CHAPTER 1
All right!
Finally! I’ve been looking
forward to this book ever since I started reading it – Ecclesiastes!
I read the Bible cover-to-cover once before; around
1997-98. At that time, this was my
favorite Bible book. I’ve always
maintained that the Bible is at its best when it’s at its most human, and here
there is such a clear and distinctive voice ringing out in very verse. I don’t know who wrote this book, but he
clearly wrote only this book. There is
nothing else like it in the Bible.
And it’s such a bracing shift. In 1997-98, I read the Bible perfectly in order, so this came
after reading Psalms and Proverbs. I’m
aware that people find those among the best and most inspiring books of the
Bible. OK, but I doubt they read all
150 psalms and 31 chapters of proverbs straight through. That’s not how they should be
approached. They should be leafed
through on occasion. That’s why this
time, instead of reading it all in order, I’m reading a lot of the wisdom books
– Psalms, Proverbs, Wisdom and Ben Siri – off on the side. Those things are just wearying to read
though all by themselves.
But not Ecclesiastes.
Sure, it’s a wisdom book, but it’s such a different one. It grabs you right from the beginning and
doesn’t let go. Oh, there’s no plot.
There is no action. It’s just a guy
spouting off. But it’s
spellbinding.
The speaker calls himself “Qoheleth” which is ancient Hebrew
for “Compiler.” The word Ecclesiastes
is just a Greek translation. He claims
to be Solomon, but it’s pretty clear that’s a bunch of bunk.
He gets your attention with his first words: “Vanity of
vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities!
All things are vanity!” Well,
hello there. I told you this book
speaks with a distinctive voice. In
fact, I can recall my impression when I read this 15-some years ago. Unlike every other Bible book, I had a
mental image of the writer – and I had it right away. I imagined a street corner preacher. A little tattered, a born worn down. Not a crazed homeless preacher – but, well, at least I think he
isn’t. But maybe he is. At any rate, I imagine the entire book – the
entire 12 chapters – as a guy standing on a street corner of a busy Chicago
intersection and shouting this at the crowd as they roll by. They don’t stop, but he keeps going.
Vanity of vanities!, he insists. It’s all a load of
bunk. Then he starts explaining, and
its some of the best written passages of the Bible. Look, what profit do we have from our toil? One generation dies
and another is born? The sun rises and
it sets, the seasons come and go. The
world lasts forever, but people sure don’t.
“All rivers flow to the sea, yet never does the sea become full!” Yeah, that’s a nice one.
Nothing is new under the sun! Hey – that’s a famous one.
We’ve gotten three of four really great lines so far, and I’m only nine
verses in. And you can not only
appreciate the fine way of words, but see a very interesting and notable
point. We all strive to be remembered,
we all strive to leave our mark. But in
the end, we all die anyway. It’s all
vanity of vanities!
You got to admit, he’s got a point. Yup, it’s a good point – but it’s hardly a
point you’d expect from the Bible, now is it?
Sure, the Old Testament isn’t really concerned with the afterlife. That’s a Christian thing for the most
part. But this one ….man, forget the
afterlife, he isn’t that concerned with God really. Much of the Bible will glory in God’s creations and his
plan. Even Job, while criticizing God
on the grounds of morality, even there God is central. Ecclesiastes is more humanistic. It’s focused on how humans should try to
conduct themselves in a world where all is transitory. And while God gets a mention, the purpose of
love as expounded will not all be about loving God.
Instead, our author decides to focus on wisdom. That’s what it’s all about right? We won’t last but wisdom will. Guess what – that’s a bunch of bunk.
Too. Wisdom is also “a chase after
wind.”
Wait – stop. Nuts.
By and large I’ve liked the Bible I’ve been using. By and large it’s worked well, because as near as I can tell it’s
trying to keep its translations as close to the original as it can. But this is one time I think I prefer the
traditional translation. A chase after
wind? How about “grasping for the
wind.” That’s more evocative.
So wisdom itself is a vanity. You pursue it and pursue it and pursue it – and then you die
anyway. This is quite a departure from
the rest of the Bible on wisdom. It’s
frankly a bit of a welcome corrective.
Just earlier today I finished reading the Book of Wisdom (available in
the Catholic Bible only) and that writer glorifies wisdom to the point of
excess. His praise becomes
puffery. Also, at times you get the
feeling he isn’t so good at relating to people, just ideas. A lot of these wisdom books seem to be the
product of bookish introverts who love the Torah because they are socially
inept. So its rather bracing to see a
guy jump out at you – a guy who seems like he has quite a lot of experience
interacting with others, and his philosophy comes less from books and more from
everyday life. But maybe I’m getting
ahead of things here.
Oh, I almost forget – there is another great line later on
in this chapter: “What is crooked cannot be made straight.”
Also, all these words of mine aside, I haven’t even gotten
to the main impression I have from Ecclesiastes. This is where suddenly, out of nowhere, the keys to the Bible’s
editing room have been handed off to a Buddhist. No, not a literal follower of Buddha, but a lot of the ideas here
seem like they’d fit better in that religion than the rest of the Bible.
I don’t have time/inclination to get into a thorough
depiction of Buddhism, so let’s stick with the basics here. The Buddha was a guy in search of The Truth. He tried the typical path –
self-denial. That was how many holy men
thought you did it back in India back in the day. But Buddha came to think that was pointless. Maybe you feel more morally upright for
doing it, but without enough food, you can’t think as clearly, and how is that
the path to self-enlightenment. In
other words, self-denial, is just another vanity – one of the vanity of
vanities, as Ecclesiastes might say.
So Buddha took a time out and figured out his system. He created his philosophy that was centered
on the Four Noble Truths. These are the
core elements of Buddhism. First, life
is full of suffering. Second, suffering
is caused by our attachments. Third, if
you can extinguish your attachments, you can end your suffering (and then break
out of the endless cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, and instead achieve
pure enlightenment – nirvana). Fourth,
you can achieve nirvana by following the eight-fold path. (More on the path later on).
Now, this isn’t a perfect fit for Ecclesiastes. That much is clear. There is no belief in reincarnation, for
instance. But there are interesting
core similarities. The author here
thinks that all is transitory – life, wisdom, our achievements – all of
it. That fits Buddhism’s philosophy very
well. Also, this book argues that life
is full of vanities – futile attempts to leave a lasting mark. Yeah, those are the attachments. They are the things that keep you here, but
are ultimately elusive illusions.
But both Ecclesiastes and Buddhism have a way out. Both have a way to find peace and
happiness. We’ll get to that as we go
along.
CHAPTER 2
Our writer figures that wisdom is just another vanity
because the wise man dies just as a fool will.
Since it’s all vanity of vanities and a chase for the wind,
So he figures he’ll know what he’ll do. He’ll give in to hedonism. He’ll have wine and folly. Sounds like fun. He gains all sorts of possessions (remember: the writer is
claiming to be Solomon here). He gets
all the bling he can have and “nor did I deprive myself of any joy.” All right, party on down, Solomon!
But guess what? All
this too was a vanity and just a chase of the wind. There is no profit under the sun in doing these things. And it’s here that the writer directly takes
on wisdom. That’s his next thing, but
the wise die like the fool. Nothing
really seems to matter, no matter what you do.
So he turns to toil next.
How about that? Nah, that’s also
a vanity. It leaves no lasting legacy
at all. So far, in his own way, the
Ecclesiastes author is mirroring the journey of Buddha before he figured out
his Four Noble Paths. Not perfectly, of
course, but he’s looking for answers; looking for a way – and he can’t find it
in the places where he’s supposed to.
This guy rejects wisdom as the be-all and end-all, just as Buddha
rejected self-denial. This guy rejects
hedonism as a vanity, and Buddha saw it as pointless. Both guys are looking for their Answer.
And he starts finding it.
The writer finishes the chapter noting, “There is nothing better for
mortals than to eat and rink and provide themselves with good things from their
toil. Even this, I saw, is from the
hand of god. For who can eat or drink
apart from God?”
This sounds like hedonism, but as we’ll see in Chapter 3, he
isn’t calling for that. He’s just
calling for enjoying everything in its place.
So let’s get to Chapter 3.
CHAPTER 3
Cue Roger McGuinn.
Yeah, the first eight verses are among the most famous lines of the
entire Bible. If you’ve ever heard the
old Byrds song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” here are the lyrics. They just took them directly out of the
Bible and put it to music. Great song –
and it helps that they took some great words.
I’m not going to quote it all, but here’s a brief sampling:
“A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot
the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal.” And so on. Everything has
a time and place for everything.
(Quick nitpick – and if you know your Byrds, you’ll also
notice something else – my Bible’s translation strikes again. “A time to uproot the plant.” How about “A time to sow.” That’s the traditional and more poetic
translation. Even worse, it changes the
intro from “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under
heaven.” My Bible says: “There is an
appointed time for everything and a time for every affair under the
heavens.” Man, Roger McGuinn would have
a trouble making some of that fit the meter).
But you can see the point.
Everything is good if done in the right place. Things aren’t pure evil or bad – they just need to be done in the
right place.
OK, let’s go back to Buddhism for a second. Remember those Four Noble Truths? Well, we left off saying you could achieve
the pure enlightenment that is nirvana by following the Eightfold Path. So what is it? This: right view, right intention, right speech, right action,
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. By doing those things, you can achieve
nirvana.
Look, it’s not a perfect fit at all. I’m not claiming it is. But it strikes me that a root concern exists
that unites them – appropriateness.
Everything should be done appropriately. There is no ultimate Right or Wrong here (and can I note how
completely out of character that is for the Bible) but just a place and season
to do all actions, and a right mindset and action for Buddhists. The Eightfold Path is more mental and the
“Turn! Turn! Turn!” lyrics are pretty much all about actions, but again – it’s
all about doing the appropriate measure under the circumstance.
Oh, and it’s just frickin’ beautifully written here. Mustn’t overlook that.
Those are just the first eight verses. Now the writer expands on it, noting, “I
recognized that there is nothing better than to rejoice and to do well during
life. Moreover, that one can eat and
drink and enjoy the good of all their toil – this is a gift of God.” I’m reminded of a quote from Ben Franklin
that alcohol is a sign that God wants us to be happy.
Also, and as I just alluded to a second ago, this is a very
weird book for the Bible. This eschews
much of the morality the rest of the Bible has. It’s not really giving theology.
OK, so there are some God references sprinkled in, but that’s not the
main focus. The main focus here is how
to live a good life. And telling people
that there is a time and place for everything and it’s OK to enjoy your life –
well, while that doesn’t necessarily go against religion, it also doesn’t
necessarily have anything to do with religion.
That’s just plain good old-fashioned commonsense advice.
From what I know, Ecclesiastes is often considered to be a
ringer. It’s a book included in the
Bible that purely on points probably doesn’t belong. It’s not so much about God.
But they put it anyway. How can
they leave it out? I’m sure it was far
too well-known and far too popular to leave out when printing technology moved
from scroll to book-format.
If much of the Bible was written by priests – think
Leviticus and Deuteronomy, for two of the more obvious examples – then this is
a book written by a disillusioned commoner.
He flatly states, “And still under the sun in the judgment place I saw
wickedness, and wickedness also in the seat of justice.” You can trust the official power
centers. You can’t leave any lasting
marks. In fact, a little later her
informs us that people are often like beasts – “Both have the same life breath. Human beings have no advantages over beats,
but all is vanity.” So just enjoy your
life and your work – but do it all appropriately.
Actually, the more I get into this, the more earth-bound
this seems than Buddhism. There is just
a stronger focus on spiritually there than I’m reading here. I know it’s odd to
say how a Bible book seems to lack spirituality, but this is a different kind
of Bible book.
CHAPTER 4
Pop quiz! Tell me,
does this following quote sound like it comes from the Bible or a Buddhist
sutra:
“Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil
and a chase after wind!”
No, it’s not out of place in either source, I guess. And yeah, clearly it comes from the Bible –
Chapter 4 of Ecclesiastes! How did you
ever guess! (verse 6, to be exact). – But it also sounds like something
Buddhist, doesn’t it?
This one spends a lot of time noting how the people in
charge are vipers. They are so bad that
the dead have it better than the living, but at least the living have it better
than the unborn, who still don’t know what a mess they’ll soon join. Wow – this is a cynical book of the Bible!
There is later some talk of the advantages of living with
someone else. That other person can be
a pick-me-up when you need one (and this writer sure needs one!) Oh, and we also get the phrase, “Two are
better than one.” Oh, so that’s where
that phrase comes from.
But while the writer has written a hit song in “Turn! Turn!Turn!” he is still looking for his answer.
He is still finding it all to be vanity. He is still chasing after wind for his truth. It’s funny, as I thought he already had
it. Maybe I’ll soon be proven wrong, or
maybe it’s just circular writing.
CHAPTER 5
Time for some more common sense wisdom that has little to do
with God or religion or any of the other things you’d expect the Bible to focus
on. We’re told, “If you see oppression
of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be
astonished by the fact.” Huh. Man, shit happens in this life and just
because it ain’t supposed to be that way is no excuse for expecting it to be
that way.
One of the worst evils of all are the rich who always want
more. As long as there are riches,
there are the ravenous to devour them.
The writer singles this out as bad an evil as he’s seen. They spend so much time looking for more and
more, that they never enjoy what they have.
It’s all just pushing and pushing for more. People need to stop and smell the roses more often.
This gives us yet another great moment from the Ecclesiastes
writer. Should misfortune befall the
ever anxious-rich, then they will lose all and, “As they came forth from their
mother’s womb, so again shall they return, naked as they come, having nothing
from their toil to bring with them.”
So the pursuit of wealth is just another form of
vanity. Instead, you should “eat and
drink and prosper from all the toil one toils at under the sun during the
limited days of life God gives us; for this is out lot.” Remember, it’s not unbridled hedonism, but
just enjoyment of life in its own place.
Though he mentions God, it sure sounds secular.
CHAPTER 6
This is a short chapter (just 12 verses), and I’m not sure I
fully get it. Essentially, he says
there is another big evil out there: some people has great riches and property
and honor, but is not able to partake of them.
Instead a stranger devours them.
I wonder what he’s talking about? Is it someone who works but another profits from his toil? I dunno – he says “one to whom God gives
riches and property and honor” so it sounds like he’s rich himself. Is it someone with a gold digger of a wife
or something? I dunno.
Maybe it means someone who has the riches but never takes
the time to enjoy them. Maybe, but
that’s how he ended last chapter and here this begins by saying “There is
another evil.”
So I’m not sure exactly what he’s getting at, but the theme
is like the others. People should enjoy
their lives. Stop and smell the roses
already!
Click here for the second half of the book.
Click here for the second half of the book.
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