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Ecclesiastes 12

This chapter makes a perfect conclusion for the book of Ecclesiastes. Essentially, the writer reviews the points he has made, namely that life is fleeting and futile, and that we must keep our hearts and our heads up, seeing joy and reward as present within the speeding time capsule of our lives rather than as things to be sought outside our daily experience. Finally, in one of the final verses ( 12:13 ) he concludes by encapsulating this collection of wisdom into two simple commands: “Fear God, and keep his commandments , for this is the whole duty of man.” As a refresher, here is this verse annotated: “Fear God” = pay attention to what God is doing in the world and be prepared to participate in this work (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places ) “and keep his commandments” = love God and love others (Jesus) Though the specific details of how each of us should do these things are not prescribed, this is quite obviously for good reason: the wo...
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Ecclesiastes 11

The general tenor of this chapter seems to be that in its essence life is a mystery, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and in the end something we participate in via appreciation rather than via our commanding presence. (The thought that attempting to “manhandle” life is a futile endeavor came to mind as I read, which is interesting primarily because the term “mansplaining” has come to common usage the last few years, which reminded me that we’ve made gender designations for particular behaviors for decades. At this point in time, the generalized male approach to things is seen as a negative (and rightly so), but it would be interesting to be an observant ghost a hundred years from now to see how the balance between gender perspectives plays out.) Another common phrase in current times is “It is what it is,” and while I mostly categorize this as “athlete interview talk,” it’s become much more ubiquitous than that. This phrase annoys me every time I hear it because it essentially ...
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Ecclesiastes 10

A brief and impressionistic commentary as the goal of finishing the book of Ecclesiastes looms. On some level, futility remains a theme in this chapter, but I also find portions to be fairly esoteric, for example, “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left” ( 10:2 ) I assume this means something simple like a wise man knows and pays attention to his heart, but what is wisdom? A series of paraphrases / loose interpretations 10: 1-3 Good is easily spoiled by bad, like flies in a fine ointment or a mistake that turns a good reputation into one of scandal. Also, a fool betrays his foolishness when he speaks. 10:5-7 Don’t be surprised if things are turned on their head: foolish actions are honored, the wealthy are disgraced, the lowly are esteemed, and those of noble quality go unnoticed. Commentary : a buffoon is president of the United States (“folly is set in great dignity” - 10:6b ) 10:8-9 Nature will laugh at your labor. ...
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Ecclesiastes 9

Theme: The general tenor of Chapter 9 is that all people suffer the same fate. The ultimate fate, of course, is death, but the writer observes that even during life we all have the same experiences and sufferings, regardless of whether we are wise or foolish, righteous or unrighteous. Instinctively, I find this to be true; analytically, I question it. It seems proveable that the decisions we make lead to particular consequences, though clearly this element of control is limited. A series of summaries and embellishments: 9:1-2 God is the One who is omnipotent and omniscient. It doesn’t matter if I focus on doing good or act without conscience; it doesn’t matter if I am thoughtful or thoughtless; either way I will experience death and loss and broken bones and disappointment as well as pleasure and good fortune, all in due time. 9:3-6 People are “bent,” to use a C.S. Lewis term, inclined toward that which does neither themselves nor others good; our instinc...
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Ecclesiastes 8

This chapter contains a number of aphorisms that provoke interesting reflections or remind me of similar statements of wisdom, so I'll focus on the ones I found most compelling. 8:3b  "stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him." Eight chapters in, I'm beginning to understand the grammatical connections in the KJV a bit better, I think. "He" in these cases appears to be a substitute for "whoever does this." It's interesting that the mindset of doing whatever pleases us is strongly shown as a perspective to avoid. Sure, we can recognize the potential selfishness behind this perspective, but contemporary psychology teaches that it is important to find a balance between prioritizing one's own needs or desires and being co-dependent or overly self-sacrificial. Yet the wisdom of Ecclesiastes clearly states that simply following our own whims is probably a sign that we already have misplaced priorities or an inactive con...
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Ecclesiastes 7

Verses 1 - 8 appear to be subverting our traditional understandings of what is good; put another way, it is like the author is saying, You probably think this is good or what brings pleasure, but you should probably think about reversing your perspective. An idiom that expresses this might be "flip the script," or in Jesus's words: "You have heard it said . . . but I say . . ." Some examples of this include, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting," "Sorrow is better than laughter," "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools," and "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." The author explains the reasoning behind some of these claims, for example "Sorrow is better than laughter" because "by the sadness of the countenance is the heart made better." I guess a good question to ask is what general wisd...
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Ecclesiastes 6

Summarized It is a shame to have things and be unable to enjoy them. If one cannot recognize good, one's life is wasted. It doesn't matter how long we live, we will seek satisfaction and not find it, we won't ever really know what we're here for, and we'll all end up in the same boat: The End of Life . As we drift into the sunset, who knows what the next day will bring? Commentary on my embellishment This is a short chapter, and the summary above captures the main points accurately, I think, but I did stretch the meaning of the last verse to make it more interesting. A more literal interpretation simply observes that once we're dead, we won't have any knowledge of how the world continues and progresses, which is yet another example of the ultimate vanity of life; once it's gone what did it really mean and what was it really worth? But I think it is interesting to take the boat metaphor and consider that we likewise have no concrete knowledge of the...
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