on things that are eternal, not of this world.
• ·       Ch. 1, Verse 3 is the main question of the whole book: “What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?”
• ·       The teacher does not find an answer for meaning, but he does realize busyness is does not equal meaning.

Silence

Wait for a minute

Discussion

1. 1.     Do you agree with the Teacher’s assessment of working?
2. 2.     What answer have you found to the main question of the book? “What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?” Have you found an answer?
3. 3.     What emotion has your toil caused in you?
4. 4.     What meaning do you find in your life on Earth?
5. 5.     What wisdom do you see or follow in your life?
6. 6.     Where do you find happiness or hope in this world?
7. 7.     What do you see as vanity in this world?
8. 8.     How have you learned wisdom in your life?
9. 9.     Are their proverbs you have found helpful for living?
10. 10.  What role does the Teacher seem to think God is playing? What role do you see God playing in our lives?

Orans (Prayer)

Eternal God, creator of humanity, we pray this day for the wisdom to see you in the world. We pray for the peace to walk your path, knowing that you lead us with your Wisdom and Guidance. Help us to see that chasing after happiness in this world will not lead to eternal treasures. We pray this through your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, who walked your path of Love in this world. Amen.

Motivation (Art)

Bible Art Journaling – drawing something that has stood out to you in the scripture passage on the Bible page. “Under the Sun”